Kaylin hesitated, and then said, "The eighth asked me to kill her."

"Explain." The word was so sharp it almost cut. Kaylin very carefully explained what had been asked of her.

"You are certain?"

"As certain as mortal memory can make me, yes."

The Arkon's frown was like a chiseled crevice. Several of them.

"From what Maggaron said, and from what you've said here, I think I understand what she wanted."

"The name?"

"I...think so. She was very specific about the weapon I was carrying. I think she wanted me to run her through with the sword that Maggaron is holding. I'm not sure what that would do to her, though. I'm not sure if it would return some part of her name to her and make her whole-or if it would simply kill her and release them both."

"Both?"

"She and Maggaron. I don't understand why he has a True Name at all, but I do understand that his name is some part of hers, and it sustains him."

It sustains us both, Chosen.

Kaylin looked around the room. Her eyes met Maggaron's-they weren't a livid orange, so it was almost reflexive-and stopped there. "Was that the sword?"

He nodded, his eyes wet with unshed tears. "I am not to let you sheathe her again."

"I won't try. Did she hear what we were saying?"

"She heard what I heard, and I," he added, "heard what you heard."

Kaylin sometimes talked to walls-usually rudely. This was the first time she'd ever deliberately tried to talk to a sword's blade.

I am not Bellusdeo, the sword said.

"But you're a part of her, somehow?"

Silence.

"If I kill her while wielding you, what happens to you?"

I do not know.

"What happens to her?"

I do not know.

"Fine. What happens to Maggaron?"

The blade rippled, sheen of steel giving way-briefly-to something vastly less metallic. It was disturbing. Almost as disturbing as the Arkon's demand that she relate-clearly-what was being said.

"That is forbidden," Maggaron told him. He said it as respectfully as one could possibly say words of that nature to an angry Dragon.

The sword snickered and Kaylin realized she'd heard that voice before. Once before. "What will become of Maggaron?" she repeated.

The sword's light rippled again. Clearly, this wasn't a question she-or it-wanted to hear.

Maggaron said, "It doesn't matter."

"No. It doesn't matter to you. It matters to me-"

"Why?" He demanded. His eyes shaded to a familiar blue.

"And it matters to the sword," she continued, unwilling to get into that argument in front of the Dragon Lords. If the sword wanted to have that argument, it was fine; the Dragons couldn't hear most of it.

She turned her attention to the blade again. "What did you mean? How does his name sustain you?"

This was apparently a better question to ask. He bears the brunt of discovery, not I. Where we go, the risk of discovery has always been high.

"How?"

Chosen, we do not know. But in the heart of Ravellon lies one who can read the whole of what is written-even our most secret selves. One of my kin discovered this, to our lasting regret. We could not engage the enemy without becoming the enemy.

We being the Dragons?

The sword fell silent.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to offend; I don't understand the connection."

"It's not the connection," Maggaron said gently. "The sword is part of me, but it is a distinct ent.i.ty. Where it came from, how it was forged or birthed-it doesn't matter. It is not a limb or an appendage; it exists." He frowned; clearly, the sword could focus its voice when it chose. "A child-if you ever bear one-will be part of you; without you, it cannot exist. But once it is birthed, once it is free of you, that dependency slowly changes; it becomes a thing separate from you, but influenced in all ways by its birth.

"Thus it is with the sword. The sword is part of me," he added. "But it is also not me. When my name fell to our enemy, the sword was trapped within me, but the enemy could not reach her. I could," he added bitterly, "but in the end, I could not change her."

"She was your weapon when you were a.s.saulting our borders," Kaylin pointed out.

"Yes."

"I'm thinking that that wasn't in her plans of action before you were discovered."

"She is my sword. No," he added, voice dropping. "She was. I was not all of what she is; she was not all of what I am-but we are bound." He was starting to get frustrated; Kaylin could sympathize. "Bellusdeo understood the danger. But she also understood our need for her. The Dragons convened their great Council, and in the end, they created the Ascendants. For our sake," he added. "For the sake of the People."

"Then the numbers of the Dragons decreased as the numbers of the Ascendants grew?"

He nodded. "It was not widely known," he added. "The Elders would never have accepted such a sacrifice if it were." He lowered the sword slowly. Had it been in Kaylin's hands, it would have hit the ground when she tried to lift it.

To the sword she said, "What would you have me do? Aside from never put you in a sheath again, I mean. Bellusdeo has asked me to kill her-while wielding you. I can do it, but I have some reservations. If you don't know what will happen to either you or Maggaron, what do you want me to do?"

