Nightshade, where are you?
I am in a large auditorium.
Why?
I am, apparently, attending a lecture.
A lecture.
Yes. It would, if I had any control over my presence, be of great interest to me. You have made clear that you dislike the classes forced upon you by the Hawks; I am therefore less certain that it would be of interest to you.That thought amused him. And he wasn’t lying; the lecture—about theoretical magic and its practical possible applications—was of interest to him. But beneath the surface of the formed words were many tangled emotions, one of which was anger.
We can’t hear you when the doors to Killian’s building aren’t open. The cohort can’t hear their companions, either. Are Mandoran or Terrano in your lecture hall?
They are not here as students,he replied.
This did not fill Kaylin with confidence.Do you recognize either of the two people standing behind Killian?These two are definitely not here as students.
None of us should be here as students, was Nightshade’s response. He didn’t answer the question. Which meant he had no intention of doing so.
Who is the lecturer? Barrani?
He chuckled.A Barrani man you have no reason to know.
And you do?
I know of him. No one present knows him, in the more colloquial sense of the word. I believe, he added, his tone changing,that Annarion’s friends have found the auditorium. Quickly, then: I have attended this lecture only once. I believe the other students have heard it many times; there does not seem to be variation. I assumed, initially, that the students were illusory.
But?
But I remember the wall you discovered. I do not believe I will be able to extricate myself from this classroom immediately.
Can we get you out?
Before Nightshade could answer, the building shuddered. The stairs shuddered. Killian, his single eye already an uncomfortable shade of blue, wheeled instantly. The two almost invisible men staggered as the building continued its ominous movement.
“This is not the place for you,” Killian said, his back to Kaylin. “You will need to discuss your placement here, should you wish to return, with the chancellor.”
“But you said—”
“I cannot speak further. I must go.”
“But I have something for you!”
He paused but did not turn, and the pause was so brief Kaylin wondered if she’d imagined it. The people to either side of Killian made way, moving to the left and right of the straight path his long strides demanded. But the Barrani lifted hands to his hood and drew it down.
He wore an Arcanist’s tiara; set in its delicate peak was a ruby. It was not a small gem, and it appeared, to Kaylin’s eye, to be pulsing.
Nightshade cursed.
The doors are closing. We’ll come back a different way.
Do not return yet. I believe Annarion’s friends are now causing difficulties. Ask Annarion to tell them that Illanen is present, and he is not to be trifled with. Tell them also that Illanen appears to be capable of existing slightly out of phase. He will understand what that means.
Kaylin turned to Annarion; the doors were not yet closed. “Tell Terrano that Illanen of the Arcanum is here, and he can sort of move the way you guys do. Yes, the message is from your brother.”
Annarion nodded as the doors rolled shut.
Finding a way out was far easier than finding the way in had been. The streets, when followed, led naturally to streets that were more easily accessible from the fiefs. But once they were standing in the fief of Nightshade, Kaylin turned to Teela.
