The Arkon was the palaces version of a librarian. He was also the oldest Dragon at Court, and technically not called Lord, and his hoard was the library. Kaylins understanding of the Dragon term hoard wasnt exact, but time had made clear that it meant touch any of my stuff and die horribly.
She nodded and took the chair opposite Sanabalis. She even picked up the large sandwiches that had been made for her. Sanabalis never seemed to eat, and he deflected most of her questions about Dragon cuisine. Then again, he deflected most of her questions about Dragons, period, which was annoying because he was one, and could in theory be authoritative.
Do you understand the significance of what Lord Nightshade revealed? he asked her, coming to the point while she chewed. His tone of voice made clear that he expected the answer to be no.
She grimaced, wiping crumbs from the corners of her lips. Theres some strong connection between a fief and its Lord, she finally said.
He nodded.
Liatt, a fieflord, rules the way Nightshade does. Barren doesnt.
Do you understand why?
No. Im not a fieflord. Its never been one of my life ambitions, even when I thought Id live there forever. Seeing the stiffening lines of his face, which werent all that significant, and the slight darkening of the gold of his eyes, which was, she added, I can infer that there is a building in each fief that is similar to Castle Nightshade.
The color didnt exactly recede, but it didnt darken to orange. Sanabalis was not, by any stretch of the definition, in a good mood.
If theres a building like that in Barren, Barren doesnt own it. Hes not its Lord or its master.
Did you know this?
SanabalisI was thirteen. She spread her hands, one of which was full of sandwich, in a gesture of self-defense. Id never been inside the Castlehow the hell was I supposed to know it was significant? It was where Nightshade lived; the only chance I was ever going to see it involved death by cage. In public.
And in Barren?
More of the same, she said.
He said nothing for a long moment, and it was Kaylin who looked away. Not the same, she said, and the food turned to ash in her mouth. But I didnt know that Barren wasnt like Nightshade. I didnt know She stopped. Swallowed. What I knew doesnt matter.
Sanabalis nodded, conceding the point. Do you understand what alarmed Lord Tiamaris?
She nodded. She did. Barren is unstable, she said quietly. And whatever lies at the heart of the fiefs isnt contained anymore. If we cant stabilize Barrensomehowthat will spill across the Ablayne.
And into the Emperors city, yes.
But Barrens held it
For ten years. Much longer, Sanabalis added softly, than we would have suspected was possible. We dont know whats changed, he added, a note of warning in the words, but something has.
What are you going to do about it?
He spread his hands across the knobs at the end of his armrests. What am I going to do? At the moment, very little.
She snorted. Fine. What am I going to do?
A more salient question. You are going to accompany Lord Tiamaris to the fiefs to investigate the difficulty. Think of how youre going to approach this, he added, as he rose. If you require entry into Barren
Kaylin lifted a hand. I know how Ill get in, she told him curtly. Then, trying to smooth the edge out of her voice, she added, I have no idea how to do it with Tiamaris tagging along.
Tiamaris, Sanabalis replied, is not optional.
Sanabalis left her abruptly, but his departure wasnt the usual mystery; a Dragon roared, the palace shook, and when the tremors had died down, he was already out the door. She thought the voice sounded familiar, but it was hard to tell; the roar had momentarily deafened Kaylin.
She ate in silence, although she did so from the ledge of the window, watching the flags atop the Halls of Law. If she had sneered at those Halls as a childand she must have, being a fiefling, although she honestly didnt remember itshe felt no similar disdain now; the Halls served a purpose. One only had to cross the Ablayne to see the effects of the districts beyond their reach. Yes, the law wasnt perfect; yes, its officers and representatives made mistakes.
But the alternative was so much worse. Shed lived it; she knew.
She had avoided the fiefs for over seven years now, approaching them solely at the request of her superiors in one Hall or another. It wasnt simply cowardice or distaste; it wasnt a desire to separate herself from her roots or her past. She was afraid of what the fiefs contained.
