I will accept your counsel in this, Severn replied, which almost shocked Kaylin. The small dragon was seated, rather than supine, and he turned his tiny head and clucked at Severn. He didnt appear to be angry.
I have offered you the hospitality, and therefore the protection, of my home. It is a protection that does not extend beyond my halls, but none of those who serve me will act against you, except at need.
Lord Kaylin
Will go, with the dreams of Alsanis, to the Ladys side. She may well go beyond, to a place where neither you, nor I, may follow. I leave the decision in your hands. But I offer this: I will protect her with my life. I play no games. I little care for the politics of the High Court in this single instance. While Lord Kaylin is within the West March, I will offer her the full protection of my line.
No one will harm me while Im in this dress, Kaylin said.
You are almost entirely correct, Lord Barian replied gravely.
Its considered almost treason to hurt this dress.
Ah, no. That is your interpretation, and it is not entirely correct. It is considered treason in the West March to act against either the harmoniste or the Teller. It is considered treason, he continued, to subject children to the regalia. I invite you to consider why.
Because it was tried, and it was an unmitigated disaster.
Indeed. We are a practical people, Lord Kaylin. I understand that you consider our manners complicated to an extreme, but there are reasons for the laws we hand down.
Kaylin was exhausted, but she was good at working through exhaustion; if she hadnt been, her work at the Guild of Midwives would have killed her. The thought of the midwives and their infrequent emergencies made her throat tighten. Shed had time to inform them that shed be traveling outside of the city for at least six weeks. Shed also seen the look on Maryas face as she received the news.
Marya wasnt above using guilt as a lever when things were desperateand things could get desperate, as the midwives guild itself was not a high-powered guild with golden pockets. But if Kaylin didnt pay dues to practice under the auspices of the guildand she didnt, as she couldnt afford themshe didnt charge for her services. Being called at all hours of the day or night seemed a small price to pay for the opportunity to save the lives of women and their newborns.
She was aware that the midwives guild did charge for some of the services she provided, but shed made absolutely clear that there was to be a sliding scalewith zero on the poor end of the scale. Deadly emergencies werent particularly snobbish; they came to people in all walks in life. The people who couldnt afford her services were Kaylins chief concern.
On the other hand, her presence in the guild had done much to increase the money coming in. She considered charging a fee, but she was beyond lousy at negotiating on her own behalf: she would have to put a price on her services, and to do that she would have to evaluate them objectively. There were doctors in Elantra, some of whom Kaylin privately considered to be quacks, but none of them had Kaylins talent.
None of them had Kaylins marks.
The marks had been the indirect cause of deaths across the city. Deaths of children who had the misfortune to be about the same age as Kaylin had been at the time, and who had also had the misfortune to be poor and unprotected. She hadnt killed them. But if these marks hadnt existed on her skin, they wouldnt have died.
Doing volunteer work at the midwives guild was an act of atonement. She couldnt go back in time to prevent deaths from happeningno matter how desperately those deaths scarred her. Death was death. But she could be there at the start of a life; she could be there to stop death from arriving. The marks themselves implied a power that she had never fully understood, but shed come to understand one thing well: she could heal. She couldnt bring the dead back to life, for which she was grateful; if she could, she would have had to move out of the cityin secretchange her name, and go into hiding. The requests from the bereaved would never, ever stop.
If her ability was an open secret in the upper echelons of the Halls of Law, it wasnt taken completely seriously by those on the ground floor; most of the old guard saw her as the angry thirteen-year-old shed been when shed first walked through the doors. Theyd never seen her power at work, and couldnt believe that it wasnt somehow an exaggeration. And shed learnedover timeto appreciate that.
The Barrani had never doubted her ability.
But only the Barrani had seen her use it to kill. Even Marcus had only seen the end result, not the death itself. The Barrani considered murder to be an extreme form of politics, rather than a gross miscarriage of justice. Flamboyant murderssuch as those that involved the Arcane artswere considered variations on a theme. If you could kill, the implements didnt matter. The information about methods used was useful as a counter, no more.
It was really hard to outrage the Barrani when it came to big things; theyd seen it all. Healing, which would be considered a blessing by most, was an act of aggression and intrusion; squashing a bloodsucking insect was clearly so outrageous that an entire war band could fall completely silent while staring daggers at any part of her body that wasnt covered in dress.
