Page 41 of Cast in Conflict

Teela was not actively attempting to harm either the gold Dragon or the blue one. Maggaron stood by the gold Dragon’s side, not in front; he was wielding a great sword in one hand. Teela appeared, at this distance, to be talking. The Dragons were speaking as well, but Kaylin didn’t understand a word of it, which was probably for the best.

Hope squawked; he was a storm of squawking as Kaylin picked up the pace.

I am going to ask Helen, Severn unexpectedly said, if I might remain under her roof for a while.

Stay where you are, Kaylin told him. We don’t need any more combatants. She exhaled.

“Teela!”

Teela’s gaze remained fixed on the two Dragons; her sword continued to glow and crackle, as if it were the barely controlled heart of a storm. She spoke two words, or what might have been two words; her voice carried as if it were draconic.

“Yes,” Helen said quietly. “Teela does understand rudimentary Dragon. She is making herself heard, here, in a multitude of ways.”

“She’s impressive,” Terrano whispered. “I mean—we all knew she had one of The Three, and we all knew she’d distinguished herself on the battlefield. But it’s different to see it with our own eyes.”

“The eyes most of you don’t possess right now on account of having no physical form?”

“Those ones, yes.”

Teela wasn’t trying to hurt Emmerian. She was trying to survive him. Bellusdeo’s roars, which, at a distance, Kaylin assumed were aimed at the Barrani cohort, were now apparently aimed at Emmerian. The blue Dragon had stepped between Bellusdeo and Teela, and his claws had cracked stone; he didn’t intend to be dislodged.

“Helen, what happened?”

“A discussion became heated. It broke down. People lost their tempers.”

“How did Emmerian join this so-called discussion?”

“The beginning took place in the dining room, and the dining room windows were actual windows at the time. Lord Emmerian doesn’t approve of this; he considers the windows a weakness assassins might exploit. As of this evening, I am almost willing to concede his point.”

If Kaylin had been closer to an actual wall, she would have banged it with her forehead. “Where is the rest of the cohort?”

“They are with Teela, but phased.”

“Do you consider Emmerian and Bellusdeo more of a threat than the cohort?”

“To whom?”

“Teela!”

Teela did look away from Emmerian as Kaylin’s voice penetrated her concentration. Even from this distance, Kaylin could see the color of her eyes; they were indigo. They were almost black. “Go back to your room,” the Barrani Hawk told Kaylin.

This caught Bellusdeo’s attention. And Emmerian’s. Kaylin almost let go of Terrano’s hand, but decided against it given what remained of the conflict.

Hope squawked up a storm, and as he did, Bellusdeo’s draconic form dwindled, the scales becoming the armor that Dragons wore in their human forms. There was, in theory, magical clothing that could withstand the transformation between the two forms, but Kaylin had never personally seen it happen. Maggaron now towered over Bellusdeo. As did Emmerian. Although Emmerian did shift his enormous head in Kaylin’s direction, his eyes were a blood red that implied death.

Kaylin noted the position he had taken—or at least the part where he’d inserted himself between Bellusdeo and Teela, and winced.

Hope squawked again, and Emmerian blinked.

Blinked and then turned to look over his shoulder.

Kaylin couldn’t see Bellusdeo’s expression; she could only see her profile. Emmerian, however, was closer, and Dragons had better vision regardless. He swiveled his head toward Teela again. Toward Teela and the phased cohort.

Teela grimaced.

“She’s going to put up the sword,” Terrano whispered.

“She probably wants to keep her job,” Kaylin replied, just as quietly.

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