“No. And although it might surprise you, I did press him for an answer I could understand. It is possible Helen could hear what I could not hear, that she could somehow translate his response in a fashion that would make sense to us.”
Kaylin turned to Helen, whose eyes still took up way too much of her facial real estate.
“The marks of the Chosen exist,” Helen finally said, “across many states. Kaylin is unaware of most of those states—but I believe she has moved between them before. The transition—for Kaylin—is painless; she is only barely aware that a transition has been made. I believe she sees and experiences these changes as if there had been no shift at all.
“The cohort is less unaware—with the possible exception of Teela. But Kaylin’s marks are an anchor, and the cohort does not have that anchor.”
“They have their names,” Kaylin pointed out.
“Yes. But you are aware that their attachment to name—and form—remains tenuous. They have come home, in a fashion—but, Kaylin, if you returned to your childhood home, do you think you would immediately be comfortable there?”
“That’s different.”
“Oh?”
“My home was in the fiefs.”
“You would not see your home in the same way,” Helen continued. “Youcouldlive there; I am not denying it. You would have a far greater chance of survival as you are now. But in some fashion whatwashome is no longer home. The cohort, with the exception of Teela and Terrano, have chosen to come home. But they are still in the process of attempting to acclimatize themselves to the reality, rather than the memory.
“Very well,” she added, although no one had spoken but Kaylin. The whole of her demeanor changed; her eyes once again became almost normal eyes, at least in shape. “As you must have suspected, the cohort—”
“We’ll speak for ourselves,” Sedarias said in Elantran. “But to be honest, Helen, no one has much of an appetite, and I think the surroundings should reflect what this dinner actually is.”
Before Sedarias had finished speaking, the surroundings did shift. Gone was the evening sky; above them now was a roof of carved Barrani stone. It was high, and it was detailed, although Kaylin had to squint to see some of it.
This was a war room.
They were still seated at a table, but it was not a dining table; it was a large, long oval, and across its surface was a map. Or maps. One was of Elantra as a whole. The other, Kaylin didn’t recognize immediately. She didn’t like maps much, and had learned to read them because everyone else referred to them when bringing up Records.
It’s the High Halls, Severn said quietly.
“You wish us to enter the Tower; you wish us to confront—and possibly destroy—the creature for which the Tower serves as prison.”
The Consort nodded.
“We will accept your request. We desire to take the Test of Name—and in order to achieve your goals, we must be allowed to take it.”
Since the Consort had said this wasn’t factually true, Kaylin hesitated. But she realized as she shut her mouth that this was the opening of negotiations.
“You are no doubt aware that there are members of your Court—some highly placed—that do not wish us to be given that opportunity.” As a nod to the Consort’s previous information, she added, “And while you have said it ispossiblethat we could venture into the prison without taking and passing the test, it is highly unlikely that we could do so as outcastes.
“If we are to do as you ask—if we are to attempt what no other member of your Court has attempted—we will do so as Barrani. Not as outcastes or fugitives. We will not avail ourselves of entrances that are secret and known to few; we will enter the Tower as any supplicant enters it.”
“Can you guarantee that you will make that attempt?” the Consort countered. “Once you are there, once you have embarked upon that test, can you guarantee that you will confront and attempt to destroy the Shadow? As you have pointed out, many of our kin have taken that test, and none have directly succeeded in harming the Shadow—or freeing the trapped.”
Annarion stood. “Yes.”
Kaylin didn’t doubt it. Sedarias might be political, but Annarion, while perfectly mannered when he wasn’t talking to his brother, was not. Not in the same way. She could easily imagine that he’d try—but he’d try, regardless. It was probably why she liked him.
“Will you swear binding oaths?”
“Yes.”
“Willyou?” Sedarias countered.
Ynpharion was, predictably, outraged. Kaylin thought it unfair—the Consort had asked first, after all.She is the Consort. She is the heart of our future. They are—He stopped himself, mostly because Kaylin wasn’t as good at controlling her expression as he was.
The Consort said, “If you demanded it, I would. But I would swear only to do my utmost to make certain that none of you could be made outcaste.”
