Cast in Courtlight

by Michelle Sagara

There were rules that she tried to follow when she undertook a healing of any difficulty—and chief among those was Don't Crouch; crouching for hours at a stretch almost destroyed her knees. Unfortunately, emergencies tended to drive common sense out of her head, as if it were something sheeplike.

  Oh, it was bad. The sun was well past high, and the shadows it cast were a very strong reminder that she was—yet again—late for something.

  Marcus was practically eating the mirror by the time she got to her end and pulled the cloth down from its less than pristine surface. When she saw his face, she thought briefly of putting the cloth back. Unfortunately, he'd seen her.

  "Where the hell were you?"

  "Out."

  He snorted, but there was a little less edge in the sound. He knew what she did when she was off duty, even though it was technically both illegal and impossible.

  "You've got a meeting," he growled.

  "When?"

  "A half an hour ago."

  Some days it just didn't pay to be alive.

  "How important is this meeting?"

  "It depends."

  "On?"

  "On how much you like wearing the Hawk."

  She groaned. "Stall for me?"

  "I have been," he snapped, exposing the full line of Leontine teeth. They were really impressive teeth, too. "And Kaylin?"

  "Yes, Marcus?"

  "I'm not enjoying it."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Get your ass into the office."

  "Yes, sir."

  "NOW."

  She broke contact. "Don't laugh," she said to Severn, who was, in fact, chuckling. "You've got beat duty, and if you're here, you're not there."

  The smile didn't fade. "I'm not you, Kaylin."

  "Meaning what?"

  "I cover my ass." He reached into the folds of his uniform—he hadn't even bothered to remove it—and pulled out a curled piece of paper. She really hated paper. "The Hawklord's orders."

  "He told you to babysit me?"

  "I don't believe that was the term used, no. But my duties this Festival are somewhat elastic, owing, no doubt, to my inexperience."

  "Meaning?"

  "You don't have time for the explanation."

  She tossed him out into the hall and dressed.

  Chapter Four

  "What are you not going to do?"

  "Severn, I don't have time for this!" Although Kaylin's apartment was close to the midwives guild, close to the Ablayne, and reasonably close to the poorer market, it was not all that close to the Halls of Law. Close to the Halls was about three times farther than her lousy pay could stretch; she'd settled for what she could.

  "Let me try that again. What are you not going to do?"

  "Breathe anymore, if I don't get there quickly!"

  "Third time lucky," Severn said in a tone of voice best reserved for truculent children. Kaylin bristled.

  "I'm not going to offend the Imperial mage. If that's what's waiting. I was supposed to have a few days free." She kicked a rock. It hurt her toe. The hopping around on one foot after the fact didn't do much for her dignity, either.

  But she was off her stride; Severn in the morning, Severn in her small bed, Severn by her side—it was too much to take in with good grace. And as Kaylin and good grace were often on opposite sides of the city, she struggled not to be exceptionally cranky.

  But not too hard—cranky was better, in Kaylin's books, than confused. She was damn tired. If Marcus had half a heart, she'd still be sleeping off the night's work.

  She was dressed in a wrinkled surcoat; she looked like Hawks might if they'd been involved in breaking up a bar brawl. She'd left her best pants in the damn Castle, and her second best, at the moment, had holes in the leg. Which wasn't her fault; someone trying to cut her knee off could be considered damage taken in the line of duty.

  The exceedingly stingy man often referred to as the Quartermaster had other ideas.

  Severn frowned.

  He had a way of moving that suggested violence without descending to it, but the sudden glint of steel in his hands was not a comforting sign. Rocks and temper forgotten, Kaylin stilled instantly, her hand dropping to a dagger hilt.

  "What?"

  "Barrani," he said quietly.

  She squinted. The sun was just too damn bright, and her mouth didn't feel much less like she'd eaten a dead mouse. But as she eased into a fighting stance, she saw the man Severn referred to. Wondered how damn tired she must be to have missed him in the first place: he wore red.

