Hi! Ok, so once a week obviously didn't happen, but I'm definitely not abandoning this story! I really love Nightlin and trying to copy Sagara's style is a good challenge for me. Thanks to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed! When I'm stuck I read the reviews for encouragement, so many thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
For the second day in a row, Kaylin woke to find Nightshade stroking her hair. She peered blearily at him for a moment, trying to orient herself, before memories of their kiss the night before made her want to crawl under the covers and hide. She didn't need a mirror to know that her cheeks were bright red. His eyes were green; the bastard had probably heard the thought.
"As much as I would enjoy having you stay here for the day," he said mildly, "I believe that you intended to investigate the attack on Lord Grammayre, today." His words forced her to sit up. She was still upset - with Severn, with herself, and possibly with Helen - but she had given her oath to the Hawklord and concern for him propelled her to her feet. She had the choice between dislodging the familiar or the fieflord in order to get up; the bite she got may have been deserved, but didn't improve her mood any.
"Where's my uniform?" Kaylin asked, glancing around.
"I have had the shirt and pants replaced," Nightshade told her - because nobody could do high-handed like the Baranni - "and you will find the tabard hanging in your closet." He handed her clothes - loose, flowing clothes, nothing like her usual pants and shirt.
"I can't wear these!" She protested, outrage waking her up in a hurry.
"You will find that statement to be materially inaccurate," he replied, his eyes shading to blue. "Why do you find them objectionable?"
"They're fancy." Kaylin hated the fact that the word came out as a whine. Nightshade got to his feet, walked over, and brushed his fingers gently over her face.
"You will find that you can move freely in them," he assured her. "You need not concern yourself with the cost since they are a gift from me. There is no grounds for your objection, that I can see."
"What if I damage them?" Kaylin asked, knowing that her track record with clothes wasn't good.
"I am aware of the possibility, Kaylin. I will not be angered by the loss." Kaylin sighed, defeated. It wasn't a rational objection; it was about habit, and comfort. She wouldn't feel like herself in these.
"Thanks," she mumbled, aware that it was possibly the least gracious thanks he had ever received. "Um," she said, when he didn't step back.
"Despite the situation, the Imperial Ball will not be deferred." Kaylin grimaced; she had totally forgotten about that. "I will, therefore, be expecting you this evening to continue our lessons." Kaylin groaned. If the Hawklord hadn't been injured, Kaylin would probably have turned and crawled back into bed. She definitely wasn't getting paid enough for this.
"Yeah," she sighed. He raised a brow at her response. "I mean, yes, thank you." He nodded, accepting her second try. To Kaylin's surprise, he turned his back while she changed. The familiar took his place on her shoulder once she had finished. They exited her room together and almost tripped over Andellen. Or Kaylin did. Nightshade was as unflappable as ever. Either that, or he had known that Andellen was waiting outside again and had failed to warm her. He met her eyes in acknowledgment. The Baranni needed to develop a sense of humour that non-Baranni people could appreciate; Kaylin wasn't holding out much hope.
"Lord, Lord Kaylin," Andellen greeted, bowing to them both. "Since I will be assisting you with your investigation, Lord Kaylin, I thought I could accompany you to your home." Kaylin grimaced. At this exact moment, Helen didn't feel much like home. Kaylin had never worried about what Helen or Tara saw in her because she had not thought they were judging, but if Helen was covering for Severn, then she was judging. Kaylin wasn't really happy with that at the moment.
"Sure." She accepted his offer without even a token protest - having him follow her all the way to the city would be unnecessarily awkward - and turned to Nightshade. She froze when kissed her again, but couldn't help but lean into it. This was getting to be a very bad habit, and she needed to stop. Now.
"I will see you this evening, Erenne," Nightshade said as he drew back, violet-eyed. Kaylin swallowed, but couldn't find words and all but ran out of the Castle. They had been walking for the better part of ten minutes when Andellen chose to break the silence.
"Would you be willing to explain your objection to being my Lord's Erenne, Lord Kaylin?" Kaylin exhaled heavily.
"Would you be willing to explain to me exactly what an Erenne is meant to be?" She deflected.
"I believe my Lord's actions over the past few days have made the nature of the relationship clear," he commented, ignoring the way Kaylin flushed, "if it wasn't previously."
"Yes, but that's not why every Baranni I know is upset about it," Kaylin replied, kicking a rock.
"No," Andellen agreed, "but it could be, Lord Kaylin. You do not, I believe, trust many Baranni," Kaylin snorted at the understatement, "but please keep in mind that we trust fewer still. Lord An'teela and the other Baranni of your acquaintance will never trust my Lord. That is reason enough for them not to want you in any sort of relationship with him."
