Cast In Secret (28 page)

“However, I invoke the right of hoard law here, before you take another step into my store. You may choose to abide by it or leave. If you feel that you cannot make that choice, leave now.”

“What’s hoard law, exactly?” Kaylin asked, as the ancient shopkeeper and the Dragon stared at each other.

Tiamaris replied in Dragon. Kaylin thought her ears would pop and she cupped them protectively with both of her hands. But although the voice
was
a roar, there was no change at all in his expression. Or rather, there was – but if anything, he looked more respectful.

“You know I can’t understand that,” she said, when she thought she might actually be able to hear the sound of her own voice again.

“I wasn’t speaking to you,” Tiamaris replied.

Evanton seemed satisfied with whatever the answer was. He beckoned them into the back of the shop, where his kitchen lay hidden behind a small door. There were no large doors in this place.

The kettle started to whistle. Evanton made a straight line toward it. Or as straight a line as could be made; the kitchen wasn’t anyone’s definition of tidy. He swept a stack of books off one chair and set them on the table, where they perched like an accident waiting to happen.

Evanton brought the kettle to the table, and around another stack of books, cups appeared. “That is the second time I’ve heard a Dragon speak in two days,” he said conversationally. “It’s not at all common these days.”

“No,” Tiamaris said agreeably. The look he gave Kaylin was less agreeable, but Evanton missed nothing that happened in this place.

“I see you’ve been keeping busy, Kaylin.”

She cleared her throat. The cups – she’d learned this the hard way – were too hot too pick up, and they were without the usual handle that made hot things safe to touch. Evanton liked them. Kaylin liked her fingers more. She waited while the liquid cooled.

And daring a glance at Tiamaris, she said, “I think I have something that belongs to you.”

“If you had it, girl, there wouldn’t be two dead people in the merchants’ quarter.”

“Oh – not that. Something else.”

“I gave you the crest. Which I see you’re wearing.”

“Not that, either.”

“Well?”

“Um.”

He waited with something like patience. For Evanton. “Kaylin, now is not the time to play games.”

She wasn’t sure how to tell him that she was wearing something she couldn’t touch and couldn’t actually see.

“Keeper,” Tiamaris said when the silence had grown a little too stretched.

Evanton raised a white brow. But he didn’t correct Tiamaris.

“The first Dragon you heard yesterday – what did it say?”

“It didn’t say much. The closest I could come in Elantran is
freedom,
but it lacks the gratitude and joy that I heard. I could, if you’d like, repeat it.”

“No!” Kaylin said as forcefully as she could.

Evanton took a sip of tea; obviously Tiamaris was considered a
real
guest. Tiamaris picked up one of the delicate cups and held it by its rim and its base. Of course, Tiamaris could probably stick his hand in a fire and not notice that it was hot. Kaylin stared mournfully at her own neglected cup.

“He wasn’t actually alive,” she said. “The Dragon, I mean.”

“Ah. By which you mean he was actually dead?”

“Long dead.”

“And you found him.”

“In the library.”

Evanton’s brows rose. “They let
you
into the Imperial Libraries? And you
walked out alive?
”

“I didn’t take anything – ” Which wasn’t technically true.

“My dear, I wouldn’t have vouched for your safety there in any case. The librarian is one of the few living creatures who could probably read what’s written on you.”

“Well, yes, but – ” She stopped. “W-what do you mean?”

He actually grimaced. “Kaylin, you come from the fiefs. I expect you to be
good
at lying.”

She would have bridled, but it was Evanton.

“I know what you are, girl. I always knew it.”

“Could you explain it to me?”

“Not easily, no, and you probably wouldn’t understand half of it. I’m too old to have the patience to try. But I know that you bear the marks. This
is
my home,” he added. “And very little comes into my home that I cannot see clearly.”

“You always knew?”

“I always knew.”

“And you let me into – ”

He lifted a hand.

“Sorry.”

“Good girl. I trust your intent, Kaylin. And I have ways of protecting myself against hazardous accidents. This is probably one of very few places in which you could be safe.”

“From what?”

“Yourself. But I interrupted you. Please continue.” Steam rose between them like a tattered curtain. “A dead Dragon?”

