“That doesn’t explain how he could move, carrying Spike, across that border.”
“No. But I feel that possible answers to that very question—which seems the heart of Lord Bellusdeo’s concern—might be obtained if you visit the High Halls. It is not an avenue of research open to one such as me.” He waited until Bellusdeo had finished her inspection, which was cursory at best. Although the buildings that faced Ravellon were, as remembered, in very questionable condition, the gold Dragon did not fear that Nightshade was Candallar.
Only when that inspection was complete did he stop. “You will cross over to Tiamaris,” he said. “But I wish to return to the area you investigated yesterday.”
“You want to see the building.”
“I want to see if it is at all fixed in place. It is not—as the rest of the buildings contained within that space—a simple continuation of what the eye sees before one crosses the border; I had some sense of what Kaylin was seeing, but the connection was not perfect and it required active concentration to fully see what she was seeing.” His tone implied that he had failed.
“There was some chance that the situation in which you found yourself was both unstable and unsafe. It was not the correct time to attempt to view what you viewed. Since you are now here, I wish to know whether or not you can find that building again.”
Kaylin glanced at Bellusdeo. The gold Dragon considered this for a moment, and then nodded. “Why not?”
* * *
Kaylin could have answered: lunch. She didn’t; she knew better. Her stomach argued. But she fell in beside Severn and began to walk as if Nightshade were her beat. Bellusdeo was therefore in the lead. It was a politeness extended by Nightshade; Kaylin was fairly certain that he knew the exact geographic location from which they’d exited the border zone.
I do. But you have been in the border zone before; it is often elastic. You believe that you see streets when you peer into it; those streets conform to what you expect to see; they seem a continuation of the actual street.
Kaylin nodded, although he didn’t have eyes in the back of his head.
That has not been my experience. When I gaze into the border zone, I do not see what you see.
What do you see, then?
Sometimes I see the continuation you see. Sometimes I see nothing but a thick fog. Sometimes I see the vague outline of the road on which I stand as it continues into that fog. I believe that my view is influenced by the Tower and the Tower’s awareness of the boundaries of its duties. I find it interesting that you thought to look for Towers; I found it interesting that you could, depending on the direction from which you entered, see only one.
Interesting was bad.
Interesting is interesting, he said with minor annoyance; for a moment, his tone reminded her of the Arkon. No, not the Arkon, Sanabalis.
This amused the fieflord. I do suggest that you avoid informing him of that.
Which him?
Lord Sanabalis. I believe nothing you could say or observe would offend the Arkon.
So wrong.
I have often wished that I could—as you do—simply walk into the Imperial Library and introduce myself to the Arkon there.
She thought he probably could.
Sedarias is right to be concerned about you. Yes. I could. Outcaste is not a blanket legal definition unless one is a Dragon. But being acknowledged as a citizen with a right to a life lived within the confines of Imperial Law—the law you yourself protect—would cause a wealth of difficulties with the High Court and the High Halls. Not all difficulties are legal difficulties.
I could test the Emperor’s tolerance or his taste for political unrest. I imagine that I would, in fact, be allowed to at least make an appointment with the Arkon should I approach his interests correctly. But the cost would be high. You have seen some of that friction in the person of Bellusdeo; she is a pretext for...hostility.
Kaylin had. The Emperor didn’t bend.
No, but Bellusdeo is literally the future of the race, if there is to be a future at all. If the Barrani declared war, he would wage it. There is no reality in which the Emperor does not protect the future of his people. I, however, am incapable of giving birth to small Dragons.
I don’t think it’s just because of that.
No? Perhaps not. The laws are his laws, after all. But I believe that he would command the Arkon to refuse—politely—all requests for appointment or access if they came from me.
You really haven’t spent much time with the Arkon. Yes, he might ask, but command? I’d be against it. With my own money. The Arkon might consider it condescending.
The Arkon serves the Eternal Emperor.
Yes. He does. But the Emperor is younger than the Arkon, and I think less learned. The Arkon commands respect. The Emperor respects him. I don’t even think he’d ask. I think he would trust the Arkon to make the correct choice.
And if the Arkon chose to meet with me?
He would assume that the Arkon’s reasons were pressing and important.
And you would make this bet with your personal funds?
With my own money, yes.
Ah. We must return to this conversation at a later point in time. “Lord Bellusdeo.”
The Dragon nodded, frowning. “This is where we exited the border zone.” Turning so that her back faced the border, she gazed out into the streets, confirming it for herself.
Kaylin was certain she was correct. That building with the broken fence—the third slat had been snapped in half at least a decade ago, by the looks of it—had been on that corner.
It was Hope who sighed and lifted a wing, smacking the bridge of her nose with it. “I think Hope doesn’t think this is the way in.” The familiar didn’t leave his wing across her eyes. Whatever he thought she’d see, he didn’t think was relevant enough.
The gold Dragon didn’t take this as a criticism. “If the Towers appear—or vanish—depending on the direction of our approach, this makes some sense.”
