Lord Sanabalis said, The Emperor feels that human arts should be encouraged. Dont look at me like that, Kaylin. Dragons seldom have an interest in drama.
Whos the judge of this contest?
The Emperor.
So the winner is the person who appeals most to someone who doesnt even like plays?
Something very like that, he replied.
And you want us to work with this Rennick?
Yes.
Why?
Perhaps you should read more than three pages.
She grimaced. Sanabalis
Lord Sanabalis, Severn corrected her.
Lord Sanabalis, then. What on earth do I know about plays?
Clearly nothing. He frowned. However it is not for your expertise in the dramatic arts that you have been seconded.
Go on.
It is for your expertisesuch as it ison the Thaalani.
It was Kaylins turn to frown, but some of the exasperation left her, then. Im not an expert, she told him quietly.
No. But the Thaalani seconded to the Court would possibly be even less comfortable in an advisory role.
If they cant She stopped. Why has the Emperor commissioned a play about the Thaalani?
Lord Sanabalis didnt answer. But she met his eyes; they were their usual placid gold. His lower membranes, however, were up.
Its because ofof the water, isnt it?
The tidal wave.
That one.
Yes. I am not aware of how much you saw, or how much you read about after the factbut the Thaalani, led by their castelord, left their Quarter in larger numbers than the city has ever seen. They walked to the docks, and they spread out along the port and the seawall. When the waters began to shiftand it was dramatic, Kaylin, even to one who has seen as much as I have
You werent there, she told him, but the words were soft. You were with us.
I accessed records when I returned to the Palace. He was now using his teacher tone of voice.
And I didnt, Kaylin supplied. She glanced at Severn, who nodded very slightly. She cleared her throat. It was still hard for her to think about the Thaalaan, and the Thaalani were the Thaalaan in some ways. They hoped to save the city, if the waters rose.
Yes. But I invite you to think about appearances, Kaylin.
The wave didnt hit the city.
No. It did not. The Oracles, however, were not widely bandied about. For many peoplefor almost all of them the first warning of danger was the sight of the water itself, rising. The storm before it signified nothing, to themit was merely weather.
She nodded slowly.
From their point of viewfrom what they could seethe Thaalani went to the waters, and the waters rose.
She closed her eyes.
You understand our difficulty.
She did.
You yourself feared the Thaalani. You do not do so now, he added. But you must understand the fear that people have.
She nodded quietly.
The Emperor understands it as well. He cannot, of course, explain the whole of what happenedand given the sparsity of reports generated by your office in the wake of events, I am not entirely certain he could explain it even if that was his desire. I am not, however, here to lecture you on the quality of your paperwork. I believe it best that some things remain uncommitted to paper.
I, however, was fully debriefed. What I know, he now knows. He will not expose The Keeper, and no mention of the young Thaalani man will leave the Court for that reason. Nor will the young Thaalani man face the Emperors Justice, for that reason.
The fact that the Emperor couldnt reach him probably had something to do with it, in Kaylins opinion. She managed to keep this to herself. Instead, she returned to the matter at hand. So this Richard Rennick wrote a play. About the Thaalani.
He wrote a play about the Thaalanis attempt to save the city, yes.
But all of its garbage. Because were not allowed to tell the truth.
Garbage is an unfortunate choice of word. Lose it, he added, condescending to speak Elantran. He must have been serious. There were whole days where he affected complete ignorance of the language which most of the city actually spoke.
She picked up the sheaf of dog-eared pages. Have you even read this?
I have. It is not, I believe, the current version, if thats of any consequence.
What do you mean?
Where we could prevail upon the Thaalani at Court, we did. The effect that this had upon the playwright was unfortunate.
What happened?
Ybelline and her companions were given a copy of the play. They read it with some concern.
I bet.
They returned the play to Mr. Rennick. Luckily Lord Tiamaris was at hand; he intercepted their corrections.
This would be lucky because?
They understand the Emperors concerns. Believe that they feel them even more strongly than the Emperor does. They are not however His hesitation spoke volumes.
Kaylin almost winced. When the silence became awkward, she sighed and looked at Severn.
Severn nodded.
They dont know how to lie, she said quietly. And this all of it it must seem like one big lie to them.
Shed managed to nudge Sanabaliss brows toward his receding hairline, which had to count for something. On the other hand, the fact that his surprise was more due to her comprehension than their inability probably counted for something too.
If the truth is supposed to ease peoples fear, Ybelline could learn to live with that. But in her world, lies dont ease fear. So I imagine what she handed back to Rennickor what she tried to hand himwas pretty much all of the truth she thought it safe to put out there.
Indeed.
And the Emperors version of safe to put out there isnt the same.
Again, astute. We may yet make progress in your life as a student.
I think it would be easier than this. What did Rennick say?
Sanabalis did wince, at that. I think it best to ignore that. Suffice it to say that he did not feel his efforts to be adequately appreciated. Ybelline, however, did understand the difficulty, and if you must find a person to blame for your current assignment
I wont blame her.
she suggested you. And Corporal Handred. She said she was confident that you would work in the interests of her people, but with a better understanding of the intended audience for the play itself.
Meaning my people.
Sanabalis nodded. Which reminds me of another matter Ybelline also mentioned. The Swords have stationed a small force adjacent to the Thaalani Quarter, he added, in a more subdued tone. And before you ask, Kaylin, yes, it was entirely necessary.
Ybelline has asked for your aid in the Quarter.
For my aid? What the hell happened?
However, he added, lifting a hand in the universal Im not finished, so shut up gesture, you are to visit the Quarter after you report for duty.
