“She trusted Severn with you, even when you tried to kill him the first time.” He waited for Kaylin to nod, but it took longer. “Oh, come on, you must have noticed that.”
“She trusts me with the Hawksbecause I am one.”
Terrano made a raspberry sound. “Fine, you tell yourself that.” He looked in Severn’s direction.
“I have no idea what you’re saying,” Severn told him. “If you expect me to somehow get you out of trouble by acknowledging something, you’re going to have to try harder.”
Terrano exhaled. “Never mind. Sedarias is now joiningTeela in shouting at me. It’s the first time they haven’t been snarling at each other since Teela left. I might just run away and let you talk to Teela.”
“She won’t tell me anything.”
“Probably not. But Bellusdeo will.”
Bellusdeo?
“I told you—she’s near the border. The Towers are pretty bloody sensitive about that, and Bellusdeo is not exactly reasonable when it comes to any tiny hint of Shadow. Or idiots who walk into it.” He cursed in impressive Leontine. “I understand why you like that language,” he added. “We don’t really have time for this. Come on. We need to get there now.”
“It’s interesting that you should say that,” a familiar voice said, breaking into their conversation.
Kaylin looked immediately toward the figure on the other side of the bridge across the Ablayne. It was, of course, Tiamaris.
05
They hadn’t evencrossedthe damn bridge yet. “Tara couldn’t have known we were coming.”
“She is not a fool. When your confederates crossed the bridge, she became instantly aware of them. She is not familiar with Lord Andellen, but she is absolutely familiar with Teela and her friends.” Tiamaris was intimidating even when not in draconic form.
“There’s no way they told you I was coming. Teela’s dead set against it.”
“Correct. But Teela was wearingKariannos. Tara considered its presence in my fief very rude.”
“She was gone before you could confront her about her poor manners?”
“I assumed that she had come to investigate the scene of the crime,” was his reasonable reply. “Given what Nightshade faced, carrying her strongest weapon was merely a display of intelligent caution. I lost some small amount of time convincing Tara; she believed that Teela’s investigation encompassed more than that.
“And it appears I should place far more faith in her instincts.” His eyes, however, belied his words and tone; they were orange, yes, but flecks of gold could be seen in their glow.
“She had no intention of harming you,” Kaylin replied. Terrano had taken a step back. He wasn’t exactly hiding behind her, but it was close.
“Of course not.” Tiamaris’s tone was dismissive. “But it seems that your timid friend is worried Bellusdeo might react in a less measured fashion should she encounter Teela. You said she was skirting the border, didn’t you?”
Terrano mumbled ayes.
“The border alongRavellonis in no way the same as the borders that exist between the fiefs. Is she aware of that?”
“She doesn’t entirely agree with your assessment.” Terrano spoke with a touch of hesitation.
“Until my ascent as fieflord, I was the person within the Empire who had the most experience navigating the fiefs and their many lost secrets,” Tiamaris said, the gold flecks vanishing from his eyes.
“She says that’s true, officially speaking. Before you get angry, she adds that she didn’t break the prohibitions herself—but she’s certain they’ve been broken, now.”
Red flecks appeared in place of the absent gold. “Explain.”
“She’s been following the trail of a very faint magical sigil to find the Barrani who acted in concert with the war bands to assassinate the fieflord. She hasn’t crossed theRavellonborder herself—and won’t—but she believes that at least one person did. She’s concerned,” Terrano added, speaking slightly more confidently. “But she’s not a fool; she’s not enteringRavellonwithout a small army.”
Tiamaris turned his massive head and exhaled a small stream of fire. “Very well. Cross the bridge, and head directly to Bellusdeo’s fief. I will escort you from the air.”
Tiamaris didn’t offer to fly them to Teela. Instead, he provided low, aerial cover for the Hawks—and Terrano—as theysprinted through the streets of his fief. Terrano was focused not on being semipermeable, but on the cohort. And the Dragon.