“The Tha’alani used it—will use it—in future. It seemed to stop the spread of—of whatever ends up killing most of the city.”
Ybelline lifted a hand. She was frowning. “You have your own Tha’alaan between you, yes?”
Neither Mandoran nor Annarion had been part of this city when it had become a city; they had very little familiarity with the Tha’alani—probably a good thing for the Tha’alani. They looked at Ybelline.
“No,” Kaylin said, before anyone spoke. She caught Ybelline’s shoulder. “You do not want to do this.”
“I have touched Gilbert’s thoughts without ill effect. I believe your Teela can do what we did, but much more effectively, if rumors about her past are true. What you tell her of what I’ve said will take time.”
“Mandoran is not a normal Barrani—”
“I know. Which is why there is some chance that he will allow this. My communication does not require knowledge of his name. And you will not have to take it, either.”
Mandoran said something colorful in Aerian.
Ybelline’s eyes narrowed instantly. Clearly, the castelord had a working knowledge of Aerian.
Mandoran walked around Annarion, who was stiff and wary, and presented himself to Ybelline. “This doesn’t hurt, does it?” he asked.
“Not unless you fight it, and even then, the pain is not physical.”
“I would not do that.” The Arkon had arrived.
*
If Mandoran was willing to listen to his cohort and the Chosen, he was absolutely not willing to take advice from an ancient Dragon—a Dragon who had, no doubt, existed at the time of the wars of the flights. He practically grabbed Ybelline by her shoulders and yanked her toward him. The castelord stumbled; Kaylin had to suppress the very strong urge to knock Mandoran off his feet.
Ybelline righted herself, lifted her hands and placed them on either of Mandoran’s shoulders—not his cheeks, as she had done with Kattea.
The Arkon exhaled smoke.
It was very hard to ignore an angry Dragon when he happened to be standing at your back. Kaylin managed, turning to face Annarion, as Mandoran was now busy. “The Tha’alani had an experimental magic that seemed to protect them from whatever it was that will destroy this city. I don’t know if everyone dies—but the Tha’alani quarter perishes. Teela is alive—”
“Is she anywhere near Bellusdeo?”
“No,” Annarion said quietly. “She is not certain where Bellusdeo is.”
The Arkon’s eyes couldn’t get any more red, but he seemed game to try. He glared at Kaylin. She didn’t take this personally because he was glaring at everything, at the moment. “She has Maggaron with her.”
“And Sanabalis.” The Arkon exhaled. “With luck, he will actually listen to her. Bellusdeo’s tone can be difficult, but she is not, in general, reckless. And she has lived with Shadow and its subtleties for centuries.”
“I’m not sure this is about Shadow.”
“And you feel it is not? Given the sigils and their similarities?”
Kaylin glanced at Gilbert. “I’m beginning to think that we don’t understand nearly enough about what we call Shadow. Gilbert lived in Ravellon. There are elements of Gilbert that we would classify as Shadow—but I don’t think he means to absorb, devour or transform us. Or kill us all,” she added, just in case this wasn’t clear. “Gilbert was the one who first warned us against mirror use. It was only when we spoke to the Tha’alanari that his warning grew teeth.”
Ybelline pressed her weaving stalks gently against Mandoran’s forehead. Ybelline knew Mandoran’s mind was not Barrani, although it had once been. She knew that he was not immortal in the way the Barrani and the Dragons now were.
Her eyes, which she’d closed, widened; her entire body stiffened. Kaylin was behind her instantly, set to catch her if she fell. Mandoran, however, caught her waist, bracing her. His eyes were blue—but it was not the shade that meant danger or death. It was a pale, sky blue.
She had never seen that color in his eyes—in any of their eyes—before. She had seen it in the Consort, in the West March. She glanced at Annarion and was surprised to see that his eyes, while the regular sort of blue, now rested in a face that was bordering on crimson. So. Sky blue meant what she probably thought it meant.
Ybelline did not blush. She forced herself, slowly, to relax. It occurred to Kaylin that this was something Ybelline had probably encountered in the Imperial dungeons, and the thought made Kaylin nauseous. Severn touched her shoulder; she jumped. But after a long, slow breath, she leaned into his hand.
Annarion frowned. Whatever Mandoran was passing on, he was listening. “Kaylin.”
She nodded.
“You said it was raining in the Keeper’s storefront?”
She hadn’t—to Annarion. Clearly, Ybelline was explaining everything that had led to this point.
“Teela wants to know why, or how.”
“Tell her to ask Evanton.”
“She wants me to smack you and repeat her question.”