Cast in Wisdom by Michelle Sagara

Author:Michelle Sagara
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA Books
Published: 2019-11-12T14:36:42+00:00

Chapter 16

Sedarias, of the gathered company, was the only person present whose eyes had descended into a dark, dark blue as the Dragons spoke. Annarion’s expression was smooth, polished, and implied the resignation, beat for beat, that Emmerian’s contained. Sedarias, not so much.

Apparently, the ability to see and hear the entirety of Mandoran’s and Annarion’s lives from the remove of the West March didn’t compensate for actual, lived experience. She was rigid as Tiamaris and the Arkon continued the thunder of what appeared to be an actual argument.

Here, Tiamaris held sway. It was his fief.

Kaylin glanced at Tara’s Avatar; the Tower, like the other two Dragons, look resigned. Resigned and compassionate. As if Kaylin’s glance was a question, Tara moved away from Tiamaris toward Kaylin. He didn’t appear to notice. As she reached Kaylin, she offered the Hawk a hug, her clothing transforming, as she did, from the meet-with-dignitaries dress and robes into the more beloved gardening smock.

“My Lord is worried,” she said. Unlike Morse, it wasn’t necessary for Tara to shout. Not even here, near the border of the fief over which her Tower ruled.

“Can you tell me why?”

Before Tara could answer, Kaylin added, “Emmerian and Bellusdeo are worried, too. The only time I’ve really seen Bellusdeo worry, it involved Shadow. This...doesn’t.”

“I am not sure I understand it myself. It has something to do with Dragons and hoards. But...you’ve seen a Dragon stake his hoard claim. You were standing right beside him. Did he appear to be dangerously unstable to you?”

“He’s a Dragon.”

“Does that make a difference? I agree that the form is, for a small period, unstable and appears malleable when the Dragons choose to shift—”

Kaylin had, momentarily, forgotten the Tower’s sense of humor. Or lack of one. “I don’t think I had the time to notice. You might remember that there were Shadows who were attempting to rewrite your words in the heart of the Tower space.”

“Ah, yes. Apologies.” Tara smiled. “I remember it as the darkness before the dawn. That’s figurative,” she added. “Or perhaps metaphorical. My Lord feels that the Arkon is dangerously unstable at the moment, and is telling him so.”

Great. They were going to be here all day.

“What do you think?” Kaylin asked.

“He appears, to me, to be as he was the first time he visited the fief, except in one regard.”

“And that is?”

“The first time, he was happy to see Bellusdeo. It meant much to him. It was hope. It was...” Tara frowned. “Sadness. I am not certain I should be answering this question.” Her hesitation was marked, and it reminded Kaylin a bit of Helen—but Helen wouldn’t have answered. “I think he has been sad for as long as you’ve known him. Perhaps for as long as Emmerian has known him. Bellusdeo comes from a period of his life where loss had not informed him so thoroughly.”

“He’s not sad now?”

“It is sharper, harsher. I cannot easily describe the difference. But he is...desperate with hope, Kaylin. My Lord attempts to cushion that hope, to explain reality.

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