“But we are its guardians. I believe it is well past curfew for at least one of you; exceptions have been made. But Lord Bellusdeo may be waiting for you when you leave.”
She was. Her expression made clear that no other sister had chosen to peer out; she was the Bellusdeo Kaylin knew. She leaned against the wall, arms folded, eyes an orange-red. Of course they were.
Serralyn left the library last. Her eyes were the green-blue of worry, and her gaze was mostly on Terrano, her brow furrowed. No one was shouting, but Fallessian looked like murder on two legs, and Mandoran looked hungover. Terrano looked like Terrano, but criticism usually bounced off him.
Kaylin was grateful to know none of their True Names.
Mandoran clearly didn’t feel he should suffer alone. “We’re discussing exploration and its relative safety. Except for Sedarias. She’s almost enraged that Terrano could be so feckless just before a meeting with An’Tellarus.”
“One: I have toissuean invitation toYvonne. Two: she has toaccept it. Three: I am not issuing an invitation that includes An’Tellarus’s name anywhere in print. There’s no guarantee that she’ll show—”
“Sedarias suggests that the person who extends the invitation obviously sets the date. Teela is willing to bet, in her words, actual money that An’Tellarus will show.”
“Could we maybe deal with one thing at a time?”
“Yes,” Bellusdeo said, her voice a draconic rumble. “Shadow.”
Kaylin exhaled.
“I’m going to fly back to Helen’s. Those who aren’t too cowardly can join me. We have a lot to discuss.”
They didn’t have a lot to discuss, but Bellusdeo was Bellusdeo. When she demanded discussion,nodidn’t matter. She understood that some of what had been discussed was irrelevant—but the arbiter of relevance was always going to be the gold Dragon.
She landed on the lawn, passing the fence line. Kaylin’s many daydreams of flight didn’t include by Dragon. Bellusdeo wasn’t technically allowed to fly across the city skies, but the rule was flexible enough the Emperor was unlikely to descend on her to punish her for breaking that law.
Not everyone fit on the Dragon’s back; Fallessian, Kaylin, and Severn did. She grabbed Mandoran by her claws, careful not to injure him; Terrano would have nothing to do with returning home that way. There was an argument, but it was silent, not meant for outsiders—or not meant for outsiders when one of them was a Dragon.
Kaylin, who couldn’t hear the argument, understood it: Terrano intended to make his own way home. In the heightened threat of Barrani of unknown loyalties and considering the injuries Terrano had already taken, walking home didn’t seem like a safe bet if he was on his own. But he wasn’t going to sit on Bellusdeo’s back, and her attempt to catch him as she’d taken hold of Mandoran was a failure.
If Bellusdeo was Bellusdeo, Terrano was Terrano. Fallessian was both tense and resigned. Mandoran, however, was amused—which was no doubt why he had the harder flight home.
But when Bellusdeo shed her draconic form, golden scales becoming the plate armor of Dragons who would otherwise be naked after transforming, her expression was both troubled and thoughtful. It was an expression very familiar to Kaylin—itwas just on the wrong face. Serralyn often looked like this when she was researching something and the facts didn’t quite line up.
“Logia?”
Logia smiled. “You’re more perceptive than Bellusdeo gives you credit for.” She spoke Elantran.
“She must have loved you guys a lot,” Kaylin replied.
“She did. We loved her just as much. Possibly more, depending on which of us is speaking. She was our warrior; in martial strength and reaction, she was our best. It makes sense to us that she was the one who survived.”
Kaylin exhaled. “I found her inRavellon.”
“I know. But I can find no trace of contaminant in her. She was physically transformed, but otherwise herself—and that is usually not the case where physical transformation has occurred.”
Kaylin nodded. She wasn’t an expert in Shadow, but that matched her experience. “You wanted to meet Helen.”
Bellusdeo apparently had dimples—at least one. “I do. But I’d like to say hello to Mrs. Erickson as well. We’re enormously grateful to her—Bellusdeo most of all.”
Kaylin grimaced. “You know there are things I can’t talk about, right?”
“So I’ve been informed. Don’t get me—or us—wrong. We’reallconcerned with Shadow. But it’s not as personal for us as it is for Bellusdeo.”
“So you think you can be more objective?”
The dimple reappeared. “Don’t you?”
Lannagaros must have had his hands way more than full with these sisters. But Logia’s eyes were almost gold, and Bellusdeo’s had been almost red. She’d take this flavor of handful over the other one.