“Oh. Yes. Very dead. For some reason, they kept the skeleton – ”

“In the library.”

She nodded.

“He was very loud for a dead creature.”

“You’re telling me. I – ”

“Kaylin.” Tiamaris frowned.

“Oh. Right. He – ” She hesitated again. “He was trapped in the library. But not by the – the librarian. He’d – damn it, it was all so
clear
yesterday.”

“Magic often works that way,” Evanton replied. “I won’t ask for details or explanations that you’re not capable of giving me. Have a biscuit,” he added. “Before the mice get them. And tell me what you think happened. I’m sure Lord Tiamaris will correct any infelicities.”

“Well – he was trapped by something he was guarding. But it was more than just guarding. It was his – his – hoard, I think. But it wasn’t so much gold or treasure – ”

“She has a human understanding of Dragons,” Tiamaris said, with just a hint of frustration.

“Well, she is human. Mostly. What was it, Kaylin?”

“It was a pendant. No – it was more than a pendant. It was a
word.
”

The cup of tea froze halfway to the old man’s mouth. “A… word.”

She nodded. “He was entrusted with its keeping. No, not even with its keeping – he was to guard it and to use it when the need arose, because it
could
be used by someone strong enough. He was powerful, in life, and I think he was young for a Dragon when he accepted the responsibility.

“But the responsibility didn’t end with his death.”

Evanton closed his eyes and set the cup down heavily. “He is gone now.”

She nodded. “He thought I was – I was someone else.”

“And you lied to him.”

“No!” She swallowed. She had sort of lied to him – but it hadn’t
felt
like a lie. Not when she’d been speaking. Not when she’d been there. “He saw – I guess he saw whatever it is that you saw when you first saw me. I – He – ” She shook her head. “He thought I was someone else.” Lame, lame, lame. “He said he had called for me, and I failed to arrive in time. And I wanted to
be
someone else, for him. So I… apologized. For being so late. I’m good at that,” she added with a trace of bitter humor.

“If he saw what you think I saw, he saw truly,” Evanton said almost gently.

“He wanted me to take it. And I did – but I told him I would find someone else who could do what he did. Who could guard it with his life – or more than that. Who could use it when it needed to be used. And only when it needed to be used.” The last part, she realized, was important. She stopped talking for a moment and absently picked up her cup. The spill as she set it down – quickly – was almost invisible. “He had power,” she said softly, “but he wasn’t chosen for his power. He was chosen because he had no desire to
use
it.”

Tiamaris shook his head. “He had the desire, Kaylin.”

“How would you know?”

“He was a Dragon. And by your own words, a young Dragon. What he had, as well, was the ability
not
to use the power.”

“And he used it late.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps he could not trust himself with its use until it
was
too late.”

And, ashen now, Evanton said, “I know what you saw. He gave it to you?”

She nodded. “I think I’m supposed to give it to you.”

“Would that it were so,” Evanton replied. “But I am not its keeper.”

“Can you see it?”

“No more than you can, now.”

“But I think it belongs in your… garden.”

“Garden?”

“Garden.”

“It has been missing for a very long time. But if it belongs in my garden, as we shall call it, so, too, does its bearer. And that person is not me, Kaylin. I’m sorry.”

“Then who?”

“That, I cannot tell you. But I think you have very little time in which to find the answer.”

“But it – ” She stopped. “He said he could hear… it. His enemy. The thing, I think, that killed him in the end.”

Evanton nodded. “And if you bear his burden, girl, and you listen very, very carefully, you will hear it, as well. I do not, however, suggest that you try.”

“Why not?”

“Because you are currently sane.”

“And listening would – ” She stopped. “The Oracles.”

“Yes. They do not know what they hear, but they hear truly. They are not, by anyone’s definition, sane. And they cannot prevent themselves from hearing the voice. Think about being an Oracle.”

“No, thanks.”

“Then do not listen.”

She nodded. “Do you know what killed the couple?”

“Water.”

She started in on sarcasm and stopped before she opened her mouth. “Tiamaris – remind me to ask what kind of water they drowned in.”

The Dragon nodded.

