Master Sabrai nodded.
“Do you know what he came to ask?”
“I know what his official request claimed he would ask, yes. I am not at liberty to discuss it.”
“Liberty is a quaint notion,” Elluvian said. It was a threat.
Master Sabrai shrugged. If it was a threat, Sabrai considered it to be toothless.
“Did Random tell you what he actually asked?”
“If Random did not tell you, I am not at liberty to discuss it.”
“In theory, neither is she.”
“You don’t understand these Halls,” Master Sabrai said. “Whatever he did ask was damaging to Random. It has continued to be damaging to her.”
“It was not just damaging to Random,” Severn said, his tone far less hostile than Elluvian’s had been.
“No—of course not.” The older man’s shoulders lost some of their tension. “That is never the way of the future, is it? She was aware of the errors in judgment hope produced, both in her and in the Tha’alani. There was a boating accident,” he continued. “Random could see it coming—or rather, could see the deaths she had no idea how to prevent.
“She is not political. We are not, as a whole, political creatures. But information is a tool, like any other. And fear of the future has oft been a bitter master of men.”
“Did she know about the murders of Tha’alani that took place in the city streets two decades ago?”
“You did not ask her?”
Severn hesitated and then shook his head.
A gleam of something that might be very grudging approval changed the shape of Master Sabrai’s eyes. “Yes. She was not the only Oracle who was, but it affected her in a way it affected none of the others.” He fell silent, as if considering all possible words and discarding most of them. “It has never left her. I am certain that she believes that your visit—and the visit of the Tha’alani woman who accompanied you—will bring a measure of peace or justice for the murdered.
“Thatiswhy you’ve come?”
Severn nodded. “It’s why Ybelline Rabon is here as well. It’s no easier for Ybelline than it has been for Random. And it will be harder, I think, for Ybelline in the end.”
“You are not afraid of Ybelline.”
“No.”
“And you are not afraid of Random.”
“No. I understand, on some level, what they both want. Anger might be a terrible bridge—but it is a bridge for the two of them.”
“It won’t bring the dead back.”
“No. But nothing will. The most we can hope for—and work for—is that there will be no new deaths.”
“An’Sennarin recently requested permission to visit the Oracular Halls.”
“How recently?”
“Two days ago. He was refused outright.”
“He did not make the request in person?”
“No. He took the unusual step of writing a letter.”
“It’s not unusual if the permission granted must be granted by the Emperor.” Elluvian’s gaze sharpened. “Did you keep the letter?”