Two Hawks instantly shifted posture. Kaylin snickered.

"Sergeant Ka.s.san is expecting you," Clint told her. "So is Lord Sanabalis."

Getting Bellusdeo from the front doors to the inner office was not a speedy affair. The doors opened into the Aerie, and Bellusdeo's reaction to the Aerie was very similar to Kaylin's. The Dragon's gaze slowly rose to touch the heights, and remained fixed there. The Aerians were drilling, and from the sounds of it, there were new recruits. She watched as they flew, and as they faltered under the weight of unfamiliar armor.

"They're Aerian," Kaylin told her, wishing she'd move, but unable to force the issue. "You didn't see the Aerians before you-"

"No. Where I lived, there weren't any." She was smiling softly. "They're not forbidden flight?"

"No. Only the Dragons."

This caused Bellusdeo to frown. "Why?" The single word was cool. It did, however, take her attention off the heights of the elaborate hall, and Kaylin began to walk, with hope, toward the office.

"I don't know. I'm not the Emperor, and the only way to get an answer to that question would be to ask a Dragon."

"You are clearly acquainted with several."

It was true. "I only know it's illegal for Dragons to transform into their Dragon form within the Empire without the Emperor's express permission. Tiamaris did it once in the fiefs-which aren't theoretically under Imperial jurisdiction-and he still had to make a complete explanation to the Emperor after the fact."

"He is still alive."

"Yes. The Emperor considered the circ.u.mstances extreme enough to justify the transformation. It was not a given," she added, remembering.

"I'm not entirely certain I approve."

Which was, thank the G.o.ds, not Kaylin's problem. Kaylin felt, unfairly, that it would be nice to have someone else be the problem child for a change. She took a deep breath. "We're coming into the office where I actually have a desk. Sometimes they make me sit at it. The Sergeant is pretty much in command of the office. I like most of my coworkers, and I'd appreciate it if you'd avoid annoying them."

"Why?"

"Because they'll probably make it clear that they are annoyed, and at this point, I think the Emperor might disapprove. They don't really deserve to be reduced to ash with no warning."

"You could tell them I'm a Dragon."

"They'd probably think I was making an attempt to be humorous."

"I...will do my best." She hesitated and then said, "Does no one in this City understand the significance of the Chosen?"

"No."

"And you have not-"

"Bellusdeo, I'm the Chosen, in theory, and I don't understand the significance, either." She slowed her pace and added, "Maybe I'm being cowardly. Maybe I don't want to understand it. I'm trying."

"You have already used the power invested in you."

"Yes. More than once. And I'm fine-with that. But I didn't do it in order to be treated differently. I didn't do it to jump a promotion queue. Not that I'd mind that," she said, because she felt she should be honest. "I did it because at the time it seemed like I either should or could.

"I don't understand what the marks mean. I don't understand why I have them. I know that some of them have disappeared, and some have faded."

"Disappeared?"

Kaylin nodded. "Once, when I told a story to a dead Dragon in the middle of the Arkon's Library. That's not the only time. It was the first."

"And the others?"

"Nothing as clear. The Devourer ate a few of them, though."

Her eyes rounded. "The Devourer."

"Yes."

"I wish you'd mentioned this last night."

"Would you have let me sleep if I had?"

"Of course! After you'd finished explaining it." She was still frowning. "And yesterday?"

"I don't know. I don't have the marks and their placement memorized; since some of them are on my back, I can't. But if I had to guess? I'd say that a comparison of the marks today and the marks before we found you yesterday would show at least one missing."

"Only one?"

"Maggaron's."

"Not the other nine?"

"Maybe. I'll never get to make the comparison if we don't arrive soon."

Because Caitlin's desk was the one closest to the doors-for obvious reasons-Kaylin led Bellusdeo there first. Caitlin had looked up when the two had entered her office. She rose as they approached her desk, and smiled. "You must be Bellusdeo," she said, extending a hand.

"She only speaks Barrani," Kaylin told Caitlin. Caitlin immediately and effortlessly switched languages.

Bellusdeo took her hand. "I am."

"Kaylin doesn't usually bring guests into the office," Caitlin continued. "But I believe you're both expected. Lord Sanabalis has been waiting."

"For how long?" Kaylin asked, trying not to wilt.

"Not more than three hours," was the pleasant reply. No wonder Marcus was in a mood.

"I don't see him."

"He is waiting in the West Room."

"I do not care for your door wards," Bellusdeo said.

Kaylin, who famously disliked them herself, gritted her teeth as door-ward magic shot through her palm, down her arm, and across her spine in one painful, tingling flash. "What don't you like about them?"

"They're not well designed. There's no reason at all why I should have to touch them; my approach-or yours-should be more than enough." Although she wasn't that much taller than Kaylin, she could really look down her nose effectively. Kaylin wanted to disagree, but found that she couldn't. She lowered a numb hand as the door slid open.

