I fail to see how that would be any protection at all.No pauses there; he hadn’t bothered to ask.
Well, it’s Severn or Bellusdeo. I suppose I could ask Nightshade, but I was under the impression that outcastes would be far worse.
She suggests perhaps Lord Andellen.
Kaylin frowned. Barrani names were so similar she sometimes had to sort through them before she could come up with a person to attach them to.
Lord Andellen was Nightshade’s second-in-command. The most loyal of his Barrani lieges. Kaylin’s work in the High Halls had allowed her to ask that Lord Andellen, exiled but not outcaste, be allowed to return to the Halls until she passed away. She certainly hadn’t asked for that boon for her own sake—the High Halls gave her hives.
Everything about this felt wrong, off-kilter.
If you visit, she will instruct the guards to allow you to enter; they will take you directly to her. Give me some warning should you think it necessary to meet with her.Pause.She feels Severn would also be acceptable because she suggests, if you visit, you visit as a Hawk.
Kaylin froze on the spot. It took her a moment to find her own feet.She wants me to come as aHawk?
She feels it will emphasize your caste. You are human. Those who wish to harm their rivals on opposing factions will think several times about adding human bodies to the brewing conflict, especially if they are Hawks.
Is she in danger?Kaylin began to walk, her steps slow. She wasn’t always the best at reading undercurrents and subtext, because she had so little of either to offer. But Ynpharion wouldn’t have made the attempt to contact her if the circumstances didn’t involve the Consort, at least peripherally.Ynpharion, tell me.
Silence.
Severn looked up as she approached. He nodded, falling into step beside her as they left the Halls for their Elani beat. They’d be a bit early, but Kaylin was now too restless to pause or make small talk. She needed to be moving. She needed to do something.
Maybe that was why her Marks seemed almost jittery: she was. Something was happening, or about to happen.
Severn glanced at her; she felt his muted concern. Of course he was concerned. Even her thoughts were loud. She’d never quite figured out how to mask or obscure them, how to slide into a superficial layer of thought while avoiding the thoughts that were actually important.
“Try not to kick Margot’s sign over.”
“I didn’t do it last week.”
As beats went, Elani was harmless. Most of the regulars were so accustomed to Kaylin’s familiar they no longer made the attempt to purchase him. People less familiar with the Hawks still asked. She almost hoped someone would try to swipe Hope. It would give her something to respond to, some way to relieve some of her building steam.
No one did.
You look like thunder, Severn observed.If you want to start an incident—or have an incident start—try looking friendly.
Kaylin shook her head. She had paused in front of Evanton’s. She almost entered. But Evanton’s wasn’t where she was meant to be. Had Evanton wanted to see her, Grethan would have opened the door as she approached the faded lettering of the store window.
The only silver lining on the cloud she’d become—Severn being right, no doubt—was the fact that there were no incidents, and reports would be minuscule enough even Kaylin could get them in on time.
But she’d been ill at ease for a couple of days now, and she expected bad news.
In the end, she didn’t worry about reports. She didn’t worry about Elani.
When news came, it arrived in a way no one else could hear.She felt it first, on her tattooed cheek; she lifted a hand to touch the mark Nightshade had left on her face. It felt like years ago. It had been maybe two—at most.
Severn stopped as Kaylin did, his steps so naturally in time with hers the pause was instinctive, automatic.
She lowered her hand.
“Your cheek is bleeding.”
A single streak of blood reddened the palm of her hand. She nodded, turning toward the streets that led to the bridge to Tiamaris. It was the only way anyone with legitimate business entered the fiefs anymore.Nightshade?
There was no answer.
Kaylin began to run.