“You play games with forces you do not understand,” the Dragon said, her lips pulled over the length of her jaw, her teeth glinting as if they were jeweled. “I have seen a world lost to what lies in wait inRavellon. Not a court and not a useless title—a world. And it was lost in partbecause of people like you.”
He stepped back.
“You play at little territories, fieflord. If it pleases you, you may continue while you breathe. But Shadow is not an entity that respects borders or boundaries. Corporals,” she added, her voice a growl.
Kaylin understood that this meant they were to join her. It wasn’t the first time Kaylin had flown on Dragon back. She clambered up. Severn followed with greater ease, and she tried not to resent it. When they were both seated more or less as securely as they could be, Bellusdeo roared. There were syllables in it. Rage.
“I really think that’s a terrible idea this close toRavellon!” Kaylin shouted.
Bellusdeo’s reply was also a roar. Kaylin had no need to understand Dragon to know that this was one of the “useful” words she might otherwise have picked up. The Dragon then pushed herself up off the streets of Candallar, leaving Mandoran and Terrano behind.
It wasn’t Candallar that concerned Kaylin; it was the outcaste Dragon.Ravellonwas his home and he had somehow survived it.
She’s flown to the border in Tiamaris, Severn pointed out. It was audible; shouting in her ear while Bellusdeo trumpeted her rage might not have been.
That’s different.
It’s not. If she didn’t catch the outcaste’s attention in Tiamaris, she won’t catch it here; if she did, he didn’t rise to take that bait.
The borders are far more protected in Tiamaris than they are in Candallar.
Kaylin—you returned from the outlandsbyTiamaris. The borders are susceptible in every fief.
We’re not Shadow.
No.
Spike is.
Is he?
Kaylin settled in to think. The distance Bellusdeo covered was not strenuous, even by foot; the ground beneath Kaylin’s feet rushed past. People under the Dragon’s shadow scattered, which showed some sense. How had Spike passed through that barrier? Was the Tower compromised?
Tara had almost been compromised by the Shadows she was created to suppress. That she hadn’t been was due to Tiamaris. And Kaylin herself. What Tara now built, shewanted. And she wanted to protect it. It was part of her now in a way that was neither trap nor cage.
Kaylin couldn’t imagine that Candallar could give a Tower what Tiamaris could. She knew that Nightshade didn’t—but knew, as well, that Nightshade’s Tower, at base, would probably destroy itself, brick by brick, if it ever needed what Tara needed.
There was only one way to check, and that involved entering the heart of Candallar’s power.
I consider that exceedingly unwise,Nightshade said, his interior voice soft.
Bellusdeo, the aforementioned groundhawks in tow, did land about ten yards from the border. She remained Draconic, shedding her passengers. When the Hawks had both feet on the ground, she folded wings that had remained high and ready to strike.
Kaylin approached the border slowly. Hope yawned and sat up on her shoulder. His wings remained folded. If invisible Shadow was approaching them, he didn’t consider them consequential.
There are none, he said, squawks adorning the syllables like the background melody offered by street musicians.What she seeks, she will not find.
“Could you maybe tell her that?”
No. It is her own opinion she trusts, and at that, poorly. She is much unsettled by the news that one of the Barrani carried Spike fromRavellon.
“She accepted Spike.”
She did. It is why I have some hope for her. But she is distraught about the High Halls. Mandoran explained what happened—using “small words”—and she is not at all certain that an extremely dangerous enemy has not been loosed in the middle of the city.
Kaylin exhaled. “Neither am I.”
No. What will you do, Chosen?
