“Apologies, Ybelline. The Imperial office requests your services.” Helmat knew she knew this; she did not always understand why the obvious had to be stated. But she accepted that it did, and offered Helmat a weary smile.
She now understood what her role here was. She did not like it. At all.
“I realize that this is not your fault.” Turning to Severn, she said, “Do you understand what your role is to be?”
He nodded.
She forced her hands to loosen. “Helmat, this is highly unusual.”
“How so? If the hunt involves a Barrani of indeterminate name, this is standard procedure.”
“Severn is not yet a Wolf. This duty—”
“He is on the Imperial roster as of five minutes ago. Mellianne is occupied, and even were she not, she is not the ideal partner for Elluvian. Rosen was, at one point, but she’s no longer physically capable. And I believe Severn has some idea of what the hunt entails.” He did not openly accuse Ybelline of revealing information the young Wolf should not have.
Ybelline flushed. Her antennae were practically vibrating; she had learned to school her expression, had learned to adjust body position, but had not yet mastered that stillness of the one racial feature humans most feared.
Severn said, “I’m on probation.” He smiled at her.
“This is not the duty given to someone who is on probation, as you call it.”
“Lord Marlin decides what duties are given to the men and women under his command,” was Severn’s reasonable—and accurate—reply. “I am to receive the impressions of our target that exist in the Tha’alanari. I am to confirm his identity, if we manage to track the target down. Without my confirmation—”
“Yes, yes, she knows,” Elluvian interjected.
“I believe he is attempting to demonstrate to Ybelline thatheknows,” Helmat said. “Perhaps you would care to wait outside.”
“I do not care to wait, as you put it, at all.”
“Unfortunate, then. Continue, Private.”
“Without my confirmation,” Severn said, obeying the Lord of Wolves, “the target cannot be legally executed.”
Ybelline nodded.
“However,” Severn continued, “should Elluvian decide not to wait for my confirmation, as long as the only people killed by Elluvian are Barrani, it’s unlikely to come under Imperial oversight or review. It would be considered entirely a matter for the Barrani Caste Court, which means officially no murder has been committed.”
Ybelline said nothing for one long beat. Yes, she thought as she approached Severn, she wasverygrateful that the minds of the Barrani were closed, locked, and barred.
“Those exemptions don’t apply for the rest of us,” Severn added, as he waited for Ybelline to make contact. “In as much as possible, I’m to stop anyone else from getting injured.”
“The Barrani have a way of making that far, far more difficult than it sounds.”
He knew.
Helmat watched them. Severn stiffened; Ybelline did not.
“You want the boy,” En said.
“You’re the one who brought him in.”
“I thought he showed promise.”
“He does.”
“The Tha’alani is not wrong. This is highly unusual. He has not even had the benefit of your deplorably lax and inadequate training.”
The Wolves received good training; they had to, by Imperial dictate. Very little of that good training had ever met with Elluvian’s approval. Elluvian’s approval, however, would have cost lives in the earlier stages. “You’ve often said the best training is experience.”