The Emperor's Wolves (Wolves of Elantra #1) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,154

attention, it would have walked all the way to the High Halls. My death, should that happen, was not guaranteed—but the same cannot be said for much of the population of the High Halls.”

She nodded. “But the water heard you.”

“It did. And when it paused to listen, when it rejoined the ocean from which it had drawn its form, it heard my loneliness and fear. I could not summon an elemental in this place to keep me company—”

“You already had.”

“Yes, but—unintentionally. The water itself would have stayed by my side, but to reach the High Halls I would have had to walk from the harbor through the city streets. And the rules that govern use of unsanctioned magic in this city are strictly enforced.”

“When it is recognized, yes.”

“I did not know how to summon water, not consciously; I had gone, always, to the water when I wished its solace. I had never used water as a weapon—and I believe that was the intent of my admission to the Arcanum.”

“That was not what you wanted.”

“It’s not what I wanted. I know that the water does, at times. To drown. To destroy. But that is not all water wants.”

“No.”

“Because of you. Because of your people. The water is where the Tha’alaan resides. It is the Tha’alaan.”

She stared, then. “Adellos told you this?”

His smile robbed his face of grief, of age. “The water told me.” He exhaled. “And the water told me where I must go if I wished to find peace away from the High Halls.”

She frowned.

“I was exhausted by this point with the effort of convincing the water that an attack on the High Halls—and An’Sennarin—was the exact opposite of what I needed. But the water’s voice was a comfort to me, I cannot deny it. And perhaps the knowledge that I could ask the water to act on my behalf, and it would do so willingly, was a comfort as well. I followed the water’s direction.”

“You said the water did not leave the harbor.”

“No.”

“But you could hear it?”

“Yes—with effort. I cannot raise voice from here—or could not at the time—and be heard.”

“No wonder An’Sennarin wanted you. That is a level of power, of connection, almost unheard of.”

“Adellos asks—”

“Adellos is attempting to speak with me now; I am not of a mind to allow it, given his absolute silence in the past few days.” The words were both frosty and heated.

“He wished to spare you—”

“He is castelord,” she replied. “He knows that the castelord is, and can be, spared nothing. He is perhaps afraid of the decision I will make when all becomes known.”

An’Sennarin nodded.

“But you are not.”

“I think I would almost welcome it.”

“Where did the water take you? It did not bring you to the Tha’alani quarter.”

“No. But away from the harbor there’s a small inlet. The water led me there.” He closed his eyes. “Tessa was waiting there. Jerrin was with her, and Tobi. They were waiting for me.”

* * *

“They had been warned,” he said, when he returned from memory to the thread of his story. “They were not to communicate with outsiders. Such communication was feared; it made their kin anathema to every other living race. I was young, but I understood the importance of secrets; had I understood what would occur when my magical affinity was discovered, I would have done everything in my power to hide it.

“They didn’t touch me the way you touch your criminals.”

“They are not our criminals.”

“Ah, apologies. The Emperor’s criminals. They spoke—but they spoke slowly, they struggled to find words. I guessed that they weren’t used to speaking at all.”

“No. Speech is taught, but not well. It is not necessary when we are all part of the Tha’alaan.”

“Tessa explained that. But she—” Silence, then. “She said that she’d discovered that we could talk the way they spoke in the Tha’alaan.”

“And Random had given her the words by which to do so,” Ybelline whispered.

“Yes. Years earlier, they had traveled to the Oracular Halls. I would have loved to have joined them. I think I wanted to be part of that, and it was...it was still alive, for them. For Tessa. I could see it, I could feel it, I could live through it as if I had been there.

“She called my name. She called my True Name. I would have heard her had I still been living in the West March.”

“You weren’t afraid of her.”

“I wasn’t—how could I be? Tessa was—” he shook his head. “All my life I was told that