As if, she thought, he had seen them. Maybe he had. Maybe the tiara that graced his brow at the whim of the heart of the green allowed it. She was only grateful that wasnt the case with Teela.
Nightshade, dont.
He failed to answer. Inasmuch as he could, he had shut her out entirely. And she knew what it would cost to force him to listen, or worse, obey.
You could not. He sounded amused. It is true that names are cages, Kaylin. But understanding the shape of the cage does not immediately give you the key.
Theyre not who they were.
No. But Terrano approached your Teela; he had no desire to kill her. Something remains.
Lord Kaylin?
Hes beyond the darkness, was her flat reply.
Teelas brows joined a moment over the bridge of her nose. She did not put her momentary disgust into words. Instead, she turned to the Lord of the West March. If you will allow it, cousin, I will distract them while you retreat with the Consort.
He shook his head. There are three to the west, at a greater distance. Your ability with sword has always been impressive, but I am unwilling to sacrifice you in a staying action; we have lost too many already.
I am the only person present who might survive it.
Yes. That is problematic in its own right. What the fieflord chooses to do makes no material difference to his position; he is already Outcaste. We are ready.
The light in the clearing grew harsher, brighter, before he had finished. Arrows flew in a volley; some struck the Ferals. None touched the Barrani behind them, although two splintered before they could. The darkness wavered, thinning under the renewed light.
Follow the Lady, Lord Kaylin, if you cannot see the path itself. Step on nothing outside of its boundaries. He drew sword. The Consort grabbed Kaylins arm.
Im the only person who can see
Not for much longer, the Consort said, voice the same texture as the edge of the sword she carried. My brother is waking the heart of the forest, and we do not wish to be standing here when it fully responds.
The Ferals snarled and leaped; one growled what sounded like a Barrani battle cry. The small dragon squawked; Kaylin said, Go if you can help them. He dug in instead, as the Lady began to run, still attached to Kaylins arm.
At their backs, the call of a horn shattered the silence.
Barrani words followed, some of them wedged between the growls and snarls.
If there was a path beneath the Consorts feet, Kaylin couldnt see it, but she didnt doubt it was there. The Consort never hesitated; she didnt stumble, she didnt call a halt. The Barrani didnt require it; what she saw, they saw. The only person to break small branches or crush undergrowth or stub her toes was Kaylin.
Severn saw as Kaylin did: a bunch of trees and small plants in a nighttime sky. He was not as important as Kaylins dress; no one grabbed his arm, no one dragged him, and no one treated him as if he was likely to get distracted and wander off.
But he sheathed his weapons for the run; the Barrani, with the single exception of the Consort, did not. The small dragon had folded his wings at the start of the run, but he perched on her shoulder, rather than draping himself across both, as he usually did. None of them looked back; none of them mentioned the Lord of the West March or those who might have stayed by his side.
Nor did they mention Nightshade; they probably hoped hed be killed.
Kaylin was good at running. But the years in which shed learned to run in pursuit of a criminal rather than in terror from one made this flight hard. She knew they had the numbers to stand and fightand theyd just taken a greater part of that number on a run through moonlit forest, leaving one of the few Barrani High Lords she actually liked to stand on his own.
As incentive, it wasnt.
Even her certain sense that she wasnt a match for any of the five shed personally spotted didnt make it better.
It is not easier for the Consort, a disembodied voice said. Nightshades. But she understands her duty and her responsibility. If the Lord of the West March is lost, he will be replaced. If the Consort is lost, the replacement will be difficult, and it is all but guaranteed to be a long time coming. There will be any number of Lords willing to make the attempt to fill her rolebut very few will succeed, and if they fail, they are also lost to us.
She grimaced as the top side of her feet hit the underside of a raised branch and sent her staggering. Her weight didnt unbalance the Consort, but it was close.
And if she is lost, he continued, there will almost certainly be a succession war. You have never seen one.
Her death wont kill the High Lord.
No. But she has not yet had children. If she perishes here, she will not. Any Barrani who can touch the lake of life will therefore be mother to the High Lord to come. I understand that politics have never been of import in your life, but you are a Lord of the High Court and you must come to understand at least the obvious basics.
A branch slapped her in the face, which caused the small dragon to hiss in fury. Sorry, she muttered. Im not used to carrying a passenger.
Where are you? Kaylin all but demanded.