"That's not the only reason," Kaylin denied. "The mark bothers them." Andellen nodded in agreement.
"No, it's not the only reason, but it is a significant one." They walked in silence for several minutes. "Most mortals would, I believe, be honoured to bear my Lord's mark," Andellen tried again, causing Kaylin to frown. "Forgive me, Lord Kaylin," Andellen said, "but I am highly supportive of you becoming my Lord's Erenne."
"Andellen, I'm not a sword. He thinks of me like Meliannos, like something he can use and discard when he wants." It was Andellen's turn to frown.
"I believe you are misunderstanding my Lord." Of course she was. "He clearly finds you interesting, and no sword, no matter how well forged, or useful, could hold his interest for long."
"You just think it would be interesting having me as his Erenne," Kaylin pointed out morosely.
"Indeed," he agreed, as if that were a perfectly acceptable answer. "You fail to understand, Lord Kaylin, what high praise it is to be called interesting." Kaylin didn't think that qualified as praise at all.
"Interesting," Kaylin explained to him, "is something people use to describe a book, or a play. It's not how you talk about a person."
"Is it not?" He asked, glancing in her direction. "I can hardly think of higher praise, and only a handful of people who would qualify."
"Who would qualify?" Kaylin questioned dubiously.
"You and my Lord, of course." Kaylin grimaced. Being compared to the fieflord was definitely not a compliment. Andellen's expression shifted, and Kaylin realized he was trying not to laugh.
"You said there were bets going," she said, steering the conversation away from anything Andellen thought she and Nightshade had in common. Andellen nodded. "What odds?" Andellen smiled, but didn't reply. "Which way did you bet?"
"I found myself struck with a sense of profound optimism," he replied, sliding into Elantran for the last word. Kaylin snorted. The Baranni were never optimistic.
"How much did you bet?"
"I did not bet money," Andellen replied dismissively. Kaylin fought back the first three replies that came to mind and they continued walking in silence. By the time they made it to Helen, Teela and Tain were waiting on the steps.
"About damn time, Kitling," Teela greeted, only nodding to Andellen in acknowledgment. Tain was lounging beside her. "I heard you had a fight with your Corporal," Teela added.
"He's not mine," Kaylin snapped, with enough bitterness to send Teela's eyebrows shooting up. Tain whistled. He might have added words to that, but Helen came out of the house.
"Kaylin," she greeted, looking as uncertain as Kaylin felt. Kaylin wanted to go and comfort her, but she needed to know.
"Did you know?"
"No," Helen replied quickly. "Severn has mastered internal silence, and everything I knew about him came from others. What they did not know, I did not know, either." Kaylin looked at her. Did she believe Helen? She knew what she wanted to believe, but that almost made it harder. Remembering her resolution from the night before, Kaylin took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and walked forward to embrace Helen. Helen lost inches of height as she folded into the hug.
"The Hawklord?" Kaylin asked, letting go.
"He hasn't woken, dear," Helen replied, as if they weren't stepping back from a dangerous precipice that could have destroyed their relationship. Kaylin nodded, then glanced at Teela.
"We'll come in," she said. "Moran transferred the Records of the event here anyway." Kaylin nodded then considered why Teela and Tain had been lounging in front of the house.
"Thanks, guys," Kaylin said, meaning it. "I'm going to check on the Hawklord, then I'll be right down." The Hawklord was still sleeping when she went in, but his colour was better and Kaylin expected him to make a complete recovery. Kaylin blinked back the tears of relief that brought her, before heading own to find Teela, Tain, Bellusdeo, and Andellen in the small parlour with food laid out for her. She took a moment to marvel that Annarion and Mandoran hadn't invited themselves to the meeting, but figured she owed Teela for that.
"I know you haven't eaten, dear," Helen commented, following her in. Kaylin simply nodded and took a seat in front of the food. There was no point having breakfast right before walking through the portal; she'd never have kept it down.
"What do we know?" Kaylin asked, stuffing food in her mouth. It didn't take long to go through the information they had. The Hawklord had urgently returned to the Aerie following a mirrored conversation with his wife, stayed only briefly, then been attacked as he left. There were a handful of witnesses who saw Shadow twist the Hawklord's wings and him plummet towards the ground before the air - apparently on the command of Moran's escort from yesterday, who must be the second Aerian Arcanist Kaylin had heard about - had caught him. If anyone had seen what led to his wings being covered in Shadow, no one was talking. Kaylin frowned, considering. Moran had proven herself praevolo, but did she still have enemies in the Aerie? Would people deliberately conceal information to undermine her?
