The Emperor's Wolves (Wolves of Elantra #1) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,44

good training; they had to, by Imperial dictate. Very little of that good training had ever met with Elluvian’s approval. Elluvian’s approval, however, would have cost lives in the earlier stages. “You’ve often said the best training is experience.”

“Ah. And so this is somehow my fault?”

“It is an example of the consequences of following your hectoring advice, yes.”

En chuckled. “You do want this one.”

“For however long we can keep him, yes.”

“Very well.”

“Do you have a clear idea of who we’re hunting?”

En didn’t answer.

“How long have you harbored suspicions?”

“I am by natural inclination suspicious. It saves both time and—in mortal terms—heartache. I am not a Hawk,” he continued, when Helmat failed to respond. “Investigations of a certain nature are not my responsibility.”

His tone implied that they were beneath him. This annoyed Helmat, but only mildly; he was aware that En considered most of life—much of it Barrani—beneath him. En understood the chain of command; he was willing to obey orders. Where Barrani were concerned, this was not a given, and was, in fact, unusual; Barrani generally considered orders optional suggestions, if they could be safely ignored.

En had been part of the Wolves since their founding, which was before Helmat’s time entirely. He had been responsible for the selective training of many of the Wolves that had been Helmat’s seniors, and responsible for at least three of their deaths. In this, Helmat also trusted the Barrani Wolf.

“We will be hunting Barrani,” En said, as Ybelline broke contact. Severn’s knees locked; to Helmat’s eye, it was almost necessary.

“You understand,” Ybelline said softly, to Severn. “What hurts us most is the insanity of the hatred and the malice.”

“The criminal from whom this information was received was mortal.” Severn surprised Helmat; he spoke steadily, although his color had shaded to gray.

“Yes. The pattern of behavior seems to involve humans in large enough groups that they’re malleable. The man that you will be hunting does not—in all of the incidents the human criminal participated in—appear to lift a hand himself.”

“Which is irrelevant,” Helmat interjected, stepping in to take control of the conversation. “The Emperor has made his decision, and rendered judgment. All that is left is to find and apprehend the criminal. En.”

Elluvian nodded.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“You are not familiar enough with the streets of Elantra,” Elluvian told the Wolf candidate two long days later. Severn’s knowledge of the city streets seemed confined to the streets An’Teela and her partner patrolled. This was not their destination.

Ybelline had communicated, to the probationary Wolf, the locations involved in the decades-old crimes. She lived in Elantra; she was aware of how little in the way of evidence might remain.

Severn privately thought “little” and “none whatsoever” were the same, but Elluvian insisted on examining those locations.

In each, Severn had been instructed to stand back and observe.

He did. Elluvian attracted attention; he was Barrani. Here, in the less wealthy parts of town, that mattered. Children were pulled back by grandparents, as if Elluvian’s shadow was cast, invisibly, over the people who occupied the streets. He looked, now, for surprise—for a type of fear that hinted at echoes of past violence. He looked for something like recognition. He watched as unheard words passed between adults.

Most of their attention was watchful—the attention Elluvian would have garnered had he been in the streets of the fief of Nightshade. Nothing implied knowledge of what had happened here, in the open, before Severn was born.

Three times, Severn stood in different streets, observing. He wanted to see something that might somehow provide answers, or at least better questions. He wanted to help Ybelline and her people.

But nothing helpful was likely to come from this. He was almost certain Elluvian knew that as well.

* * *

“Have you ever experienced difficulty while in pursuit of An’Teela?”

The Hawks had a regular route. They patrolled the city streets with the intent to be seen; their presence was a statement. It was not, given the patrol was primarily Barrani, particularly subtle. And it was not, again given the composition of that patrol, an entirely safe beat. Barrani Hawks were given patrol beats that had caused difficulty for their mortal counterparts.

The young man shrugged. “Nothing I couldn’t handle,” he finally said, when it became clear Elluvian desired more than a shrug as a response.

Severn’s knowledge of their current destination had been given to him by Ybelline—a woman who did not leave the Tha’alani quarter except for need. Imperial need.

The young Wolf was marginally more reasonably dressed. He wore newer clothing, but more significant, shoes that