Kaylin nodded. She’d had the same thoughts. “The Barrani lord in question seemed to be walking through Candallar streets. We know that the geography of bothRavellonand the borders between fiefs can vary greatly from moment to moment, but the fiefs themselves don’t. Spike?”
Spike hummed. Sadly, it was a beehive hum, not a melody.
“You recognize these streets?” The Consort’s voice was thin.
“Not personally, no,” Kaylin replied.
“And Halls of Law Records detail them correctly enough?”
Kaylin fell silent.
“No,” Severn said. “I recognize them. The Imperial Records display of fief streets is more complete—but it is also classified. The last thing the Emperor wants is to provide a physical map of the fiefs for those who believe themselves treasure hunters.”
Kaylin stared at the side of his face. Who in the hells would think they could findtreasurein the fiefs? Then again, the whole “do not enter, death here” sign would probably irritate certain people enough that they’d turn it into a test of courage, because that’s what people were like.
“And you believe that this man entered the fiefs through Candallar?”
“I have no idea where he entered the fiefs. Spike was not with him at the time, and therefore does not have a visual display of his entry. What he has is a display of his exit.”
“Spike,” Kaylin said quietly.
Spike dutifully began to re-create the Barrani lord’s exit fromRavellon.
“Can you tell us,” Kaylin continued, “why you met the man?”
“I was ordered to go to where he would be.”
“By who?”
Spike’s answer was a sound, a physical sensation, a burst of lurid color. He could see—somehow, since he didn’t appear tohaveeyes—that Kaylin didn’t understand the reply, and tried again.
Helen stopped him from making any more attempts. “My apologies,” she said to the guests.
But Terrano’s face was twisted in a ferocious frown. He was concentrating very hard and, at Helen’s apology, lifted a hand as if to wave her words away. Helen looked to Kaylin, and Kaylin managed to stop herself from shrugging.
Spike, however, did not repeat himself.
The Consort, blue-eyed and as steely as Sedarias at her worst, said, “Why are you certain that the intrusion into the fiefs is so intimately involved with the failure of the Test of Name?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? “I’m not.”
“You don’t speak with any lack of certainty.”
“No. But... I’ve learned with time to trust my instincts. I think that the Shadow beneath the High Halls was contained because of the danger it posed—but I think that Shadow poses a threat that is linked, always, toRavellonin some fashion or another.
“We know that the Dragon outcaste lives withinRavellon—and we know he can leave it as he desires. The Towers don’t seem to acknowledge him.”
“I do not believe he is working at the behest of the Shadows,” Bellusdeo unexpectedly said.
“I don’t think he’s working at thecommandof the Shadows,” Kaylin countered. “But he’s home there, and that has to mean something. He uses shadow as power. He has his own goals. But power comes from somewhere, always.”
“And you somehow think that that power is sentient?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? Fire is sentient if you summon too much of it. Same with the rest of the elements. The reason fire magic is difficult isn’t the summoning—it’s the control of what’s summoned. But the fire has will and desire of its own.”
“Mostly to burn everything in its path, yes.”
“I don’t think Shadow is different. I mean, it doesn’t want to burn everything in its path, but it has sentience and will of its own. I just think it’s more subtle. And the more power you summon, the more that sentience grows.”
