03
Nightshade’s rooms were, to no one’s surprise, very like the Barrani rooms in which the cohort lived. These were more expansive; Andellen wouldn’t be sleeping on a couch in his master’s bedchamber.
Andellen, however, paused at the door. The external door did not, in any way, resemble the interior.
“May I see the room in which my lord has been placed?”
“You can,” Helen replied, her expression neutral.
“You do not recommend it.”
“Annarion is with him. Annarion is... not stable at the moment. He is attempting to examine his brother, and he is coming up against the same difficulties Kaylin did. I am having trouble convincing him that he must maintain solid form—and he must approachanyspell with caution.”
Kaylin groaned.
Andellen glanced at her.
“She’s giving us warning that the rest of the inhabitants of my house will be joining Annarion and Mandoran. One of them is An’Mellarionne.”
“These would be friends of my lord’s brother?”
“Yes. I assume you’ve heard about them.”
“I have heard very little. My lord seldom chooses to discussthe personal matters of his family. I am aware, however, that they arrived shortly after Lord Annarion.”
“They’re not great with formal introductions, so I might have to just point them out to—”
The door flew open. Sedarias and Terrano were standing in the frame, and they moved almost as one person. Terrano’s eyes were in the disturbing, too-large-for-his-face configuration; Sedarias’s were not. They were the color of midnight, if midnight was an emotion.
Midnight was clearly a Barrani emotion. Sedarias didn’t push Andellen out of the way; she didn’t have to. Andellen stepped adroitly to one side as she barreled past.
“That’s An’Mellarionne,” Kaylin said when Sedarias was far enough away. “The person she came with—”
“Lord Terrano.”
Kaylin grimaced. “Technically, yes. But we call him Terrano. His eyes don’t always look like that.”
Andellen’s gaze, blue-eyed, did not darken; he watched Sedarias. Or perhaps he was now concerned about Terrano. People who were used to Terrano understood that his eyes could enlarge or practically melt, but that didn’t mean he was injured. Or dangerous. Or notintentionallydangerous.
Kaylin turned to Andellen. “If you want to give them privacy, remain here.”
“You do not?”
“Privacy isn’t really a huge concern for the cohort. And also: it’s my damn house.”
Kaylin entered the room behind Sedarias and Terrano.
Nightshade lay atop a bed meant for one, his arms by his sides, his eyes closed. His hair was a spill of black, and even in his state, not a strand was out of place. Annarion was beside the bed.
Mandoran leaned against the wall, arms folded, chin down.He looked up the second Kaylin crossed the threshold. His eyes matched Sedarias’s for color. Mandoran’s blue wasn’t one of fury or fear—not normally. But Mandoran had traveled to Elantra with Annarion, arriving before the rest of the cohort. The two were close.
“Serralyn’s in the chancellor’s office right now,” Mandoran told her.
“She needs permission to access the library?”
“The librarians,” Mandoran corrected her. “Annarion isn’t as delicate in his use of magic as Serralyn is; he’s been trying to examine the spell he believes his brother is under.”
Clearly, he’d had no luck.