The Emperor's Wolves (Wolves of Elantra #1) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,102

added, in the vicinity of Elluvian. “You were not mentioned and the appointment does not cover Barrani visitors.”

“Severn Handred is a Wolf,” Elluvian began.

“I have cleared the lack of a partner with Lord Marlin. You are to remain either in the waiting room or in the carriage, with his blessing.”

“Am I to receive refreshments of any kind while I wait?”

“That, certainly, can be arranged; I am in need of a drink myself and would be delighted to keep you company.”

“You are not part of the interview?”

“No. My absence has been requested by the Oracle.”

“And you accepted this?”

“She is not one of the children,” Master Sabrai replied. “And does not require my intervention in the same way. The Oracle believed that Severn and Ybelline would know both the rules of the Halls and the location of the meeting—and it appears that she was correct.”

* * *

It was strange to climb these stairs on his own feet, behind his own viewpoint. The first time he had climbed them, he had had three sets of eyes, and they each noted slightly different things. The stairs and the halls hadn’t changed much in the intervening years.

Random, however, had.

He didn’t recognize her; felt almost embarrassed that he had expected to. He, Severn, had never met her. But the meeting between the Tha’alani children and Random in her youth had felt so real to him he felt dislocated, momentarily uncertain of who he was.

She didn’t seem to suffer from the same dislocation, but she was older. Older than either Severn Handred or Ybelline Rabon. He thought her forty; he’d thought her thirteen when she’d dragged the three Tha’alani up the stairs to see the amazing Dragon and her private room.

He couldn’t imagine this woman dragging those children up those stairs. Time changed everything.

“They died,” the woman who had been the child called Random said. “They died. I could not prevent it. I did try, when I understood. But it was late by then. Late.”

“You called us here,” Severn said.

Ybelline touched his arm gently. He nodded. “You knew that we would learn what had happened that day.”

Random inclined her head. She was dressed in much the same fashion as Ybelline. She held out her hands, the same way Severn had done at the gates of the Tha’alani quarter, but her eyes were glimmering. Ybelline walked to where she sat, and carefully took both hands in her own.

“I knew you would remember,” Random said, the glimmer becoming tears. “I knew you would both remember.”

“When did you know this?” Severn asked, softening his voice.

Random didn’t seem to understand the question. Or perhaps Ybelline had asked the question in a different way, because Ybelline was now touching Random’s forehead with her antennae—just as, years or decades ago, Tessa had done.

* * *

Random didn’t speak. Not in a way Severn could hear. Nor did Ybelline. Severn turned his back upon them as they sat in the chairs Random had decorated for today’s appointment. There was a chair with his name painted across the back, but he didn’t take it.

He turned to the door, and he watched it. There was no other way to enter this room.

He wasn’t certain how long the two conferred. No clock marked the passage of time, and he had no idea what Random wanted to convey to Ybelline. The Oracle didn’t fear the Tha’alani; she had invited Ybelline in.

He had come here seeking information. He had come to ask her if she remembered the Tha’alani visitors—but that question had already been answered by the style of her greeting. What else had he wanted to know? What they had asked. What she had answered. What they had talked about.

And she had made the appointment to speak with Severn and Ybelline before either had thought to ask to interview her. She had had a vision of her own that had led to this day. They hadn’t come here to ask her for an oracle. They weren’t here to ask her for a glimpse of their future.

Severn watched the door and focused on the questions he’d intended to ask when he’d made the request to visit these halls. He’d lost ground, lost focus, when he’d found out that Random’s appointment had already existed for weeks, and he recovered it in the silence.

He accepted that part of the reason he’d wanted to speak with Random was to avoid speaking with Ybelline. Not that he feared her—but he feared for her, now. The answers she’d left the Halls of Law to seek