Cast in Wisdom (Chronicles of Elantra #15) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,156

of his body instinctively. There was, however, nothing wrong with his body if one accepted its base state.

“This reminds me of my distant youth, before I was out of the web,” Starrante said.

“Did all of your siblings get out of the web?”

“No, of course not. We were little, unlearned savages; things like self-control were won only if we survived.”

Please don’t tell me you ate your siblings. She kept this to herself, largely because Robin was already glassy-eyed and terrified of a giant talking spider.

“But this is very carefully wrought, this work. I would suggest those of you who have little experience with arcane displacement avoid it.”

“Arcane displacement? You mean like portals?”

“Ah, yes. The problem with this particular variant of a much more benign spell is that different parts of you will end up in different places. This does not generally work out well for those of us who were born to this plane. Ah, apologies, to the plane from which you came.”

“Can you get rid of it?”

“With some effort—effort attained by lack of interruption.”

“Then the answer,” Sedarias said, “is no—because an interruption is incoming.” She remained in the invisible circle Starrante had drawn, but stood at the part of its circumference that was closest to the open office doors, her sword ready.

The incoming interruption was Candallar—Candallar, an Arcanist, and the human Caste Court lord. Lord Baltrin. Kaylin wondered when he’d returned to the Academia, and wondered whether or not he was a mage.

The Arcanist’s tiara was bathed in a livid red; the gem was pulsing steadily, as if it were a living, exposed heart. The light of it was almost hypnotic, and Kaylin looked away, remembering Nightshade’s warning. Avoid Lord Illanen, of both the High Court and the Arcanum, the latter blindingly obvious at the moment.

“He’s dangerous,” Kaylin told Starrante softly.

“They are all dangerous.”

“One is mortal,” Sedarias then said.

“So, too, is this Chosen. Mortality does not preclude power; it precludes the gaining of wisdom and knowledge—but even then, mortal minds move quickly because they have no choice. And magic, like fashion, changes; knowledge that I have not personally accrued can alter all arcane landscapes and combats.” Starrante’s smile—and he was smiling as he turned, briefly, to look at Kaylin—was terrifying. It looked like a gaping void, with frills like teeth around its edge.

It took effort to remember that he was an ally, but she made the effort, because in the near distance, Illanen had withdrawn something from the folds of his voluminous Arcanist robes. It was a book. Kaylin couldn’t see the cover, and even if she had, the entirety of the book was colored by the light of the gem in his tiara.

She thought red was fire affinity, but had never asked. Fire, on the other hand, would not harm at least two of the people now facing the Arcanist. Severn had his weapon chain unwound, but there was no room to rotate the chain at full length—not when he was surrounded by spider body, legs, and the rest of his companions.

Kaylin caught Robin by the shoulder and pulled him close. “The spider,” she whispered in his ear, “is on our side.”

His nod went on for too long, and she wondered what his odds of leaving safely now were. Kaylin could feel the Arcanist’s magic across the entirety of her body—even defended, as she was, by Starrante’s invisible barrier.

She wanted her familiar or her familiar’s wings.

Nightshade!

I am here. Killian’s test is in progress.

Good. Tell Killian that Robin is—is lost in the halls.

Silence.

Tell him he’s missing the test!

She felt the wall of his refusal without the need for words. Words did follow. Think. There is one student with you. Only one. Some of Killian’s ability to interfere relies on the student body. If—as you suspect—Killian can somehow remove Robin and return him to the class, you will have no legitimate students by your side. I have not been granted permission to leave the room, and it is highly unlikely I would be granted that permission should I ask during a test. It is, he added, only partly written; the rest is oral, and Killian is making his way through the classroom as we speak.

But Robin—

I understand your fear. And he didn’t share it. But if your safety, the safety of Bellusdeo, and the safety of my brother depend on one mortal boy, the possibility of his death is a necessary risk.

Had she expected a different answer?

“What is that book?” someone demanded. Kaylin turned toward Sedarias, because only Sedarias would demand