Page 10 of Cast in Conflict

It was conjecture, Hope replied.

“What was the conjecture?”

It was Helen who answered. “Bellusdeo has been in pain for a very long time. Your intervention saved her from a life of mindless servitude as a sword. It saved Maggaron. But Maggaron is not Bellusdeo. He feels guilt at his failure, but his failures are smaller and less significant than Bellusdeo’s.

“She cares for you,” Helen added softly. “She understands that you are both mortal and Chosen. She does not wish to involve you in events that could prove fatal.”

“To me or to her?”

“Either, dear. You are upsetting our guest.”

Emmerian’s eyes were fully orange, now. Kaylin thought she could see flecks of red in them.

“Hope.”

I told him that I believe it is Bellusdeo’s desire to take the Tower that was formally captained by Candallar.

Kaylin broke the silence that followed Hope’s words, but it took her some time. Emmerian offered no help, and Helen didn’t choose to come to the rescue either. She understood why Emmerian’s eyes were the color of Dragon unhappiness, but had learned that unhappy had several flavors, mostly because of the Barrani.

Worry. Hurt. Anger. Fear. All of them expressed wordlessly by the color of eyes: orange, blue. She couldn’t immediately tell what variation of emotion had caused Emmerian’s eyes to shift color so quickly, so she wasn’t certain how to address what she didn’t know.

She considered what she knew of Emmerian, and came up with almost zero. He wasn’t talkative. He wasn’t—like Mandoran or Bellusdeo herself—particularly teasing or mischievous. He had spoken about the Arkon’s—ugh, the former Arkon’s—past, and in so doing had revealed bits and pieces of his own, but not enough.

Had he been Bellusdeo, the Dragon currently at the heart of his response, Kaylin would have known whether or not she was dealing with anger, worry or pain. He wasn’t. He was a member of the Dragon Court, and he had been tasked with her security by an Emperor who was trying his best to protect Bellusdeo and the future of his entire race.

Kaylin had once daydreamed about being someone as important as Bellusdeo—a queen, the savior of an entire race. She felt beyond embarrassed about that now. Her only consolation was that she’d never openly resented or envied Bellusdeo for having what she’d dreamed of having.

It was a solid reminder that nightmares were also dreams.

“Would it be bad if Bellusdeo took the Tower?”

Emmerian didn’t reply. Kaylin couldn’t decide whether that meant yes or no, which made it hard to keep conversation going. She glanced at Helen. Helen failed to notice; she was watching Emmerian, her eyes obsidian rather than the brown she generally adopted. In Helen’s case, obsidian was like Dragon orange-red.

Kaylin was usually honest, but didn’t consider it a huge moral strength—more a lack of social self-control. But not pissing off a Dragon—although admittedly Emmerian seemed the least likely of the Dragons to slide into fiery, towering rage—was high on her list of priorities.

It was therefore Emmerian who eventually replied. “No. Absent any other considerations, it would not be ‘bad,’ as you put it.” He lowered his chin and inhaled for what seemed a very long time. Lifting his chin, he met Kaylin’s gaze with eyes that were orange and a blend of some other color that might have been a trick of the light.

“None of us saw her when she ruled the Norranir. None of us saw her when she took to the field, Maggaron by her side. We can make educated guesses—but the most accurate of those guesses came from Lannagaros and his advice to the Dragon Court.

“She understands that she is the future of the race. It would be impossible for her not to understand this; it is the source of all contention between Bellusdeo and the Emperor. I do not believe that she intends to let the race die out with the passage of time. Will she bear young? Yes. I believe she will.

“But it is not a simple matter for her; her sole focus is not motherhood.”

Kaylin nodded, because she agreed.

“The fiefs are not safe. War is not safe. None know this better than Bellusdeo.”

“The fiefs are safe as they can be for those who captain the Towers, though.”

Emmerian nodded. “But there is no guarantee that she will be allowed to take that Tower.”

“Tiamaris—”

“Tiamaris’s Tower wanted what Tiamaris wanted.”

“And you think Candallar’s Tower won’t?”

Kaylin’s disbelief must have been evident. Emmerian raised one brow—Dragons were good at that—and said, “You have experience with Towers. You understand that the core of each Tower is sentient. You understand as much about sentient buildings as someone who is not a scholar can.

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