The Emperor's Wolves (Wolves of Elantra #1) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,109

at each other. The dating system was much the same as the dating system used for Records in the Halls of Law. The Oracular Halls weren’t as busy as he might have expected, given the information the Oracles could offer. There were requests, yes. But few of those requests appeared to have been granted, and some had been refused outright, with no explanation.

Nor did he think an explanation would be forthcoming if he asked for one. It didn’t matter. The Barrani didn’t often ask for permission to interact with the Oracles.

“Do you recall,” Severn said, as he turned pages, “a Barrani by the name of Ollarin?”

“Not offhand.”

“I ask you to consider it now, because a Barrani man did visit Random. The visit occurred after the Tha’alani children visited. Do you have a record of their visit?”

“No. They were not here to receive an oracle.”

“Did the Barrani man who was granted permission to visit also peruse your logs?”

“No. He didn’t have the threat of the Imperial Service hanging over my head.”

“Was the visit by the Tha’alani—the second visit—logged?”

Master Sabrai didn’t answer.

Severn had found the entry, the first entry, of relevance. He didn’t recognize the name, only the styling. Elluvian held out a hand, and Severn passed the book to him. He watched Elluvian’s face, or rather, the color of his eyes; Elluvian’s expression gave nothing away.

The name was familiar to Severn; he’d heard it on his first visit to the High Halls. It was the name Elluvian had given Corvallan and Cassandre: Sennarin.

Sennarin was a family name; it was not An’Sennarin. The Barrani man, however, had given no other.

* * *

Elluvian closed the book. He then set it on the table beside his empty glass. Severn had moved on to the most recent book. “How did Sennarin receive permission to visit Random? Did he ask specifically for Random?”

Silence.

“I was under the impression,” Severn continued, “that the request is made of the Oracular Halls. The choice of Oracle is not in the hands of the person who makes the request; it is your decision.”

Master Sabrai nodded.

“Did Random tell you that Ollarin—or rather, that a Barrani man—would come to speak with her? Did she make the same request she made when setting up our appointment?”

“Yes.”

“Did the Barrani man arrive after Tessa’s second visit?”

“Yes.”

“He has never returned.”

“No. Nor will he.”

“But he did make the request through the usual channels.”

Master Sabrai nodded.

“Do you know what he came to ask?”

“I know what his official request claimed he would ask, yes. I am not at liberty to discuss it.”

“Liberty is a quaint notion,” Elluvian said. It was a threat.

Master Sabrai shrugged. If it was a threat, Sabrai considered it to be toothless.

“Did Random tell you what he actually asked?”

“If Random did not tell you, I am not at liberty to discuss it.”

“In theory, neither is she.”

“You don’t understand these Halls,” Master Sabrai said. “Whatever he did ask was damaging to Random. It has continued to be damaging to her.”

“It was not just damaging to Random,” Severn said, his tone far less hostile than Elluvian’s had been.

“No—of course not.” The older man’s shoulders lost some of their tension. “That is never the way of the future, is it? She was aware of the errors in judgment hope produced, both in her and in the Tha’alani. There was a boating accident,” he continued. “Random could see it coming—or rather, could see the deaths she had no idea how to prevent.

“She is not political. We are not, as a whole, political creatures. But information is a tool, like any other. And fear of the future has oft been a bitter master of men.”

“Did she know about the murders of Tha’alani that took place in the city streets two decades ago?”

“You did not ask her?”

Severn hesitated and then shook his head.

A gleam of something that might be very grudging approval changed the shape of Master Sabrai’s eyes. “Yes. She was not the only Oracle who was, but it affected her in a way it affected none of the others.” He fell silent, as if considering all possible words and discarding most of them. “It has never left her. I am certain that she believes that your visit—and the visit of the Tha’alani woman who accompanied you—will bring a measure of peace or justice for the murdered.

“That is why you’ve come?”

Severn nodded. “It’s why Ybelline Rabon is here as well. It’s no easier for Ybelline than it has been for Random. And it will be harder, I think, for Ybelline in the