Evarrim replied tersely, "I have been making that attempt." His tone made clear that it wasn't wise to emphasize his failure.
The darkness wasn't a flood; it was slow, but inexorable, and as it moved, it swallowed the edge of the light, changing the shape of safety in the clearing. The Ferals seemed content to move beneath its cover; they didn't snarl, growl, or speak; they didn't charge. Kaylin glanced at Ynpharion. He was instantly aware of her, but for the first time since the Lord of the West March had led this wilderness trek, his loathing and fury were directed at something other than Kaylin.
She didn't ask him what he could see. At the moment, she knew. He saw the moving darkness, and he wanted to obliterate anything that was hidden within its folds. She readjusted the small dragon. Living masks were awkward.
"Is the darkness transforming the trees?" The Lord of the West March asked.
Kaylin frowned. "No, I don't think so."
"Does the light continue?"
That was what was wrong. "Yes. It does. It's why I can see them at all."
She heard a shout and turned; the other Barrani held their ground. "Incoming from the west."
The Lord of the West March glanced once at his sister. "Call them back," he told her softly.
The Consort's eyes widened, their color darkening. She looked as if she wanted to argue but in the end, she did as he asked. Her commands, Kaylin understood. "Lord Kaylin, stand beside me. Under no circumstances are you to now run-or fight-on your own." She lifted her chin, frowning. "Where is Lord Calarnenne?"
Kaylin froze. Nightshade was not standing within the boundaries of the Lord of the West March's light. When he'd chosen to leave, she didn't know-but she knew where he now was, because she could see him clearly. He had crossed the threshold of moving darkness, to the west of the farthest Feral, and he was now making a silent approach, using the cover of standing trees, toward one of the two Barrani who walked behind those Ferals.
As if, she thought, he had seen them. Maybe he had. Maybe the tiara that graced his brow at the whim of the heart of the green allowed it. She was only grateful that wasn't the case with Teela.
Nightshade, don't.
He failed to answer. Inasmuch as he could, he had shut her out entirely. And she knew what it would cost to force him to listen, or worse, obey.
You could not. He sounded amused. It is true that names are cages, Kaylin. But understanding the shape of the cage does not immediately give you the key.
They're not who they were.
No. But Terrano approached your Teela; he had no desire to kill her. Something remains.
"Lord Kaylin?"
"He's beyond the darkness," was her flat reply.
Teela's brows joined a moment over the bridge of her nose. She did not put her momentary disgust into words. Instead, she turned to the Lord of the West March. "If you will allow it, cousin, I will distract them while you retreat with the Consort."
He shook his head. "There are three to the west, at a greater distance. Your ability with sword has always been impressive, but I am unwilling to sacrifice you in a staying action; we have lost too many already."
"I am the only person present who might survive it."
"Yes. That is problematic in its own right. What the fieflord chooses to do makes no material difference to his position; he is already Outcaste. We are ready."
The light in the clearing grew harsher, brighter, before he had finished. Arrows flew in a volley; some struck the Ferals. None touched the Barrani behind them, although two splintered before they could. The darkness wavered, thinning under the renewed light.
"Follow the Lady, Lord Kaylin, if you cannot see the path itself. Step on nothing outside of its boundaries." He drew sword. The Consort grabbed Kaylin's arm.
"I'm the only person who can see-"
"Not for much longer," the Consort said, voice the same texture as the edge of the sword she carried. "My brother is waking the heart of the forest, and we do not wish to be standing here when it fully responds."
The Ferals snarled and leaped; one growled what sounded like a Barrani battle cry. The small dragon squawked; Kaylin said, "Go if you can help them." He dug in instead, as the Lady began to run, still attached to Kaylin's arm.
At their backs, the call of a horn shattered the silence.
Barrani words followed, some of them wedged between the growls and snarls.
* * *
If there was a path beneath the Consort's feet, Kaylin couldn't see it, but she didn't doubt it was there. The Consort never hesitated; she didn't stumble, she didn't call a halt. The Barrani didn't require it; what she saw, they saw. The only person to break small branches or crush undergrowth or stub her toes was Kaylin.
Severn saw as Kaylin did: a bunch of trees and small plants in a nighttime sky. He was not as important as Kaylin's dress; no one grabbed his arm, no one dragged him, and no one treated him as if he was likely to get distracted and wander off.