“Very good,” Evanton said.

“Could a mage have done it?”

“Done what?”

“Well – drowned them. Put water in their lungs.”

“Only the old-fashioned way.”

“Tiamaris – ”

“The Keeper is correct, Kaylin. Of the mages that currently practice in the Imperial Service, there is not one who has the power or control to do what was done there. With fire, yes, but fire is the easiest element to master. Earth, in its time, is simple, as well, although devastating. But air and water? No.”

“The Arcanists?”

“That is less clear to me. If, however, you are obliquely referring to Donalan Idis, then the answer would once have been no.”

“Would once have been?”

“He was gifted, and powerful. He is no longer a part of the Arcanum, and we therefore have no idea what he has been doing. Or learning.”

“What is the difference between an Arcanist and a mage, anyway?”

“A mage serves the Emperor.”

“Oh.” Pause. “That’s it?”

“The Arcanum existed before the Empire. Had the Emperor wished to raze it to the ground, he could have done so – but there was a small risk that the Empire would have joined it in the ashes. The Emperor chose to be pragmatic.”

“Too bad.”

“Indeed, the Arcanum is not well loved by the Officers of the Law. But it is – again in theory – subject to the Law, and the truce that has existed since the founding prevents the Arcanists from breaking said Law.”

“They are their own Law,” Evanton added with a small frown.

“What does that mean?”

“It means they wish to remain free from the constraints that the Imperial Mages labor under, and they kill any of their own who might be justifiable cause for the loss of that independence. There might possibly be one or two who could do what was done – but at a significant expenditure of power.”

“You don’t think it was them.”

“You’ve already pointed out why it would be foolish.”

“Then how – ” She stopped. “The reliquary.”

“Yes.”

“You think they’ve opened it.”

“No. Not yet. But I think they – whoever they are – are close to being able to open it.”

“What’s inside it, Evanton?” she asked.

“I told you, truthfully, that I have never seen the inside.”

She nodded.

“If I had, I, and this entire City, would most likely be dead.”

Tea took a long time to cool. Kaylin stared at Evanton. “The entire City.”

“Yes.”

“And you leave it
lying around?
”

Something suspiciously like a Dragon’s foot stepped on hers. “Forgive her impertinence, Keeper.”

“Always.”

“Well – does it have a mark or a note that says
open this and kill everyone???
”

“No. And if it did, some enterprising idiot of a mage would spend his entire adult life trying to open it anyway. Trust me,” Evanton added darkly.

She looked at Tiamaris, who seemed to be completely unsurprised by anything that had been said so far. “Why the hell would anyone
want
to open it?”

“Because it’s powerful, and people who are certain of their own power cannot conceive of a power they cannot control.” Evanton replied.

“Very, very few people are aware of what it contains,” Tiamaris said, as if Evanton had not spoken.

“No one could steal something like that by accident.”

“I would have said no one could steal it at all,” the Dragon lord replied gravely. “And anyone who could – ” He paused. “Keeper?”

Evanton bowed his head. “The fault, as you are careful not to suggest, is mine.”

Tiamaris began to speak, but Evanton swatted the words away. “I will not invite you into my garden,” he told the Dragon lord.

“Nor would I expect it, Keeper. But you took Kaylin, and her companion, to see what the Dragons and the Barrani have never seen. I admit that we were curious. You understand something of the nature of Kaylin’s… unique talents. I would have guessed that she, like the Dragons, would be excluded, and for similar reasons.”

Evanton shrugged. “I have only instinct to go by. When I see a Dragon – on the rare occasions one has chosen to visit – it is seldom comforting. The Barrani, one trusts only when one is dead.”

“And Kaylin?”

“Is Kaylin. She is as you see her. She says too much, too easily, she has a temper, and she has an overwhelming weakness for the very young and the very old. She jumps to conclusions, and frequently it is not unlike jumping off a cliff when one thinks it is a hillside. She is also a Hawk, and whether or not she grew up as a thief in the fiefs, she believes in the laws she swore to uphold. The desire for power is part of her nature only in daydreams, and she is fast becoming aware that those idle dreams are far removed from reality. I do not fear her.”