Cast In Courtlight Read Free

knows?”
    The words
too damn much
flitted about, but she tried to ignore them.
    “You fought a Dragon,” he added quietly. “You fought the only Dragon who has ever survived being outcaste among his kin. The battle was felt all the way to the palace. Some diplomacy was necessary – you can thank Tiamaris for his intercession – and there was, perhaps, a surfeit of actual facts offered. But enough was said. The Emperor knows that you bear the marks.”
    Her eyes fell to her sleeves automatically; they always did when anyone spoke of the strange writing that ran the length of her arms and her thighs. They had been symbols to be hidden when she had been a child on the edge of adulthood; she knew them now as words. Or names. But whose words and whose names were still mostly mystery – and in Kaylin’s universe, it was vital that they
stay
that way. She was used to them, in any case; the new ones bothered her more.
    “He is,” the Hawklord continued, “also aware that you bear a Barrani mark.”
    “Everyone is,” she said.
    “Were it not for Tiamaris, he would not be inclined to… give you the benefit of the doubt. He has shown some forbearance in this. But he has made clear that you present a danger
if you cannot be trained
. And it seems that you intend to demonstrate your intractability in the worst possible way. For you,” he added, as if it were necessary. “I will send for another member of the Imperial Order of Mages.”
    She was stony silence defined.
    “If you happen to offend him before the week is out, you will be suspended from active duty. Have I made myself clear?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Good.”
    She was aware that he had just won someone the office betting pool, but could not for the life of her remember who.
    Just as well. She waited for a few minutes, but he had turned from her, and was now studying the opaque surface of the room’s long mirror. The fact that it was opaque made it clear that whatever he was looking at was keyed to his eyes alone.
    She started toward the door.
    “One other thing, Kaylin.”
    “Sir?”
    “If you are late for any
more
of these lessons, it will come out of your pay.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Kaylin and punctuality lived on separate continents. Another happy source of petty betting in the office. She looked at his profile; he hadn’t bothered to look in her direction.
    But something about his expression was stiff and wrong. She watched the lines around his mouth deepen until his face looked like engraved stone, but less friendly. Whatever it was he was looking at was something he didn’t like – and at Festival time, Kaylin could honestly say she had no interest whatsoever in knowing what it was.
    She chose the better part of valor and left. Quickly.
    Tain, his black hair flowing in a healthy trail down his back, was at the center of the crowded office when Kaylin made it back down the stairs. As he was the only Barrani in attendance, it answered a question, albeit not a pressing one. He smiled as she slid silently through the open arch and along the nearest wall. Even without breathing, it was impossible for her to sneak up on a Barrani Hawk; she knew. She’d been trying for seven years.
    “Kaylin,” he said, looking up. His eyes were that shade of bottomless green that made jewelry superfluous. It meant, on the other hand, that he was happy. Or as happy as any Barrani ever got when they weren’t killing someone or winning some invisible-to-human-eyes political struggle.
    If Leontines were incapable of acting, Barrani were their opposite; they were incapable of not acting. Immortal, stunningly beautiful, and ultimately cool, they had a quiet love of showmanship. It had taken her years to understand that, as well.
    They were, however, plenty capable of being smug, which Tain was now demonstrating to the office staff; he had coins in his hand.
    Had
she
won, she probably wouldn’t. But there was no such thing as a friendly bet among the Barrani, and no one –