The location—which Helmat could also easily access—appeared as an overlay in a grid across the image of Saidh in the mirror; the street appeared directly between Saidh’s eyes and nose.
“Are we to apprehend?”
“This is an execution, not a standard ground hunt. We have more than enough evidence for the Emperor to make a decision.”
“Dragons do not historically require much in the way of evidence,” Elluvian pointed out. Helmat snapped his name, and En fell silent. “Very well. Log the date and the time.”
“You do not know who you are hunting.”
“And that,” Elluvian replied, before Helmat could, “is not your problem.”
Helmat shut the mirror down, denying Saidh the opportunity to reply.
He then turned to the Barrani Wolf. “There are still forms it’s essential to maintain—and criticisms of Dragons areneverpolitically wise.”
“They are, however, expected.”
“From you, yes.” Helmat took the seat behind his desk, and once again gestured at the mirror. This time it revealed a very familiar office, at the center of which was an equally suspicious Rosen. “Send Severn in. And send Ybelline in, as well.”
“She’s no longer in the office.”
“She’s probably waiting outside the doors.”
Ybelline was almost outraged. Almost. She was—as most of her kind would be—exhausted and grief-sick. She required the comfort and safety of her physical home, a reminder that her life was not, and would never be, the life of the person whose thoughts she had briefly but deeply touched.
Instead, she got Rosen’s suspicious face, and an invitation to the interior of Helmat’s sparse, cold office. And, for good measure, Scoros’s and Garadin’s simultaneous intrusion through the Tha’alaan, neither of whom were pleased for, or with, her.
Garadin was faintly condescending:What else did you expect? You wished to go in my stead. And now you will have to deal with the consequences of that decision.Behind the faint condescension, however, was a mixture of fear and guilt.
The seeds, she knew, of madness.
Scoros was older than Garadin, older by more than Ybelline. He had been part of the Tha’alanari for all of Ybelline’s living memory. But the Tha’alaan remembered more, and more deeply.
This is not for you, Ybelline. Understand that. This is not for you. We have seen what Timorri saw.
Timorri was absolutely silent.
Yes, Scoros said quietly.I am with him, and one other. We will not leave him in the dark alone. But he cannot yet bespeak even the Tha’alanari. It is not safe for us. Do not fear for him. And do not attempt to speak to him yourself. It is not a command, but a request, Ybelline. Consider it a plea.
The Lord of Wolves has called me.
Yes.
Do you know why?
No, no more than you, but you are not, and have never been, foolish. You have studied the Halls of Law; you understand the Imperial Security Service. You understand what Timorri saw—we all saw it, briefly. Tell me what you think your role will be.
She exhaled.The criminal is Barrani. In most cases, where the criminal is Barrani, there is no role for us. No role for mortals, either. The Barrani deal with criminals who break Imperial Laws if those laws cross racial boundaries. And clearly this has.
The Barrani do deal with criminals when the crime itself is considered petty. But even the Barrani hesitate to risk their own lives when the criminal is powerful. You know this, he added, with a hint of gentle reproach.
Ah, Scoros was tired. Exhausted. She reached out to him gently, enveloped him in the Tha’alani version of a hug; it required no arms, no physical presence, simply the warmth that might accompany the gesture. But it was not simple, and it could be all-encompassing. Ybelline was powerful.
Scoros did not even tell her that it wasn’t necessary.
I will speak with the Lord of Wolves, she told him gently, forcing all apprehension from her interior voice. But she was determined, as she headed toward the office door, that Helmat would be allowednothingthat further hurt the Tha’alani at this critical time.
She was not surprised to see Severn standing to one side of Helmat’s desk. She was, however, surprised to see Elluvian. The Barrani were exempt—even as criminals—from the Tha’alani investigative procedures otherwise employed; it was a matter of the caste court and its demands. While she understood the resentment this immunity engendered in those who were not exempt, she, and the rest of the Tha’alanari, were grateful.