She grimaced. She didnt lose colorin Kaylins opinion there was none left to lose. What she lost was illumination. Some of the disturbing light was leeched out of her exposed skin. No one drew audible breath in the clearing; no one but the Consort. Her breath was even, steady, voiceless.
Kaylin wanted to scream. She opened her mouth and the small dragon bit her ear. She turned to glare at him, which was a relief; he met her furrowed brow with wide, opal eyes. Opal, shining eyes. He also yawned, exposing almost solid teeth.
For a long moment, the shadow remained perched in the Consorts palm, and then it began to sink, vanishing into her skin as if absorbed. Light faded, then. The Consorts grip on Kaylins arm loosened. As if that were permission, Kaylin pulled her numb arm free and slid an arm around the Consorts shoulders. She didnt ask any of the questions she desperately wanted to ask. Instead, she let the Consort lean heavily against her.
Lord Evarrim, the Consort said. Lord Haverel.
Both men bowed in silence; they asked no questions. The archers who had fired the first three arrows failed to materialize; the path failed to widen; the West Marchif that didnt refer to this entire godsforsaken forestcontinued pretty much as it had begun.
No, Nightshade said, voice soft and tinged with something unfamiliar. It is not. Be cautious. You are almost upon the green.
Nightshade, what was that?
A messenger, he replied. Unless she forced the issue, he wasnt going to tell her more. She suspected he didnt actually have the answer, and felt his keen amusement. You are learning, he said.
The two lords so named stepped forward. Lady? Lord Haverel bowed. His glance strayed briefly to Kaylinwho apparently had the ignorant effrontery to touch the Lady while trying to bear the greater part of her weight.
The way is clear, she said. Gather. We will continue to Her blue eyes rounded as the second bird appeared and began its gliding descent; it was joined, seconds later, by a third, a fourth, a fifth.
Kaylin didnt need to speak to Nightshade to know this was bad. She wasnt certain what this disturbing ceremony was supposed to be or do. Lady
The Consort lifted an arm, lifting chin and exposing the long, white line of her throat. She pulled herself free of Kaylin, planting her feet as the two lordsEvarrim and Haverelstepped aside. As the sleek, black forms continued to glide above her in a slowly decreasing circle, she lifted both of her arms, exposing her palms.
Both arms raised, she looked as if she were inviting embracebut her expression was fixed; her arms were shaking. If I falter, she said, to Kaylins surprise, you have permission to heal me. She spoke in formal High Barrani, her words surprisingly distinct. Kaylin waited for the disturbing glow to once again grace the Consorts pale skin. It didnt.
You cant do this, she said, in Elantran. In High Barrani it would have sounded too much like a command. In her mother tongue, it sounded like the plea it was.
They cannot be allowed to fly, was her soft response.
They clearly flew here.
They will not stop here, if they are given no harbor. The Consort closed her eyes. Two of the shadows alighted almost delicately, their stiff wings folding around her open hands, encasing them. Like the first such creature, they had claws, and like the first, they seemed to sink into her hands, into her skin. But this time her hands, the length of her arms, became a shade of very unhealthy gray-green as they vanished. Her shaking arms fell, as if they weighed too much to be lifted. But they stopped at the height of her heart, palms open again, and waiting.
Kaylin had seen corpses that color in Reds morgue. The Consort trembled for one immobile moment before she steadied herself and opened her eyes. Her eyes were Barrani-blue. Her arms were trembling, but she held them before her, palms once again empty and open.
Kaylin, however, had had enough. She took one look at the gathered Barrani; they were silent, blue-eyed, witnesses. None of them spoke. None of them moved.
Do not interfere
Shut up.
The Consort was taller than Kaylin. Everyone in this party was. But her arms werent raised above her head, where their reach would be impossible to match. Kaylin extended her own arms, and laid her hands above the Consorts, their backs resting against the Consorts icy palms. She heard one sharp, drawn breath. It was Teelas. No one spoke.
The shadows descended, gliding along a decreasing circular path as if following a funnel no one else could see. Kaylin wasnt Barrani; she flinched when they landed. But when they did, she lifted her hands from the Consorts, drawing them away from the Lady and toward herself. She moved slowly and deliberately, as if the creatures in her hands were alive and might spook.
But she did not want them touching the Consort when they began to fold their wings.
