As glass.
Good. He didnt smile. Your life depends on it. You have not yet met the Emperor, but that will not save you if you cross the lines he has drawn. Understand this, he told her quietly. Because if you do, nothing I can do or say will affect his decision.
You may, however, question Tiamaris at your leisure, as he is part of the Court and privy to Court matters. If you have any leisure time. He gestured and the door opened. So much for economical use of power. You have been given permission to remove your bracer. I suggest you wait until youve crossed the Ablayne.
Oh, I will, she told him. Because that was where she usually threw the damn thing.
Tiamaris escorted her out of the Imperial Palace. Theyd spent most of the day there, one way or the other, and Kaylin, glancing at the Halls of Law in the distance, grimaced. Barren.
You dont want to return.
No. Never. She could afford to be that honest with Tiamaris.
Kaylin
But it just so happens were in luck. She used irony here as if it were a blunt weapon. Against the force of Dragon humor, it pretty much had to be. I met an old friend of mine on the way from Evantons shop.
He raised a dark brow. An old friend?
She nodded. She expected to see me. I sure as hells didnt expect to see her. But she had a message for me. How much can we stall?
Stall?
How long can we hold off our investigation? A day? Two?
If theres reason for it, but
It had better be a damn good reason? Tiamaris nodded.
We can probably go there now, she told him quietly. It depends on how desperate we want Barren to think I am.
Desperate?
Hes sending a messenger with a letter for the Hawklord, she told him, voice flat. I can either fail to show or intercept the message before it crosses the bridge. If we go now, I have no doubt at all that well be taken to Barrenbut if I go now, hell know he has the upper hand.
If I wait, hell be pretty damn certain he has it anywaythats Barren all over.
Does he?
She swallowed. Glanced at the river that had been the dividing line of her life. I dont know, she finally said.
Then decide, Kaylin. You have the advantage of personal experience. I dont.
She nodded, grateful to him for at least that. If Barren thought he had the upper hand, he wasnt likely to be careless; that level of laziness would never have kept the fiefs in his hands.
Finally, she exhaled. Well take the risk. Im not sure how Im going to explain you, though. I dont suppose youd care to wait?
I would be delighted to wait, he replied, in a tone of voice that was clearly the effect of serving, however briefly, with the Hawks. I would not, however, survive it should it come to light.
Figures. She shrugged and began to walk. Lets see what were up against.
A Dragon brow rose over bronze eyes. Please tell me, he said, as he fell in step beside her, shortening his stride so he didnt leave her behind, that that is not the extent of your ability to plan.
I dont generally make plans when I have no information.
Or at all?
She shrugged. I dont see the point of planning everything when things could change in an eye blink. Lets see what Barrens got. We can plan then.
It is a small wonder to me, Tiamaris replied, although he didnt stop moving, that youve survived to be the insignificant age you currently are.
Stand in line.
CHAPTER 8
The Ablayne moved through the city in what was almost a circle. Kaylin, who had never been outside of the city, thought nothing of it; Tiamaris, who had, explained why. She tried to listen. But as she passed the bridge that connected her to Nightshade, and the part of her past that she wasnt ashamed of, his words joined the buzz of the streets crowds.
Although the merchant market was not located on the banks of the Ablayne, enterprising independentswho were often forced to move damn quickly, by tolls, Swords, and legitimate merchantsoften set up small stalls near the river. Why, she never quite understood, but there was traffic.
She didnt walk quickly and Tiamaris, while a Dragon Lord, wasnt stupid. He stopped at the midpoint between the two bridges.
Kaylin.
She glanced at him.
The Imperial Court knows what the Emperor knows, he told her quietly. She nodded.
There is nothing to hide, not from me.
Its not about hiding, she told him, although she wasnt certain she wasnt lying. Barren, she said, swallowing, is different. Look, it doesnt matter. Were going. She started to walk, and she walked quickly. This wasnt her beat; she didnt have to fall into the steady, quiet walk that could take hours.
What concerns you, now?
She almost said nothing. But he was going where she was going; he had some right to know. I dont know what he wants from me. I dont know what he knows about me. He implied he knows a lot, but that was always what he did. Imply knowledge, let people assume you know everything, and then pick up what you didnt know from what they let slip. She paused and then added, He knows why I went to the Hawklords tower. He knows Im not dead. He doesnt know what happened.
But there are only two conclusions he can draw. The first, that I tried to carry out his orders. The second, that I turned on him immediately.
The latter is the concern.
Lets just say hes a fieflord. You dont get to keep your titleif its even thatif people can turn on you without consequences.
And youre afraid of him? Tiamariss brows rose. Both of them. He placed one hand on her shoulder. You were thirteen years old when you left Barren. By the reckoning of your kind, you were barely out of childhood. You are not that child, now. He glanced at her wrist, and she grimaced.
Sorry, she muttered. I almost forgot. Opening the bracer and tossing it into the nearest trash heap or stretch of moving water was one of lifes little luxuries; today, it just didnt seem to matter. She pressed the gems along the inside of the wrist in sequence, and waited for the familiar click of freedom. When it came, she pulled the bracer free, exposing, for just a moment, the blue-black lines, swirls, and dots of the marks that encompassed over half her body.
I had these marks, then, she told him softly, pulling her arm back and tossing the bracer in a wide, glinting arc that ended with an audible splash. I thought they would kill me.
