Any day that starts with dragon arguments is going to be bad
Kaylin returned from the West March in one piece. Now that piece is fraying. Shes not at home in the Imperial Palaceand she never intends to be. All she wants is normal garden-variety criminals and a place of her own. Of course, normal in her new life involves a dragon as a roommate, but she can handle that.
She cant as easily handle the new residents to the city she polices, because one of them is Nightshades younger brother. On a night when she should be talking to landlords in perfectly normal buildings, shes called to the fiefby Teela. A small family disagreement has become a large, complicated problem: Castle Nightshades latent magic is waking.
And its not the only thing.
Praise for New York Times bestselling author MICHELLE SAGARA and The Chronicles of Elantra series
No one provides an emotional payoff like Michelle Sagara.
Bestselling author Tanya Huff on The Chronicles of Elantra series
Intense, fast-paced, intriguing, compelling and hard to put downunforgettable.
In the Library Reviews on Cast in Shadow
Readers will embrace this compelling, strong-willed heroine with her often sarcastic voice.
Publishers Weekly on Cast in Courtlight
The impressively detailed setting and the books spirited heroine are sure to charm romance readers, as well as fantasy fans who like some mystery with their magic.
Publishers Weekly on Cast in Secret
Along with the exquisitely detailed world building, Sagaras character development is mesmerizing. She expertly breathes life into a stubborn yet evolving heroine. A true master of her craft!
RT Book Reviews (4 ½ stars) on Cast in Fury
Each visit to this amazing world, with its richness of place and character, is one to relish.
RT Book Reviews (4 ½ stars) on Cast in Silence
Another satisfying addition to an already vivid and entertaining fantasy series.
Publishers Weekly on Cast in Chaos
If you are searching for a rich and rewarding fantasy read different from the usual fantasy fare, then you cant go wrong with Cast in Ruin and The Chonicles of Elantra series. Heartily recommended.
SciFiGuy.ca on Cast in Ruin
Sagara does an amazing job continuing to flesh out her large cast of characters, but keeps the unsinkable Kaylin at the center.
RT Book Reviews (4 ½ stars) on Cast in Peril
Über-awesome Sagara picks up the intense action right where she left offwhile Kaylin is the heart of this amazing series, the terrific characters keep the story moving. An autobuy for sure!
RT Book Reviews (4 ½ stars) on Cast in Sorrow
The Chronicles of Elantra
by
New York Times bestselling author
Michelle Sagara
CAST IN SHADOW
CAST IN COURTLIGHT
CAST IN SECRET
CAST IN FURY
CAST IN SILENCE
CAST IN CHAOS
CAST IN RUIN
CAST IN PERIL
CAST IN SORROW
And
Cast in Moonlight
found in
HARVEST MOON,
an anthology with Mercedes Lackey and Cameron Haley
Cast in Flame
Michelle Sagara
www.mirabooks.co.uk
This year, Worldbuilders (www.worldbuilders.org), Patrick Rothfusss charity drive for Heifer International (www.heifer.org), gave me an opportunity to contribute something to their series of auctions. I wanted to do this, in part because I like the charity, and in part because the money is used to make the world a better place.
But my contribution wasa manuscript for a book. This one. And in order for that contribution to have any value to the charity, someone was required to step up and bid on and win the auction. I was prepared to thank that person in the dedication to the bookor to thank anyone the bidder chose. I still want to thank Chad for his enormous generosity.
Chad, however, bid on and bought the book as a gift for someone else, and he has a few words he wants to say:
To that special someone in my life who shall remain anonymous. Mainly because I would not likely be among the living if her true name was mentioned.
There are so many things about you that I love, like your stunning smile and laugh, which I never get tired of finding ways of bringing out. The unconditional honesty you are willing to give or how you sneeze when the sunlight kisses your face. And the phrase Oh Dear will be forever special to me.
Life offers many challenges, but I have never stopped loving you, always have, always will.
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
Praise
Booklist
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Acknowledgments
Copyright
CHAPTER ONE
On the second day after her return to Elantra, the city she policed as a groundhawk, Private Kaylin Neya fell out of bed, daggers in hands, knees bent. After one confused moment, she sheathed her daggers, took a brief look around the otherwise empty royal guest chambers that served as her temporary home, and let loose a volley of Leontine curses.
The small, translucent winged lizard that habitually slept above her head squawked in protest; shed swept him out of the way without a second thought. He hovered in front of her face as she cursed; she didnt, at the moment, have anything left over for groveling apologies.