They gripped the edges of her palms with their claws; the claws sank, like small, sharp blades, into her skin. They were cold. They were cold enough they almost felt hot. Wings folded in perfect unison, engulfing her hands. She resisted the urge to shake them offmostly because she knew it wouldnt work. She wasnt the Consort. A steady, quiet stream of Leontine left her lips, with a few choice Aerian words thrown in for good measure.
Her arms began to burn.
The small dragon, forgotten until now, rose; his claws gripped her shoulder. He hissed, squawking and spitting; he didnt draw breath. The shadows turned toward him as his wings rose, batting her cheek and nose.
If her skin had melted, it wouldnt have surprised her. She felt almost as if it should, the heat was so intense. Through the interior of sleeves that were more hole than material, she could see the marks on her arms: they were gold-white in color, and bright enough that she had to squint to make out their individual shapes. The light was not the subtle light that had imbued the Consortbut then again, Kaylin had none of the Consorts restraint, none of her perfect, regal dignity.
The dragon continued to squawk, which was both a comfort and a distraction; the claws of the shadows cut deeperbut there was, to Kaylins eye, no resulting blood. Nor did the creatures sink into her hands and vanish, as theyd done with the Consort.
Instead, to her dismay, they seemed to grow more solid, not less, as the seconds passed. They were black, their wings developing texture, height, distinguishing characteristics. The light of her marks didnt seem to dimbut they didnt vanish, either. The shadows werent somehow eating them.
She thought they might become some echo of the small dragon, because they seemed to be listening to him, mesmerized by his squeaky, birdlike voice. He turned to look at Kaylin, hissed loudly in annoyance, and then turned back to his audience. They mirrored the motion. Kaylins hands were numb. Her arms were shaking. Shadows had no weight and little substance; what was now sitting in her palms was no longer entirely shadow.
Nor were they like the shadows cast by a gliding bird. The wings lengthened, brightened, and took on color; the indistinct, smooth surfaces of their shadow form cracked, giving way toto feathers. As those wings snapped out, shards of shadow fell away, shaken off as if they were bits of shell.
Kaylin grunted. Two pairs of eyes turned to look at her; those eyes now rested above very, very prominent beaks. They inhaled and the golden feathers across their breasts rose; she could see white down beneath them. She had never seen birds this large. They didnt really look like birdsthey looked like predators. They were far too large for her hands, far too heavy; she struggled with their growing weight because she didnt want to piss them off by dropping them.
As if aware of thisand the possible loss of dignitythey released her hands, leaping to the ground to one side of Kaylin and the Consort. When one of the Barrani Lords moved, they rose, their wings high in warning. That they didnt knock either Kaylin or the Consort off their feet was a miracle.
A deliberate miracle. One of the birds turned to face them. Lady, it said.
Kaylin offered the Consort an armand her shoulder. The Consort was willing to let Kaylin absorb most of her weight, but her eyesher eyes were a shade of gold, ringed in pale blue. They looked like the sun at the height of a cloudless sky. Kaylin had almost never seen that color in Barrani eyes before.
From the forest beyond them, Barrani approached. They were armed with bows, and they wore a different style of armorif it was armor at all. But their hair was the ebony of Barrani hair, and it fell unimpeded down their backs. They moved slowly, and their eyes, as they approached, were the same gold as the Consorts.
The Lord of the West March requires aid. We go now, the bird on the left said. His voice was clear, resonant; it had none of the squawk she expected of birds.
The Lady closed her eyes. Opened them rapidly, as if afraid that what shed seen would vanish. The birds lifted wings again, and this time, the wings continued in a flurry of motion that took them into the night air.
The Barrani of the West March were silent as they watched the two birds take flight; silent as they watched them wing their way to the east, where the Lord of the West March was fighting. Only when theyd passed beyond sightwell beyond Kaylinsdid they break away.
The Barrani of the West March were silent as they watched the two birds take flight; silent as they watched them wing their way to the east, where the Lord of the West March was fighting. Only when theyd passed beyond sightwell beyond Kaylinsdid they break away.
It was clear there were complicated rituals of approach. Kaylin shouldnt have been surprised. Everything the Barrani did was complicated. But it was also clear that theyd dumped most of those rituals the minute theyd seen the birds emerge from the shadows. The gold of their eyes had given way to an emerald-green that Teelas eyes rarely reached. They were happy.
Lady, the man in the lead said. He bowed. It was a low, complicated bow.
She felt the Consort tensebut the Consort was exhausted. There wasnt a lot of strength left for tension. Lord Barian. This is Lord Kaylin of the High Halls; she has made the pilgrimage to the green, as all our adult kin must.