But if she let that fear govern her, unspoken and unacknowledged as it so often was, the fiefs would come to her. They would eat away at Barren, and if Barren himself deserved it, the people who eked out a miserable living in his fief probably didnt; they didas Kaylin had done in Nightshadewhat they needed to, to survive.
She couldnt judge them; didnt even want to. That wasnt her job.
The door opened, and she turned slowly to see Tiamarisand the Arkon. Sanabalis, slightly shorter, stood behind them.
The Arkon lifted a slender, wrinkled hand. Private Neya, he said.
She slid off the ledge, and offered him a full bow. If it wasnt a good bow, he didnt appear to notice. Neither did Sanabalis, but she could see that in his case, it took effort.
I am prepared, the Arkon told her, as he entered the room, surveyed the chairs, and took the one Sanabalis habitually occupied, to discuss Ravellon.
CHAPTER 7
Kaylin had once been warned not to ask the Arkon about Ravellon if she valued her life, or at least having all her limbs attached. She reminded herself that she hadnt asked as she took the nearest chair that would support her weight. Given the room was a hospitality suite for a Dragon Lord, that would be any of them.
Lord Tiamaris, if you will be seated? the Arkon said, in a tone of voice that made Marcuss commands seem polite and obsequious.
Tiamaris, in this, was Kaylins superior; he apologized instantly for his inattentiveness, and he took his seat in perfect silence.
Private Neya, it has come to my attention that you spent some time in Barren recently.
She opened her mouth. Tiamaris stepped lightlyfor a Dragonon her foot. By recently, of course, Tiamaris told her, the Arkon refers to anything that happened during the course of my lifetime.
Oh.
The Arkon raised a white brow. Understand that our knowledge of the fiefs isincomplete. What understanding we have is not entirely reliable. The fiefs are not hospitable to those who are not their masters.
She nodded.
Was our information accurate?
Yes. I was in Barren seven years ago. She spoke quietly, and without her usual confidence. I dont know much about the fief that anyone who lives there every day wouldnt know. This was not entirely the truth, but it was enough of the truth, if you narrowed the definition of everyone slightly.
The Arkon didnt appear unduly suspicious. Did you ever have cause to meet with the fieflord there?
Her silence was more pronounced. But Dragons lived forever, absent things that were actively hostile; time meant less to them. Yes. Yes, I met Barren.
The Arkon didnt appear unduly suspicious. Did you ever have cause to meet with the fieflord there?
Her silence was more pronounced. But Dragons lived forever, absent things that were actively hostile; time meant less to them. Yes. Yes, I met Barren.
Good. What can you tell me about this fieflord?
What do you want to know?
Is he human?
She nodded. As human as Ias
His lips curved in a smile. As human as most of the citizens of Elantra?
As that, yes. He was older than I was. Hes probably forty now, maybe a little older. Possibly a little younger. The fiefs tend to age people.
Where did he come from?
Come from?
The Arkon glanced at Sanabalis. I believe I asked the correct question?
Yes, Arkon.
II dont know. He was the fieflord. I didnt exactly ask.
The Arkon frowned. And he did not choose to enlighten you? Even the Arkon could read the silence that followed his question. Very well. The fief of Barrenas do all fiefsborder the heart of the fiefs themselves. We cannot pierce the shadows there, he added. By any means save entering them. The Aerians can fly over the edges, but in the center, flight falters.
How do you know?
How do you think we know?
She swallowed and thought of Clint. But she didnt ask more, mostly because she was afraid the answer would enrage her; shed always loved the Aerian Hawks. Why do you think they cant fly over the heart of the fiefs? It was a safer question, as comment seemed expected.
His brows rippled slightly, but he didnt seem annoyed. One of two possibilities exist. The first: that the heart is magically protected in some fashion, and in a way that defies the expedience of simple geography. It is not the explanation I favor, he added. The second is slightly more complex. How far did you proceed in your studies on magical theory?
When she failed to produce an answer, the brows rose again, but this time, the expression he offered was less benign. You have studied magical theory? Sanabalis? Clearly, the shock of her second nonanswer caused him to forget the nicety of something as simple as a title.
