Cast In Deception

Moran was not in residence, which was the one silver lining of the evening. The last thing Moran needed was the political infighting of an entirely different caste court, given her current position.

Everyone else, however, was in the parlor. Mandoran had attempted to have Bellusdeo excluded, but Helen vetoed it, and Kaylin—who really didn’t want to put the Dragon at risk—hadn’t the heart to agree with Mandoran. Bellusdeo was more likely to survive extreme danger than Kaylin herself.

Nightshade appeared composed and almost casual. He also looked like he’d gotten sleep. While she knew the Barrani didn’t require sleep, every other Barrani in the room, Tain included, looked like they needed about a week of it. She was certain she didn’t look any better.

“Not really, dear,” Helen said.

Severn was the only regular who wasn’t in attendance.

Annarion’s bow, when offered to his brother, was stiff and overly formal, which was not lost on Nightshade. Since the brothers had had almost two weeks of relative peace, Kaylin had hoped that this meant arguments were behind them. But no, of course not. The issues that had caused the argument hadn’t been resolved.

The attempt, on Annarion’s part, to resolve them had become the point of contention, widening the conflict to encompass everyone else.

Helen offered drinks to everyone present. Teela and Tain immediately accepted. They didn’t ask for water. Kaylin, who already had a headache, decided that alcohol wasn’t going to make it any better, but Mandoran followed the Barrani Hawks’ lead. Annarion and Nightshade did not.

“Kaylin has told me some of what has occurred.”

This wasn’t entirely accurate, but Kaylin let it go. What mattered right at this particular moment was the cohort. All of it.

Annarion was silent. Teela, however, took the reins of the conversation, such as it was. She had always been a reckless driver—no one with any experience in the Hawks let her drive anything if they had to be a passenger—but she steered this particular conversation with ease. Probably because it was short and the Barrani were good at implying things without actually using the words.

“But they were not in the Hallionne?” Nightshade asked, when it was clear Teela had finished.

Mandoran answered. “No. They were in transit to Hallionne Orbaranne, on the portal paths.”

Annarion did not glance at his brother, but it wasn’t required. Kaylin suspected it was Annarion who was directing the conversation because Mandoran spoke High Barrani, and he spoke it politely and perfectly.

Nightshade considered them all. “Lord Bellusdeo,” he finally said.

She was orange-eyed and regal as she nodded. Teela’s eyes were blue; Tain’s eyes were blue. They were seldom any other color in the presence of Nightshade.

“Lord Kaylin has been granted access to the Hallionne, should she be the agent of investigation. You however...”

“Have not.”

“No.”

“And would not likely be granted that access.”

“No. The Hallionne are not duplicitous, in general; they would not offer you rest or shelter with the sole intent of destroying you once you were entirely within their power. At best, they would become a prison, should they be inclined to grant permission they were not built to grant. If, as I suspect, intervention is required, it would be inadvisable for you to travel west.”

“And you, as outcaste, would be granted that permission?”

“I have offered blood to the Hallionne; I have paid the price of entry. Once accepted, the Hallionne will not reject me unless there is deliberate intervention.”

“I do not understand how there could not be.”

“No, you do not. The Dragon outcastes and the Barrani outcastes are not the same. Among your kin, you would have had both friends and enemies, as is the case with the Barrani. But the designation of outcaste has a physical meaning to your kin that it does not have to mine. The Barrani designation is political. It is oft deadly, but not, as you are aware, always.

“If the High Court considered me the danger that Dragon outcastes are considered, they might bespeak the Hallionne—but it is both time-consuming and dangerous to do so. They cannot merely mirror the Hallionne and change the guest list; they must travel in person. And the request is not delivered by the simple expedient of word.”

“The Consort could do it,” Kaylin said.

“Yes. But it is not without cost to her, and the High Lord seldom countenances such an action.”

Kaylin hesitated again. It was marked by everyone in the room, but they were all on high alert. “Your brother’s friends aren’t outcaste.”

“Not in the political sense, no. And they had permission to travel; they gained it during the war and it was not revoked.”

“During the war.”

“When they traveled to the West March at the behest of the High Court.”

“...They’re not the same as they were then.”

“No. They carry, I am told, their names. But they are closer now to Dragon outcastes than Barrani outcastes have ever been. It is tacitly unacknowledged. The Hallionne Alsanis has restricted the flow of information about their time in his care, but he is in contact with the other Hallionne that form the road they will travel. Not until they leave Kariastos, if they travel that far, would they be required to travel across land—and Kariastos is well away from the shadowlands and ruins the Hallionne were built to guard against.”

“Annarion and Mandoran did not travel the portal roads to reach Elantra.”

“We’d spent enough time in the damn Hallionne,” Mandoran said, dropping High Barrani in favor of the Elantran he usually preferred. “We thought it would be a nice change to travel outside of one. Mostly, it was boring. And sullen.”

Annarion’s expression was not nearly as neutral as Teela’s as his brother continued to speak.

“The Hallionne are capable of limiting communication of any kind beyond their borders. You are aware that Helen...oversees our communication to a greater or lesser extent. Helen is not the equal of the Hallionne. If she has that functionality, it would be naive to think the Hallionne do not possess it as well.”

Kaylin struggled with resentment; she didn’t want Nightshade to talk about Helen as if Helen were a thing, an inanimate object.

Helen, however, did not appear to suffer the same resentment. Her gaze went to Kaylin, and one brow rose in curiosity. “He speaks of me,” she said, “as if I were a building. And Kaylin, I am. It is the core of what I am.” She turned once again to Nightshade. “I am not in contact with the Hallionne; I cannot say if his assumption is correct. But I believe it must be.” To Nightshade, she said, “Do you believe that Kaylin will be required to visit the Hallionne?”

“I am uncertain at this point. But I do not believe it would be in the best interests of either Annarion or Mandoran to investigate in person.”

“And Teela?” Kaylin asked.

“Teela has been a guest at the Hallionne after her return from the West March; she has been more, at the behest of the green. The Hallionne will not cage or attempt to destroy her. They know her and they accept her.” He turned to Teela. “I have heard that there has been some difficulty in the Halls of Law.”

She failed to glare at Kaylin, not that it would have made much difference to the color of her eyes. If Helen could limit communication within her boundaries, she had no control of what Nightshade could hear outside of them.

“If it is true that there is some unfortunate political unrest, this may be an appropriate time to investigate.”

“I will take that into consideration,” Teela replied. Her voice, like her expression, was a forbidding wall. Kaylin could well imagine what consideration meant, in this case.

Mandoran cursed in Leontine. Since no one had said anything out loud, Kaylin assumed it was at something that passed privately between the three who could speak without speaking.

“There is nothing you can do tonight,” Helen said, and Kaylin revised that number to four. “Kaylin intends to visit the Consort in person.”

“Oh?” Teela’s word was cool. Chilly.

“Yes, dear. Her initial concern was Candallar. Kaylin is sensitive to the idea of fieflords and their interactions within Elantra.”