On the off chance that Kaylin decided to reverse the order, Sanabalis chose to accompany her to the Palace. This wasnt the first time hed done this, and to be fair, if hed gone ahead, she would have gone to the Imperial Palace by whichever convoluted route took her to the Thaalani Quarter first. But as she had to stop by the Quartermaster to get kitted out in appropriate dress uniformand as the Quartermaster was still a touch angry, which wasnt exactly the right word for his state (the right words couldnt be used in polite company of any race, all of the Hawks being multilingual when it came to swearing)she actually appreciated Sanabaliss suspicion, because if the Quartermaster was willing to make her wait or suffer, he was not willing to piss off a Dragon Lord.
He was, however, unfailingly polite and friendly when talking to Severn. Severn did not lose expensive dresses.
She took the uniform from Severns hands and headed to the lockers, where she added a much cleanerand longersurcoat to the clothing she generally wore. If she were a Sword, shed also get a thin chain hauberk that was shiny and clean, because those looked good; Hawks didnt generally have them as part of their uniform, dress or no, although most of the human Hawks did own one.
She had managed to lose her daggerswhere lose in this case meant that something magical had transformed them into part of a very elaborate yet somehow very skimpy dressand had bought a single replacement. The other dagger was coming out of her pay.
But it wasnt coming out of her hide, for which she should probably be grateful.
Severn straightened her surcoat. It had the usual embroidered Hawk, dead center, but the golden thread and the beading was so perfectly clean it almost hurt to look at the flight feathers. To this, Kaylin added a small, beadwork patch.
I dont think its necessary, Severn told her. But he didnt tell her to take it off, probably because he knew she wouldnt. The beads survived anything. Which was more, she thought glumly, than could be said about the rest of the clothing she owned.
She took the time to clean her boots.
Severn caught her arm and said Theres nothing to be nervous about.
She winced. That obvious?
You dont generally care about your boots, no.
I justMarcus hates it when I go to the Palace. I swear he sits by his damn mirror waiting to hear that Ive been thrown in the dungeons or eaten or something.
They started to walk down the hall, and Sanabalis took the lead.
You arent reporting directly to the Emperor, Severn replied. So its unlikely that anyone you offend will have you eaten.
Youre sure?
Unless the Emperors decided that you really are a threat to his Empire, in which case he could dispense with the petty part of you actually annoying some high-ranking official, and go straight to the eating. Hes an Emperor. He doesnt have to worry about the niceties of the Law.
She squared her shoulders. Smiled at Severn. I know Im going to have to learn how to do thishow to talk with people whove never even approached the banks of the Ablayne. But Im not good at lying. Im not good at talking.
You talk all the time, he said, with just the hint of a smile. He was already moving out of the way before she hit him.
I talk to people who know more or less what I know, and who dont bloody care if I say things nicely or not. I hate the idea that my career is riding on my ability to be someone elses idea of polite.
I would dislike it as well, Sanabalis said, with a hint of the same smile Severn had offered. But if its of comfort, Kaylin, you will not feel this way in twenty years.
She bit her tongue. Hard.
And he nodded in approval.
This was going to be a long assignment.
On the way to the Palace, she read as much of the play as she could. Shed seen some street theater in her time, but her entire familiarity with plays put on for an audience involved a lot of loud children and the Foundling Halls small stage. Marrin, the Leontine who guarded and raised the orphans in said Hall, had put aside one of the large rooms in the former manor for just that purpose. For most of the year it stood empty, but during Festival season, and at odd intervals throughout the year, the cloths were dragged off the various bits and pieces of furnitureand the paintings and candelabrasand the room was opened to the visiting actors.
Kaylin had been there for almost all of the plays that occurred at any time other than Festival; Marrin often called her in to help supervise. She didnt always get the playand some of the stories, which were clearly meant to be familiar to small children before they watched the play, were a mystery to herbut the men and women in their funny hats and wigs and makeup were universally friendly and warm. The kids loved plays; they would watch in near silencenear being as much as anyone sane could hope forand laugh or scream at all the right lines.
Kaylin seriously hoped that this play wasnt meant for those children, because they would have been bored to tears. And bored children were a special hell of their own.
As near as she could tell, Mr. Rennick had decided that a budding romance between two Thaalani teens was a good ideafor reasons that made no sense to Kaylin. Having seen evidence of the Thaalani concept of romance, Kaylin had no doubt at all that this would be first on the list of things that Ybelline had attempted to correct. Second on that list would be the disapproving parents. Third on that list would be the couple attempting to sneak off somewhere together so they could be alone.
She stopped herself from dumping the play out the window, and only partly because the Swords on the streets were in a bad enough mood they might stop even an Imperial Carriage and attempt to hand someone a ticket for littering.
Does this ever get to the point?
Hmm?
I mean, does he even get to the docks and the damn tidal wave?
Well, yesbut the love story is meant to convey to the audience that the Thaalani are as human as we are. And misunderstood love occurs in all species.
It does?
Well, in Mr. Rennicks mind, yes. But I would say that he is not entirely wrong.
Oh. What does a Dragon romance look like? she asked.
Sanabalis snorted. Kaylin swore she saw a small plume of fire erupt just above his beard. Which seemed to constitute his answer on that front, and Kaylin couldnt offhand recall mention of a female Dragon at court. She was certain they must exist somewhere.
She wondered, briefly, what a Barrani romance looked like, and decided she probably wouldnt be able to tell the difference between that and one of their assassination attempts. Instead, she said, Look, the Thaalani are like the rest of us. Sort of. But this whole romanceits just wrong. I think Ybelline would find the the possessive-ness, the sense of
Ownership?
Dont mock me, Sanabalis. What Im trying to say is that they dont experience love that way.
Which is not, in fact, what you did say.
Fine. The point is, they dont. They dont have the disapproving parents thing, and they definitely dont sneak off for privacy.
Ah. Well, then, how would you structure a play in which it was utterly essential that the audience empathize with the Thaalani?