Page 65 of Cast in Conflict

“No, Corporal Neya. Upon death, perhaps—but as you’ve seen, it’s hard to kill a Dragon when they fight from the seat of their power. If I die, I believe contingencies might exist that would allow a new Arbiter, but we were chosen with that in mind.

“We understand that Bellusdeo is interested in the Tower Candallar once occupied. Her concern is Ravellon. I’m certain that others would like her to have different concerns—but the chancellor has made clear why she considers all other factors almost irrelevant. I,” Kavallac added, her eyes narrowing as something about Mandoran caught her attention, “would prefer that she attended to the duties incumbent upon her by race and circumstance—but I have been told that I am not the only Dragon who desires this.”

“The chancellor doesn’t?”

“The chancellor is somewhat sentimental when it comes to your friend. Does he desire it? Yes, but only if that shift is natural. He will not press her, and has asked that we refrain from making the attempt.”

Kaylin was almost certain this was a royal we, but failed to put this into words.

“I am uncertain that Karriamis will not agree with me.” This was not what Kaylin had hoped to hear. “He is a Dragon.”

“He was a Dragon, and for a couple of centuries, he’s had a Barrani captain. I’d say he’s more flexible than he seems.”

“Having not met him, you might indeed say that. But he would never have volunteered for the position he was literally built to fulfill had he not had an extremely strong sense of duty and responsibility. I believe he will see children and babies as Bellusdeo’s responsibility, and he is unlikely to be swayed by any other concern.”

“But Candallar didn’t go to the Tower in order to become a steward in the fight against Shadow.”

“No. I believe he fled to the fiefs in order to preserve his own life. But Lord Nightshade is also outcaste, is he not?”

“According to Candallar, their circumstances were different.”

“How so?”

“Nightshade could probably walk into the High Halls and leave alive. Candallar couldn’t. Also, the Consort actually likes Nightshade. If it were up to her, he’d be part of the Barrani High Court tomorrow. And unlike Dragons, outcaste Barrani have been—I’m told—repatriated in the past. It’s not impossible for Nightshade to return home.

“I think Candallar believed that if he possessed the power Nightshade possesses, he’d be allowed to return home. Well, that and if an ally became the new High Lord. Regardless, Nightshade accepts being outcaste.”

“He possesses one of The Three,” Kavallac said.

“Yes. And he’ll continue to possess it. I don’t think the Consort has issues with that, either—and the sword was very useful half a month ago, where the High Halls are concerned. I think he’s been asked to return it, but, well. He invited them to retrieve it.”

In almost those exact words, yes. You are worried.

I’m worried that Kavallac is right. That Barrani captaincy would be preferable to Karriamis if Bellusdeo is the only Dragon alive who can bear young.

Mandoran looks concerned.

He probably is. Look, he likes Bellusdeo. He knows she’s not happy. He has eleven other inescapable people in his head; she has no one. He thinks her obsession with Shadow would be a perfect fit for a Tower. Not all of the cohort agree.

No. I understand that Sedarias would like a base of operations, a safe base, in the future. You think of them as like you; they are not. You will die; you are mortal. They will die only if they are foolish or unlucky. Outlasting you would increase the danger they will find themselves in, and the Tower would be the ideal solution.

It wouldn’t.

It is not me you must convince of that, but Sedarias. Were I Sedarias, I would make the choices she is making.

And if you were you?

I know what Towers demand, he replied. And I do not think she is capable, in the end, of meeting those demands. For her cohort, she would. But a Tower is not part of that cohort; I believe she expects obedience—just as prior owners of Helen did.

In theory, isn’t that what a captain is for, though?

Theory is a pleasant conceit when it is built upon a lack of solid information. I accept what I cannot change—but you have seen some of the cost of that, and it is a cost I would not have anticipated.

“Very well. We have told you what we know,” Kavallac said, into the growing silence.

“I want Starrante to explain what aggressive means in relation to Liatt’s Tower.”

Starrante clicked. “It means I would advise against entering Liatt’s Tower if you have the choice. Yes, becoming changes the person at the heart of the Tower, but never completely. He was always a kill first, and apologize as appropriate later, person.”

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