Any errand undertaken at the request of the Lady, came Ynpharion’s acid observation,elevates those who undertake it.
“We are grateful for the largesse of the Consort,” Sedarias continued. “But we are perhaps less grateful—and far more concerned—for the arrival of your other passengers.”
His smile was slight, but present. “I do not imagine that gratitude was the intent.” His smile deepened. “But you have my gratitude, for what little that might be worth to you, given my current position.”
Sedarias’s eyes were blue. Kaylin would have expected their color to shift, but had given up on making bets with herself about Barrani reactions. “You brought them here.”
“Yes. I was chosen to deliver both the gift and a...warning.”
“The gift has been delivered. Deliver the warning.”
She has been spendingfartoo much time with mortals, Ynpharion said.
Bressarian, however, merely inclined his head. “The warning,” he said, looking almost apologetic, although his eyes were also blue, “was not mine to deliver. If anything remains of the two who accompanied me, you will have to hear it from them.”
“We will. But I would have your assessment, as well. It is why you have remained, is it not?”
“No.” He lifted his glass by its delicate stem. “I remained because, here, I may speak frankly and without unwanted witnesses.” He glanced, once, at Kaylin.
“Lord Kaylin is master of this dwelling,” Sedarias said, choosing not to ignore that glance. “Nothing spoken within her home will be hidden from her unless she so chooses.” Her tone made clear that Kaylin did not so choose. Kaylin was certain that if she did, Sedarias would have words with her later, and not the cheerful kind.
“There are rumors about Lord Kaylin that are even now circulating within the High Court. Is it true that she brought you from the West March?”
Sedarias didn’t answer.
“Very well. Coravante An’Mellarionne was tasked with the delivery of the Consort’s gift. He passed that task to my father, who passed it to me, speaking as he did of the singular honor invested in us by your brother and the Consort. Your brother is much in my father’s company, and my father, much in his councils. The carriage,” he continued, “was a gift from your brother.”
Sedarias’s eyes were a midnight color. Allaron took a step toward her, and then a much less graceful step back, as if he’d been slapped.
“My sister, Fianora, should have been tasked with this first contact,” Bressarian continued, and here, a note of ice had crept into the smoothness of his tone. “But she has been missing these three days. She left—at my father’s command—to speak with Coravante. She has not returned. The two who traveled with me were two of the four who formed her small cadre of guards; my father considers your brother a trusted ally.”
“And you do not?”
“I believe that trust and ally are two concepts that cannot and should not be wed. Your brother has power, Sedarias. Power and will. And my father has grown in power in the past few years; one could consider his rise meteoric.”
“You do not.”
“Ah, forgive me, I do. But my father is not a young man; nor am I. I once understood both his strengths and his limitations. The former have inarguably increased.”
“And the latter?”
“I no longer feel he has limitations.”
“I see. And you?”
“I have not been asked to keep company with An’Mellarionne. Nor have I volunteered to do so; I have been traveling of late, and I am oft absent from Court. My duties to our properties outside of the city have required time and finesse.”
Kaylin wondered if that finesse was martial.
Of course it is.
“Would some of those properties be located near the West March?” Kaylin asked. Sedarias did not make the attempt.
“Yes, Lord Kaylin. I was not, however, present in the West March when Sedarias and her companions took their leave of it.”
“Her sister was.”
“An interesting coincidence, I am sure. But her sister has also become adept, and her sister’s position within the Arcanum has been much noted, of late.” He was silent for another long beat, and then he set his glass down, the liquid in it undiminished. “Much has been said of you, and much speculated.” He spoke, now, to Sedarias as if she were the only other person in the room. “But much is unknown. It is assumed that your power is equal to, or greater than, the power your brother has achieved.