"Yes," Teela answered, because no one needed to know Kaylin's True Name to know what she was thinking. Kaylin grimaced and got the words out before Teela could continue.
"Don't tell me I'm an open book." If Kaylin had a penny for every time Teela told her that, she would be rich; if she had a penny for every time anyone told her that, she would be obscenely rich. Teela snorted, but let it go. "We need to talk to - what's the Hawklord's wife's name?"
"Lady Grammayre," Teela replied, her mouth twisted in distaste.
"She doesn't have a name of her own?" Kaylin asked incredulously.
"She gave it up when she married," Teela explained. Kaylin tried to wrap her head around that, but something else occurred to her.
"Has she made any effort to contact the Hawklord?"
"No," Teela answered, her eyes a shade too blue for comfort.
"Here?" Kaylin pressed, because the Hawklord was her husband.
"No," Helen answered, and it was clear from Teela's expression that this was not a surprise.
"But she's his wife," Kaylin protested.
"It may have been a political marriage," Teela offered grudgingly. "I am not certain." Kaylin tried to wrap her head around marrying someone for politics before letting it go. "Bellusdeo, can you carry four people up to the Aerie?" She questioned, because a more immediate problem than the Hawklord's relationship with his wife came to mind.
"I can," Bellusdeo replied, in a voice that clearly said but I won't. Kaylin frowned.
"Your pet can carry you and I up," Teela suggested, "if Bellusdeo will consent to carrying Tain and Lord Andellen up."
"Why divide the groups like that?" Kaylin asked, because it was obviously deliberate. When three sets of blue eyes settled on her, Kaylin fought not to fidget.
"She believes that Lord Nightshade -" Helen's mouth twisted in distaste, "would react badly to you holding another man, or one holding you." Kaylin's mouth dropped open.
"You think he'd be jealous?" Kaylin asked Teela incredulously. Bellusdeo's laugh cut the tension. Teela met Andellen's eyes.
"You are," Teela offered, her eyes lightening as she spoke, "free to explain this, Lord Andellen."
"I am not as familiar with Lord Kaylin as you are, Lord An'teela, and am certain no explanation I could offer would be the equal to your own." He said with a smile, flecks of green appearing in his eyes.
"No talking about the me like I'm not here," Kaylin interrupted, annoyed, before Teela could punt the conversation ball back at Andellen.
"The answer, kitling, is yes, I think Lord Nightshade would take it badly to have another man so close to you."
"I'll agree to carry these two," Bellusdeo commented, gesturing to Tain and Andellen, "if you deal with Kaylin." Kaylin frowned at the Dragon and opened her mouth, but Teela threw an arm around her shoulders and dragged her out.
"Bye, Helen!" Kaylin called out as they left.
Once they were on the sidewalk, Teela prodded the familiar draped over Kaylin's shoulder.
"We need to fly," she told the creature, "so make yourself useful." He stared at Teela for what seemed an uncomfortably long time before nodding and flying into the middle of the - thankfully empty - street.
"Um, Bellusdeo," Kaylin asked, addressing the gold Dragon now occupying a large portion of the road, "did you happen to mention to anyone at the palace that you would be going Dragon?"
"Kitling," Teela said with a snort, as Bellusdeo laughed openly, "please tell me it did not just occur to you that this might be a problem."
"Um," Kaylin replied.
"Kitling," Tain cut in, "it is an absolute miracle that you have not successfully gotten yourself killed yet."
"I'm really not trying to get myself killed," Kaylin defended. Seeing that even Andellen was amused, Kaylin let her shoulders droop. With this many Immortals around, she was completely outnumbered.
"I have, of course, informed the Arkon of my intent," Bellusdeo assured Kaylin. The familiar - now nearly the same size as Bellusdeo - prodded Kaylin in the shoulder with his snout.
"We're coming," she mumbled, climbing on, and watching with no little envy as the three Baranni effortlessly took their places.
"So," Teela asked, as they took off, "what happened yesterday?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh?" Teela said, raising a brow, "and when someone else tells you that they don't want to talk about something, how good are you at letting that go?" Kaylin grimaced. Nobody liked a hypocrite, even if they were one. Kaylin forced herself to give a brief summary of Severn's words; she knew Teela wouldn't let it drop until she did.
"You're the Castelord's daughter," Teela repeated. There was some silence and then Teela threw back her head and laughed. Even Tain joined in. Kaylin hadn't realized, given the distance between the Dragon and the familiar, that he could hear it. Their laughter was warm, beautiful, and entirely annoying.
"It's not funny, Teela," Kaylin complained.
"You're wrong, Kitling, that's priceless." Kaylin had never seen a Baranni so amused and promised herself then and there that this would never happen again.