Sanabalis was seated, as he habitually was, at the head of the table that occupied most of the West Room. There was no candle sitting, unlit, in front of him, which was a distinct improvement.

"Private Neya," he said, inclining his head. His eyes were only a pale orange. "Bellusdeo."

"Lord Sanabalis." She frowned. "Is it possible for us to converse in the language of the Norannir?"

"Not effectively, no."

"Very well." She took a seat.

"You were waiting for me?" Kaylin asked, likewise taking a seat. One farther away from Sanabalis. She suspected that the correct answer was that he'd been waiting for Bellusdeo.

"For three hours, give or take a few minutes." So much for the correct answer. He raised a pale brow. "You are, in theory, still seconded to my service in the fiefs. Given Bellusdeo's presence, and the presence of the Norannir, you may be allowed to return to your normal duties if she is willing to intercede on our behalf with the Norannir."

"Intercede in what way?" Bellusdeo asked. It was a perfectly reasonable question.

Sanabalis, however, winced. "It cannot have escaped your attention that you are held in high regard by the Norannir."

"They have not seen me for some time."

"Even so, there must have been paintings, statues, or other artifacts that captured your likeness; they recognized you when an image of you was shown."

Her smile was soft and sweet, and it added years to her face. Not age, but years. "And this presents a problem for your Dragon Court how?"

"The image that was shown to the Norannir was contained in a crystal possessed of other magical properties."

"And?"

"It came, originally, from the Arkon's personal collection. He wants it back."

"And the Norannir are not interested in returning it?"

"They venerate the image; they're not concerned with how that image is conveyed. I understand that they have only myths and legends with which to confront Dragons, as they didn't recognize the Dragon form when they were first exposed to it."

She nodded, her expression grave. "It was the form of our ancient enemy; we did not choose, in the end, to appear as Dragons before the Norannir in order to encourage...caution."

"But they knew what you were."

She nodded.

"And...the ancient enemy?"

"He is not wholly what you-or I-are. He has lived in the heart of the Shadows, and he has been tainted by them. If he is also your enemy, Lord Sanabalis, and you are familiar with his history-"

"The only person who is intimately familiar with his history is the Arkon. He does not speak of it," he added. "Nor will he appreciate the inquiry. He has, at least once, been seen in mortal form-but not by any member of the Dragon Court."

"By whom?"

"The Chosen."

They both fell silent as they considered the ramifications of this statement.

"You may inform the Arkon that I will get his trinket back," Bellusdeo told Sanabalis. "I hardly see that they will need it if I am here in the flesh."

"Thank you." Sanabalis now rose. His chair made a lot more noise. "Private Neya? The Hawklord has requested your presence in the infirmary."

"What-now?"

"Or as soon as possible. He wishes to fully capture the marks on your body as of yesterday's...event, for Records. A copy of the capture will be sent on to the Imperial Palace. I have agreed to this interruption in your schedule. You have enough time remaining to be fully examined before you are required to return to the Palace."

Kaylin tried not to grimace. She knew exactly why a return to the Palace was necessary: she had an etiquette cla.s.s.

"There is a common mortal phrase," Sanabalis told her as he reached the door.

"Which one?"

"Misery loves company."

She frowned.

The Dragon Lord looked pointedly at Bellusdeo and said, "Private Neya is not the only student Lord Diarmat will have at this evening's lesson."

CHAPTER 24.

"The Emperor is only barely willing to allow this," Lord Sanabalis said as he examined Bellusdeo's dress. It was a shade of blue that Kaylin found familiar and slightly unsettling because she'd seen it on eight corpses. Bellusdeo, however, had insisted. At the moment, it made Kaylin's arms itch because the color wasn't due to something solid and dependable like an exotic dye; they hadn't the time for it. No, the color was entirely an artifact of magic.

The style of the dress, however, was very much Imperial standard; it was fussy, and it required some help to put on. Kaylin had been relegated to the role of helper, and was clearly not considered competent at the job.

"Barely willing to allow what?" Bellusdeo asked, her voice cool. Her eyes were a shade of amber that was just a trace off its usual gold.

"Your lessons," Sanabalis replied.

"I would be pleased to avoid them entirely," was the Dragon's response.

"You've got that right," Kaylin muttered.

"It is not the lesson itself which is contentious," Sanabalis told Kaylin, his voice sharper; it smoothed out again when he turned to Bellusdeo. "It is the fact that you will have met every member of the Dragon Court before you've been formally introduced to the Emperor."

"Oh?" If possible, Bellusdeo's voice was even chillier.

"That's not true. She hasn't met Emmerian." Seeing the darkening of Sanabalis's eyes, Kaylin hastily added, "Lord Emmerian."