He roared ayes.
It didn’t take long to reach Helen from the fiefs; the Dragon’sspeed and the lack of any aerial traffic made the distance seem trivial.
He did land on the lawn, as Kaylin had suggested. Helenhada tower large enough to contain a landing Dragon—it was what she opened when Bellusdeo came to visit, because Bellusdeo didn’t particularly care about petty Imperial laws that made being an actual Dragon illegal without the Emperor’s permission.
Kaylin suspected that blanket permission had been granted. The Emperor was pragmatic at heart. Bellusdeo would continue to be Bellusdeo. She was not his liege, and she was necessary, absolutely necessary, for the future of the race.
Tiamaris was necessary as a fieflord. But Tiamaris retained his position on the Dragon Court, and some of the funding—she’d heard this through Tara—for the reconstruction of the fief had come from Imperial coffers and taxes. Tiamaris was going to be called up on the figurative carpet to justify his draconic form—and his flight across the city proper.
Kaylin wasn’t too worried. The fiefs were important to the continued existence of the city, and Nightshade was a fieflord. Towers that lost their captains declined over time; the denizens ofRavelloncould find larger and larger cracks through which to pass. None of that was good for the Emperor’s citizens.
Andellen dismounted first and moved immediately toward his lord; Tiamaris had taken care to set him down as gently as he could, given his form. Severn followed, although he turned to offer Kaylin a hand, should she need it.
She accepted it. Tiamaris’s flight to Helen had been far faster—and far less careful—than his flight toward Nightshade. She found her footing and took two steps toward her house.
The door flew open long before she could reach it. Helen was standing in its frame, eyes obsidian. Kaylin shouted, “We need a room!”
Before Helen could answer—not that it was necessary—the Avatar of Kaylin’s home was pushed to one side. Annarion, Mandoran following close behind, ran out to the lawn. He didn’t appear to notice Tiamaris at all.
Tiamaris turned his enormous head to Helen. He nodded, the nod deep with genuine respect. Her eyes remained obsidian, but she returned the Dragon’s nod with a nod of her own before her gaze fell to Annarion’s back.
Tiamaris then pushed up, gaining height without the encumbrance of passengers, and headed straight toward the Imperial Palace.
The moment Annarion appeared in the open door, Andellen rose and stepped back from Nightshade. He stood at a distance as his lord’s younger—and only—brother ran to his side. Annarion knelt there, as if months of argument and bitterness had been a lie. He checked for a pulse, for breath, and for the sword that Andellen had carefully resheathed. He then lifted his brother’s limp body. Mandoran would have helped, but Annarion had turned to Helen.
He didn’t speak—or didn’t speak out loud. The cohort, like Kaylin, mostly avoided masking their thoughts. It was so natural for them to speak through their namebonds that they often didn’t speak aloud at all.
Helen stared at Nightshade as Annarion carried him through the open door. Andellen, after a long pause, turned to Helen. “My apologies for our abrupt arrival. The situation was grave. We did not have time to offer advance notice.”
Annarion was often so thrown by his brother’s presence, Helen had asked that Nightshade make an appointment to visit, to better prepare herself for the possibility of conflict.
Nightshade had clearly respected what was only barely a request.
“Emergencies have their own imperatives,” Helen replied,voice gentle. “Lord Nightshade arrived with Kaylin; it is clear she meant to carry him here. She is the master of the house; what she desires is paramount. Do you wish to share the rooms your lord will convalesce in?”
“If it will not trouble you, yes. I do not believe he will find my presence encumbering.”
“Not in his current state, no.” Helen frowned. “You might consider convalescing yourself. I will have food prepared. You will eat.”
Andellen stared at the Avatar of Kaylin’s home as if she were losing her mind.
“Don’t argue with her,” Kaylin told him. “I do it all the time and it doesn’t do any good.”
Andellen’s gaze clearly saidthen what does she mean by master?But he didn’t say the words aloud. Then again, Helen didn’t give him much time.
“An’Teela will be joining us shortly. I should warn you that the cohort is very loud at the moment. Would you like me to examine Lord Nightshade?”
“If possible. I tried to do it—but my healing magic has been thoroughly blocked. Andellen thought Nightshade’s state might be due to poison.” Poison, Kaylin was certain, she could deal with. But something had prevented any attempt at healing.
“Lord Andellen?” Helen asked, adding the requisite title she felt the guest deserved—and that Kaylin in particular should be using.
“There was no obvious wound that would have caused the collapse. Kaylin has suggested, however, that she found no dart wound, no way poison could be delivered. She believes that the poison, such as it is, is entirely magical in nature.”
Helen smiled. “Kaylin does not feel she has to mask or obscure her thoughts when she is in her own home. Or on its property. Come, enter. I can provide clothing, but it will not last when you step beyond my gates. The cohort, however, hasphysical clothing, and I am certain that they would be willing to gift it for your use in the current emergency.”
Severn didn’t accompany them into the house.
“You’re not coming in?”