They may, yet, was his reply. From his expression, she thought it was meant to be comforting. Dragons had pretty damn strange ideas of what passed for comfort. He began to walk; it was clear he knew the way to Barren.
How many other fiefs did you visit? Kaylin asked him.
Pardon?
You entered Castle Nightshade, before you met me.
Ah.
Did you go to Barren?
No. I went, however, to Illien in its time. The borders are largely the same. Or, he added, they were.
And the others?
Some of the others.
Why?
Pardon?
You entered Castle Nightshade, before you met me.
Ah.
Did you go to Barren?
No. I went, however, to Illien in its time. The borders are largely the same. Or, he added, they were.
And the others?
Some of the others.
Why?
This particular nothing stretched out for a while. Which meant he wasnt going to answer. She obligingly changed topics as the bridge across the Ablayne came into view. It was a narrower bridge than the one that crossed from Nightshade.
Standing on the other side of the narrow bridge, lounging against the rails, was a figure she recognized.
Morse.
Morse smiled. The scar that marred the line of her upper lip stretched as she did, whitening. Morses smile could scare a much larger man into silence. Kaylin had seen it happen. Youre tricked out, she said, nodding at the surcoat.
Youre not.
Not more than usual. Morse ran her fingers through the short brush of her dark hair. The ring that pierced her left eyebrow glinted in the sun, which was near its height. Had some word that you might be by, she added, still lounging.
Kaylin shrugged. I bet. Im here.
And not that happy about it? Morse rose, then. Happens. Whos your friend?
A Hawk, Kaylin replied. It was always touch and go, with Morse, unless the seven years had changed her a lot.
No kidding. The smile deserted her face. We dont need groundhawks on this side of the border, if you take my meaning.
Fine. Tell Barren that. Kaylin folded her arms across her chest.
Morse was silent for a long moment, and Kaylin watched the ring that pierced her brow. It wasit had beena decent indicator of Morses moods, which could turn on a half-copper without warning. If it dipped or it rose too rapidly, you were on shaky ground. If it stayed steady, regardless of the words or the threat, you probably had a few more guaranteed minutes of life.
It was steady, now.
Kaylin? Not so much.
And if Kaylin had learned to read Morse seven years ago, Morse had also learned to read Kaylin. Eli, she said quietly, the word completely neutral. He should never have sent you across the river.
Kaylin said nothing. Nothing much to say. But she didnt correct Morses use of her name, because to Morse, she was Elianne. Not more, not less.
Why did he? Kaylin heard herself ask. She almost bit off her own tongue, because she realized it was the only thing she could do that would stop it from flapping.
Morse shrugged, and turned her glance toward the sluggishly moving waters of the Ablayne; it had been a dry season, so far. Ask him, she finally said.
I dont care what he thinks, Kaylin replied. The part of her that was shouting shut up was seven years too old. I want to know why you let him. The part of her that was seven years too old didnt matter. Let him? Have you forgotten whos the fieflord and whos the grunt here?
That should have shut Kaylin up. It should have. But an anger that she hadnt felt in years was burning her mouth, and the only way not to be consumed by it was to open that damn mouth and let it out.
I was thirteen, Morse. I was stupid. How old had she been before she finally realized that it was just a setup, just a way of killing her at a distance? Fourteen? Fifteen? Twenty?
You were one of his best, even then.
Doesnt say much about the rest of his recruits, does it? Kaylin spit to the left. It was the Barren equivalent of Leontine cursing. She did not, however, aim at Morse; that was the Barren equivalent of telling the Emperor to shove off. I wasnt good enough to do what he ordered me to do. I couldve spent another decade, and I would never be that good. He couldnt have expected me to succeed. Her voice rose in the stillness. She tried to throttle it back. But her hands were shaking.
You thought you didnt care, she told herself in bitter fury. You thought it was all in the past. It was done. You could walk away. And she had. Shed walked. Now she was walking back. Funny, how the fires you didnt put out the first time were there to burn your sorry butt when you returned.
You thought you could. Neutral. The ring hadnt budged.
Kaylin, however, was past caring. Stung, she said, Yes, I thought I could. You told me I could, and I believed it.
You wanted to believe it, Morse said, and for the first time, the brow ring did shiftit went down. You always did. You always wanted some damn thing to believe in. Am I good enough, yet? Am I ready? Will I ever be ready? The mimicry was harsh.
And it was deserved. Kaylin, white, stood on the rise of the narrow bridge, looking down at Morse and trying to remember how to breathe.
If he wanted me dead, she said, when shed remembered as much as she was going to be capable of, why didnt he just tell you to kill me?
Morse was utterly silent.
It was the wrong type of silence. Morse?
The world was shifting beneath Kaylins feet. It wasnt just the boundaries of Barren, it wasnt the shadows of the past. The past never truly died anyway; you just boxed it up and put it in storage, hoping it wouldnt come back to bite you later. But it did, and sometimes you bled.
You werent the only one who was young and stupid, Morse finally said. Seven years, Eli. A lot can change in seven years. She shoved her hands into pockets, and away from the hilts of her very prominent daggers, as if that was all that kept her from drawing them. You coming, or what? She turned and stepped off the bridge. Morse hadnt been big on symbolism; a dagger was a dagger, a fist was a fist and a corpse was a corpse, although admittedly she took some joy in creating them in the right situation.