She was reminded of the fact that the Barrani could be outragedcoldlyby the most unpredictable things when the Lord of the West March appeared at the head of eight armed and armored men shortly after she arrived at his hall with the Warden in tow. The eagles chose to land before the doors were slammed in their faces.
She was reminded of the fact that the Barrani could be outragedcoldlyby the most unpredictable things when the Lord of the West March appeared at the head of eight armed and armored men shortly after she arrived at his hall with the Warden in tow. The eagles chose to land before the doors were slammed in their faces.
Warden, the Lord of the West March said, in a tone that implied the difference in their respective ranks.
Lord Lirienne, the Warden replied, in a tone that negated that difference. Kaylin desperately wished that Severninjured and recoveringhad not chosen to remain behind. If he wasnt at home among the Barrani, it didnt show, but Severn had never been self-conscious.
Lord Kaylin.
ImIm sorry to bother you. I know its late.
One of his brows rose; the corner of his lip twitched. In Barrani, this was indicativein this situationof riotous laughter. At her expense, of course. She glanced at the Warden, and saw a similar, if more pained, expression on his face. She didnt enjoy the humiliation of being the object of hilarity, but was old enough now to appreciate the way it cut the tension between the two men.
This was Lord Kaylins request? the Lord of the West March said, his tone softening.
She willed him to say yes; it wasnt as if the Barrani considered lying a crime. Given the length of time it took to respond, she thought hed considered it. It was not entirely her request, no.
The eagles, silent until this moment, turned the intensity of their focus upon the Lord of the West March; they might have been puppies, given his reaction. We asked. If we have transgressed, forgive us. We had hoped to have more time.
You will not remain among us.
No. We do not know how long we have, but the pull to oblivion is strong. The Chosen said that the Lady absorbed three of the nightmares, and has since remained asleep. Has she awoken in the Chosens absence?
No.
We would like to see her.
All of the Barrani in the hall except the Lord of the West March tensed.
For no reason she could think of, Kaylin said, Ill be with them the entire time. This would not have brought much comfort to most of the people she shared an office with.
With your permission, I will also remain, the Warden said. It sounded like a genuine offer, not a demand.
It will be a very crowded room, Lord Lirienne replied.
Lord Kaylin is your kyuthe, Lord Lirienne. I have not asked the circumstances that drew her to your attention; I am sure there is a story behind it, when we have the leisure to indulge in them. I know, however, what drew her to mine: she touched the nightmares of Alsanis, and the eagles woke. We have argued long about the fate of Alsanisbut the dreams speak with his voice; they see.
I have never argued that Alsanis is dead, Lord Lirienne replied. Nor has the High Lord.
You have argued that he is altered beyond all recognition. The Hallionne has not opened its doors since the day of the betrayal; were he so transformed that he did not prize the safety of his guests
His guests are not confined to the Hallionne, Kaylin said, in anxious High Barrani.
Lord Barian stiffened and turned to face her after glancing briefly at the Lord of the West March. What he saw confirmed Kaylins words.
If youre speaking of the children who were lost.
We are. You cannot comprehend Alsaniss sorrow, he told her softly. Although he was Hallionne, the children confined within his walls killed all but a handful of the Barrani Lords who had traveled with him. He could not protect his guests; the minds of the lost children were too chaotic, too unordered. They thought all things simultaneouslyand none. He offered what warning he could; he closed whole wings in an attempt to contain the lost.
And he closed his doors entirely to the Wardens, and my line. Only through the dreams of Alsanis could we speak to him at all. He chose to sacrifice himself in order to prevent further deaths; he could not offer hospitality in safety to any.
Except the lost children.
He did not consider it hospitalitybut he could not immediately destroy them. He tried, he added softly. They were anathema to the green.
They didnt leave through the front doors, Kaylin told him softly. They left through the portal paths. When they attacked Orbaranneand they were involved, Id bet my eyes on itthe brunt of their attack was on the portal paths.
They fielded a large force on normal roads, as wellbut I concur. They did not slip out through the literal front doors.
She turned to the silent eagles. Did Alsanis grant them permission to leave?
They did not leave, the eagle on her arm replied gravely.
They did
They are not as you are. They did not leave the Hallionne. He turned to the eagle that now rested upon the Wardens arm, and they conferred in their lilting and entirely unintelligible language.