“You don’t think we’ll find it?”
“I’m not sure we have much to lose.” Which sounded very much like a no.
* * *
Kaylin did not make a bet—with any of her companions. But they walked down the streets she could see and Nightshade couldn’t, and emerged into the fief of Tiamaris. They then turned around and came back. Bellusdeo asked them to retrace their steps, and Kaylin realized, as she turned, that the damn street was different seen from this side.
It looked like the border zone. It did not, however, conform to the streets they’d just passed through. And it wasn’t a simple block or two, either.
But Bellusdeo insisted, and Kaylin—who wanted lunch—had developed a watchful fatalism. She wanted to get this over and done with. So they reentered the border zone from the fief of Tiamaris, the only Dragon fieflord. They walked down a different street, with different run-down buildings. From this vantage, she could see Castle Nightshade. On the way through the first time, she had seen Tara’s white Tower.
“The thing I hate about magic,” she said, “is that none of it makes any sense. It doesn’t seem to follow any rules. Or logic.”
Bellusdeo snorted but said nothing; it wasn’t the first time she’d heard Kaylin’s rants about magic, and this one was pretty clean. It was less clean when they emerged in Nightshade again, because they didn’t emerge in the same place they’d left.
Nightshade’s eyes had narrowed into slits of concentration. Bellusdeo’s eyes were a shade of orange that implied they might drift into gold. Someday. Severn was silent.
You knew.
I suspected. This conforms to my prior experience.
Did you ever exit and enter the same location?
No. I wasn’t exploring the border zone to explore. I had a goal in mind.
Did you think someone had fled into the border
zone?
It struck me as a distinct possibility. It still does. But the Towers are aware of their own borders, and it’s likely the fieflords are aware of breaches. I didn’t necessarily want to attract their attention. They’re laws unto themselves—accepted laws—and if someone flees to the fiefs, it’s likely that the fieflords are aware of them.
You think whoever you were hunting had permission?
Silence.
Sometimes, he said when silence had implied a break in the former conversation, the border zone does conform to expectations.
But more often not?
Fifty-fifty—but I didn’t spend much time experimenting. In the end, with the exception of Farlonne, it’s better to take the known bridges into the fiefs than it is to trust the border. I didn’t know the fiefs well enough to easily reorient myself when the displacement was several blocks.
Which appeared to be the case.
Nightshade had not yet given up. He did not attempt to enter the border zone from their first entry point; he turned immediately and reentered from the point at which they’d emerged.
He then crossed the border a half-dozen times. None of those times took him—took them, but Kaylin thought they were becoming increasingly irrelevant to the fieflord—to the large building that almost resembled a town hall.
“We will have to leave you,” Bellusdeo finally said, as disgruntled as Nightshade. “But I will do one aerial sweep of the border zone.”
“I do not advise that,” the fieflord said.
“Oh?”
“Given the changing shape and length of the area one traverses, it is a distinct possibility that you could end up emerging in Ravellon’s airspace.”
Even Bellusdeo was aware of the risk—of the disaster—of that possibility. She rumbled, but stalled her transformation, reversing it.
* * *
It was midafternoon by the time they returned to the Halls of Law. Food was scant in the mess hall, given the hour. Kaylin’s suggestion—that they return to the Halls with a stopover at home—had apparently been inaudible.
Nightshade did not leave off his exploration of the border zone. Kaylin could feel the edge of his sharpening curiosity. Be careful, she told him.
This surprised them both. I am always careful.
She didn’t argue with his use of the word “careful.” Annarion will be upset if you disappear, and I have to live with him.
Things were calm enough between the two brothers at the moment that Nightshade could, and did, find this slightly amusing. If I have difficulty, you are certain to be aware of it.
I’ve had emergencies when the other people who knew were nowhere near. It’s not as much fun as it sounds.
His amusement grew deeper.
* * *
Marcus was not impressed by Bellusdeo’s natural suit of armor. His eyes were a shade of orange that would have been dangerous had they not been accompanied by an expression of resignation and disgust.
“What,” he said to Kaylin without preamble, “have you done now?”
She wasn’t the one wearing the armor. “Next time,” she muttered. “We’re going home first.”
“Corporal?” he snapped in a tone that made Kaylin’s promotion seem nonexistent.
“We made contact with the fieflord of Candallar.”
“He attacked you?”
“No. I believe there’s a possibility that we can have a meaningful discussion outside of the fief itself—but he was cautious and not forthcoming. Bellusdeo wanted to see the Ravellon border in Candallar. She’s concerned—”
“I can speak for myself.”
Kaylin shut up.
Marcus transferred his orange gaze to Bellusdeo. Frankly, if Kaylin had filled his seat, that gaze would never have left her. Although her own eyes were far more golden, she was the biggest threat the room now contained—and the room contained Barrani Hawks as well as an annoyed Leontine.
