Cast In Ruin Part 16

"Demonstrably not. He will have to consider what he has seen, and we will have to wait until he has." He turned to Severn as if this sort of thing happened every day, and said, "Bring the crystal to the table. I would like to examine it more closely now that we have leisure to do so."

"Leisure?"

"We can't do anything else," he pointed out. "The door has been magically sealed."

"Why?"

"I believe the Arkon does wish to discuss this with you both-eventually. At the moment, if we are very lucky, he will not march straight to the Emperor."

"The...Emperor."

"Indeed. I will say that the last time he was in this much of a fury he staved in a wall somewhere beyond the actual Library proper." He glanced at them both and added, "It was well before either of you were born, and before you ask, no-no one was stupid enough to be standing between the Arkon and the wall. Any wall.

"If this newest crop of librarians has any wisdom at all-and for the most part, he chooses them, so it would be highly likely that this is the case-there will be no nonstructural casualties."

Severn set the crystal down; the image didn't dissipate. Sanabalis approached it with caution, although he knew it was entirely a projection. Sanabalis's eyes were orange, but his inner membranes were up. Kaylin watched him. The Arkon was the oldest of the Imperial Dragons, and clearly this woman-or her eyes-meant something to him. Tiamaris was the youngest, and it had also clearly meant something to him.

But Tiamaris, if you believed the Dragons, was the racial equivalent of Kaylin in terms of temperament. Sanabalis was not.

"You said you saw three of the corpses?" she said, forcing the last syllable up to make it a question.

"I did."

"And you noted nothing strange?"

"Beyond the fact that they were identical, down to the lack of visible distinguishing marks and any obvious cause of death?"

"Beyond that, yes. That wasn't what sent the Arkon off to rearrange architecture."

He snorted. "No. Nor did Tiamaris, and he had in his possession all seven." Sanabalis was silent. There was clearly no point in asking him what he'd suspected, and Kaylin was restrained enough not to try.

"If the Arkon had seen the seven?"

"I think it possible that the Arkon's reaction would have been very different than either of our initial reactions. He had already begun to descend before the image's eyes opened."

"Who does he think she is, or was?"

"That would be the question," was the quiet reply. "Tiamaris will not, now, cede any of the corpses to the Halls or the Emperor. But you have some influence with the Lady. Use it, Kaylin. If the corpse cannot be brought to the Halls, you have the dubious privilege of convincing the Hawklord to second Red to the fiefs for an autopsy."

"Given Tiamaris's reaction, I'm not sure performing an autopsy is in the cards. We need Red," she added. "I could try to get Mallory sent in his place."

Sanabalis snorted. So did Severn.

"What do you think he'll find?" she finally asked.

"I don't know," Sanabalis replied. "But we now need the information. You will not understand why," he added softly, "but I am almost certain that these deaths-if they are, indeed, deaths-are entirely a product of the Shadows that lie at the heart of Ravellon. And they are spread throughout the fief of Tiamaris."

"You think they might be spread throughout the rest of the fiefs, as well." It wasn't a question.

"The situation in Tiamaris is different," he replied, but it took him at least a minute. "Only Tiamaris has a Dragon for a Lord. I do not know if that was the intent of the Tower's creators or not; I know that something at the heart of Ravellon has now turned an eye upon the newest of the fieflords. If there were no similar identical corpses to be found in any other fief, it would not surprise me."

"And if there were?"

He was silent. It wasn't a particularly good silence.

"Sanabalis, I've never met a female Dragon."

"No."

"Aren't there any?"

"That is not a topic of discussion that will prove fruitful," he replied, and as he glanced at her, she concurred, because his eyes had dipped to a shade that was almost-but not quite-red. She had the usual vested interest in making sure they didn't get there. "I will speak with Lord Grammayre on the morrow."

"Sanabalis-"

"I do not know, Kaylin. Today was more...eventful...than even I had guessed it would be. Diarmat's lesson tomorrow, however, must not be missed. Unless you are severely injured. Minor injuries, sadly, will count for little. But you have failed to mention Maggaron to the Arkon; you have also failed to mention your sword."

CHAPTER 10.

Sanabalis grimaced. "This is not the time to be careless in the presence of magical weapons, especially not if you claim to own said weapon." His eyes were now a pale orange. "You will, of course, procure a sheath before you meet with Diarmat again, if it is at all possible. I a.s.sume the weapon didn't come with a sheath?"

"Given the reaction of the previous owner to the question, I'm a.s.suming the answer is no."

"He was angry?"

"Horrified. I don't want to ask him again. I got the impression the question itself was hideously disrespectful."

He glanced toward the unadorned ceiling in much the same way her Sergeant had when she'd been younger. "It is no small wonder to me that your lives are so short," he finally said. "They are far, far too crowded with immediate catastrophe; if the whole of my life had been this eventful, I'm not sure I wouldn't have considered mortality a distinct boon." He turned his back on the figure that stood, unmoving, just above the crystal Severn had set on the table.

"Sanabalis-"

He cleared his throat.

"Lord Sanabalis."

"Yes?"

"What did the four of you say when you were flying over the City?"

Sanabalis didn't reply.

"What did you hear?"

Severn stepped in and carefully tapped her shoulder. She turned. "If it's a matter of the Dragon Court, think carefully about how much you want the answer. Lord Diarmat is unlikely to approve."

"And if we need it?"