  And not a little red; it covered him from shoulder to foot in a long, expensive drape that caught sun and deepened color at the same time. Kaylin had a word for people who could spend money on magical clothing, but it wasn't one she wanted to use where said person might actually hear it, given how synonymous money and power actually were in this city.

  Red. "Arcanum," she said in a tone that was usually reserved for the more colorful words she knew.

  "Lord Evarrim," Severn added. "He's persistent."

  "He's not alone."

  "I'd noticed."

  There were four guards with him, but they were dressed in a less obvious fashion. Where less obvious was armor that glinted beneath translucent surcoats. They wore their hair beneath wide bands, but they wore it Barrani style; capes that fell well past their shoulders. They were, of course, of a height, and they walked in perfect unison.

  "You feel like jogging?" Severn asked, without moving.

  "Not much."

  He shrugged. "You've got thirty seconds."

  His words sunk in. "I'm not leaving you here."

  "They're not interested in me."

  Her turn to shrug. "They're not interested in the Dragon Emperor either, and these are pretty damn crowded streets. I'll take my chances."

  "Then let's keep walking, shall we? The Halls are only four blocks away."

  Four long blocks. Kaylin nodded. Whatever animosity there was between them had turned sideways and vanished. They had time to squabble later. For now, they both wore the Hawk, and if Kaylin's had seen better days, she was still proud of it. It was one of the very few things in her life that she'd worked to earn, and consequently one of the very few things she accorded real respect.

  At block two, Lord Evarrim seemed to notice that Kaylin was walking toward him. Kaylin was underimpressed with the quality of his acting; it was good, of course, but it was cheap. Lord Nightshade would never have stooped to pretense.

  Then again, he owned any street he walked in, so pretense was kind of superfluous.

  "Private," he said, nodding to Kaylin as if she were just barely worthy of notice. "Corporal." The rank still rankled. Kaylin came from the Leontine school of acting, but struggled not to let it show anyway.

  "Lord Evarrim," Severn said, bowing. He hadn't bothered to sheathe his dagger, and Lord Evarrim hadn't bothered to notice the weapon. His guards were slightly more critical, but as swords were considered more of a public menace than daggers—and gods alone knew why—they didn't draw weapons in the open streets.

  They didn't have to.

  Severn did not come from the Leontine school of acting; he appeared to be both polite and deferential. It was a Barrani trick—the more polite and deferential you looked, the less of either you actually felt.

  This, Lord Evarrim did notice.

  "I hope the Festival season is uneventful," Lord Evarrim continued after a minute pause. "And I hope it finds you in good health."

  "And you, Lord Evarrim."

  "You are, I believe, new to the ranks of the Hawks," the Barrani Lord said. He looked bored, but his eyes were a clear green—a dark green that held hints of blue.

  Severn nodded.

  "But the private is not. Private Neya." Blue now, definitely blue. What the Barrani could keep from their faces, they couldn't keep from their eyes; like Dragons, like Aerians, like Leontines, the color of their eyes told a story. In this case, it was a chilly one.

  "Lord Evarrim," she said, striving t
o match Severn's tone.

  "I believe you keep company with a member of the High Court."

  "I keep the company of Hawks," Kaylin said carefully. Not that it's any of your business.

  "Good. See that you continue to do so." Blue was not Kaylin's favorite color. He lifted a hand and Severn took a step forward. Four Barrani guards did likewise; the street, where they were standing, became a lot more crowded.

  "I wouldn't, if I were you," Kaylin said softly.

  Severn stepped on her foot.

  Lord Evarrim's smile did not reach his eyes, but his eyes darkened. "The mark is no protection here, little one. Remember that. No Barrani Lord is required to heed the mark of an outcaste."

  "And no outcaste," Severn replied before she could speak, "is required to heed the law of the Dragon Emperor."

  There was a silence; it followed and engulfed the Hawk's words.

  "We will speak later," Lord Evarrim said at last. "After the Festival." He turned and walked away, and red swirled around his feet like blood.

