“I was summoned.” Barrani politics gave Kaylin a headache, and no matter what she was called in this place, shewasn’tBarrani. “I was summoned by the Lady. I could not say no.”
“Of course not!”
“Before I could make my escape, I wasinvitedto attend An’Tellarus. By the High Halls.”
Yvonne looked genuinely sympathetic. “You really haven’t been having a great day, have you?” To Kaylin’s surprise, she spoke Elantran.
“It pretty much sucked. I’m hoping it gets a bit better before it ends.” She exhaled. “Have you spoken with the Consort?”
Yvonne shook her head emphatically. Her eyes were blue, now.
“Let me guess. An’Tellarus told you you should avoid any contact if avoidance wouldn’t cause offense.”
Yvonne nodded.
“She’s wrong. She might be right about every other Barrani in these cursed Halls, but she’s wrong about the Consort.”
“She’s theConsort.”
“Yes—but she’s the Lady, as well, and that’s more important. She doesn’t care about politics—I mean, compared to An’Teela or An’Tellarus—as much as she cares about her duties to the Lake and the Barrani people. Hers were practically the first green eyes I saw among the Barrani I’ve met. Teela’s eyes are generally shades of blue. I can’t recall the last time I saw green in them—maybe in the West March.”
“You’ve been to the West March.”
“Don’t get me started—Teela hates it when I complain and whine. And she can hear throughwalls, I swear.”
Yvonne shook her head. “I can talk about myself,” she said after a long pause. “But I shouldn’t talk about An’Tellarus or An’Sennarin. If you end up being a danger to me, I’ve made a mistake, and I’ll pay. But they wouldn’t make the same mistakeand shouldn’t have to suffer. I wish I could just go home,” she added, her voice dropping to a whisper.
“An’Sennarin doesn’t want you to go home?”
“He wouldn’t have been practically enslaved if it weren’t for me. If I’d died, he’d’ve been free. My parents did die trying to protect me. They weren’t the only ones. But the An’Sennarin of the time had some claim to our service, as branch families of his great tree.” This was said with a bitter twist of the lips.
“This is Ollarin’s way of making certain that I can’t be used like that again. An’Tellarus supports him—at least so far. That’s why she’s trying to teach me how to be a real Barrani. But... Iama real Barrani. This isn’t my place. My mother told me—always—that it was important to know and accept my place. AndI did. I did it enough to know that my place isn’t here.”
“Would he let you go back to the West March if you asked?”
Yvonne swallowed. “...I think so.”
“But you haven’t asked.”
“So much happened because of me. So much. I think sometimes he looks at me and he sees an echo of my parents, of the people who died at the hands of the previous An’Sennarin. He made friends here, outside the High Court. But they were killed—and many, many of their people brutally murdered afterward.
“I think he thinks his birth was the cause of all the deaths. His birth, his gift. And I try to remind him that it wasn’t him. He didn’t kill my family. He didn’t kill his friends. Sometimes, when we’re together, I can see a hint of who he used to be. It’s still in there.
“Sometimes I think that’s so important, I’m happy I’m here. And sometimes I think An’Tellarus might be right: it’s that part of Ollarin that needs to wither and die. Because if he’s still that person, the High Halls will destroy him.”
“I assure you,” a familiar voice said, “that is untrue. I will not destroy Ollarin.” In the wake of his words, the Avatar appeared, standing a respectful distance from where Yvonne and Kaylin were sitting.
Yvonne would have fallen over backward if she hadn’t been Hope’s perch.
“I didn’t—I didn’t mean you!”
“He knows that,” a second, far more familiar voice said. “He’s teasing you.”
Yvonne stood.
“I’m really sorry,” Kaylin told her, voice soft. “But the second voice is a friend of mine. Terrano—show yourself, please.”
“No way. These are An’Tellarus’s halls. If I take a step into them, they won’t be able tofindall my body parts.”