Page 93 of Cast in Atonement

“He said the elements in the garden had been restless and ill at ease for a couple of weeks. He wasn’t certain why; the last time they were restless in this fashion, we narrowly avoided losing our world to the Devourer. He hates socializing and very seldom leaves his store, but he insisted on visiting Mrs. Erickson’s home after hearing about our first visit to Azoria’s part of it. He wanted me to accompany them.

“Bellusdeo volunteered to join us. Terrano, Serralyn, and Mandoran represented the cohort. Bakkon asked permission to join Serralyn, although they’ll have to speak for themselves with regard to their exploration.” She glanced at Severn, who shrugged. “You were there. Do you want to add anything?”

“If the corporal wishes to add details you’ve forgotten to mention, I invite him to do so,” the chancellor said. “Until and unless this occurs, allow Larrantin to continue.”

Kaylin’s turn to shrug.

Larrantin didn’t appear to notice the minor interruption. “Did the Keeper feel that he had found the cause of, or source of, the elemental unrest?”

She thought about this, cursing mortal memory. “Yes, I believe so. Or at least he thought something present justified that unrest.”

“Until your interference in Azoria’s manor, and her figurative backyard, his garden was relatively stable?”

“That’s what I inferred.”

“Understand, then, that the unrest in the garden is significant.”

Since she’d already mentioned the possible end of the world the previous time the garden had been unruly, she found this condescending—but that was Larrantin all over.

The chancellor, aware of her irritation, lifted a brow in her direction. “You have been involved in many near disasters, but only one was enough to shake the garden.”

“The elemental water was involved in a couple of those disasters. And it wasn’t me that upset the water.”

Larrantin was not a man accustomed to being interrupted. He was the one who did the interrupting, if he deemed it necessary. His tone was chillier when he spoke again. “Did the Keeper say a specific element was involved?”

“No.”

“It is the Keeper’s job to keep the wild elements from clashing; to keep the garden serene for its occupants. The Keeper has not—to our knowledge—returned from Azoria’s manor.”

“No. I intend to check in with his apprentice after we’re done here to make sure he hasn’t returned without informing us.” She exhaled.

“Before you consider my branch of research irrelevant, we are looking at the possibility of a dead Ancient, a mortal woman who has the power to bespeak the dead, and to command them.”

“I don’t recall that last part.”

It was Androsse who replied. Larrantin minded his interruption far less. “Mortal memory is not that fallible. Azoria would have had no interest in a mortal woman were it not for the manifestation of a very rare—and largely useless—power. Azoria’s research while she was a student here did not directly cover Necromancy. Her research after the fall of Berranin obviously touched on it. She is dead, but her journals have not yet appeared on our shelves; we have been watching.”

“Wait, notebooks written somewhere else by a dead person become part of the library?”

“Yes, but not all of them, and not in a specific order.”

“And you can find them?” Kaylin considered the diaries of every single human who kept one and wondered how the library wasn’t collapsing in on itself.

“Finding them, as you put it, is somewhat arcane. We have the abilities, but it takes time, and we are not guaranteed to succeed.”

“You’re not suggesting we go back there, are you?”

“I believe Serralyn has something to say,” Androsse replied.

Serralyn clearly didn’t want to say anything. Starrante’s arms danced on either side of her, although he didn’t touch her; Kaylin assumed this was meant as a Wevaran gesture of comfort or solidarity. The Barrani cohort student was perfectly happy to talk for hours about things she was studying, but had otherwise always been quiet.

She took a steadying breath. “Bakkon wanted to visit Azoria’s manor; he felt that there was something about the environment that reminded him of his pre-birth home. I didn’t see the harm in it—Azoria was dead. There might have been security enchantments meant to discourage intruders, but Bakkon felt he could deal with those in a way that didn’t compromise our safety.” She swallowed.

“Did you encounter traps?” It was Severn who asked, his voice so measured and neutral it had a calming effect. Kaylin had never, come to think, seen Severn lose his temper.

“No.”

“But you did find something.”

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