But she hadn’t expected hedges, and she hadn’t expected the tree. A single tree rose well above the hedges, and it attained a height that could only be seen if she tilted her head pretty far back.
Teela was surprised into something that looked like a smile—if smiles could be both warm and also tinged with deep sadness.
“Where is he?” Kaylin asked.
“If he’s waiting for us, he’ll be up that tree.”
Right. Because Barrani homes in the West March—the older style of home—were in the trees. She turned to Severn. Severn had some familiarity with An’Sennarin, but clearly the last meeting hadn’t involved towering trees as a residence.
“Follow. I had hoped to hand the message to a servant; unlike you, I am not on leave, and Marcus is already in a foul mood.”
She strode ahead, but stopped as they cleared the hedges that served as partial walls. There, surrounded by carefully laid stone in a slender layer, sat a fountain. It had been built to betaller than two grown men, its basin a pale, layered white that implied marble, although that didn’t feel right.
Water pooled in the basin, eddying like tiny waves against a stone shore—but that wasn’t what caught their attention.
The water that fell also rose in a pillar; there seemed to be no mechanical lift, no further stone or hidden piping—because there wasn’t.
In the heart of the Sennarin quarters, a pillar of water in the shape of a woman stood—and it opened its arms to greet Kaylin Neya, its expression one of both surprise and delight.
Kaylin had enough presence of mind to glance in Teela’s direction; Teela’s lips were pursed. If Kaylin felt a hint of joy, Teela felt nothing but worry. This presence, this water, was almost the heart of the elemental water on this plane. It existed here, as it existed in the distant West March—but it was far more present here.
“This wasnotwhy we came,” Teela murmured. She looked as if she would tell Kaylin to keep away from the water, but one glance at Kaylin’s expression killed that plan.
Kaylin removed her boots and stepped into the stone basin. The water was warm, and the pillar moved instantly to embrace her. It was like a hug, but warmer and softer. As she had before, she could hear the water’s voice, because the water’s voice was, in large part, the voice of the Tha’alaan. She hadn’t visited the Tha’alani quarter in what felt like years but had been months at most.
She listened to the water, spoke to the water, but she didn’t reach for the Tha’alaan. In the heart of the High Halls, she was afraid that her own thoughts and fears would muddy the waters upon which the Tha’alaan—and its people—depended.
Even so, the water said.You are with Olleandar? Ah, Ollarin, as he is now called.
“We haven’t met him yet. We just came to deliver a letter. But...”
But? Ah. You wonder why I am here?
Kaylin nodded. As far as Kaylin was concerned, the water could be anywhere it wanted. There was no malice in it. If elemental water wanted to flood the world—and didn’t care much about anything already living in it—this water had evolved through contact with the Tha’alani. Life was precious, if short, to the water here.
Ollarin invited me. I am not his to control here, or rather, he does not exert control. He finds comfort in the fountain. And I find him precious, although I do not entirely understand why. Some things are not to be questioned, for no answers arise. He has made a home for himself here, but it is not his home—and he wished for my presence, the only part of home that he can carry with him.
I am terrifying to the Barrani, when unleashed. They believe he will unleash me should they attempt to harm him here. But it is not himself for whom his fears are strongest. Deliver your letter, but Kaylin—I understand the whole of Ollarin, and if you can find it in yourself to do so, offer him friendship.
“He’s Barrani. Barrani don’t really want friends.”
He is Ollarin. Yvonne is his friend. But his family, as hers, is dead by the hands of the man Ollarin finally killed. He is young, for his kin. You know I cannot command you; there is no battle of wills between us. But I ask it, friend of the Keeper. I ask it, Chosen.
Kaylin listened for one long breath. The water wouldn’t drown her; she didn’t need to breathe to shelter in its embrace.
But this wasn’t what she had been expecting. The water loved the Tha’alani as a people, and considered them kin—or as close to kin as such wild forces were capable of having. She had never expected that it might feel the same way about a Barrani Lord of the High Court.
Did you hear that?she asked Severn.
I did.
You’re not surprised?
Oh, I am. But the water wasted its time making its request. Come out. Teela’s getting impatient.
How can you tell?Teela was always impatient. For an Immortal, who had nothing but an endless stretch of time, she sure cared a lot about wasting any of it. Kaylin stepped out of the water, and the water retreated; her clothing wasn’t even damp.
“Are you finished?” Teela demanded, proving Severn right. The world often proved Severn right.