Cast in Sorrow (Luna Books)(11)

* * *

Kaylin was, until Bellusdeo's arrival, used to having some privacy when she walked through her doors. The fact that these doors weren't hers was driven home by the presence of two Barrani attendants. Teela, who insisted on a sweep of the rooms, didn't blink; she did give curt instructions-to Kaylin.

"They are here to see to your needs," she told Kaylin when they departed to prepare the bath. "If harm befalls you while you are in their care, they-and their families-will suffer for it. If you send them away, they will also suffer, although the penalties will be less extreme."

"Why will they suffer if I send them away?" Kaylin asked. She felt as if she'd stepped onto a bridge and discovered it was actually a tightrope.

"If you send them away, their service will be considered inadequate. It will reflect poorly upon the hospitality of the Lord of the West March."

"I don't have attendants in the High Halls," Kaylin pointed out.

"You do. But they are responsible to me, and I am familiar enough with your idiosyncrasies that I do not choose to censure them. You are not in my domain now. What you do here will affect those who have been chosen-no doubt personally-by Lord Lirienne. You will therefore allow them to assist you. You will treat them as servants who are worthy of consideration and respect-but you will not find them intimidating. If you must feel self-conscious about their presence, do not share. Understood?"

Kaylin nodded.

"We will dine. After dinner, it is likely that the Lord of the West March will call a council meeting. You are a Lord of the High Court; you are not a Lord of the West March. There is some overlap, but it is not one hundred percent. I expect you to be called to that meeting, although I consider it unwise."

"Can I refuse to go?"

"I have considered the matter with some care. The Lady is not yet awake-and, kitling, I am at least as concerned as you are. Believe that Lord Lirienne is likewise worried. If she were present, I would feel less conflicted-but she won't be. It is my hope that the council will be delayed until she is awake. The Warden of the West March is unlikely to fulfill that hope."

Kaylin waited until she was certain Teela had finished. "That wasn't a yes or a no."

Teela smiled grimly. "Exactly. The ring you wear grants you a measure of freedom; it also constrains you. Any insult you offer, you offer in the name of the Lord of the West March. Lirienne is, in case you have not carefully followed our history, the direct descendent of the High Lord who caused so much damage to the green. As such, his position is precarious. He is, however, also his mother's son. He is held in cautious regard.

"He cannot therefore afford political difficulty."

"Teela, I'm already a political difficulty. I'm mortal, and I'm wearing this dress." She reached for the heavy gold chain around her neck, adding, "And a Dragon's symbol."

"You understand. You have impressed the Warden."

"Then why are your eyes blue?"

"Kitling, honestly, I am thinking of demanding that you live in the High Halls for a few of your mortal months. This is not a question you should be capable of asking, at this point."

"I'm beginning to think I've done Diarmat an injustice," Kaylin said.

"Oh?"

"I can safely loath him when he condescends me. Which is pretty much every time he draws breath."

Teela laughed, her eyes shading to green. "Bathe."

* * *

Barrani baths were pretty much small, warm pools. Kaylin's idea of a bath-in her old apartment-generally involved a lot of cold water in a rush. But she had some experience with baths like this one; she'd spent time with Teela in the High Halls. It wasn't that she hated the Barrani. She wasn't usually smart enough to fear them, except when their eyes went midnight-blue-and any sane person did that.

They just made her feel self-conscious. They were probably centuries old, but they looked like women-and men-in the prime of a perfect youth. They had no obvious blemishes. They didn't get fat-or thin. They weren't short or gangly. They never had pimples.

During a normal day at the office, none of this mattered. Most of the crimes the Halls of Law dealt with involved other people. Other mortals. They were crimes the Barrani considered so trivial it was a wonder any Barrani served the Halls of Law at all.

They'd been part of the department before Kaylin's arrival; she wasn't certain how they'd come to serve Marcus. But Marcus was Leontine; the Leontines could go one-on-one with Barrani and expect to come out even. In a frenzy, they could expect to come out on top, in Kaylin's opinion.

Humans? Not so much.

