Cast in Sorrow. Michelle Sagara

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СКАЧАТЬ Lord of the West March was less prone to be annoyed by her inaccurate description. “Where?”

      “In the wall.” When he failed to answer, she added, “I see the darkness moving in as a wall. The light doesn’t breech it.”

      “Lord Evarrim? Lady?”

      “I see the...wall...that Lord Kaylin describes. I cannot see anything moving in it.”

      “Lord Severn?”

      Severn held a blade in each hand; he came to stand beside Kaylin, and then took one step forward. He didn’t set the chain spinning. “I see the shadow. I don’t see what it contains.”

      Neither could Kaylin—with her right eye. But the translucent wing that covered the left eye clearly showed forest Ferals. She frowned. “There are three,” she said. She spoke softly, squinting. “I can’t be certain, but I think there are two Barrani behind the Ferals.”

      “Do you recognize them?”

      This was not a reasonable question to ask of a mortal, even a human Hawk. “No. Neither are Iberrienne, if that’s what you’re asking. I think one is female. They’re not obviously armed,” she added, aware that this didn’t mean they were harmless.

      “An’Teela?”

      For a long moment, Teela stared into the moving wall; the Barrani shifted formation, drawing into a tighter front line that faced north. “I see the shadow,” she finally said. “Lord Evarrim, can you bring it down?”

      Evarrim replied tersely, “I have been making that attempt.” His tone made clear that it wasn’t wise to emphasize his failure.

      The darkness wasn’t a flood; it was slow, but inexorable, and as it moved, it swallowed the edge of the light, changing the shape of safety in the clearing. The Ferals seemed content to move beneath its cover; they didn’t snarl, growl, or speak; they didn’t charge. Kaylin glanced at Ynpharion. He was instantly aware of her, but for the first time since the Lord of the West March had led this wilderness trek, his loathing and fury were directed at something other than Kaylin.

      She didn’t ask him what he could see. At the moment, she knew. He saw the moving darkness, and he wanted to obliterate anything that was hidden within its folds. She readjusted the small dragon. Living masks were awkward.

      “Is the darkness transforming the trees?” The Lord of the West March asked.

      Kaylin frowned. “No, I don’t think so.”

      “Does the light continue?”

      That was what was wrong. “Yes. It does. It’s why I can see them at all.”

      She heard a shout and turned; the other Barrani held their ground. “Incoming from the west.”

      The Lord of the West March glanced once at his sister. “Call them back,” he told her softly.

      The Consort’s eyes widened, their color darkening. She looked as if she wanted to argue but in the end, she did as he asked. Her commands, Kaylin understood. “Lord Kaylin, stand beside me. Under no circumstances are you to now run—or fight—on your own.” She lifted her chin, frowning. “Where is Lord Calarnenne?”

      Kaylin froze. Nightshade was not standing within the boundaries of the Lord of the West March’s light. When he’d chosen to leave, she didn’t know—but she knew where he now was, because she could see him clearly. He had crossed the threshold of moving darkness, to the west of the farthest Feral, and he was now making a silent approach, using the cover of standing trees, toward one of the two Barrani who walked behind those Ferals.

      As if, she thought, he had seen them. Maybe he had. Maybe the tiara that graced his brow at the whim of the heart of the green allowed it. She was only grateful that wasn’t the case with Teela.

      Nightshade, don’t.

      He failed to answer. Inasmuch as he could, he had shut her out entirely. And she knew what it would cost to force him to listen, or worse, obey.

      You could not. He sounded amused. It is true that names are cages, Kaylin. But understanding the shape of the cage does not immediately give you the key.

      They’re not who they were.

      No. But Terrano approached your Teela; he had no desire to kill her. Something remains.

      “Lord Kaylin?”

      “He’s beyond the darkness,” was her flat reply.

      Teela’s brows joined a moment over the bridge of her nose. She did not put her momentary disgust into words. Instead, she turned to the Lord of the West March. “If you will allow it, cousin, I will distract them while you retreat with the Consort.”

      He shook his head. “There are three to the west, at a greater distance. Your ability with sword has always been impressive, but I am unwilling to sacrifice you in a staying action; we have lost too many already.”

      “I am the only person present who might survive it.”

      “Yes. That is problematic in its own right. What the fieflord chooses to do makes no material difference to his position; he is already Outcaste. We are ready.”

      The light in the clearing grew harsher, brighter, before he had finished. Arrows flew in a volley; some struck the Ferals. None touched the Barrani behind them, although two splintered before they could. The darkness wavered, thinning under the renewed light.

      “Follow the Lady, Lord Kaylin, if you cannot see the path itself. Step on nothing outside of its boundaries.” He drew sword. The Consort grabbed Kaylin’s arm.

      “I’m the only person who can see—”

      “Not for much longer,” the Consort said, voice the same texture as the edge of the sword she carried. “My brother is waking the heart of the forest, and we do not wish to be standing here when it fully responds.”

      The Ferals snarled and leaped; one growled what sounded like a Barrani battle cry. The small dragon squawked; Kaylin said, “Go if you can help them.” He dug in instead, as the Lady began to run, still attached to Kaylin’s arm.

      At their backs, the call of a horn shattered the silence.

      Barrani words followed, some of them wedged between the growls and snarls.

      * * *

      If there was a path beneath the Consort’s feet, Kaylin couldn’t see it, but she didn’t doubt it was there. The Consort never hesitated; she didn’t stumble, she didn’t call a halt. The Barrani didn’t require it; what she saw, they saw. The only person to break small branches or crush undergrowth or stub her toes was Kaylin.

      Severn saw as Kaylin did: a bunch of trees and small plants in a nighttime sky. He was not as important as Kaylin’s dress; no one grabbed his arm, no one dragged him, and no one treated him as if he was likely to get distracted and wander off.

      But he sheathed his weapons for the run; the Barrani, with the single exception of the Consort, did not. The small dragon had folded his wings at the start СКАЧАТЬ