“I don’t suggest we do it on the inside of his Tower.”
“No. If he insists, I will wait outside.” Bellusdeo grinned. “I’ve half a mind to shift form and wait outside now. While the Tower does have control of elements of the fief, Towers wield absolute control only within their walls. Candallar will be aware of our presence and our location if the Tower alerts him or if he is looking. Or,” she added with a sweeter smile, “if he is, in fact, in the fief at all.”
Bellusdeo didn’t go full Dragon. She walked, her escort mortal Hawks and theoretical Barrani. Neither Terrano nor Mandoran could stiffen their faces and postures into those suitable for Barrani guards, and neither were of a mind to try.
“He’s here,” Terrano said as Kaylin felt a twinge across her forearms.
“How close?”
“Not close. But he’s aware of us now.”
“I can’t see him.”
“No. Ask your familiar for help.”
Hope lifted a wing before Kaylin could comply. Candallar was standing in the center of the street, alone, some twenty yards from the formidable height of the Tower that bore his name. His eyes were firmly fixed on Bellusdeo.
The haze around his body shifted and lessened, dissipating as she watched. Hope once again withdrew his wing.
“Well met,” Candallar said. “Well met, Lord Bellusdeo. Lords Kaylin, Severn, Terrano and Mandoran.”
Kaylin stiffened.
“I had heard rumors that you might pay a visit to my humble abode. I am honored.”
Mandoran stepped forward and stood one step to the left of Bellusdeo—but in front. Bellusdeo said nothing. Her eyes remained orange, not red; her expression implied a chilly lack of amusement. She did offer Candallar a nod. “Fieflord.”
Mandoran, however, said, “Lord Candallar.” He bowed.
“That is no longer what I am called by my kin.”
“It is what you are called in the territory you rule. We have no quarrel with Candallar, although that was perhaps not always true.”
The fieflord had an easy, friendly smile. It was almost charming, which put Kaylin further on guard, something she would have bet wasn’t possible.
“You refer, perhaps, to your ascension in the High Court? I have heard only rumors; many of my sources of information have gone silent in the past few days.”
“Indeed. It has long been true that choosing the wrong side has consequences.”
“It has also been said that peaceful climes do not a warrior make.”
“We were not raised in peaceful climes,” Mandoran replied, Terrano stiff and almost lifeless at Kaylin’s side. “We were not bred for it; we were not trained for it. If the wars that were responsible for our journey to the green have ended, and we are now at peace with the Dragons, the experiences that formed us remain.”
This wasnotthe discussion that Kaylin had come to Candallar to have. She had not, in fact, intended to have much in the way of discussion at all. That plan had changed because Bellusdeo was present. As mortals, no matter how they were dressed, they were not significant to the Tower. A Dragon would be. But everything about this discussion sounded exactly like Sedarias; this was a matter for the new An’Mellarionne.
“True. You are not, perhaps, aware of the experiences that drove me to take the reins of Candallar.”
“No, indeed. We have been entrusted with an invitation; The An’Mellarionne wishes to better make your acquaintance in these troubled times.”
His brows rose slightly, and the color of his eyes shifted. He was surprised. Surprised and delighted, judging by his laughter. Kaylin hated that the laughter itself was melodious and compelling because she disliked it intensely on principle.
“Lord Sedarias is indeed bold, as ancient rumors have suggested. I did not myself have experience of her before her sojourn in the West March, and I have not yet had the privilege of making her acquaintance since her ascension at Court. I have, however, been apprised of the astonishing changes that have occurred in the High Halls in very recent days. She is aware of my current status?”
“She is aware that you are outcaste, yes. Given your activities, or your implied activities, before we were invited to take the Test of Name, she believes that you were made outcaste for political reasons. And also that you have some interest in a return to legitimacy.”
Kaylin bent to Terrano’s ear—or as close as she could come given their differences in height.“This is not what we’re supposed to be doing here,”she whispered.
It is far more effective at present than bumbling across the fief searching for information that might somehow incriminate Candallar in an Imperial crime.It was Nightshade who now spoke. Kaylin could feel the sudden weight of his presence behind her eyes.She is, indeed, bold, but she was always feared. She is ruthless, Kaylin. She is not to be trusted.
