Page 1 of Cast in Atonement

01

“Kaylin. Kaylin. It is time to wake up.” Light flooded the room as curtains were drawn back. Kaylin had spent most of the evening, and much of the very early morning hours, with the midwives’ guild on an emergency call. She—sensibly—pulled the blankets over her head.

Hope squawked; he’d spent most of the same time on her shoulder. He didn’t pull the blankets over his head given his claws and the lack of opposable thumbs, but he did make clear that he wasn’t interested in becoming more mobile yet.

“Kaylin, Imelda is making breakfast, it is almost ready, and she is expecting Lord Sanabalis to join us.”

Us. Ugh.

“It is time to wake up.”

Hope could sleep on Kaylin’s shoulders; once she’d picked him up and put him there, he didn’t have to move. He could grumble in his sleep—and was—but all movement was supplied by Kaylin, his theoretical master.

Hope snorted.

Kaylin had managed to dress, although she’d had to redo buttons because the first attempt didn’t match buttons with the correct buttonholes. She could hear Mrs. Erickson humming as she made her way down the stairs.

Mrs. Erickson was a hummer. Sometimes, she was a singer. She was a force of cheer and delight. Kaylin didn’t want cheer and delight first thing in the morning.

“Why is Sanabalis visiting?” she asked Helen. “He’s not supposed to check in for a couple more days.”

“You will have to ask him,” Helen’s disembodied voice replied. Her Avatar must be with Mrs. Erickson. “I’m making a few adjustments to the kitchen. Imelda is the only one who actually uses it and I’d like to accommodate her needs.”

“Did you wake up any of the cohort?”

“No. They don’t require sleep. Mandoran is, however, in the kitchen with Imelda.”

“Terrano?”

“He doesn’t like to eat first thing in the morning, or so he says. But yes, he’s in the kitchen as well.”

“Did you tell either of them that Sanabalis is coming to visit?”

“Lord Sanabalis, or rather the Arkon, considering his new title. And no. Imelda did. Neither have chosen to flee.”

Kaylin grimaced as she headed toward the front door. “He’s here?”

“He is almost at the door,” Helen replied.

“I don’t suppose you could just answer it and let him in?” It was a rhetorical question. Helen could answer the door, but she preferred Kaylin, as the chief resident, perform that duty. Kaylin didn’t understand why it was considered good manners, but understood that in Helen’s mind, it was.

She therefore opened the door when Sanabalis knocked.

Sanabalis, being a Dragon, had eyes that shifted color depending on his mood. His current mood was orange with flecks of red, which was the outer edge of Dragon-safety color. Or rather, normal people’s safety when confronted with Dragons. She froze when she met his gaze, and then got out of the way in a hurry, remembering to mutter a please come in as she did.

Hope remained flopped across her shoulders. If Sanabalis—ugh, if the Arkon—was angry, her familiar didn’t think he was angry at Kaylin.

Helen’s Avatar appeared in the foyer. “Arkon, we are pleased to invite you into our home. Mrs. Erickson has been in the kitchen all morning in anticipation of your visit.” When Sanabalis opened his mouth, Helen added, “She insisted.”

There was a hint of warning in the two words; Sanabalis raised a single brow before offering Helen the nod he hadn’t bothered to offer Kaylin. “I am certain I will find it delightful.”

“She is aware that Dragons don’t necessarily eat what the rest of us eat?” Kaylin asked.

Helen smiled and failed to answer the question. “If you would join us in the dining room,” the Avatar said to the Dragon, “we would be pleased.”

The dining room was fancier than the usual gathering space used when the cohort chose to saunter their way down the stairs; the chairs were larger, and the tablecloth was lace; the plates were far fancier, as was the silverware—which was actually silver, at least by look.

Helen, not trusting Kaylin completely, ushered Sanabalis to his chair. Kaylin glanced around, intending to take the chair farthest from the Dragon. Sadly, that chair was already occupied by Terrano. Mandoran was seated closer to the Dragon, but Mandoran’s experience living with Bellusdeo had made Dragons less intimidating to him. Probably.

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