“I am disturbed by two things. Killian’s eye—and the eye that served as portal—and Killian’s presence in the building itself, a building that does seem subject to some oversight. It is clear to me that he is operating by a very strict interpretation of the mandates of his construction.”
“And the wall?”
“I am uncertain. People age, people die. If someone requires people of different ages, the wall—as you call it—might be the perfect containment. But you said or implied that Killian was not aware of the wall.”
“That might not be what he considers it.” Kaylin frowned. “When I attempted to contact the building itself, he didn’t answer. But I think he heard me; he moved us out of the reiterating halls and into halls that would eventually lead to an actual exit. I’m not sure what his function was supposed to be, when he was created. The Arkon seemed to think he might have been a giant school. A university.”
Helen nodded.
“So we might have been classed as lost students?”
“Very possible. But he did not lose the eye, or the ability to materialize it, on his own. It is quite possible he created the trap of endless hallways; it is almost certain that he created what you viewed as wall.”
“If hehasa lord, though, it’s going to be hard for us to investigate at all.”
“Perhaps. I find it interesting that the exit, as you call it, was within the border zone where he might otherwise have been standing after the tragedy. It is not easy to destroy a building; it is not trivial to command one.”
“You had words. A name.”
Helen grimaced. “I did. But it was not trivial to speak the words in a fashion that could be heard. It has been attempted. People have come to me who understood the function of the name I was given; they knew the surface of the word itself. But the heart of command requires the abilitytocommand, and that is something they lacked.”
“I don’t have that.”
“Ah, no. But it is different. I desire to have you as a tenant; you desire to have me as a home. Where you lack the ability to forcefully compel—with no regard for my existence except as a tool—you have my desire to be your home. I cannot disobey you, should you now command me, however.”
“Sedarias thinks that’s not true,” Mandoran said.
“Sedarias is wrong,” Helen replied in a pleasant, even maternal tone.
Kaylin suspected that Sedarias was right, but was inclined to trust Helen’s belief in herself. Either way, it wasn’t the problem. “The fiefs are what happened when the Towers were created. Killian was in the lands on which they were situated. How did he survive?”
“That would be the question,” Helen replied, in a much more neutral tone. Her black eyes were fixed on Kaylin’s face; she didn’t blink once.
“Helen?”
“Yes, dear.”
“Do you think Killian created the border zone?”
Chapter 8
Helen didn’t answer immediately. The cohort, who had seen little of the fiefs or the areas between them, had no immediate opinions to offer.
“Great,” Mandoran said, for no obvious reason.
The reason came floating through the dining room doors: Terrano.
“What?” he asked as all eyes fell on him. “This iswaymore interesting than politics.”
“You were talking politics?” Kaylin asked as he made his way to the table.
“I was in the same room as Sedarias.” Terrano shrugged. “The question you posed is more interesting. I spent a lot of time in places almost entirely unlike this one. Meaning,” he added, “not like the city. I spent a lot of my life inside a building, and I sort of understand buildings like the Hallionne. The Hallionne don’t have the same core imperative that the Towers have.
“But Alsanis shut himself off from the outside world when we were his prisoners. And the Hallionne, unlike Helen, are entirely independent. They can respond to those who know how to speak with them, but they are not compelled to obey their commands.”
“You’re sure?”
He snorted. “What do you think?”