The pause that followed was so long, Kaylin almost gave up on getting an answer. But the sword finally said, Kill her. It wasn't the answer Kaylin wanted; it was the answer she'd expected.

"Chosen." Maggaron lifted the sword. "I can do as she asks."

But Tara shook her head. "It is not safe for you to leave the Tower, Maggaron."

"The Chosen has my name," he countered.

"She has. But she has shown a strong unwillingness to use it to contain you. If your life is in danger, she will do so-but only in the case that it is immediately obvious to her what the danger is. The Shadows are capable of great subtlety, at need."

The line of his shoulders sank and he turned to Kaylin, dropping to one knee-which brought their eyes to about the same level. "Chosen," he said, his voice lower. "I have no right to ask, but I ask it. Please. Let me go where you go. Let me do what must be done."

"I-"

"It is the last thing I can do for either my sword or my Lady. I will accept any consequence; I will welcome any control you exert. I will warn you-"

"You cannot warn her if you are under someone else's control."

No, the sword said. But I can.

Kaylin remembered-clearly-the pain she had felt when she attempted to force Maggaron to do something he didn't want to do. But seeing the pain and the bleak hope in his expression was vastly more difficult. "Tara, can you-"

"No. I cannot guard him against the use of his name if we leave the Tower. I can destroy him, I believe-although it will be costly to the fief."

"Will you let me make this decision?"

Tiamaris cleared his throat. Loudly. Grimacing, Kaylin turned to her one-time fellow Hawk, and the current fieflord of the fief. Just as Maggaron had done, she dropped to one knee in full view of the Dragon Lord. "Tiamaris. Lord Tiamaris," she amended.

His eyes were a shade of copper; they were not the livid orange of the Arkon's. "Private Neya?"

"Please allow Maggaron to accompany me."

"Do you understand the risk?"

She nodded.

"Do you understand that you are not the only person at risk? That the citizens of the fief-those who can't defend themselves against either Maggaron or the Shadows-will bear the brunt of your failure if you cannot do what must be done?"

"Yes."

"Do you honestly feel that you are capable of controlling him?"

"...Yes."

He rolled his eyes. Distancing himself from Sanabalis-who was now examining his beard-and the Arkon, he approached Kaylin. "Kaylin, why?"

In reply, she lifted her arms and turned them toward the fieflord. The runes on her skin were glowing a faint, clear blue. His eyes widened. "This is part of his story, of his history," she told him.

"It is part of ours, and of any whom he might injure or kill should he once again fall under Shadow's sway. The boundary will not protect him, as you should well know."

She shook her head. "This is a part of his story that must be written or told. I'm sorry," she added, feeling more than slightly embarra.s.sed. "I realize it sounds..."

"Foolish."

"I wouldn't go that far. But-the marks."

He nodded slowly. "Tara?"

The Avatar came to where Kaylin knelt, pa.s.sing by Maggaron, who had also remained in a supplicant posture. "None of us have ever understood the role of the Chosen," she finally said. "If there can be said to be only one role. My Lord, I am willing to allow Kaylin to take this risk."

"I don't like it," Tiamaris replied. Kaylin almost sagged in relief. "But where you are willing to take such a risk, I will follow. Remember, however," he added as Kaylin began to rise, "that there are no laws governing what I do to criminals in my own domain."

CHAPTER 19.

The Arkon snorted smoke. "Very well," he said. "Sanabalis, will you remain here, or join us?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Sanabalis replied. "Unless the Private has any objections?"

None that she was stupid enough to voice. "Lord Tiamaris?" she said without much hope.

"I will remain in the Tower. Tara, however, wishes to accompany you."

"Can I point out that we don't have a destination as of yet?"

"Given the Arkon's impatience in this matter, I suggest you resolve that difficulty as quickly as humanly possible." He turned to the Arkon. "I would appreciate it if you kept fire to a minimum in my fief."

"Of course, Lord Tiamaris." He fixed Kaylin with a very orange glare. "Private?"

She resisted the urge to pa.s.s it on, and instead helped Maggaron halfway to his feet. He bowed to her. "Chosen," he whispered.

"Can you just call me Kaylin? Everyone else does." Strictly speaking, this wasn't true, but the Ascendant nodded anyway. To the sword, she said, "Can you find Bellusdeo if she's alive anywhere in this fief?"

I am not entirely certain. I can find her if we are at all close to her.

"Could you sense her earlier?"

No. The...sheath...all but sundered me from the world.

"I've already said I won't use it again," Kaylin replied in a hurry. "Do you think she'll try to return here a ninth time?"

Yes.

"And is that our last chance to achieve whatever it is she's trying to achieve?"

Yes.