I am at the side of the Lord of the West March. He has not fallen, and, Kaylin, he will not. You are only a few miles from the edge of his domain, and in his domain, he has strength that not even the High Lord in the High Halls possesses.
Nightshade, she said, in out-of-breath Elantran, is fighting beside your brother now. Theyre both alive.
The Consort didnt reply. She didnt appear to have heard. But she gave the arm she was using as a rope line a brief squeezeand then increased the pace. This had one advantage: it gave Kaylin very little time to think.
There was no obvious moment at which the forest transformed. It didnt fall away; it didnt immediately open up into an obvious clearing. The path the Barrani followed remained invisible to Kaylin; it didnt widen or flatten enough for carriages or wagons to use. Which made Kaylin wonder exactly how the carriages the High Court had abandoned would have made it here in the first place.
In spite of this, she knew when theyd arrived. Something about the forest changed; it took her a moment to realize what. She could hear birds. It was still night, but the differing shades of gray were clearer. The Barrani party slowed to a walk. They did not, in any other way, relax.
Nor did the Consort let go of Kaylins arm; her fingers were now tingling, the Consorts grip was so tight. Let me do the speaking, she said. To Kaylins surprise, she spoke in very quiet Elantran.
It was a warning, of sorts. There was no one in sightpresent company exceptedto speak to. Severn approached the Consort but stopped ten yards back. The rest of the Barrani remained armed; Severn chose to leave both hands loose by his side. It was hard to tell if he was paler, or if the run had exhausted him, but if it had, he failed to acknowledge it.
He waited.
Birds sang. From within the group, birds apparently answered. Kaylin felt less relieved about the sound than she had moments ago. The arrows that studded the path in rapid succession didnt help. Or it didnt help her; the Barrani surrounded her and didnt even blink; clearly this was the Barrani version of a gate check. Two of the Lords of the High Court lifted bows of their own; after a moment two arrows arched into the air, landing with audible thunks in the trees high above where the Consort stood.
The Consort raised an arm; moonlight touched her fingers and her hands, silvering her skin in a way Kaylin found disturbing. It wasnt magicit wasnt the magic that caused Kaylins skin to ache until it felt raw. But it wasnt natural; the moonlight touched nothing else here. Kaylin couldnt see the moon for the trees. Arrows flew again. Three, this time.
Kaylin took a step back, or tried; the Consort had not released her arm. She openedand closedher mouth. The Consorts eyes were midnight-blue. They were standing in the home of the Lord of the West March, the seat of his power. This was supposed to be safe ground. But Kaylin knew the Barrani, and there was no mistaking that eye color as the rest of the Consorts skin began, like her raised hand, to shine.
Silver had never seemed so wrong. Pale skin had never seemed so threatening. It was not a color Kaylin associated with life. She was afraid. She was afraid for the Consort. The fear of her hatred, her anger, and her endless disapproval was swallowed by it.
Kaylin, what is wrong?
She didnt have the words for it.
Kaylin!
Look, she told him, whispering although no one else in the world could hear. Look through my eyes. She felt his presence for a moment.
Tell me whats happened. Quickly, Kaylin.
She didnt use words; she didnt have to use them. He saw what she had seen. Tell me I dont have to worry, she thought.
You will not believe it. Not when we speak like this.
The Consort moved her hand, opening her palm and turning it up toward the sky. Three arrows flew. To Kaylins surprise, they didnt hit anything; they were struckin almost perfect unison, by three arrows traveling in the opposite direction. The Consort watched the arrows fall, her chin slowly lowering as she did.
Her hair was bound, like Kaylins; unlike Kaylins, the run hadnt dislodged any of it. Teela approachedwithout any signal from the Consortand released the Consorts hair. It fell down her back in a cascade of silver as Teela once again retreated. The Consorts lips lost color.
Ask the Lord of the West Marchask him whats wrongask him what I should do.
Do nothing unless she releases you. She has taken the risk. Respect it.
It would be a helluvalot easier to respect it if I understood it.
He laughed. He laughed, but the laughter died abruptly as the first of the birds came to land in the Consorts upturned palm.
Except it wasnt a bird. It had the shape, but none of the movement; although it had what looked like wings, they never flapped; they were rigid and extended, a dark plane of shadow, and as the creature alighted in the Consorts open palm, she saw that it had claws. But it had no face, no head; the whole of its body appeared to be...wings. Those wings wrapped themselves around the Consorts hand, obscuring both it and the light it shed.