“As I said before, magic evolves. It is like any other field of study. If you ask me to detail the magic I sense, I am uncertain my conjectures would be of value. I have not had a mage as a tenant since I first broke free of the fetters of obedience. I still retain the various research materials and notes of previous masters, but they are hidden.”
“I would like to study them,” Teela said.
Helen turned to Kaylin.
“Better her than me.”
“Kitling.”
Kaylin exhaled. “Is the magic keeping him unconscious?”
“I cannot say that definitively. Nor, as I might have mentioned, can I say with certainty that the magic itself is not protective in nature.”
“Protective against what?”
“You cannot tell if he has been poisoned.”
“Not if I can’t touch him, no. If I had no idea who or what he was, my first guess would have been poison. But the fact that I can’t reach him with the power of the Marks of the Chosen implies magic. Maybe magical poison?”
Teela’s brow furrowed as she considered Kaylin’s suggestion. “That is not what it would be called, but it is theoretically possible. If it acted the way poison generally does, it would cause damage. The fact that you can’t examine him with your power goes against that.”
“Would a normal doctor, a nonmagical expert, have any better luck? I’m not medically trained. I don’t have that expertise.”
Teela frowned. “It’s possible. But human doctors wouldn’t possess the required knowledge or experience, and there are very few Barrani doctors who do not rely on magic as their examination tool. None,” she added, voice cooling, “that I would trust enough to take the risk of examination. And we would be waiting for some weeks, even should we choose to take that risk—our experts are in the West March.”
“There aren’t any in the High Halls?”
Teela snorted. “They would be considered far too provincial to be accorded respect in the High Halls. Regardless, I feel the magic is complex enough that we cannot simply assume it is the magic alone that is the danger.”
“Will he survive?” Kaylin asked as quietly as she could.
“While he is here, I believe he is safe. Annarion will stand watch.”
Terrano lifted a hand. “Wait.”
Teela didn’t care for Terrano’s eyes, either. She turned immediately, regardless.
“Can you draw his sword?”
“His sword?”
“Meliannos.”
Teela’s brows rose, her eyes flecked, briefly, with gold. “You wantmeto drawMeliannos?”
“I don’t think anyone else is likely to survive the attempt,” was Terrano’s matter-of-fact reply.
“Please don’t kill him,” Kaylin said quickly. “Don’ttry, because I think we’ll probably need him. Terrano, tell herwhy. Right now.”
Terrano turned to Kaylin, grinning. His eyes hadn’t returned to normal. “She won’t kill me. And she knows why. Seriously, could we justgiveyou one name? Like, just one? Words are hard.”
“You use so many of them, I’m surprised to hear you say that,” Teela snapped.
Terrano rolled his eyes. Kaylin had to look away. “You don’t see the magic at all, right? You can physically touch Nightshade; you can’t do anything else?”
She nodded.
“There’s still a connection. You can’t reach him by calling his True Name, right?” He grimaced, clearly at one of the cohort’s replies.