“It’s okay,” Yvonne told Kaylin. “I mean, even if he introduced himself properly, I wouldn’t recognize his family line.”
“Why are you here?”
“I was bored?”
“I mean it, Terrano.”
“Fine. Abel thought I might be helpful.”
“You? Here? In An’Tellarus’s domain—the home of a woman that even Teela is treating with genuine respect? Did you piss him off?”
Yvonne’s stiffness faded as she listened to the Terrano she couldn’t see and the Kaylin she could. “Ummm, why are you calling the Avatar Abel?”
“It was shorter than the name he actually preferred—which was way way way too much of a mouthful.”
Yvonne was shocked. “...and he’s okay with that?”
“Well, he hasn’t expelled me or locked me out. Or in. I think he’s fine.”
“It is interesting, I confess,” the Avatar said. “And perhaps my long inward focus has given me the opportunity to reassess my protectorate. I find Terrano fascinating in small doses.”
“In larger doses?”
“He causes confusion and chaos. And I apologize for theinterruption, but except in cases where ambitious fools attempt to harm or control the Lake, I do not destroy my inhabitants.” He smiled at Yvonne. “What are you carrying?”
“Lord Kaylin’s familiar. With her permission!”
“With his permission,” the Avatar said, but his smile deepened. “I believe your discussion was relevant to our issues or we would not have felt it germane to intervene.”
“How so?” Kaylin asked.
“I believe you were attempting to tell Yvonne that she should, if possible, speak to the Consort directly. An’Tellarus might allow it.”
She won’t, Severn said; he’d been listening, his presence so calm and quiet she’d been unaware of it at all.
A thinner voice said,I would advise against it. Ynpharion.
Kaylin shook her head, which probably looked strange.I think it’s important for the Consort—because I think Yvonne is the chess piece on the board that could be used to truly threaten the Lady. And Yvonne herself isn’t threatening. It’s probably why the Lake would be willing to grant her entry.
I’d advise against it, Severn continued, as if no other voice—even Kaylin’s—had interrupted him.
Something in his tone was off, wrong somehow.
She wouldn’t be a danger to the Consort.
Probably not. Not intentionally. What An’Tellarus hasn’t told you is that the heart of the green’s test—of me, for the weapon—was Yvonne herself. If Yvonne is somehow involved, it means Ollarin didn’t or hasn’t rooted out the parts of his extended family that were firmly under his predecessor’s control.
What does that mean?
Yvonne was removed from her home at the behest of Ollarin’s predecessor—as was Ollarin himself. They used or invoked Shadow in some fashion—and Yvonne would have been trapped and consumed by it had she not been saved by the green.
11
We need to talk.Kaylin began to pace. Had Teela been here, there would have been words; had An’Tellarus been with her, glares. Teela had never liked it when Kaylin paced restlessly either in circles or straight lines; it reminded the Barrani Hawk of a caged beast, trapped in an enclosure too small and too constraining.
“You need to speak,” the Avatar agreed. “But I counsel against panic. You yourself have encountered an odd form of Shadow in the very recent past; it does not taint you in a fashion either I or Helen can perceive. Were I your friend or associate, I would suggest you pay a visit—in person—to Lord Bellusdeo. Her Tower was built to war against Shadow, and the Tower’s attention to detail is far, far more granular.”
“Can I take Yvonne with me?” Kaylin countered.