So she was being served by people who were taller, smarter, stronger, and infinitely more graceful. She was being served by people who probably knew more languages than Kaylin had fingers. She was being waited on-perfectly-by people who, in their youth, probably considered humans to be annoying or endearing pets.

And yes, she felt guilty about it.

So she found their perfect silence oppressive. She found it uncomfortable. Teela's instructions made it clear that this was Kaylin's problem-not theirs. The small dragon seemed to agree-but he didn't apparently care for the silence, either, given the squawking that started up when Kaylin slid quickly into the bath.

The Barrani might have waited on humans day in, day out. They did not, however, wait on small, translucent dragons. When he first set up squawking-at them, apparently-they stiffened, turning immediately to face him as he hovered in front of their faces.

"If you are going to keep that up," Kaylin said, glaring up the five feet that separated them, "I'm packing you in a small crate and sending you back home."

Squawk.

"I mean it. They are here to help me bathe and dress. They are not here to drown me. They aren't here to drown you, either. Cut it out."

The attendants exchanged a glance.

The small dragon landed on Kaylin's shoulder and bit her ear. She pulled him off and held him out in front of her face. "I've had a pretty crappy day, and I do not need this right now!" Her hands stiffened as she finally noticed the marks on her arms. They were glowing faintly, more bronze than gold. A very Leontine curse followed; Kaylin lifted herself out of the bath, sloshing water on a floor that, when slippery, probably killed people, or at least people who weren't Barrani.

The small dragon squawked in a quieter way. He looked smug.

Kaylin looked very wet. "The water in this bath," she said, modulating her voice and forcing it into High Barrani, which was so not the language she wanted at the moment, "where does it come from?"

The two attendants exchanged another glance. Kaylin did her best not to take it personally, and mostly succeeded. "There is a spring; this hall is built around it. The water for the baths within the personal rooms of the Lord of the West March comes from that spring."

Kaylin frowned. "The fountain in the courtyard-is it connected to the springs in some way, as well?"

"It is."

She turned immediately to the small dragon and dropped into Elantran; while the Barrani in the city could be expected to know Kaylin's mother tongue, the Barrani of the West March might not. She considered Aerian, but her Aerian wasn't as fluent. "It doesn't matter if the water's elemental, idiot. It's safe."

The small dragon wasn't having any of it. She had no idea why he reacted so poorly to the water; he hadn't reacted that way to fire, and fire was, in Kaylin's opinion, vastly more dangerous.

Or, given he was a miniature dragon, maybe not. The small amount of dignity she did possess was unlikely to hold up in the face of an argument with a pet-and given the reaction of the servants, they seemed to see it as a pet and not a mythical, sorcerous creature. Wilting because she was hungry, she turned to her attendants. "Could we do this bath the old-fashioned way?"

* * *

The Barrani were not, apparently, accustomed to the human version of bathing, since it mostly involved nothing but buckets. It also involved hot water, which was a blessing. They didn't complain; they asked a few brief questions, their tone neutral enough it couldn't be called curt. Kaylin toweled her own hair dry, but allowed the Barrani to set it. They combed it to within an inch of Kaylin's life; she was surprised there was any hair left when they'd finished. She'd picked up an annoying assortment of plant bits on the walk between Orbaranne and the West March; the Barrani obligingly dislodged all of it.

They even brought jewelry. Kaylin politely refused. Her ears weren't pierced; holes were what other people put into you against your will. She already had one necklace. They didn't approve, obviously-but also, silently. If Kaylin hadn't been so certain Teela would rat her out to Sanabalis, she would have left the damn medallion in her room.

And if it is lost?

Losing something significant that belonged to a Dragon was not high on Kaylin's list of acceptably painless suicides. I'm wearing it, aren't I?

Yes, you are. You are perhaps unaware that you are the only person in this Hall who could wear it and expect to survive the week?

She hadn't really considered that at all. It doesn't mean it won't upset people.

Nightshade was highly amused. If it upset no one, there would be little point in it. You do not belong in any Barrani Court, but you are here; you wear the blood of the green; your companion is of note to even the most powerful among our kin. Word has almost certainly traveled, Kaylin; the Lord of the West March may find his hall rather more crowded than even he anticipated.