Cast in Honor (Chronicles of Elantra, #11)(78)

“...Sorry. I just— It’s hard to hear Kattea with all the squawking.” She turned back to the girl. “What did the water say?”

Kattea’s shoulders curved toward her knees; she rested her chin on them. “I don’t know. I couldn’t understand it.”

Gilbert looked up. “I did not understand most of it, either.”

“You’re sure it was the water you were hearing?”

“Yes, Chosen. The water carried us to the halls beneath my current residence. We found the stairs, and the house itself was unoccupied.”

“And you just...stayed there.”

“I did not know where I was; Kattea had a better understanding. She seemed...excited.”

Kattea nodded. “We can’t cross the bridge,” she told Kaylin. “No one who crosses the bridge returns.” She said this in a hushed voice.

“No one who crosses the bridge wants to return?” Kaylin asked.

“I don’t know. No one knows what’s on the other side of the bridge. No one can see anything past the Ablayne. Four people left two years ago. They crossed the bridge. We could all see them until they reached the banks of the opposite side.”

“What happened?”

“They disappeared. They just—they just weren’t there anymore. They were supposed to cross the bridge and return. They didn’t.” She continued to look at her knees. “My dad used to tell me stories about the city across the bridge.” Lifting her chin, she added, “He was born here. This is where he grew up.”

“If your father grew up here—”

“He was a Sword.”

Kaylin felt her stomach drop about two feet, which would put it somewhere beneath the floor. If Gilbert was right, Kattea was part of a nebulous and suddenly threatening future in which Elantra itself had been destroyed or swallowed; a future which saw Swords—or former Swords—living on the other side of the Ablayne.

If Swords had crossed the bridge, it explained Kattea and her view of Nightshade; it explained Kattea’s resolute belief in the Hawks. Unfortunately, it explained almost nothing else.

*

“Fine.” Kaylin exhaled. Turning to Severn, she said, “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Severn rose.

Teela stepped in the way. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To see Evanton. I want to speak to the elemental water.”

“Now?”

“I have to go now, or I won’t get back in time. In theory, we have dinner tonight with a very important guest.”

“In practice,” Bellusdeo said, “we don’t. Don’t give me that look—I had no idea when you would wake or if you could be moved. The Emperor accepted the deferral for reasons of his own.”

“And those would be?” Kaylin demanded.

Teela’s lips thinned. “Did we not agree that this was not a pressing concern?”

“Kaylin appears to be materially unharmed. She’s going to find out anyway.”

“What exactly is Kaylin going to find out?” the private in question now asked.

Bellusdeo exhaled smoke. “Tiamaris has fallen off the mirror network.”





Chapter 17

“Pardon?”

“The fief of Tiamaris can no longer be reached by the mirror network.”

“And the other fiefs?”

“The only other fief in which the Halls had a known contact was Nightshade.”

“Have you tried? Andellen—and the rest of his men—should still be there.”

Teela hesitated. “Yes,” she said, voice a shade too quiet. “Word has been sent to Lord Andellen. The fief of Tiamaris can be reached on foot, and Tiamaris is unharmed. The mirror network, however, will no longer cross the Ablayne.”

Kaylin shook her head. Lifting her hand, she began to count. “One: Evanton’s. Two: Tiamaris. Three: the Winding Path. Four: never mind.”

“Four is Nightshade.”

Kaylin glanced at Severn. “Four: Nightshade. Am I missing anything?”

Teela held up one finger. “Five: the Arcanum.”

Bellusdeo held up a hand. “I might as well play. Six: the Arkon.”

Kaylin grimaced. “Teela and Tain can cover the Arcanum. You can speak to the Arkon.”

“Nightshade?” Teela asked.

“I’m not sure what we’re supposed to find there, but yes, I can go to the Castle and attempt to speak with Andellen. But I really think we should ask Tara about the whole push-forward-in-time thing. If we understand how it works, we may be able to figure something out.” She massaged the back of her neck as she considered. “I don’t know if you heard what Kattea said—”

“We heard,” Teela replied.

“—but we need to know what she actually knows. If something happened in her past, it’s something that’s going to happen in our present. With our luck, probably now. Any information she can give us might point us in the right direction.”

“I’m going to bet on Arcanist and ancient basement myself,” Teela said. “We’re heading out.”

Bellusdeo said, “I’ll get Maggaron. We’ll speak to Lannagaros—but he’s not going to be happy that you’re not there.”