Page 7 of Cast in Atonement

Sanabalis was worried about Bellusdeo, and he had already been concerned about Mrs. Erickson. “I will speak with Lannagaros to arrange a meeting between Mrs. Erickson, Lord Bellusdeo, and him. I will also inform your sergeant that you have, indeed, been seconded by the Imperial Court.”

“You did that.”

“I implied that it was possibly necessary. There is now no possible about it.”

Bellusdeo’s voice was a pure draconic rumble as she turned her head in Sanabalis’s direction. “Mrs. Erickson,” she said, her eyes red, “is otherwise occupied.”

Her words were punctuated by fire.

Helen suggested that Mrs. Erickson and Bellusdeo retreat to Mrs. Erickson’s room, and given the gouts of flame Sanabalis’s interruption had caused, this seemed like the smartest idea. Helen also suggested that Sanabalis retreat for the day. His regularly scheduled visit was a few days away, and she suggested that Bellusdeo might be calmer at that time.

She didn’t suggest that Bellusdeo would be absent.

“I should go to work,” Kaylin told Sanabalis. “There’s no way Bellusdeo is leaving, and whatever problem she was having before, she’s forgotten it.”

“If Helen agrees to mirror you should an emergency arise, I suppose that would be acceptable.”

Which was no. Behind Sanabalis, Mandoran was shaking his head.

“...or I could stay home just in case something happens.”

“An excellent idea,” Sanabalis said, smiling broadly, his eyes borderline red.

That was tough, Severn said. He was at work. He clearly wasn’t out on patrol, because his beat partner was trapped in her home. Babysitting a traumatized Dragon and an old woman who could see the dead wasn’t Severn’s job.

And that was unfair. But there wasn’t anything Kaylin could do here, and she knew work would be piling up. Dragon Lord or no, life didn’t stop happening just because she’d been seconded.

Bad things came in threes. Seeing friends shouldn’t be considered a bad thing.

“An’Teela is approaching the front door,” Helen informed Kaylin. Kaylin had taken a seat at the dining room table, beside Mandoran, whose eyes were an uncharacteristic shade of blue, and had been since Bellusdeo had arrived. The Dragon hadn’t left, but neither of them expected she would anytime soon.

Kaylin glared at Mandoran as she got to her feet. “You knew Teela was coming. You couldn’t give me a heads-up?”

“She was going to come anyway. She’s worried.”

“Why is it fine for her to worry about me, but a deadly insult if I worry about her? No, don’t answer that. It’ll just piss me off.”

Teela wasn’t alone. Tain had accompanied her. Teela’s eyes were a darker shade of blue than usual; Tain’s, while blue, were lighter in color. He offered Kaylin a sympathetic nod—from the safely behind Teela’s back.

“I hear you had quite a morning,” Teela said, pushing her way past Kaylin, who hadn’t had enough time to step out of the doorway.

Kaylin frowned. Teela’s eyes had been dark blue before she’d invited herself in. Something other than Kaylin’s situation was bothering the Barrani Hawk.

Tain joined them, glancing briefly at Teela.

“We have a case that was opened and closed just before you joined us as our mascot. It might be open again.”

Kaylin frowned. “Caste court closure?”

Teela nodded. “As you’re aware—sometimes loudly—caste court exemptions can be called when the crimes involve only the race over which the caste courts preside. Any member of the race itself, when affected by a crime, can demand an Imperial investigation, regardless.”

If the investigation had been halted due to the caste court, it meant none of the victims of the crime had been willing to go against the caste court’s decision. In Barrani exemption cases, the reasons for that were clear: anyone who spoke against the exemption usually had a fatal accident shortly thereafter. That murder, along with the prior crime, was also under the laws of exemption.

It was the reason there were very, very few interracial crimes at high levels of power.

“What did the Barrani do this time? Did you find someone else involved in whatever that crime was?”

“I didn’t say it was the Barrani caste court but thank you for jumping to that conclusion.”

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