He had come from wherever it was he’d so happily ventured because he had heard them in the wilderness of the pathways. He had come because he thought they needed his help—and they had. But he was no longer part of them. This, Kaylin thought, was the flip side of the freedom coin. He had desired nothing but freedom, and he had leapt into the unknown with both arms thrown wide to embrace it, almost literally.
He had seen things that the cohort had not seen; had done things that the cohort had not done. But he had come home when he had heard their cries.
Alsanis, however, was not Terrano’s home. They understood each other; their long struggle—the one to keep Terrano caged, and the other to be free of all cages—had bred the kind of affection and respect that only long rivalry could. Terrano was comfortable in Alsanis’s confines because he understood the mechanisms of the cage; he understood it better than any other Barrani.
But his home, she thought, almost pensive now, was not Alsanis. It was not a place. It was there, at that table, surrounded by Barrani who had been brought to the green on the whim of the High Court in a desperate bid for power. Where they were, home was.
And he was discovering that he could not come home. Home no longer existed for Terrano.
As if they could hear the thought that Kaylin did not put into words, one of the cohort rose—Allaron, the giant—and crossed the room toward Terrano. Terrano stiffened, staring at that giant as if he were thinking at him, as if willpower alone could force the words he didn’t say out loud to stop him.
Allaron reached out and cuffed Terrano on the shoulder, but caught him when he staggered. He didn’t let go, either. Instead, he dragged Terrano to the table, pulled out an empty chair, and pretty much forced him to sit in it. He then sat beside Terrano, and dropped an arm around his shoulder which he didn’t look like he was going to lift anytime soon.
Terrano flushed red. But Kaylin thought, beneath the embarrassment, he was pleased. Maybe.
“Now I really want you all to visit,” Bellusdeo said, grinning. “I can only imagine what Mandoran would say if he were in Terrano’s position.”
“We don’t have to imagine it. Sadly.” Sedarias, Kaylin decided, was cut from the Annarion school of good manners.
Kaylin and Bellusdeo then joined the cohort at the table.
“We were just talking about what happened,” Sedarias said.
“Which part?” Bellusdeo asked.
“All of it.”
“Did you already cover the part about the two Barrani intruders?”
There was a full beat of silence, during which the temperature in the room seemed to plummet. Kaylin was certain the cohort were shouting up a storm on the insides of their own heads.
“We were waiting for Terrano,” Sedarias finally said. “Alsanis believes he understands how they got in. It is not a method that they could use from the West March.” She exhaled, her brows folding momentarily. “Do you understand what that is?”
When no one answered, Sedarias lifted a hand and pointed. At Spike. Kaylin had almost forgotten Spike was there.
“Not really. From what I’ve seen so far, Spike is like portable Records, only better.”
“That is not all that he is.”
“Do you know?” Kaylin asked, folding her arms and shifting her hips slightly. Before she did, however, she dislodged Spike, so that he was once again floating freely by her side.
Eddorian broke out laughing.
“You’re talking to Mandoran again.”
“Mostly listening,” he said, in apologetic Elantran. “He thinks it unfair that we won’t repeat what he’s saying—but I told him that Sedarias is here, and he’s across the continent.”
Sedarias glared at him, but her eyes were almost green. Almost. “The intruders came by the outlands. They found the portal path. They could not have entered the Hallionne from above.” At Kaylin’s brief frown, she added, “In as much as direction makes sense in the confines of the portal lands, above is what we use to describe it. They couldn’t have come in through front doors; I don’t think they would have been allowed entry.”
“They would not,” Alsanis said. “Will Spike be remaining with you?”
“I don’t know?” She turned to the floating, spiked ball. “Did you want to go back home?”
“Yes.” The single word was spoken with far more vehemence than any other word that had left his—well, not exactly mouth.
“Lord Kaylin does not think she has asked the question you are answering,” Alsanis then said. “I believe she means to ask if you wish to return to Ravellon.”
“No.”
“Ah. I believe her question implies a second question. If you do not wish to return to Ravellon, from whence she believes you came, where would you wish to go?”
Spike began to hum and spin.
Kaylin turned back to Sedarias. “You recognized at least one of the two intruders.”
“I recognized the intruders as a serious threat to both my friends and the Hallionne.”
“That, too.”
It was Terrano who spoke, probably because he had to, to be heard. “She’s going to find out who they were, anyway. We have one corpse. Lord Kaylin is kyuthe to the Lord of the West March, and the Lady is waiting in one of the Hallionne to speak with her. If you think you’re keeping anything to yourself given events here, you are hopelessly optimistic.”
“This is not a matter for outsiders; it is purely a matter for our people.”
Terrano raised a brow. He really did remind Kaylin of Mandoran. “There’s a war band on Alsanis’s doorstep, waiting to kill the Dragon. There’s a war band in the Imperial City because the Dragon in theory attacked the West March, and they consider this a racial act of war.”
“The Dragon,” Kaylin added, in case it was necessary, “did not attack the West March.”
“It’s already gone beyond the boundaries of the High Court, and if the West March is not beholden to the Emperor, the High Court is.”
“Annarion doesn’t want her involved in this.”
“Annarion’s in Elantra. Kaylin is here. She is definitively involved.”
Bellusdeo cleared her throat. Dragon-style. This broke the discussion into smaller pieces. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be picked up by the cohort immediately.
Kaylin then continued. “We need to know what, exactly, you taught to the Arcanists, or the Barrani of the High Court—the ones who were willing to ally themselves with you when you attempted to escape Alsanis last time. And if we don’t, Alsanis and the rest of the Hallionne absolutely do. What were the intruders seeking, today? When they attacked—and almost destroyed—Orbaranne the last time, they were seeking power. Their needs and your needs coincided at the time.
“They’re almost diametrically opposed, now.”
“Mandoran wants it to be known that Annarion was against this from the very beginning.”
“Which means he wasn’t?”
“He says, ‘What do you think?’”
“I think it’s irrelevant. Having talked with Terrano a bit more, I think most of the planning was done closer to Alsanis. Sedarias?”
She grimaced briefly before composing her expression. “We wanted power in order to retrieve Teela. We did not mean to abandon her.” Sedarias winced. Teela clearly had a word or two to say about that. “You know what we intended. You were there.”
“It wouldn’t have worked.”
“We wouldn’t have known unless we tried.”