“Oh?”
“Killianas was otherwise occupied.”
Larrantin’s frown deepened, but the edges of irritation vanished. “I see.”
“Can you keep this for now? We’re going to try to meet with him again. It’s just that there are a lot of people between him and us, and they don’t want us to be anywhere near here.”
Larrantin nodded and held out a hand.
Kaylin placed the book in it, unwrapping it from the small blanket she’d used to protect herself from the cold it radiated. When Larrantin took it, the runes on its cover flared blue and white; ice lit from within by a bright, steady light.
Behind her back, someone sucked in one long breath. He exhaled a word.
“Larrantin.” It was, of course, the Arkon.
Larrantin frowned. He glanced past Kaylin, but her companions remained invisible to his eyes. “I will hold this for now, but I feel it essential that Killianas receive it soon.”
Sedarias and Annarion headed to the right, away from the desk. Annarion stopped and looked over his shoulder.
“For the record,” Bellusdeo said, “I’m against this.”
The Arkon, however, said nothing.
Kaylin scurried after the two Barrani. She was joined by Severn. When she raised a brow at him, he mouthed the wordpartner. When she snorted, he said, “We were seconded by the Imperial Palace as Hawks. You don’t go into a brawl—or worse—without backup.”
Neither Sedarias nor Annarion appeared to be surprised by this.
“I believe you said Larrantin couldn’t leave this building,” Sedarias said.
Kaylin nodded. “If you two are going to melt through a wall, I can’t leave that way.”
“No. But I think it best not to open the doors at the moment.”
“What are we doing?”
“Finding a suitable window.”
Kaylin wasn’t certain that the window wouldn’t cause the same problem the doors would, but she deferred to Sedarias. Severn had nodded.
Hope continued to keep his wing in front of Kaylin’s eyes as they moved through the wide, long hall; they reached a door that opened into a room that was much larger than Larrantin’s office had been. Maybe this was where whoever had once lived in these buildings had held parties. It seemed far too fancy for lectures.
Sedarias entered this room. She had wanted windows, and windows were here in abundance, although they were above ground level, and built into four large bays. None of those windows looked likely to open without damage.
Sedarias and Annarion were silent, but it was a silence that caused a lot of shifting facial expressions; Kaylin guessed that they were discussing their next moves with the absent cohort. While they did, Kaylin approached the window from the curtain side. She glanced through it; saw grass and trees. It was interesting; through this window, the muted, washed-out colors had been replaced by the vibrancy of actual life.
The people gathered in the center of the circle had thinned in numbers. She could guess where the others had gone, but couldn’t see the building’s front door from this angle, and didn’t try.
Eight people remained in the large grass circle. Six were Barrani, two human. Illanen and Baltrin weren’t among them.
“I don’t think you’ll find Baltrin here at this time of day,” Severn said. “His movements are more easily tracked. He’s not on vacation, has not taken a leave of absence, and must therefore occupy his office and the duties to which he clings.” Once again, Severn spoke Barrani, but this time for the benefit of their two companions.
“The Barrani are not so easily monitored, by either their own people or ours. It is possible—I think it likely—that Illanen will be at the front door.”
“He won’t be the problem.”
Severn glanced at her, the tone of the flat sentence a warning.
“Killian’s doors have just opened,” she said. “And I think that’s Candallar leaving the building.”
