Page 24 of Cast in Conflict

What they had wanted when they created this place was probably what the Arkon—damn it, the chancellor—had wanted when he had created his own library. But no, the former Arkon’s library had been a private, personal collection of the detritus of the long dead. It wasn’t meant to be occupied, touched, interacted with by any save the Arkon himself.

This was different.

The parkette was occupied, but not by mostly Barrani thugs, although Barrani were present. Kaylin recognized two of them: Serralyn and Valliant. They appeared to be eating lunch. She glanced at Severn; he shrugged.

She decided to leave the two to their lunch and their companions, two of whom were mortals Kaylin didn’t recognize. Even at this distance, she could see Serralyn’s eyes were a brilliant green. Reality would no doubt dim that color, because reality had a way of doing that to hopes and dreams.

But the hopes and dreams that had led Kaylin—eventually—to her life with the Hawks and Helen had still led her to a much better place. Was it perfect? No. And she had certainly daydreamed about perfect, somehow expecting that “better place” would be it. She was almost certain that, reality notwithstanding, Serralyn would be happier here than she had been possibly anywhere else.

“Kaylin!”

It was not the Barrani cohort, or the two members present, who shouted her name. She turned instantly toward the source of that voice; Robin was running across the edge of the grass toward her, narrowly avoiding collision with one tree.

“It is you!”

She smiled. “Robin. Have you met Serralyn and Valliant?”

He nodded, grinning. “Things have been so much better since you guys came. Like, the classes are actually different. They don’t just repeat over and over. And Serralyn and Valliant want to be here. Everyone who’s here wants to be here—no one is a prisoner.”

“Not anymore, no.”

“Have you seen Calarnenne?”

“Please tell me he’s not a student here.”

“Sort of? I mean, he’s not one of us—but he’s welcome here. I think the chancellor likes him. I take it that means no.”

“No, we haven’t seen him.”

“Are you coming to apply?”

“Gods, no. I was a terrible student in the Halls of Law, and I’d be a terrible student now. I get that Serralyn wants to be here—she’s been walking on air for days—and I don’t think she’s stupid for it. But she thinks it’ll be fun and I think I’ll just get expelled. But you want to be here, too.”

“I like it here. I get fed—for free—and I have a safe place to stay, and there’s just so much that’s so interesting. I can leave now, if I want. I couldn’t before.” He lowered his voice. “The chancellor wants students like me.” He beamed. “He said it’s important.”

There probably weren’t a lot of kids like Robin around. Kaylin had thought maybe—just maybe—this could be a home for the children of the fiefs, a safe place for them to learn, if they wanted to learn. A place where starvation and fear of Ferals were irrelevant. Listening to Robin, watching Serralyn, she was less certain.

Robin had, in some fashion that she didn’t understand, been the lynchpin of the Academia’s revival. Something about the way he approached information and knowledge—knowledge that would be impractical and useless for Kaylin’s chosen life—had affected Killian.

“I have a friend,” he said, his voice still low. “She would love it here. I think. The chancellor said I could find her, but—he doesn’t want me to find her on my own.”

“Where does she live?”

“The east warrens. Same as me. Or same as I used to.” His expression fell. “I want her to come here if she’s still alive.” A world of words about life in the warrens—which was not dissimilar to Kaylin’s life in the fiefs, except for the absence of Ferals—was implied by those words.

“When are you going to look for her?”

“I’m not sure.”

“No?”

“I have classes,” he said, as if classes were the job that Kaylin so prized. “And I have to wait until the chancellor has time.”

“You want to wait?”

“Well, he’s a Dragon,” Robin replied, as if that explained everything. It did. No one in the east warrens would be stupid enough to attack a Dragon, if they recognized a Dragon. No one in the east warrens would survive attacking a Dragon if they didn’t. Regardless, Kaylin had a job, and that job probably didn’t include heading into the east warrens to find a friend of Robin’s.

“How long were you in the Academia as a prisoner?”

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