Page 43 of Cast in Atonement

“For now,” Kaylin told her former roommate. “What we need to discover is why, and if that binding can be broken in any way.”

The chancellor’s head swiveled as he turned a brief, warning glare on Kaylin.

“Chancellor,” Arbiter Kavallac said. “I believe it is now time to discuss what coming-of-age means to Dragonkind. Lord Bellusdeo is clearly in possession of her adult name. Bellusdeo, how many sisters did you have?”

“Eight.”

“Eight? Impressive. That would have been a cause for celebration in the Aerie of my own youth.”

“Why?”

“Because there were nine of you. Nine in total.”

Bellusdeo blinked.

“Perhaps your Aerie did not discuss the details of what coming-of-age means. You were fragile at birth, in a way that your brothers were not. In our Aerie, we were separated for our safety; the young hatchlings are far too rough. We were taught the use of sword, and of magic; we were educated in several languages, and in theories and modes of governance. The boys were not; they would have shredded books and burned desks—at best.

“I had four sisters; it was considered auspicious. Do you know why?”

Bellusdeo was mute.

“Lannagaros,” Kavallac said, voice louder. “How lackadaisical was your Aerie?”

“I remind you that we were embroiled in a war, Arbiter. Bellusdeo and her sisters were partially educated, but they were chaotic. Had they the ability, they would have been far more like Terrano than it appears your own sisters were.”

Kavallac exhaled a small plume of fire. “Let me explain, then—perhaps you were taken from your Aerie before the difficult discussions had begun.”

Bellusdeo nodded, her eyes an odd color.

“My sisters and I were not the same person, although we were identical in form; small blemishes, some scars—the intrepid had insisted on exploring the entirety of the Aerie, and when permission was denied, they went anyway—were the only distinguishing differences. We had personalities of our own, and when we were young, ambitions of our own, daydreams of our own. We pursued similar fields of study but chose to specialize in those that suited our abilities.

“And when we were almost of age, the Aerie’s first mother called us into her presence. We had wondered why, if there were five of us, and if other Aeries had similar numbers of female children, there were, even then, so few female Dragons.

“And we learned. She had called us for that reason.” Kavallac’s lips curved in a gentle smile. “The day she was born, there were three girls. I was one of five. As we five, the three were not of one mind, not of one body—not then.

“We watched our brothers leave the Aerie; we watched them gain the skies. We watched them fight and injure each other to prove their fitness.” Her grimace made clear what she thought of that. “Did we envy them?” She looked at Bellusdeo. “Did you?”

“They could go to war.”

The Arkon coughed but didn’t otherwise interrupt. Kaylin understood why. This was a conversation between two Dragons, one an Arbiter who would never return to the life she’d been born to, and the other, the only remaining hope of Dragonkind.

“Would you care to explain, Lannagaros?” The use of his name, not his title, added texture to the question.

“They could not, as you put it, go to war. Not as they were; they would descend entirely into bestiality as war became personal territoriality. I have never understood why you were born as you were; I—we—were not. We lacked the substance of an adult name, an adult form. To us, the human form is a sign of adulthood.”

Kaylin lifted a hand.

Bellusdeo grimaced.

“I thought you didn’t have a name. I mean, at birth.”

Kavallac and the chancellor exchanged a glance. Kavallac spoke first. “I was not born as you are born,” she said. “If you wish to clarify, do so; it is not relevant to this discussion otherwise.”

“The corporal has a tendency to interrupt if she is confused or realizes that she does not understand,” the former Arkon said.

“I thought Kaylin had no desire to become a student; it seems to me that this tendency could flourish in the Academia.”

Great. Just what she wanted: a dozen condescending and dismissive professors who could look down on her and treat her as if she was stupid. No, thanks. She managed, barely, to keep this to herself.

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