Page 109 of Cast in Conflict

“Family is difficult,” she said aloud.

“All the best,” Severn said quietly, “and all the worst. Sedarias’s birth family offered nothing but the worst by our standards. To the Barrani, it might have been considered best.”

It was not. Kaylin was surprised to hear Nightshade’s voice. She couldn’t tell if this was because Helen let him in—which she sometimes did—or if Helen was so distracted the basic securities had been loosened.

I believe it is the former. She is aware that she is not Barrani, and her experience of Barrani was not...what yours is. Sedarias’s family would be considered extreme by many of our kin. All comments of weakness aside, your own understanding of her in the context of her cohort might prove more valuable than the opinion of her people. This is impressive, he added, the texture of the interior voice changing.

Impressive?

It is a wilderness as harsh as any we have had to endure. I have never attempted to create something of this scope within Castle Nightshade. I admit I am tempted to try. But you are now speaking to the wrong person.

Who should I be speaking to?

Terrano, but I perceive he is not present. He was not, however, the person I meant to suggest.

Please don’t say Ynpharion.

Silence.

He only ever talks to me when the Consort insists on conveying information, or when he thinks I’m an idiot. He’s not going to want to talk to me about Barrani happy families.

No. I doubt very much he will desire to talk about unhappy families, either. But I believe he may have information that would be of use.

And not you.

And not me, no. I had very little conflict with either my mother or my father, while they lived. With my cousins, with my aunts, yes—but they were not considered family unless we were at war.

Kaylin sagged in place. Ynpharion won’t want to talk to me about this.

No. But you might infer some of it from his general attitude.

Which is judgmental.

Yes. It is, however, similar to Sedarias’s—or to what Sedarias would be had she had neither true power nor the cohort. She took a risk. But Kaylin, Ynpharion took a risk, in the end, as well. As the one who has knowledge of True Names you have never been a threat. But the Consort? She is Barrani.

She loved her brothers. They loved each other.

And still does, yes. But Ynpharion is not her brother. Perhaps, in time, the risk will—as you say in Elantran—pay out. Regardless, he took that risk. And in my estimation, there is some pride for him in that.

He didn’t do that for me.

Nightshade said nothing for long enough, Kaylin thought he had withdrawn. No. But you needed to be in contact with the Consort; it was a matter of importance to the High Halls, and he knew it. He could talk to you, but he could not make decisions, and admitting that a mortal held his True Name would have been a public humiliation beyond his fragile endurance.

And you don’t care.

And I do not care. There was amusement in those words. Unlike those who wish they did not, it is of little relevance to me. I am outcaste. I have nothing at all to lose.

But Nightshade was a power.

Was? a familiar voice snapped. Calarnenne is a power. He wields one of The Three. He was known for his prowess in war, and none who rose to challenge him survived it. In his fashion, he shares renown with An’Teela.

How long have you been listening?

Subjectively? Decades. Ynpharion was frustrated. This was almost a comfort, because Ynpharion appeared to have only one state: frustration.

That is not true.

Fine. Anger and resentment, too.

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