“What I was thinking was: we need information. We need to find out who was behind this assassination attempt.” His gaze was slightly shifty. Terrano wasn’t one of nature’s off-the-cuff liars. If he lied, it wasn’t a lie so much as a plan.
Kaylin frowned. “They weren’t likely to be spouting names and command hierarchy information.”
“You never know. People say a lot when they’re panicking.” He didn’t quite meet Kaylin’s gaze.
Kaylin exhaled. “You thought you recognized one of the voices.” Her tone was flat and certain; she might have been in the interrogation room in which possible criminals were questioned.
Terrano wilted. “Yes.”
“From the West March.” When Terrano cringed, she cursed. “Those people already tried to kill the Consort!”
“...I know. Look, even then I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“You just didn’t care.”
“I didn’t care if it meant the rest of my friends could be free. We’re not proud of it. We know she’s never going to trust us—and we know, from recent history, she’s not to be trustedwithus, either. But she trusts you, and we—most of us—trust you. I thought if we could identify the culprits, we could make amends. We could sort of atone.”
“I’m guessing Sedarias didn’t agree with this.”
He shrugged, which wasn’t likely to calm Sedarias down any. “She figures the Consort already evened the score. Or tried. She’s not worried that the Consort will harm us. Sheisworried that the people we approached when most of us were still cagedcould. I was careful. They had no reason to know who I was or am. But she’s afraid they will, and that’s a huge vulnerability to Mellarionne.”
Logia looked amused. No, it wasn’t Logia. It certainly wasn’t Bellusdeo. One of the sisters. “You reallyarelike me,” she said to Terrano. She wasn’t as bright-eyed as Logia could be, but Logia didn’t strike Kaylin as reckless.
“Which part? People screaming at me on the inside of my head?”
She laughed. “That, too. Did you at least find out what you needed to find out? Were the Barrani there the ones you thought they might be?” The question was casual; it was spoken in Elantran—which was the tongue Terrano used most of the time.
“We haven’t confirmed it. Things kind of exploded. There was a lot of screaming and yelling and orders given.” Terrano exhaled. “I’m not supposed to tell you this—well, to tell Bellusdeo this—but when they fled, they fled towardRavellon, following the border zone streets.”
“I think she’s already guessed that.”
“I couldn’t pursue; they could see me, and when I tried tosidestep, it didn’t work. I’d managed to move to where they were—but moving back wasn’t as natural.” He looked toward Kaylin. “It’s why it took Mandoran so long to bring you to where I was standing.”
“And bleeding.”
“That too. But there was something about the wound that was wrong. It wasn’t just my blood falling out. It was something else trying to enter.” He grimaced.
“First of all, blood doesn’tfall out. You werebleeding. Second of all, something wasn’ttryingto enter. It had already entered—and you knew it. You could have left whichever plane you were standing on. You didn’t. You were worried about what you might be carrying.”
Bellusdeo’s sister cleared her throat. Loudly. It was a rumble of sound, and her eyes were no longer gold; they were red.
Bellusdeo had returned.
“Well done,” Mandoran murmured.
Kaylin froze.
“Sedarias says you could give Terrano a run for his money if you were competing. But this time you’ve won, hands down.”
“Were you trying to keep this from me?” The walls shook as Bellusdeo spoke.
“Sedarias wants to join us. With Allaron.” Mandoran’s expression made clear he didn’t think it a good idea.
“That won’t be necessary,” Helen said to the newcomers. “I am perfectly capable of preventing unwanted violence. Bellusdeo has no intention of harming Terrano; she knows he could not enter my domain were he to be Shadow-mutated in a dangerous fashion.”
“How could you even tell with Terrano?”
“I am capable of discerning that degree of change. My duties require some observation if my visitors are to be kept safe. Bellusdeo is a Tower lord now. She knows that Terrano doesnot present a danger—at least, not in the form of Shadow.” Helen exhaled. “She is not, however, best pleased to have this information kept from her when it is germane to her duties.”