murdering soldiers and raiding villages. And he has followers. Growing numbers. I want him stopped.”
Lord Baldric picked up the parchment, studied it, then placed it back on his desk. “And so he will be. If he can’t be brought in, his charges will be read In Absence.”
“That takes time!” Lord Altar’s shout thundered through the rock chamber, but no one in the room flinched.
“It does,” Lord Baldric said in a calm, overly quiet voice, and Dari couldn’t help noticing that the Lord Provost wasn’t using the honorific of Chi to append any of his statements. “Unless he can be captured, we have no alternative but to make a reading every cycle, until at least six readings have been completed. Then and only then can we draw stones for him and begin the hunt.”
“That is unacceptable,” Lord Altar growled. “Canus the Bandit is dangerous. He’s a monster!”
Stormbreaker and Windblown coughed at the same moment and lowered their gazes. Lord Baldric seemed to have to gather his wits before responding, as if taken aback by hearing Lord Altar call anyone else outlaw or monster. Dari could hardly blame him for that. Aron remained in his oddly calm state, but that light in his eyes was brighter than ever.
When Lord Baldric at last decided on his words, he said, “Canus the Bandit may indeed be dangerous, but he is also a man, a citizen of Eyrie, with the right to fair reading, and a chance to present himself for Judgment Day.”
Lord Altar grabbed the edges of his robes, making a show of controlling his temper. “Stone shouldn’t tarry in this process. I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be responsible for that unpleasantness along the Watchline.”
Dari moved before her mind completely processed the words, grabbing Aron’s wrist with one hand even as she forced her consciousness through the Veil. She gave herself less than a second to adjust to the brightness, the enhanced sounds and images of her increased perception; then she let her strength blend with his, lending him soothing and self-control and deliberately muting the color of both of their legacies.
He accepted her intervention with no resistance or resentment, but moments later, his eerie-calm mental voice echoed across her awareness. Thank you, Dari, but I’m fine.
She immediately realized Aron had carefully contained that thought-message, so that only she could hear it. She didn’t believe him, though. Not even for the second it took her to return to normal levels of awareness.
Stormbreaker’s face was as passive as Aron’s, and Windblown seemed to be pretending he hadn’t heard the dynast lord correctly.
Lord Baldric, on the other hand, was glaring at Lord Altar with no further pretense of politeness. “Unpleasantness?” The question was so tight and pointed that Dari felt the stab in her own belly. She wondered if Lord Baldric might end up as one of the Judged for slicing a dynast lord’s throat.
Lord Altar’s face colored an even deeper, uglier red than Lord Baldric’s. “I know what you think. You and every bastard behind these walls—but it’s not true. I had no part in that madness.”
“You had no part in stopping it, either,” Lord Baldric snarled, leaning toward Lord Altar until Windblown caught the Lord Provost’s robes from behind.
Lord Altar’s fist drew back so quickly Dari couldn’t believe Stormbreaker managed to lunge forward and catch the man’s elbow before he swung. The dynast lord wheeled to face Stormbreaker and cursed him even as Stormbreaker let him go and bowed his apology for laying hands on a noble without permission. Stormbreaker made no attempt to challenge the furious man again, and Windblown kept his gaze respectfully averted.
Lord Baldric did not, and when Lord Altar once more looked the Lord Provost of Stone in the face, Dari caught a wave of the shame she had sensed earlier.
“I joined forces with Helmet Brailing to do what must be done for Eyrie—not to murder fools and simpletons.” Lord Altar’s tense face relaxed a little, lending the barest of credence to his assertion.
Aron moved on the hearth, making Dari jump so badly she dropped her false knitting project and had to snatch it back off the floor. She almost leaped through the Veil again, but Aron’s outward calmness remained intact. It was almost as if he had forged a full metal fighting shield out of thin air and the force of his will, and now had it firmly between his heart and anything Lord Altar might say. For that, at least, she was greatly relieved.
“If