  They picked up the pace. "What was that about?" Severn asked her when he was certain the Barrani Lord had passed beyond hearing.

  Kaylin, less certain, took her time answering. "I think it was a… threat."

  "Got that," Severn said. "Why?"

  She shrugged. Any answer that made sense wasn't one she liked. She wondered what Teela was doing. It was better than wondering what was being done to her.

  But at least she no longer felt tired.

  The guards at the front doors were Swords. She recognized them, but she didn't stop to talk; they were slightly officious men and she was clearly underdressed.

  She passed beneath the vaulted ceilings of the Aerie; it was almost empty. One lone Aerian flew across the cavernous space, his gray wings unfolding beneath colored glass. Severn tapped her shoulder gently, and she remembered that she was late.

  She made it to the doors, and through them, at her usual speed—a dead run, with a small pause between two Hawks that she did know. They were almost smirking.

  "Tanner," she said to the taller of the two, both humans, "how much trouble am I in?"

  He laughed. "It depends."

  "On what?"

  "On how much Iron Jaw fancies entertaining an Imperial mage. For an hour."

  She cringed.

  Iron Jaw, as Marcus was affectionately called—depending on your definition of affectionate—was indeed speaking with a man who wore the robes of the Imperial Magi. They were gray with blue edges, a hood, and an unseemly amount of gold embroidery that faded under dim light.

  The fact that the mage wasn't shouting was a hopeful sign; the fact that Marcus wasn't puffed out like an angry cat was better. His arms were folded in front of his chest, and he'd chosen to abandon his chair, but that might have been because the paperwork would have hidden him otherwise.

  She could hope.

  Severn peeled off just before she reached the office, and she didn't have time to either thank or curse him, which was just as well. She had enough time to try to straighten her tunic as the office staff turned to look at her. Well, most of the office staff. Some of them were too busy to notice anything that didn't involve a lot of screaming, fire, or blood.

  Marcus was, of course, aware of her; he'd probably been aware of her presence before she'd laid eyes on him. Leontines had good hearing and an exceptional sense of smell. But he was being Polite Leontine today.

  Which was scary.

  She made her way to his desk, and stood there, to one side of the back of an Imperial mage.

  "Private," Marcus said in a rolling growl.

  Okay, so it wasn't all good.

  "Sergeant Kassan," she replied. She didn't snap a salute, but she did straighten up. It added an inch or two to her unimpressive height.

  "Good of you to join us. In your absence, I've been explaining some of your unfortunate nocturnal habits to our guest."

  The emphasis on the last word was like a warning, but with fangs and fur.

  The Imperial mage turned; he was slightly bent, as if age was a burden, and his hair was a fringe of pale white. But his eyes—his eyes were a golden hue, and his smile was a quirk of lips over pale teeth.

  She recognized the man. "You—but you're a—you aren't a—you—"

  "Kaylin is not usually lauded for her ability to give impromptu speeches," Marcus said dryly. "I believe you've met Lord Sanabalis?"

  They were sequestered in the West Room. Marcus led them there, opened the door, and held it while Sanabalis walked past him. Kaylin hesitated for just a moment, and then she made her way toward the room's round table.

  "Do not annoy this man," Marcus said in her ear.

  She nodded automatically. Of course, had he told her to stand on her head with her fingers in her ears in that same tone of voice, she would have nodded, as well.

  But in this case, the desire to cause annoyance was vanishingly small; Sanabalis was a member of the Dragon Court

  . She'd seen him only once, and once had been enough.

  He waited for her to take a seat.

  She waited for him to do likewise.

  After a moment, the older man—if that was even the right word—shook his head; his eyes were still gold, which was a good sign. In Dragons.

  "Please," he said, "sit."

  She obeyed, and almost missed the chair.

  He chose, tactfully, not to notice this error, and once she'd managed to stay seated, he took a seat. The table between them felt brittle and thin, although a man with an ax would have had some difficulty splitting it. A large man with a large ax; the table in the West Room had been built to last.

