at Elluvian. It was perhaps the first time Severn had seen a smile so warm used as a blunt disagreement.
* * *
Rosen had returned, and now manned her desk. She looked up as they entered. “Helmat is speaking with the Hawklord,” she told Elluvian.
“In person?”
“Yes, actually.”
“I give you permission,” Elluvian said to Severn, “to return to your home. It is late, and the meeting not likely to be brief.”
Severn said nothing. The nothing stretched until Elluvian turned toward the hall that led to the Wolflord’s office. “You will do me the kindness of remembering that I did make the offer.”
* * *
When Helmat entered the office, he took one look at Rosen’s face and decided a frosty, angry Lord of Hawks was preferable to what was likely to follow.
“They’re back, are they?”
Rosen nodded.
“And in one piece?”
“They’re entirely uninjured. I guess it is possible for Elluvian to traverse the High Halls without giving offense to the Barrani Lords who inhabit it.”
“Are they in my office or En’s?”
“Your office.”
Helmat cursed. “At this hour of the day?”
“They chose to wait. Elluvian is well aware of how long face-to-face meetings can take; he knows you only ask to meet in person when you’re likely to say things you’d prefer not be immediately recorded.”
“The private chose to remain as well?”
She nodded. “He’s interesting,” she said. “Sometimes he’s so still you can forget he’s there. It’s like he has no desire to be seen, or known, at all.”
“Unlike Darrell?”
Rosen grimaced. “Unlike Darrell. Darrell’s death wasn’t your fault.”
Helmat exhaled. “They’re all my fault,” he said tersely. “I’m the Wolflord. I’m the Wolflord, but apparently even I am not immune to charm.”
“And Severn lacks charm?”
“Not precisely. He’s earnest, Rosie. Were it not for the Tha’alani, I believe I would have dismissed him out of hand.”
“Funny.”
“Oh?”
“I don’t.”
“You like him.”
“He works. He works hard. I’ve never heard him complain.”
“He’s on probation. This is the best his behavior is likely to be.”
“I’m not sure it will change. Jaren will approve of him, and Jaren never liked Darrell.”
“Jaren goes out of his way to avoid liking anyone he thinks isn’t likely to survive.”
“None of us are likely to survive in this job.”
“Probably why Jaren doesn’t spend much time here.” Helmat shrugged. “Time to chase the two of them out of my office.”
* * *
“There had better be simple, good news. I’ve spent most of the afternoon and early evening expending monumental effort not to strangle someone. I have no self-control left.”
Elluvian levered himself up from his leaning position against the nearest wall. “Then we will return in the morning, when perhaps your reserve of self-control will be less depleted.” En’s eyes were blue—not a strange color for a Barrani, but his eyes looked shadowed. One brow rose as Helmat inspected his face. “I have spent some part of the afternoon in almost exactly the same fashion.”
“An’Tellarus?”
“Of course.”
“And you?” Helmat asked the private. “Did you also expend similar effort?”
“It wasn’t necessary.”
“You were speaking with a Barrani Lord; I find it’s always necessary.”
That pulled a wry smile from the young man. “I don’t think you’d find it necessary in his case.”
“Helmat is far too suspicious to believe what you believe.”
“And you think Lord Marlin is right?”
“I think he is wise.”
“Wisdom,” Helmat said, “is seldom considered wrong.”
“What constitutes wisdom is frequently and heatedly debated,” Elluvian replied. He glanced at Severn; it was almost a glare. “Private Handred wishes to have a few words with you in private, and I’m of a mind to allow it.”
Helmat was surprised. He was tired enough to let it show.
“It is not the first time I have granted Wolves privacy,” Elluvian said, the words sour with unspent annoyance. To Severn, he added, “You are certain?”
Severn nodded.
Helmat walked past them to his desk, where he sat heavily, thumping the desktop with his elbows. “I am hungry and annoyed,” he told the private.
En left the room, closing the door behind him.
“Well?” His tone implied that this had better be good.
“The mission given us by the Emperor—or by you—cannot be completed.”
“Cannot be or will not be?” Helmat’s voice became a wall of neutrality as he glared at the newest of his Wolves.
“Cannot be. The person responsible for arranging the deaths of the Tha’alani two decades ago is already dead. His death brought an end to further murders.”
“And the Barrani man Timorri saw?”
“You wanted—the Emperor wanted—the man responsible for hiring him to orchestrate these deaths. That man has already died.”
“How?”
“His death is not contained in the Records of the Halls of Law; he was