Page 165 of Cast in Atonement

“That’s inside out.”

Mandoran was waiting for them in the dining room. To Kaylin’s surprise, so was Teela. Tain had gone home, but Teela had remained.

“Is Serralyn back at the Academia?”

“Not yet. I expect she and Bakkon will continue to excavate Azoria’s research notes. Larrantin was forced to return to the Academia; he had lectures. I pity his students—he was not happy. You look a bit tired,” the Barrani Hawk added.

“I’m fine. Just stressed. Evanton expects me to visit him.”

“When?”

“Knowing Evanton, yesterday. Are you going to lecture me?” she added, as Teela’s eyes were the martial color.

“Not in your own home. Probably not at all. Bellusdeo?”

“I’m good. I’m better than that. If you have to return to work, I’ll escort Kaylin to the Keeper’s.”

Helen cleared her throat. “I believe Imelda wishes to accompany you there.”

Kaylin didn’t want to drag Mrs. Erickson to Evanton’s. She turned to Bellusdeo for support, but Bellusdeo nodded. “I can escort them both.” She then turned to Mandoran. “You wanted to speak with Kaylin, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “First, though, Terrano is safe.”

Breakfast appeared in front of Kaylin; clearly she was the only one eating. “Where is he?”

“He’s with Alsanis and Eddorian.”

“Alsanis? Terrano’s in the West March?”

“He’s in the West March. But he didn’t arrive at Alsanis. He arrived in the green.”

“And he’s okay? He’s normal?”

“For Terrano, yes. Mildly incensed; he wanted to travel home the faster way, and Sedarias put her foot down—aided by the green and Alsanis.”

“The green was speaking with Terrano?”

“That’s the trickier part. Yes, the green communicated with Terrano—but Terrano believes the heart of the green doesn’t reside in our plane. And no, before you ask, the communication was not verbal—not even in the True Words created by the Ancients. Terrano, according to the green, was the one most changed by the regalia. Alsanis—who did communicate with words—believes that Terrano would have been entirely lost had it not been for the name bond that existed between Terrano and the rest of us.”

“What in the hells was he trying to do? Why did he approach the Ancient at all?”

“It’s Terrano,” Mandoran replied, shrugging. “He was curious.”

“I’m being serious.”

“I’m being half serious. Terrano thought he could detect dangerous instability, and his first thought was to somehow ground what was there so the instability didn’t cause the Ancient to fracture. And when I say instability, I don’t mean the actual corpse. Or non-corpse. It was something more subtle.

“He could tell that the Keeper was trying to do the same thing, in an entirely different way; he says the Ancient exists in almost all places at the same time, and he approached from a different plane, a different state of existence. Evanton is wed to this one in many ways, but the Keeper’s power is, by necessity, more all-encompassing. Terrano says he now understands how you feel,” Mandoran added.

“About what?”

“About being blamed for everything that happens around you.”

“I don’t suppose I can ask Eddorian to smack Terrano upside the head?”

Mandoran laughed. “Eddorian hasn’t lived with us—but he’s been with us every step of the way. He says of course you can. It’s a much lighter punishment than Sedarias asked him to inflict.”

“So is he coming back?”

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