(eng) Michelle Sagara - Elantra 10 by Cast in Flame (retail)

Author:Cast in Flame (retail) [Flame, Cast in]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Kaylin started forward immediately. So did Severn. Even Teela moved.

They were Hawks. They had training. And they had some experience recognizing death when they saw it. They didn’t usually see a dead man standing between open doors as if his very last act had been opening them—but this was a big city. Stranger things happened.

Kaylin caught him as he toppled—and he did topple; he didn’t crumple.

The small dragon lifted his head as if he were bored. He also yawned, to drive the point home.

Severn immediately checked for vital signs as Kaylin, grunting, lowered the man to the ground. In this particular case, she chose to stay on the safe side of the threshold. Teela came to stand on the other side of the two Hawks. She didn’t ask for the man’s status. “Is this work for Red?”

“Hard to tell,” Severn replied. “He didn’t just open the doors and drop dead; he’s been dead for a while.”

“How long?”

“Less than a couple of days. There are no obvious signs of violence; no visible bruising, no bleeding; there are no obvious bumps on the back of his head.” There weren’t any on his forehead either.

“He’s mortal?” Annarion asked.

Kaylin was surprised. “What else could he be? He’s old.”

Annarion joined them, kneeling by Kaylin’s side. The small dragon whiffled in his ear, but he ignored the sounds; he seemed fascinated by the corpse. Fascinated, Kaylin thought, not repelled. “He aged to death.”

“Yes. It’s pretty much how most of us are going to go—if we’re lucky.”

“And age means weakness.”

“Well, this age does.”

“There are no signs of violence,” Severn finally said. “None that I can see. He’s not emaciated enough to have starved to death.”

“Oh, he didn’t,” Kaylin replied. She was the one who’d caught him as he toppled. “He certainly couldn’t have been poor, given where he was living. And his clothing is a little on the odd side, but it’s not cheap.”

“You are certain,” Bellusdeo asked, keeping a respectful distance from the Hawks at work. “He lived here?”

“Well, he either lived here or he wandered in through the trade entrance and died on the way out. There’s no sign of struggle; there’s no sign of anything obviously wrong. To know more, we’d have to send him to Red.” Before Bellusdeo could ask, Kaylin said, “Red doesn’t examine every corpse in this city; he barely has the resources to examine the bodies that are obviously murder victims.”

“We can’t just leave him here.”

“No, we probably can’t.” Kaylin rose. “But we’re short a wagon or a carriage, and even if we did have one, we’d have no destination.” She grimaced and added, “I hope this wasn’t the landlord.” Her expression softened. “And I hope he didn’t die alone.”

“No, of course not,” a new voice said. They looked up. The light on the interior of the manse was bright and even; it seemed to wrap itself around a woman who now stood in the doorway, her toes touching, but not crossing, the threshold. “He hoped,” she added softly, “to be able to meet the new residents.

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