"If you require the answer," Sanabalis replied heavily, "you will know." He started to speak, stopped, and made a show of straightening out his beard.

The door flew open, framing the Arkon, whose eyes were now an even, simmering orange. They darkened when he glanced at the figure that adorned the tabletop, but this time no flame accompanied his exhalation.

"Arkon," Kaylin said quietly. She felt Sanabalis's warning glare drill the side of her cheek, and ignored it. Nothing she'd ever said had caused the ancient Librarian to spout flame in the middle of his h.o.a.rd, after all. "Her eyes were only golden when the bodies were examined under spell. In normal conditions we believe they were brown or hazel."

"Whose spell?" he asked, voice sharp.

"Tiamaris's."

The glance that the Arkon shot at Sanabalis was far from friendly, but he seemed satisfied with the answer. "My apologies for my outburst," he said. "I was...surprised. I also interrupted the details of your investigation thus far, and I am now ready to entertain all those missing details. Private?"

When she had finished answering his questions, she felt as if she was sitting in on an interrogation. Her own. But the Arkon had turned his attention to Severn. "You took samples of the cloth?"

Severn nodded.

"I would like to examine them."

Without blinking, Severn took them out of his satchel and set them on the table to one side of the crystal.

"Why did you cut these?"

"The dye," Severn replied after a careful pause. "It's an unusual shade of blue. Blue dyes aren't common, and they're expensive; they're not readily found anywhere in the fiefs. If the fabric was made in the Empire, we should be able to find out where."

"Leave one sample with me."

Severn nodded again.

"I would also appreciate a report-in person, and off the record-of your findings in this particular investigation. Lord Diarmat was mildly skeptical about the necessity of your presence in the fiefs. I will set his doubts permanently to rest."

"Arkon," Sanabalis began.

"If he wishes to argue, he may."

"Can he do it when I'm nowhere near the Palace?" Kaylin asked.

Both Dragons turned to look at her, and she had the grace to redden. "There are a couple of other things that we haven't had the time to mention."

The Arkon's brows rose quickly enough there was some chance they'd detach.

"It has," Sanabalis told the Arkon, "been a very complicated day."

Before they'd finished in the Library, the Arkon took a few moments to examine the sword Kaylin had left at the front desk with a man who was now understandably entirely absent. The sword, however, was where she had placed it, boxed in on all sides by gla.s.s, wood, and magic.

His mind was clearly not on the sword itself, but his inspection wasn't cursory; it just wasn't magical. He asked Sanabalis for details-in, thankfully, High Barrani; Sanabalis supplied them. Kaylin glanced around; nothing seemed to be on fire, and nothing had been staved in.

Sanabalis raised a brow. "You don't think he'd damage any part of the Library, do you?"

Because she thought better of answering that question where anyone might hear her, she didn't fall further afoul of the Arkon. Unfortunately, before he dismissed the Hawks, he asked several pointed questions, and he didn't seem entirely satisfied with the answers. Given that Kaylin surrendered everything she knew of relevance to Maggaron, Ascendants, magical swords, and fief borders, she thought it a touch unfair. Especially since he didn't seem to consider any of her questions pertinent or worth answering in return.

But after what felt like hours, he rose. "You will take the crystal, Corporal. Use it as you see fit in the confines of your investigation. Because you are both so young and at least one of you defines lack of wisdom by her actions, I will tell you to use that crystal as far from the Dragon Court as it is possible to do." He took the swatch of cloth Severn had left him and said, "I will begin my own investigations here; we may confer at the end of tomorrow."

Kaylin lifted a hand.

"Private?"

"I have lessons with Lord Diarmat tomorrow when I return from the fiefs."

"Yes. But Corporal Handred does not. You may join us if you survive your lesson."

There was only one stop left-the Halls of Law. It was now dark enough that the office, with its gossip, betting pools, and paperwork, would be relatively quiet. Given the day, this was a good thing.

Marcus, on the other hand, was still in the office. The mirror on his desk-a small, un.o.btrusive oval on iron legs-was putting on a light show that made Kaylin turn to look at the schedule posted on the board. But Teela, Tain, and a half dozen of the other Barrani Hawks were also in the office; quiet wasn't in the cards.

Teela looked up as Kaylin, sidling around Marcus's desk, approached. Barrani didn't need much sleep or food-unless you counted alcohol-but this didn't show on Teela's face; she looked peaked. "Kitling," she said. "Corporal." Peaked changed to something with less approval in it. "What are you carrying, Kaylin?"

"A sword."

"With no sheath."

"It didn't come with a sheath." She laid it across the surface of an almost-clean desk and draped herself over the back of the nearest empty chair. Marcus hadn't even growled when she'd entered, which was always a bad sign.

"Where did it come from?"

"The fiefs. It's-it's a magic sword."

If she'd expected Teela to snort or laugh, she was disappointed; the Barrani Hawk was staring at the sword as if she expected it to stand up and dance. "Yes," she finally said. "It is."

Tain walked by, dropped a stack of papers to one side of Teela's elbows, and said, "Lord Grammayre expects us within an hour."

"An hour from now?" Kaylin asked.

"An hour from now."

She watched Tain leave, and then turned to Teela. "The Exchequer?"

Teela nodded. It was a curt, grim motion.

"How *not well' is the investigation going?"

"There's some possibility that the Arcanum is indirectly involved."

Severn whistled.