Cast in Wisdom (Chronicles of Elantra #15) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,136

The day is otherwise, as Nightshade suggested, on repeat. Robin, however, finds the Academia interesting.

He’s from the warrens.

Yes.

The warrens could have been the fiefs if the Hawks and the Swords were entirely removed from the area. Here, Robin had a bed of his own, a room of his own, and three meals. He was learning—somehow—to read and write. He’d been here for much longer than Nightshade, but was otherwise a recent arrival.

At meals, Severn continued, the students have more freedom. Robin can finish lunch quickly or can linger until the dining hall is closed. If he finishes quickly, he can interact in a nonscripted way with other students. I believe one or two of those students have taken it upon themselves to teach him to read and write.

How did he get here?

Interestingly enough, he was escorted here by Candallar. Or rather, escorted to the building in the border zone by Candallar.

You’re certain it was Candallar?

Robin is certain it was Candallar. It is possible that someone else chose to use the fieflord’s name. Robin, like either of us at his age, would have obeyed an adult Barrani.

And for the same reasons. How long does he have before he has to return to the classroom?

Uncertain. In general, he cannot leave the classroom while there’s a lecture in session. But Killian has never lectured before. Why?

The Arkon is glaring at me. “Sorry,” she said to the Arkon, and indirectly to Kavallac. “There’s a lot going on outside of here, and I’m trying to make sense of it.”

“Meaning?”

“Killian’s teaching a class, for one. I can speak with one of the students, and Killian can speak to me through that student. Terrano is talking to a different student, who asked permission for a bathroom break and was granted it. Terrano wants to know how flexible this repeating schedule is.

“The important information: Candallar was the person responsible for the boy’s disappearance from the streets of Elantra. Candallar led him to the building in the border zone—the one with the eyeball in the back wall.”

“You can speak with Killianas?” Androsse said.

“Through an intermediary, yes.”

“Does he know the location of Starrante?”

“Not the exact location. Starrante doesn’t appear to be in the library, or if he is, he’s invisible to Killianas.”

“That should not be possible. But...the Academia in this condition should not be possible, either. Tell me, what was the name of Candallar’s Tower?”

Kaylin cringed, but inwardly. The naming conventions of the fiefs would not be useful information to the Arbiter, and the Arbiter expected useful information.

“The name I believe you desire is the first name; much has changed in the time since the Towers themselves ascended. The Tower was, at its dawn, Karriamis.”

Kavallac’s eyes began to glow. “He chose, then,” she said, so softly it was almost a whisper.

“I was not present when the Towers rose,” the Arkon replied with genuine regret. “I had, by that point, been seconded to the war flights.”

“You?” Kavallac said. Clearly, respect for his position only carried one so far.

The Arkon took this in stride. “Without those duties—and the necessity of them—I would have been here to watch history unfold. The Ancients walked in concert, or so I was told. The Towers rose in a single day.” He shook his head, regret fading from his expression. “Karriamis is Candallar’s Tower; it is Candallar who commands the Tower.”

“It was almost certainly Karriamis,” Androsse said, “who set his captain in search of Killianas.”

“Karriamis has been a Tower for a long time—why now?”

“I do not know the constraints by which the Towers were constructed; I did not personally know all of those who were chosen to become the heart of those buildings.”

She turned to Kavallac. “You knew Karriamis.”

“I did. We were kin, if distant.”

Kaylin made a mental note never to visit Candallar with the cohort in tow. Or ever, really.

“What would make Karriamis relay this information now? Instead of earlier or with a different fieflord?”

“I am not a building, Chosen. I do not know. What we can assume—and it is an unverified assumption—is that he did communicate this, and Candallar chose to act on that communication. Perhaps he made the attempt centuries ago—who can say?”

“Candallar.”

Nightshade. As he gave wordless, motionless permission, Kaylin said—through his mouth, “You haven’t taught a class here since the rise of the Towers.”

“That is true. I feel that I had little incentive if things were going smoothly.”

“You’re teaching one now.”

“Also demonstrably true.”

“You’re more aware of your surroundings, of the Academia.”

He nodded, his single eye almost flashing. She had the attention—well, Nightshade did—of