The Emperor's Wolves (Wolves of Elantra #1) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,135

You are then tasked with arresting them. If, as we suspect, the person responsible is Barrani, you will not succeed. If, as you imply, there is more than one criminal, you are then responsible for apprehending two people. Or three. Or four.”

“If the perpetrators weren’t Barrani?”

“It is highly likely that they will also perish. Three witnesses didn’t survive to grace our jails; none of the three were Barrani. Regardless, that is not the command the Emperor has given. You are, of course, to preserve your own lives in any conflict that arises. If your attempt to apprehend becomes a fight, survival is your immediate imperative.”

Severn nodded again.

“You cannot believe that the human caste court is somehow involved?”

“The humans hate the Tha’alani as much as the Barrani do—maybe more,” Severn replied. “We know a Barrani was involved in the killings—but each of the murders was carried out by a human crowd. We assume that the Barrani was responsible for the behavior of the crowd.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why else would Barrani be present?”

Severn nodded and moved on. “If, in our opinion, the cost of bringing this case to a conclusion might involve more deaths, and far more conflict, are we free to abandon it?”

Helmat coughed. “Are you Wolflord, boy?”

“No, sir.”

“Are you Emperor?”

“No, sir.”

“When you are either of these things, you can feel free to make those decisions. Or,” he added heavily, “if you are Elluvian. Why have you come here to ask?”

“I believe,” the private replied, in his careful Barrani, “this is a case in which solving all elements may cause irreparable damage that was not foreseen when the request was made.”

“First, the Emperor does not request, he commands. Second, Elluvian has some discretion in that regard—as, of course, does the Emperor. Let Elluvian decide whether or not the cost of your mission is far too high a price to pay for its completion. Let Elluvian make that argument to the Emperor.

“Now, get out. I have an angry Scoros on hold.” This was not entirely true, and it would be some minutes before Helmat chose to return the interrupted call. He was now mulling over the question Severn had asked. Elluvian had allowed the private to interrupt Helmat for a clarification the Barrani Wolf was entirely entitled to make.

Regardless, it was not an angry Scoros that caused Helmat’s jaw to clench; it was a graciously furious Hawklord.

* * *

Severn once again took over Elluvian’s desk. He spent the rest of the afternoon struggling with Records; twice he asked Elluvian to intervene, because the information was locked behind a series of words the private didn’t know.

Elluvian’s research could not be accomplished so easily. Cassandre had offered information of a kind, but no Barrani Lord of any worth relied on information provided by a single source. The value of information was always weighted by context, and the games the lords played provided that context. Most of the games were hidden, and some, hidden well.

Ollarin, as he had chosen to be called, was a context he was attempting to understand. Ollarin was young. Even by Barrani standards, he would have been considered no wiser, stronger, or more powerful than any of the privates of Elluvian’s recent acquaintance. He had not been born within Elantra; he was an import from the West March.

He had no obvious connection to An’Tellarus, which was to be expected; he had no hidden connections to An’Tellarus, either, or none that Elluvian had found with careful digging. None of that digging now occurred at court; Elluvian had been forbidden the High Halls without the private as escort, and while he did not care to follow all of Helmat’s mandates, he understood that this one was supported in its entirety by the Eternal Emperor.

Many members of the court did not have the resources to live in the High Halls. These would be the most junior members of that court. Those who made Elantra their home without taking the test that granted status as a Lord of the High Court did not dwell in the High Halls either, except as servants or guards.

An’Sennarin had very tentative alliances with other lords. Ollarin had become An’Sennarin, and those families who had chosen to ally themselves with the former lord had not yet abandoned him. His rise to power was so sudden that they could not discount his strength, even if little of it was otherwise displayed. Elluvian privately thought that it was only a matter of time. If Ollarin was responsible for the spate of murders decades past, he