“He’s one of the few members of the cohort who possess a sense of humor. I’d hate to lose that.”
“When you’re not trying to turn me to ash?”
“Asense of humor doesn’t imply agoodsense of humor. It’s still better than nothing.”
Maggaron, who had been so silent Kaylin could forget his presence—which said a lot, given his height—cleared his throat. “I do not think I see what you see.”
They all turned to stare at him.
Chapter 12
Bellusdeo was first to speak. “What do you see?”
“I see buildings,” he finally said. “I see the street.”
“Which is what we see.”
“I do not think I see the same buildings.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because the buildings I see are buildings that would house my people, not the people of this city. The doors are taller. The ceilings are higher.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because Kaylin said that the buildings looked the same in the border as they do in the actual fief. That is not what I see. When we enter the border zone, although the street appears to be a continuous line, the buildings themselves are...empty, deserted remnants of one of our cities, to me.”
They turned to look at Maggaron; Kaylin then transferred her silent question to his Dragon.
“They look like mortal buildings to me. I see, I believe, what you see, not what Maggaron sees.”
“Can you change your height?” Kaylin asked. “I mean, if Maggaron’s people—”
“No. It is nowhere near as simple as that.”
Mandoran spoke next, as if making a decision. “Let me go up above the clouds. I’ll go straight up; I won’t attempt to wander the line of fog. I have the others here; they can tell you what I see.”
Bellusdeo rumbled, her wordless annoyance at odds with her appearance. She glared at Kaylin but offered the Barrani a grudging nod.
Mandoran’s feet left the street. Since he couldn’t see the street, it probably wasn’t as unsettling to him as it was to Kaylin. She watched him rise above the two-story buildings, looking at almost nothing else, as if her gaze could somehow be an anchor.
Annarion and Allaron didn’t watch, but didn’t have to; Teela’s gaze, like Kaylin’s, was fixed to Mandoran—or the bottom of his feet. He didn’t drift toward either the city orRavellon. As he’d promised, he attempted to rise in a straight line.
“Something’s strange,” Annarion said, eyes closed.
“Is he above the fog line now?”
“Yes.”
“What’s strange?”
“All he can see is fog, in any direction. There’s no visible fief on either side of where he’s standing.”
Kaylin had a very bad feeling about this. “Tell him to come down.”
“He wants to look at something.”
“Tell him we look with our eyes,” Kaylin snapped.
