Page 11 of Cast in Conflict

“If Helen were a Tower, perhaps—”

“I could not be a Tower and be Helen,” Helen said quietly. Her eyes remained obsidian with flecks of color; it made them look like dark opals. “In order to become the Helen I am now, I destroyed much of myself. Sentient buildings are an existence that is rooted in the words that define their function. I was, but I yearned for a different function.

“Tara almost damaged herself, but it was not through her own volition; she had been deserted by the man who had undertaken the responsibility.”

“Tiamaris understood what she wanted; he understood what her core responsibilities were. Of the Dragon Court, Tiamaris was the one who understood the Towers best. Tiamaris,” he added, “and Lannagaros.” Clearly Emmerian had no difficulty remembering that Arkon was a title, not a name.

“He did not attempt to change Tara,” Emmerian continued, his tone shifting as he spoke. “He saw her duties and her needs clearly, and he accepted both. Those things that do not interfere with her duties, she chooses. He accepts her unusual vegetable gardens and her minor obsession about food. He accepts that her guards—decorative guards when she is at home—are not Imperial Guards.

“In turn, she allows him to govern as he sees fit. They are partners in their endeavors; they have balanced the needs of those who live within the fief with the imperatives of defense against Shadow. There are things Tara cannot do, even if she might otherwise desire to do so, and Tara does not—I’m sorry, Helen—have the liberty to make the choices you have made.”

Helen wasn’t offended.

“Bellusdeo’s entire life was war,” Emmerian continued, his voice much softer.

With a flash of insight, Kaylin said, “You want more for her.”

The orange receded briefly; Kaylin had surprised him.

“I cannot want more for her—but I have gone to war. I have seen Dragons who excel at war. Lannagaros was, as I have mentioned, a legend to us. But he forced himself to excel at war because he felt he had no choice.” Gold returned to his eyes. “He is happy now. No force but death will move him from the chancellorship he has undertaken.” He smiled. “The Academia and its various possibilities, its many paths to the future, are as much his hoard as the Empire is the Emperor’s.”

“Bellusdeo’s nothing like the Arkon. I mean the chancellor.”

“No.”

“You think she could be?”

“I don’t know.”

Kaylin exhaled. “You think she might die if she tries to take Candallar’s Tower.”

“Yes. I have never, however, been in a position to observe such an exchange. You have. Tell me, Corporal. Do you think it is without risk? Was it without risk when Helen adopted you?”

Helen cleared her throat.

“No.”

“And when Tiamaris took the Tower, was that without risk?”

Definitely not.

“You can’t go with her?” Helen asked of the Dragon.

“I do not feel that she would accept my company.” He then looked at Kaylin.

“I am not at all certain that’s a good idea,” Helen told him. He hadn’t spoken. He probably didn’t need to.

Clearly, being a corporal changed very little about her relationship with the Imperial Court. “You want me to follow her.”

“Not follow. Not precisely,” Emmerian replied. “I would, however, like to second you from the Hawks for a small period of time.”

“I just became a corporal,” Kaylin said, aware that there was more than a hint of whine in her voice. She struggled to squelch it.

“Yes. Congratulations, by the way.” Emmerian rose. “I will speak with the Emperor.”

“If you try to make me babysit, Bellusdeo’s going to be angry.” She considered using stronger language, but decided against; Emmerian probably knew exactly what angry meant in Bellusdeo’s case.

“Babysit implies a certain degree of authority and control that would not be applicable in this situation.”

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