Cast in Sorrow by Michelle Sagara

Author:Michelle Sagara [Sagara, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

He roared. She felt it as a physical sensation, like an earthquake. The ground beneath her feet broke, cracks appearing in flat stone as the creature turned. His eyes were glowing green—as they had the last time she’d encountered him.

“Kitling!”

Iberrienne turned the whole of his attention toward where Kaylin stood. To her surprise, she saw that the folds of her dress were glowing—and they were almost the same color as Iberrienne’s eyes. It was the most disturbing thing about him now.

What was the blood of the green?

Iberrienne.

His hind-legs hunched; he intended to leap.

“Kaylin, move!”

She held her ground; every instinct screamed against it—but no. It wasn’t her instinct; it was his. He fought her. She was surprised when her arm developed sudden gashes, because Iberrienne hadn’t reached her. She cried out and raised her arms because she was wearing the damn dress and bleeding on it was bad.

It was unspecified bad. Iberrienne wasn’t. He’d coiled to spring; he even attempted to do it. But she held him—barely—in place; he staggered. The stagger brought his impressive jaws closer to her face.

The small dragon reared; he didn’t breathe and he didn’t leap free of her shoulder.

“Kaylin!”

She heard Teela’s sword strike the Feral. She heard it bounce, heard Teela’s angry Leontine fury. If she survived this, Teela would shake her until her teeth rattled.

But she pushed, and she pushed hard, and it hurt. It burned. Her thoughts spiraled out of her grasp, returning in shreds—she let them go. She held one thing at the center of her thoughts: a name. His name.

She met and held his gaze. The green of his eyes lost illumination, shifting as they drained of light, into blue. Barrani blue. He staggered, dropped belly to floor; his growls became whines. Beyond the fire and fury and killing rage, there was—emptiness.

She thought then that had she tried this on the uncorrupted Lord Iberrienne of the High Court, she would have died. “Teela, don’t! We need him!”

The Barrani Hawk lowered her sword; it appeared to take effort, as if gravity was pulling in the wrong direction. She didn’t sheathe it. She didn’t move. She stood to one side of the shrinking, black creature that was slowly dwindling, the strength of its external shape giving way to the more familiar form and figure of a Barrani man.

He was, unfortunately, naked. Kaylin couldn’t remember Ynpharion being naked.

“What,” Teela said, in a voice that made ice seem warm, “did you do?”

“I took his name,” Kaylin replied evenly. There was blood in her mouth. It was, of course, her own. “Can you do something about my arms?”

Teela’s eyes widened before they narrowed.

“I didn’t cut myself, Teela. And so far no blood on the dress.”

The Leontine curse was a comfort. “I do not know how you lived to be twenty.”

“Twenty-one. And I’m not certain mortal blood will count—do you think it will?”

Teela glared her into silence. She didn’t have random bandages on her person; the dining hall had tablecloths. She cut a chunk off one of them, and then tore it into strips.

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