Page 166 of Cast in Atonement

“Yes, but he has to do it the long way, so he’s either walking from there to here, or he’s waiting on a delegation so he can, as he put it, cadge a ride back.”

Sedarias wasn’t going to like that, either.

“The green, on the other hand, has offered him—and by extension the rest of us—a place to stay. If the world becomes too fractious, if our conflicts become too difficult, she will give us a home in the green.”

Sedarias was definitely not going to accept that, given that so many of the current conflicts were the consequences of her own rise to power.

“You see the problem.”

Kaylin nodded.

“Helen is Immortal, but she won’t take us as tenants—and you’ve got an expiration date the rest of us don’t have. I mean, you’ll probably outlive Terrano at this rate, but you know what I mean.”

She did. She didn’t even find it offensive today.

Teela’s intercession with Marcus meant Kaylin actually had an unplanned—and probably unpaid—day off. That she had to spend it visiting Evanton tarnished the freedom, but didn’t entirely destroy it. They didn’t leave for Evanton’s until Mrs. Erickson woke up, ate, and dressed to meet him. She no longer wore the crown of flowers, but a single blossom remained twined around her finger. It had not faded or wilted.

Kaylin decided not to ask about the rest of the regalia, given Mrs. Erickson’s demeanor: she was cheerful. She had always had a ready smile and a sympathetic ear, but this was different. She seemed more healthy, less fragile, and her ready delight was aimed at everything: the open, cloudless sky, the people scattered in the streets, the density of the crowd as they headed into the market, even snippets of conversation and one child who was trying to walk a dog but ended up being dragged by the leash instead.

She’d spent her entire life seeing ghosts—and who knows, maybe she could see them today—but seemed, at her age, to be infused with a desire for life, and a delight in it, that Kaylin felt she’d personally never had.

You did, Severn said, voice soft and imbued with grief. You did, when you were much younger.

She couldn’t remember it now.

I can. I’ll remember it for you. No, he added, internal voice much quieter. I’ll remember it for myself.

Kaylin wasn’t surprised to see Severn waiting at Evanton’s storefront; he hadn’t entered the shop yet. He offered Mrs. Erickson a perfect bow—Barrani in grace, but not as stiffly elegant.

Mrs. Erickson smiled. “Your work brings you here today?”

“It does. Kaylin is my partner, and our sergeant knew she was to visit Evanton today. I have permission to be here.”

“Or orders?”

“Or orders,” he agreed. “Shall we?”

Do you have any idea what he wants?

No.

I know that tone. You have suspicions.

The harmoniste’s dress is with the Keeper. Yes, I have suspicions—but they change nothing.

Is that why you came?

No. I told Marcus you’d been summoned to Evanton’s at your earliest possible convenience. He suggested I join you. With fangs.

Kaylin laughed out loud. Hope was slumped across both shoulders; he obviously didn’t expect trouble. Or at least not trouble Kaylin hadn’t imported by bringing Bellusdeo and Mandoran with her. Bellusdeo had offered Mrs. Erickson an arm, and Mrs. Erickson had smiled brightly at the gold Dragon—but had insisted that she was feeling much better these days, and didn’t require aid.

She seemed perfectly comfortable around Bellusdeo. Bellusdeo, no fool, had always been comfortable with Mrs. Erickson, but she’d clung to the old woman because of her desperation for her sisters; those sisters were no longer bound to the Dragon—or at least not in the way they had been.

“You look very elegant today, Imelda. Perhaps you can convince Bellusdeo to pick up some of your understated fashion sense.” Bellusdeo was speaking, but clearly, one of the sisters had been given permission to take over.

“Don’t be silly, dear,” Mrs. Erickson replied. “Bellusdeo’s armor marks her as a warrior; I’m not sure there’s such a thing as fashionable armor—only expensive armor.”

“And there is, indeed, a difference.”

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