Page 117 of Cast in Atonement

Of Larrantin. He is now making connections between pieces of information we can’t necessarily access.

What information? What could he possibly learn that wouldn’t help me understand these marks?

This is not the first time you’ve encountered the dead. It isn’t the first time you could see, sense, or communicate with them.

She nodded, thinking of Jamal.

Jamal, too. But you destroyed an object in the former Arkon’s library because you could sense the dead somehow trapped within the object. You could free it. He exhaled. You felt, in that moment, that it was to finish his story that you were granted the marks of the Chosen. If the marks don’t make you Mrs. Erickson—and they don’t—something in them allows you to see, to interact, with some of the dead who are trapped.

She acknowledged his point about the armor in the Arkon’s collection; she’d almost forgotten about the ghost who was trapped within it. Her marks had freed him. Or Kaylin had. She had told the end of his story. Had finished it. That was all he needed to be free. I think anyone could have interacted with the Ancient.

Perhaps. But, Kaylin, you woke him. Larrantin will assume that it is the power of, the purpose of, the marks. Try not to catch more of his attention.

Lannagaros isn’t going to let him experiment on me.

No. This doesn’t preclude Larrantin trying, regardless.

She fell silent—at least on the outside. Why have you never said any of this before?

I’ve always trusted your instincts.

My instincts aren’t telling me to shut up, though.

I’ve always been cautious when they’re absent. She felt the hint of a smile that never touched his face.

I can see that, she replied, giving his blades a pointed stare. Is that why you drew them? Did you mean to make Larrantin uncomfortable?

I note that they haven’t.

Fine. But they’re bothering Teela and Tain.

Severn offered a fief shrug.

The lead, such as it was, was taken by Emmerian, although Larrantin pushed ahead to walk by the Dragon’s side. Larrantin had been trapped in the suspended world of the Academia for so long the Draco-Barrani wars had not affected his life; he had no issues with a Dragon chancellor, or a Dragon compatriot. He did have some issue with the disrespect the young showed their elders, evidence of obvious social decay—which Kaylin only knew because he had no difficulty telling Emmerian exactly that.

Emmerian, accustomed to Lannagaros and Sanabalis, accepted the criticism without apparently being affected by it at all. Kaylin envied him that.

It was Larrantin who paused beneath the first of the great trees; there were two, but beyond them, others grew in disturbingly uniform rows. The two great trees rose in towers that met in a confusion of boughs to form an arch. Kaylin froze.

“Emmerian—stop. Don’t take another step!”

Between the trunks of the standing trees, she could see something dark and glittering, a miasma that reminded her very, very much of Shadow.

Emmerian stopped. Larrantin turned back to look in Kaylin’s direction.

Can you see what I see?

Severn nodded. I see what you see only because you’re seeing it, and I have access to it.

“Teela—can you see anything beyond these two trees?”

“More trees,” Teela replied. “What do you see?”

“It looks, to my eyes, like the Shadow version of the outlands—it’s a dark miasma, with glints of color.”

Teela’s eyes darkened. She glanced at Tain, who shook his head. Cursing loudly enough to be heard, the Barrani Hawk joined Larrantin.

“I do not see what the corporal sees.” He gestured and spoke a sharp word; Kaylin felt it like a full body slap. He repeated this another four times. “I see the ground—it is similar to the ground over which we’ve been walking. I see more trees—but trees is perhaps not the correct word. None of my detection spells can see what she sees. If she feels this is like Shadow, she is incorrect.”

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