The Emperor's Wolves (Wolves of Elantra #1) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,40

edicts. Many of those who worked in the Halls of Law felt he was too conservative.

Helmat, oddly enough, was not one of them. He understood that the burden of evidence, the burden of proof, was necessary. Without it, it would be far too easy to pass judgment oneself, and far too easy to turn the Halls of Law into a terrifying, personal fiefdom.

But he was human, same as most of the rest. There were crimes that infuriated him, deaths that made him feel helpless and useless. That feeling drove him to work harder—but it could easily drive him to a merciless rage, and the decisions made from that place might not withstand more rational scrutiny.

Some of the men and women he accepted into the scant ranks of the Wolves had killed before, often in what they had considered self-defense. Helmat tended to agree with their estimation, which was why he accepted their service. But none of those deaths had involved children.

He exhaled. “Ybelline.”

“You want me to show you.”

“I want you to show me.”

En coughed theatrically.

“I will throw you out by the ears,” Helmat said, “if you say another word.”

En being En immediately proved Helmat a liar. “Are you certain you want to do this? It is not required.”

“I do not have the visceral, lasting fear of the Tha’alani that characterizes your people.”

“You only have a mortal lifetime to accrue dangerous secrets.”

“Your thoughts are appreciated,” Helmat replied, in a tone that implied the opposite. “But the decision in its entirety is mine. And children are involved.”

En retreated, literally.

Ybelline did not. She approached Helmat, and in spite of his decision, he braced himself for the contact.

* * *

Elluvian waited as Helmat stiffened. The Barrani envied the Tha’alani their ability to ferret out truth. It was not something that magic could easily—or perfectly—grant; while magic could be used in a similar fashion, it was prone to damage the target’s mind, sometimes irreparably.

But that was an old life, an old series of experiments. He shook himself free of the memories as he watched Ybelline’s report of events. Ybelline herself did not speak; she had no need of words now. When she had finished, silence grew. Her antennae left Helmat’s forehead. The Wolflord’s knuckles were white.

The girl, then. The child he had seen with An’Teela. Severn had been following her, and capably enough that he had not alerted An’Teela to either his presence or his interest. He could now understand An’Teela’s interest in the child: she was almost certainly Chosen. A mortal. While it was not unheard of, it was extremely unusual.

“En.”

Elluvian turned toward Helmat. Helmat sat heavily in a free chair, hands gripping the armrests. There was about him a look that implied both shock and certainty. Severn, Elluvian thought, would be a Wolf. There was no question of it.

“Tell me,” he told the Lord of Wolves. “Ybelline may correct you if you leave out something she considers of relevance.”

Ybelline raised a honey-brown brow at the flat statement, but she nodded.

Helmat then spoke of what he had seen and experienced.

* * *

Silence followed. Elluvian considered the information Helmat conveyed—hesitantly at first, and then with greater determination as he continued.

“What are you thinking?”

“May I question the interrogator?” Elluvian knew the word annoyed Helmat.

“Please do.”

Elluvian then turned to face Ybelline. “Does Severn regret what he did?”

“Yes.”

“Would he do it again?”

She hesitated before offering an answer that was far less definitive. “...Yes. Do you understand what these nameless enemies were trying to achieve?”

Technically, Elluvian was not required to answer Ybelline’s questions. He had never been an officer to stand on technicalities unless he wished to annoy. “I understand as much as the fieflord did. They failed—but how or why is not entirely clear. Did the girl flee Nightshade?”

“Yes.”

“And arrived here.”

Ybelline said, “It is not relevant.”

“Surely, that is not up to you to decide.”

“It is entirely up to me, as you are well aware. What the Wolves require, I have given. If the Wolves require more, they may contact Imperial Intelligence.” Which she knew wouldn’t happen. Elluvian considered doing so out of simple spite; he would, however, have to convince Helmat it was necessary. To Helmat, she said, “I have a request.”

“And that?”

“It’s entirely unofficial.”

He loosened his hands, gesturing impatiently with the right.

“When—and if—you send him to hunt, I wish to be the agent recalled to examine him after the fact.”

“To spare your people?”

“No. His pain would be damaging to my kin, but it will not be damaging in the same way to the Tha’alanari.” She grimaced. “Garadin