“Yes, in some cases. The potentia is powerful, but the power is localized. You’ve seen that with Helen, Killianas, and the Hallionne. Helen can create anything her occupants desire—but it will not persist beyond Helen’s boundaries. Some sought to make those creations permanent; others simply considered a building such as Helen a perfect place to house or create art, or to store it safely so that visitors might see it. There were artists who created their masterpieces in buildings such as Helen, limited only by what they could envision.
“And he apologizes for the digression. The green is not well-studied, but he believes it is, in some fashion, the earliest possible iteration of a sentient space.”
Yvonne snorted. Loudly.
“That’s not what is believed in the West March, I take it?” Kaylin asked.
“The green doesn’t care what we believe,” she replied. “But if what Severn said was true, the green can’t be affected by Shadow, except at its own will. And no, before you ask, I wasn’t a servant of the green. Maybe, in time, I might have aspired to that, but I speak with the authority of one who lives in its lee, not one who has studied or communed with it.”
“But the green might have communed with you,” Kaylin replied.
There was just too much information to take in, too much to untangle; some of it would have to be disentangled—if possible—at its source. In this case, that was the High Halls. But the green wasn’t reaching out to the High Halls; it was reaching out to Helen, or to her numerous tenants. To Kaylin,in her poorly chosen dress. To Nightshade, who couldn’t respond to the call of the Teller’s crown.
And to Yvonne, who had been saved by the combined effort of the green and Severn.
Not all change is dangerous.Kaylin blinked at the voice and then turned to look at Hope. Hope was standing on her shoulder, his neck elongated, his eyes on Nightshade.Not all change is positive. Positive, negative—often they are decided after the fact, but from very different viewpoints.
“Can you wake Nightshade?” she asked.
There is very little I cannot do if you are willing to pay the price.
“And the price?” She almost never asked this question but felt a growing sense of urgency.
You would not pay it, Chosen. This is not a situation that requires my intervention, if you are careful.
“Serralyn actually agrees with Yvonne, for what it’s worth.” Annarion’s eyes widened. “Whatever you think you’re going to do, Terrano suggests you do it now.”
“Helen?”
“I am currently in communication with Terrano,” Helen replied. “Something is attempting to create a door within my boundaries.”
“Would you have noticed it without Terrano?”
“Not immediately, and perhaps not in time.”
“Is it the same path Terrano got caught on the last time?”
“He believes it is. But...”
“But?”
“The planes of existence, the planes he crosses and moves between, do not exert gravity, for want of a better analogy.”
“And this path does.”
“It appears to; it is subtle. Without caution, the path will draw people to it.”
“It took Mandoran some time to reach Terrano in the fiefs.”
“Mandoran is naturally more cautious than his brother. And as I said, it’s subtle.”
Annarion shook his head. “Mandoran doesn’t think it’s subtle this time—his guess is they’re walking that small, created planar tunnel, but they’re also using magic within their defined space; he says the pull is noticeable.”
“Are people trying to enter?”
“I cannot sense people,” Helen replied. “Just the entry point. But if the point is anchored here, people are certain to follow.”
“You want to trap them here.”