Page 122 of Mikoto and the Reaver Village
Kyrie held Lilya’s hand until he was certain she wasdeeply asleep. Only then did he slip from the bed in search of his brother. Zisaappeared the moment Kyrie stepped outside and pointed the way. Ginkgo wasinside the Kith shelter, lolling between Snow’s front paws as he told herstories about Stately House’s swimming club.
Ginkgo’s ears pricked. “What’s up, little bro?”
“I have been thinking.” Kyrie offered his hand to Snowbefore sitting in the straw. “I would like to be assessed as a reaver.”
Slinging an arm around his shoulders, Ginkgo said, “This iswhere I have to point out the obvious. We’re not reavers.”
“We are half.”
“Granted.” He pulled his tail around so it lay across boththeir laps. “So … you want someone outside our family—a neutral party—to assessyour reaver half?”
“Yes.”
“To what end?”
Kyrie was used to having to delineate his points clearly andwithout any trace of a dragon’s sway. “I would like to be ranked. How else willI know if I am improving?”
“Sure, I’ll buy that.” Ginkgo nudged him. “What else?”
“I would like an opinion as to my classification.”
Ginkgo snorted. “It doesn’t take a specialist to figure outyou’re a ward.”
“What if my affinity for sigilcraft is part of myAmaranthine heritage?” Kyrie quietly pointed out, “Lapis is also a crystaladept.”
“Lapis might speak for the dragon clans, but he’s hardlytypical. Take Damsel, for instance. He’s useless with all but the most basicsigils. Remember how Timur took him out?” Ginkgo sketched a sigil in the airand sent it spinning toward the ceiling. “There’s as much diversity within eachclan as there is within humanity.”
“I understand that an assessment would be largelyspeculative,” Kyrie said slowly. “But that does not mean it would have novalue. Assessment could uncover hidden aptitudes, which in turn could direct mystudies.”
Ginkgo searched his face, and his gaze softened. “GlintStarmark has the necessary experience to give an honest reckoning, but I cannotrecommend you try him.”
“Why not?” Kyrie winced at his own sharpness and softlyadded, “I would like to know why, please.”
“You probably already know.” Ginkgo’s ears flattenedsideways. “Every assessment begins with parentage and pedigree. He would askall kinds of questions you can’t answer. Questions Dad would considerintrusive. Even forbidden.”
“Dad will not allow it?”
With a huff, his brother gruffly said, “He’s protecting morethan you and me with his silence.”
This had occurred to Kyrie as well. “Is he protecting thewoman who carried me?”
Ginkgo’s ears flattened further, then bounced forward infalse cheerfulness. “He would if he could, I’m sure”
A foxy answer. The kind that meant they were dancing closeto secrets.
“I think,” Ginkgo began cautiously. “I think it would bewiser to ask Sinder for an assessment.”
“Is that one of his jobs?”
“Not likely, but he could offer an opinion. And he wouldn’task all kinds of awkward questions.” Ginkgo’s gaze begged him to understand. Tocatch what was left unspoken. To hear what he wasn’t allowed to say.
Kyrie sat up a little straighter. Was it possible? He wasalmost afraid to ask. “He will not ask the questions because he already knowsthe answers …?”
“Probably.”
“Do you know who my birth parents are?”
“Of course I do, little bro. I’ve always known.”