Leontine wasnt the usual language heard in the halls of the Imperial Palace. Nor was it generally heard in the function rooms, and when it was, it wasnt the particular phrasing she now indulged in. On the other hand, the thunderous sounds that had driven her from sleep pretty much guaranteed that no one whod care could possibly hear her words. Kaylin could scream until she was blue in the face, with the same results. Anyone in the palace halls could, at the moment.
Dragons were having a discussion.
When shed first heard Dragons converse in their native tongue, shed thought of earthquakes or tidal waves. Distinguishing individual voices had been less important than covering both her ears in the vague hope shed preserve some of her hearing. A couple of weeks in the palace with Bellusdeo for a companion had changed that. She could pick out three loudpainfully loudvoices in the crash of distant thunder: Diarmats, Bellusdeos and...the Emperors. While she generally enjoyed the arguments between Bellusdeo and Diarmat, she had zero desire to ever interruptor witnessany argument which also contained the Emperor. Even mention of the Emperor was probably career-limiting.
It was dark, but the storm of sound in progress didnt seem like it would die down any time soon, and sleep was pretty much impossibleat least for Kaylin. The rest of the Dragon Court was probably in hiding, but Immortals didnt need anything as petty as sleep.
The minutethe secondshe had the time to find a new place, she was so out of here.
The small dragon landed on her shoulders. Shed named him Hope, but felt self-conscious actually calling him that, and she hadnt had time to come up with a name that suited him better. He yawned, folded himself across her shoulders like a badly formed shawl, and closed his eyes. Clearly, Dragon shouting didnt bother him in the slightest.
Then again, he probably understood what they were saying.
* * *
The palace was never dark. Individual rooms had lighting that responded to the needs of the guests who occupied them, but the hallsthe grand, wide, towering hallswere always fully lit. The Imperial Palace Guard also adorned those halls, standing like statues in a stiff, grim silence that suited their pretension.
They didnt stop Kaylin as she walked past them, heading to one of the only places that she was certain was somewhat soundproof. They knew her on sight, and if theyd had no issues treating her as one step up from a convicted felon in the past, she was now roommate to the Empires only female Dragon. The Emperor didnt want anyone to piss Bellusdeo off.
Anyone, Kaylin thought glumly, but the Emperor himself. Dragons had never been famously good at sharing.
* * *
When she reached the tall and forbidding doors of the Imperial Library, she had second thoughts. It wasnt that the Imperial Library was home in all but name to the Arkon, the oldest member of the Dragon Court. It wasnt that the doors were closed; they were almost always closed. It wasnt even his extreme dislike of being interrupted.
It was the door ward that straddled them.
Shed woken to the sounds of angry Dragon, which pretty much defined Bad Day. Having to place her palm against this particular ward took Bad Day and made it worse. At the best of times, Kaylins allergy to magic made door wards uncomfortablebut this ward could raise so much noise it might just interrupt the Dragons. One of whom was the Emperor.
There was no other way to open them. Kaylin briefly considered knocking. With her head. Before she couldand it was late enough, or early enough, that she might havethe doors surprised her by gliding open. No one stood between them.
At this hour, the library deskthe publicly accessible library deskwas unmanned. The display cases and the rows upon rows of standing files were shadowed. The robed clerks who kept the library spotless were conspicuous by their absencebut that was no surprise. No one sane visited the library at this hour.
As the doors rolled closed at her back, the sound of Dragon anger diminished.
The Arkon made his way toward her from the back of the large room, which surprised Kaylin; shed expected to find him holed up in one of the many, many rooms that comprised his personal collectionnone of which the public was invited to peruse.
Thank you for opening the doors, she told him.
I felt it best to avoid interrupting the ongoing discussion. No one involved in it is likely to be amused by the sudden need to attend to intruders.
I live here, at the moment.
Indeed. I imagine the only person present who might find a disaster of your making remotely convenient is Lord Diarmat.
Who doesnt deserve it.
You give him too little credit.
Do I?
The Arkons smile was lined. It was also sharp. Perhaps I will beg the Emperors indulgence.
In theory, this sounded good. Given the way the day had started, it couldnt be. How?
I might ask permission to teach you the rudiments of our language. His smile deepened as her eyes rounded and her brows rose.
Ill go deaf!
Yes. Follow me, please. You interrupted me, he added.
I dont know how you can work with that ruckus going on in the background.
It is difficult. I do not have the concentration I once possessed in my youth.
So, what are they arguing about exactly?
Bellusdeos status at court, at the moment; the argument has touched on many subjects. The Arkons eyes were a steady shade of orange, which wasnt a good sign, in a Dragon.