Cast in Wisdom (Chronicles of Elantra #15) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,91

the hoard is unobtainable—can drive Dragons beyond the edge of sanity. It is both purpose and obsession. He believes you have seen murders caused, by mortals, who were so obsessed, and he invites you to consider what a Dragon might be like in the same state of mind.”

That was not a happy thought. “Bellusdeo and Emmerian seem resigned to it.”

Tara nodded.

“And if what you’re saying is true, getting in the way of that Dragon might be the thing that sets him off.”

“The Arkon is important to Tiamaris.”

“All of the Dragons are.”

She nodded again, hugged Kaylin, and returned to Tiamaris’s side. No one heard what she said to Tiamaris, but Tiamaris’s flood of words banked abruptly. His eyes were a deep orange; from a distance, they might be red. But it was not the bloodred that signaled imminent death.

The Arkon’s eyes were less immediately visible to Kaylin, but while his breath was a steady stream of smoke, he seemed content to stop speaking.

“My Lord bids me tell you,” Tara said to Kaylin, while standing beside said Lord, “that none of the visitors you fear entered the border zone through Tiamaris.”

“I wish we could speak with the other fieflords the same way.”

“So does he; he is beginning to consider it a necessity. Come back to the Tower when you are done with your exploration; there are a few things he wishes to discuss.”

* * *

The border zone was the border zone; Tiamaris and Tara, with Morse in tow, accompanied them to that point, but Tara now walked beside the Arkon. Tiamaris fell in beside Kaylin, glancing at Severn as if for permission. Which was annoying.

Hope squawked.

“We cannot lose him,” Tiamaris told Kaylin, the words both unexpected and abrupt. She knew where this was going. “I task you with keeping him safe.”

“We’ve got two Barrani and two Dragons here. And you’re telling me to keep him safe?”

He smiled. “Yes, actually. You are, I am constantly reminded, Chosen.”

“Might as well tell me to worry about Teela,” she replied.

“I don’t require you to fuss or worry at him. I merely require you to bring him back.”

“I thought Sanabalis was your teacher. Your former teacher.”

“He was and is. But what he learned, he learned from the Arkon. The Arkon values things lost, things dead, things ancient. He believes that they have things to teach us if we can but learn. He is important to the Emperor.”

“He’s important to Bellusdeo, too—and she lives with me.”

Tiamaris lifted his chin, frowning. “This is where we leave you.”

The Arkon turned from Tara, and from what appeared to be an animated discussion, the corners of his lips heading in the wrong direction as he met Tiamaris’s steady gaze. But he offered Tara a deep bow—certainly a deeper bow than any of the Dragons ever got from him.

Sedarias and Annarion had pulled up the rear—the far rear. They now closed the gap, and it was Sedarias who entered the border zone first.

“Be wary of Sedarias,” Tara said quietly. “Her intentions are not bad, but her thoughts turn, always, toward the bad intentions of others. She is likely to react first, and then think.”

Kaylin, however, shook her head. “Where we’re going, her form of thought might save our lives.”

The Arkon snorted.

* * *

The Arkon’s suspicion—that the book Kaylin carried would make the finding of Killian less time-consuming—was proved right. They spent far less time crawling over fences and through backyards searching for a street that ran in the right direction.

This was good, because without Teela’s vision to borrow, Annarion and Sedarias were stuck in a thick fog that made their companions almost invisible if they weren’t standing practically on top of them. Annarion was willing to be grabbed by the arm and dragged along streets Kaylin could see; Sedarias was Sedarias. She strode ahead into the fog as if it couldn’t disgorge anything that was a threat.

“She can hear your voices,” Annarion said. “She’s following those.” He grimaced and added, “And cursing Teela.”

“Teela would have come, but she likes her job.”

“So we’ve been told. We’ve yet to ascertain why, on the other hand. It’s not so bad today. The fog. I think it’s already thinning.”

Annarion was the first to spot the signpost. “This is where we were,” he told the gathered companions. “This is the signpost that leads into the circular road.”

The Arkon could see what the other two Dragons could see, which was pretty much consistent with the two Hawks. He did, however, stop at the signpost that Annarion had picked out