Cast in Wisdom (Chronicles of Elantra #15) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,32
protect this area are easily provoked, but I consider them necessary.”
Bellusdeo took the lantern but glared at the Arkon’s back as he drew three keys in succession from the chain he wore around his neck. He opened the door.
* * *
Kaylin had had enough of caverns beneath fancy buildings to last at least two lifetimes. The Arkon didn’t care what she’d had enough of, and at least this time, they weren’t here to study—in person—the marks of the Chosen that adorned her body. She flinched, remembering that last time he’d ordered her to strip.
Then again, Dragons in their Draconic form were always naked; nudity didn’t discomfit them in either form.
“I feel that these halls could do with excavation or modernization.”
The Arkon exhaled smoke, with a tiny bit of fire at its heart.
“...I see,” Bellusdeo replied. “But I find the height of these ceilings oppressive. The only person who can walk here with any ease is Kaylin.”
“If I am content to walk with a stoop, I see no problem.”
Bellusdeo glanced up at the ceiling, which was admittedly not far from her.
They reached the last door, which was not as impressive as the first one, and the Arkon opened it into, yes, darkness.
Bellusdeo was not more impressed with the cavern than she had been with the hall that led to it, but she understood, as her eyes hit the central piece it contained, why any other interior renovation suggestions would be met with the Arkon’s lack of humor.
“An altar,” the gold Dragon said. “It’s...impressively large.”
“It is. I will now ask you to go to the far wall—to your right—and retrieve the ladders there. We will need two unless you wish to see what lies at the top of the altar, in which case we will need three.”
Bellusdeo wasn’t often sent on strictly manual errands but obeyed. Kaylin could hear the ladders as they dragged across the stone of the floor. She’d never tried to move them herself; she suspected they weighed as much as she herself did.
“You could at least get ladders that are somewhat easier to move.”
“I did not intend to have visitors.”
To Kaylin’s surprise, Bellusdeo didn’t ask what was atop the altar. She assumed that the use of ladders would answer that question. “I don’t suppose shedding clothing and this somewhat diminutive form would be acceptable?”
“Since you have already done so once today—yes, we were aware of it—I fail to see why it would be necessary that you do so again.” Which was no.
Given the color of Bellusdeo’s eyes in this admittedly poorly lit space, it was clear that she’d expected the answer she received. She then positioned two of the ladders, leaving the Arkon to manage his own. The Arkon glanced briefly at a ceiling Kaylin’s eyes couldn’t see; it was a look that would have been at home on Marcus’s face, in the office. And sadly, usually was.
The Arkon then reached the top of the altar, joining the Dragon and the Hawk; Severn neither asked for a ladder nor expressed an interest in seeing what the altar contained.
Bellusdeo, however, drew breath. “This is a mirror.”
“It is an ancient mirror, yes.”
“Tara’s version of a mirror appears to be similar to this—and she doesn’t require an ancient cavern and a hall that is meant for—”
“Me,” Kaylin said quickly; the Arkon’s eyes were a shade of orange that Bellusdeo didn’t generally cause.
“Records,” Bellusdeo said. She spoke in Elantran, and followed it with Barrani. Kaylin had enough time to cover her ears before she tried it a third time in her native tongue.
The Arkon waited until the echoes had died out—which, given they were in a cavern, took a while. “If you will allow me. The mirror is old. It requires a specific language.”
“You might have warned me.”
“You might have listened, but my experience has taught me better. I am too old to waste breath.”
“You are wasting it now.”
Kaylin thought it, but could not be paid enough to say it out loud.
The Arkon exhaled smoke. “Perhaps. I will need to concentrate. I am speaking in the old tongue.”
Bellusdeo’s eyes widened, but she fell silent and stayed that way.
Kaylin had come to understand that the old tongue and true words were almost the same. The Arkon found them difficult to speak—but he had an easier time than Kaylin, who spoke them only with prompting and coaching by others. Languages had been one of the few so-called academic subjects in which she’d been any good—but no basic classes of any kind taught true words.