Her studies in magical theory were not considered mandatory for a member of the groundhawks.
It is hardly possible to have a conversation with someone who has no grounding in the basics. I might as well speak in my native tongue for all the good it will do.
Indeed, Sanabalis replied.
Alleviate the difficulty. You are teaching her, are you not?
Yes, Arkon.
Kaylin wilted visibly. Shed long since realized that there were whole days that did not reward getting out of bed; she thought it a bit unfair that whole weeks could also be like that. Pretend Im ignorant, she began.
It hardly requires pretense, the Arkon replied stiffly.
Reminding herself that she liked her limbs attached, she swallowed. Explain it anyway?
He was very slow to relent, but did. I am not responsible for your inability to understand, he told her. And I therefore am not responsible for any questions that arise from your incomplete comprehension. Tiamaris may answer them in my absence.
Arkon, Tiamaris replied.
Very well. You have heard the world theory, yes?
Sanabalis raised a brow. I think it completely irrelevant to the Hawks and the Imperial Law. It is unlikely that she has been forced to study something considered that esoteric.
Very well. There is, in theory, more than one world.
More than one?
The Arkon nodded.
How many?
Sanabalis winced. Clearly, this was not the right question.
More than one. Right.
Each world has a magical potential. She nodded.
And each world has a magical field, if you will, a level of power that permeates the whole. If our own studies are anything to go by, that level of power can fluctuate from place to place. Do you understand the concept of power lines or power grids?
She wanted to nod, but she didnt. She could guess how amused the Arkon would be by a simple fib. She could also see that her silence had caused his eyes to shade into a dark bronze. Sometimes ignorance had its appeal.
Sanabalis, I am entirely unamused.
Arkon.
Very well, Private Neya. Magical potential seems to form along lines; we are not certain why. Those lines can cross, and in some areas, they will form a grid, in some a knot. Those knots are areas in which magic, when it can be used at all, will be at its most potent. It will often also be at its most wild.
Wild?
Sanabalis can explain that later. My time is valuable.
Hers, on the other hand, wasnt, at least if you went by pay scale. But she absorbed the words, made as much sense as she could of them, and then braved a question. The buildings in the fiefslike the Castleare they on those knots?
He raised a brow. Very good. This may be less painful than I anticipated. Yes. They are, as you put it, on potential knots. The magic that defines the boundaries of a fief seem to follow lines that extend from the central knot, and out. But there is some blurring of boundary, as has been discussed elsewhere.
In the heart of the fiefs, in what was once called Ravellon by the Barrani, we believe potential exists such as exists nowhere else in our world.
What does this have to do with other worlds?
Clearly, this was a bad question. Nothing. But you bring me to my previous point. Our world has a very high magical potential. It is why we believe the Aerians are capable of flight. It is why they exist at all.
But
He raised a brow. She closed her mouth.
In a different magical environment, the Aerians would, in theory, be incapable of sustaining their own weight in flight. They might have wings, but the wings would serve no function, except perhaps in a cultural way. There are sages who have made this study their lifes work. Perhaps you can find one of them to question.
Kaylin bit her lip. She did not dislike the Arkon in the way she disliked the pretentious and snobby nobles who occasionally crossed her pathbut even so, she didnt like being all but called a moron. Instead of concentrating on her injured dignity, she concentrated on his words. Her eyes widened.
You think that Ravellon is
He raised a brow.
You think it exists in more than one world.
Why do you say that?
You didnt think the first explanation was true, although it would make sense, you believe the second explanation. And the theoretical existence of other worlds ties into that explanation. You think that, near the heart of the fiefs, there is some other world thats touching ours that wouldnt support Aerian life.
He raised both brows. Sanabalis, he told her tutor, she shows serious potential as a student. Why has this not been explored?
For a human, she is much like Lord Tiamaris was in his youth.
This clearly meant more to the Arkon than it did to Kaylin; the Arkon actually grimaced. Very well. They are both rather young. He spoke as if youth was a failing. Yes, Private Neya. That is what I believe.
It is also, Sanabalis finally said, not relevant at the moment.