  "Yes," he said before she could think of something to say, "I am a member of the Imperial Order of Mages. I am, as you are also aware, a member of the Dragon Court

  , and I confess I am seldom called away from that court." His smile was genial, even avuncular. She didn't trust it.

  But she wanted to.

  He reached into the folds of his robes; you could have hidden whole bodies in it. And bodies might have been preferable to paper, which was what he pulled out. It hit the table with an authoritative thud.

  "You will, of course, be familiar with much of what these documents contain. These," he added, lifting a half inch's worth, "are your academic transcripts. With annotations."

  "You're not supposed to have those—even I don't have access to—"

  "As a man who is considering accepting you as a pupil, I have, of course, obtained permission to access these."

  "Oh." She hesitated and then added, "What do they say?"

  "You tell me."

  This wasn't going the way the previous lessons had. So far, he'd failed to make mention of her "unfortunate beginnings." Which meant he'd also failed to offend her.

  "I'm waiting, Kaylin."

  "Probably… that I'm not very good at classroom work. Academic work, I think they call it."

  He raised a brow. "That was a very short sentence for this much writing."

  "They're clever, they can say the same thing over and over without using the same word twice."

  At that, he did smile.

  Oh, what the hell. "I'm not fond of authority."

  "Good."

  "I'm not fond of sitting still."

  "True, as well."

  "I get bored easily."

  "I believe the phrase was 'dangerous levels of boredom.'"

  "I'm not great with numbers."

  "You manage an argument over your pay chit at least once a month."

  "Oh, well, money's different." She frowned. "They said that?"

  "No. That was private investigation on my part."

  "I'm a bit brusque."

  "Actively rude.'"

  "I'm blunt."

  "'Arrogant and misinformed.'"

  "I'm a bit on the, um, assertive side."

  "I think the previous statement covered that, as well." He put the papers down. "The rest?"

  "Variations?"
r />   "Not precisely." He leaned forward on elbows he placed, with care, to either side of the documents in question. "You are, according to the teachers who failed you, frustratingly bright. One even used the word precocious. But you have no focus, no ability to pay attention to anything that doesn't suit you. Would you say that's fair?"

  "No."

  "What would you say, Kaylin?"

  "I want to be out there. I want to be on the beat. I want to be doing something. I didn't sign up with the Hawks to sit still while other people risk their lives—"

  He lifted a hand. "I believe that this was also covered. And quoted. At length. Don't feel a need to revisit it on my behalf. You did manage to learn to read. And to write. In two languages."

  "I had to," she said woodenly. "The Hawklord—"

  He raised a white brow.

  "Lord Grammayre," she said, correcting herself, "said I was out if I couldn't manage that. Because the Laws are written in Barrani—High Barrani—and if I didn't know them, I couldn't enforce them."

  " 'Represent them' were the words he used, I believe. You learned to use weapons."

  She nodded.

  "And you were skilled at unarmed combat."

  She nodded again. "Those were useful."

  "History does have its uses."

  "To dead people," she said sullenly.

  "Living people define themselves by their dead."

  She said nothing.

  "You almost passed comparative religion. You paid very little attention to Racial classes."

  More nothing.

  "Very well. Your teachers—Hawks, all—were of a mind to allow you to stretch your wings on the streets. I believe they thought it would knock sense into you."

  "You didn't come here to discuss my academic record."

  "Actually, Kaylin, I did. I assure you I seldom discuss things that are not of interest to me. That would be called politics," he added. "And I see that you—"

  "Failed that, yes."

  "Why?"

  "Because I'm not going anywhere political. If you've read the records you know I'm a fiefling. I grew up there. I lived there. I probably broke a hundred laws without knowing I was doing anything illegal." She had folded her arms across her chest, and she now tightened them. "I was born to the streets. I know them."

  "The streets of Elantra are not the streets of Nightshade. I'm certain your other teachers were willing to accept this rant at face value. Do better with me, Kaylin. I'm old enough to value my time."