“I am unimpressed with the security measures taken by the empire with regards to Ravellon and its Shadows. I am unimpressed with the...fieflords, or rather, their selection. There has clearly been some difficulty with Shadows and the security and stability of the very necessary border. I wished to ascertain for myself that the border was secure.”
“And?”
“And?”
“Is the border secure?”
“It is demonstrably not secure enough, but some theories have emerged; I am assessing the possible or probable dangers, but I wished to see the entirety of the border.”
“The entirety.”
“Yes.”
“You traveled through all of the fiefs along the Ravellon border.”
“Yes. Or is there another way to assess that I possibly failed to consider?”
“For the Records, I want it to be known that this was not the assignment I gave the corporals.”
Bellusdeo snorted.
Kaylin said absolutely nothing. Hope, on her shoulder, yawned, which pulled a stink-eye from the sergeant.
“Are you operating under the orders of the Imperial Court?”
At this, Bellusdeo smiled. “Would that be more convenient for the Hawks?”
For the first time in a while, Kaylin saw Marcus’s eyes lighten to near gold in a Dragon’s presence. “The Imperial Court trumps the Hawklord, yes.”
“Very well. I have some experience with Shadow and the catastrophic nature of events when all protections fail. I am, therefore, considered the resident expert. I am capable of withstanding the attacks of even the most powerful of Shadows for a prolonged period of time, and it is very difficult for Shadow to transform or change a Dragon. I am the agent who would be sent in such investigations.”
“You’ll make your report to the Court?”
She glanced pointedly at the piles that comprised the surface of Marcus’s desk. “I will.”
“Good. The corporals have been pulled off the Elani beat while the Candallar discussion and investigation is ongoing. I expect them to be back on their beat within three days at the outside, including this one.”
“Three days?” Kaylin failed to stop the words from leaving her mouth, partly because it was open.
“The fiefs are outside the remit of the Halls of Law. Your investigations might be relevant to some of the events that occur within Elantra, but we are not empowered to enforce Imperial Laws within any fief that is not Tiamaris.”
“We’re not empowered to enforce those laws in Tiamaris, either.”
Marcus said nothing. It was a loud nothing.
Chapter 11
“Did I miss something?” Kaylin demanded of Tain, who had the misfortune to be at his desk. Teela was absent—probably because she’d seen Bellusdeo enter the office in armor. Marcus could be noisy when he was surprised.
“Probably.”
“Did Ironjaw just say we have permission to enforce Imperial Law in the fief of Tiamaris?”
“You’re going to have to ask him. Or look at the duty roster.”
“He’s a Dragon, Tain. He’s a fieflord. Why in the hells would he give up his sovereignty?”
“Because he’s also a member of the Imperial Court, and he owes his allegiance to the Emperor.” Tain shrugged. “It’s politics and diplomacy.”
“Wait, back up a bit.”
“To where? Mortal memory is bad, but it’s not that bad.”
“Duty roster?”
“I don’t believe your current rounds of duty are being affected.”
“In the fiefs?”
Tain shrugged. “Don’t give me that look. I wasn’t asked for my opinion, and the meeting in which it was discussed occurred when we were all visiting the scenic High Halls.”
Tiamaris had mentioned nothing. Kaylin, disgruntled, rejoined Bellusdeo.
“I don’t understand what the problem is
,” Bellusdeo said. “Tiamaris has made clear, from the moment he took control of the Tower, that Imperial Law and its norms were to be observed—with a few exceptions—within the borders of Tiamaris. I believe it is essential if he wishes to integrate his fief with the greater city as a whole. Fill in your report, and we’ll head home. I have a few things I wish to discuss with both Maggaron and Helen.”
“Why Maggaron?”
Bellusdeo’s smile was far too sweet. “The Norannir would make excellent Hawks, in my opinion.”
“Helen has no say in that!”
“No, of course not. I wish to discuss other things with Helen.”
“Fine. Just let me write this up and hand it to Marcus, and we can go home and eat something.”
* * *
Bellusdeo had, of course, lied. She had no qualms about that. The Imperial Court had not sent her into the heart of the fiefs, and the Emperor would probably breathe fire in random directions if and when he found out she had been there on her own.
The fact that she’d been there with four other people would not mollify him. Those people were not Dragons, and when it came to brute force and dangerous combat, it was the Dragons he trusted. To be fair to the Emperor, in his position, and assuming he could choose the composition of Bellusdeo’s guards, he’d go for the Dragons every time. Except Diarmat. Diarmat was likely to cause an entirely different kind of conflict, and no one wanted Dragons in combat in the middle of the city.
Kaylin was not looking forward to the Imperial discussion about Bellusdeo’s current investigation. She had hopes that she could avoid it in its entirety. The conversations she wanted to be part of always seemed to occur when it was impossible for her to join them. Like, say, Hawks patrolling Tiamaris.
* * *
Helen was waiting for them when they reached the front doors—doors which were open. “Welcome home,” she said. Her eyes were normal eyes, and her clothing was also vastly less militaristic than Bellusdeo’s current armor.
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