But he sheathed his weapons for the run; the Barrani, with the single exception of the Consort, did not. The small dragon had folded his wings at the start of the run, but he perched on her shoulder, rather than draping himself across both, as he usually did. None of them looked back; none of them mentioned the Lord of the West March or those who might have stayed by his side.
Nor did they mention Nightshade; they probably hoped he'd be killed.
Kaylin was good at running. But the years in which she'd learned to run in pursuit of a criminal rather than in terror from one made this flight hard. She knew they had the numbers to stand and fight-and they'd just taken a greater part of that number on a run through moonlit forest, leaving one of the few Barrani High Lords she actually liked to stand on his own.
As incentive, it wasn't.
Even her certain sense that she wasn't a match for any of the five she'd personally spotted didn't make it better.
It is not easier for the Consort, a disembodied voice said. Nightshade's. But she understands her duty and her responsibility. If the Lord of the West March is lost, he will be replaced. If the Consort is lost, the replacement will be difficult, and it is all but guaranteed to be a long time coming. There will be any number of Lords willing to make the attempt to fill her role-but very few will succeed, and if they fail, they are also lost to us.
She grimaced as the top side of her feet hit the underside of a raised branch and sent her staggering. Her weight didn't unbalance the Consort, but it was close.
And if she is lost, he continued, there will almost certainly be a succession war. You have never seen one.
Her death won't kill the High Lord.
No. But she has not yet had children. If she perishes here, she will not. Any Barrani who can touch the lake of life will therefore be mother to the High Lord to come. I understand that politics have never been of import in your life, but you are a Lord of the High Court and you must come to understand at least the obvious basics.
A branch slapped her in the face, which caused the small dragon to hiss in fury. "Sorry," she muttered. "I'm not used to carrying a passenger."
Where are you? Kaylin all but demanded.
I am at the side of the Lord of the West March. He has not fallen, and, Kaylin, he will not. You are only a few miles from the edge of his domain, and in his domain, he has strength that not even the High Lord in the High Halls possesses.
"Nightshade," she said, in out-of-breath Elantran, "is fighting beside your brother now. They're both alive."
The Consort didn't reply. She didn't appear to have heard. But she gave the arm she was using as a rope line a brief squeeze-and then increased the pace. This had one advantage: it gave Kaylin very little time to think.
* * *
There was no obvious moment at which the forest transformed. It didn't fall away; it didn't immediately open up into an obvious clearing. The path the Barrani followed remained invisible to Kaylin; it didn't widen or flatten enough for carriages or wagons to use. Which made Kaylin wonder exactly how the carriages the High Court had abandoned would have made it here in the first place.
In spite of this, she knew when they'd arrived. Something about the forest changed; it took her a moment to realize what. She could hear birds. It was still night, but the differing shades of gray were clearer. The Barrani party slowed to a walk. They did not, in any other way, relax.
Nor did the Consort let go of Kaylin's arm; her fingers were now tingling, the Consort's grip was so tight. "Let me do the speaking," she said. To Kaylin's surprise, she spoke in very quiet Elantran.
It was a warning, of sorts. There was no one in sight-present company excepted-to speak to. Severn approached the Consort but stopped ten yards back. The rest of the Barrani remained armed; Severn chose to leave both hands loose by his side. It was hard to tell if he was paler, or if the run had exhausted him, but if it had, he failed to acknowledge it.
He waited.
Birds sang. From within the group, birds apparently answered. Kaylin felt less relieved about the sound than she had moments ago. The arrows that studded the path in rapid succession didn't help. Or it didn't help her; the Barrani surrounded her and didn't even blink; clearly this was the Barrani version of a gate check. Two of the Lords of the High Court lifted bows of their own; after a moment two arrows arched into the air, landing with audible thunks in the trees high above where the Consort stood.
The Consort raised an arm; moonlight touched her fingers and her hands, silvering her skin in a way Kaylin found disturbing. It wasn't magic-it wasn't the magic that caused Kaylin's skin to ache until it felt raw. But it wasn't natural; the moonlight touched nothing else here. Kaylin couldn't see the moon for the trees. Arrows flew again. Three, this time.