“Explain Shadow to me.”
“I believe I’ve done that before, to little effect.”
“Try again?”
Helen was silent for a long moment—long enough that Kaylin thought she wouldn’t reply. But at length, she did. “Without some element of Shadow, there is no mortal life.”
“...I don’t think that’s what you said the last time.”
“Mortalityischange. From your births to your deaths, you are in a constant state of flux. There is no singleyou; your identity evolves, unravels and is remade. It is a constant process. The Kaylin of five years ago is not you. The Kaylin of ten years from now will not be you. The separate states of you are continuous, contiguous. They are connected. But they are not the same.”
“But the Barrani—”
“The Barrani and the Dragons are both similar and dissimilar. Both require Names to live. But it is not true that they require Names to exist. Without Names, however, they do not existasDragons or as Barrani.”
“Mandoran and Annarion—”
“They are edge cases. They are not their Names; their Names are only tenuously a part of who they have become. It is enough—barely—that they can function. The Names are fixed, Kaylin; they are solid. They are unchanging. They are the heart of the immortal.”
“But, Helen—the Name of the outcaste—”
Helen fell silent. After a long pause, she said, “That was not a Dragon’s name.”
Squawk.Squawk.
“Then you must explain it. I will speak with the Tower of Tiamaris,” Helen added, almost gently. “I believe Lord Tiamaris has access to some of the other Towers.”
“Speak with Nightshade as well, if he’s here.”
“I will. He will not give me leave,” she added with a grim smile, “to speak withhisTower, and I have a thing or two I would like to say to his Tower.” None of it good, though all of it, in Helen’s opinion, clearly long overdue.
“Good. But what exactly are you going to tell them?”
“That Ravellon is waking.”
“Pardon? Ravellon is a place, right? You’re saying it’s sentient?” Kaylin rose from the water. “What do you mean when you say it’s waking?”
“I will speak with Tara,” Helen said again. “While I have had more exposure to you, Tara has known you for longer. She may be able to explain what seems obvious to me.” Helen shook her head. To the familiar, she said, “Explain it. That appears to be your job.” And walked out.
The familiar warbled. And flopped.
* * *
Bellusdeo returned home four hours after Kaylin and Moran had. It was late. It was very late. The floor shook with the roaring.
“I’m sorry, dear,” Helen said, as the sound diminished. “I wasn’t expecting poor Bellusdeo to express herself so forcefully.”
“Please don’t tell me she’s angry at the Emperor.”
“As it happens, no, she’s not. She isveryangry at the outcaste. Her attempts to kill him failed, and she was not alone. The Emperor has—wisely, in my opinion—informed her that her involvement is too visceral and too personal to be entirely safe, and this has not made her any happier.”
“I thought you said she wasn’t angry at the Emperor.”
“She’s not. She is, however, angry at herself, because she knows the Emperor is right.”
Which, as Kaylin knew, was vastly worse. She dragged herself out of bed and headed down the stairs.
To her surprise, Teela and Tain were with the golden Dragon. Kaylin stood frozen at the height of the stairs, and finally said, “You went out drinking.” Her tone was very flat as she crossed her arms.