Did everyone see the cover and description for CiDeception? It's up on the amazon website! So excited!
I'm sorry I set this aside for a while & I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter out, but thanks to everyone who reviewed (and followed & favourited); it's what motivated me to get this chapter out! I hope you enjoy this!
Kaylin didn't think it was fair that small and squawky bit her for thinking that she preferred Aerian flight to Dragon flight; it's not like she said it out loud. Both he and Bellusdeo had shifted once their passengers had dismounted.
"At least he waited till he had shrunk," Teela pointed out with typical Baranni sympathy. Kaylin shifted the focus of her glower away from the familiar on her shoulder.
"I've gathered the witnesses." Moran entered the room flanked by guards, cutting the argument off before they could really get going. She was dressed as praevolo, with no Hawk to lend her normalcy; Kaylin forced herself to ignore that. "I assume you would like to begin by speaking to Lady Grammayre." Teela nodded and they followed Moran to a room with a desk and a few chairs.
"What can you tell us about Lady Grammayre?" Kaylin asked. Moran glanced at her guards.
"You may leave us," she told them. They both stiffened and looked around the room. It was obvious that they considered three Baranni and a Dragon to be a serious threat to Moran, although, of course, the human wasn't worthy of attention. When Moran didn't rescind her order, they forced their limbs to move. It looked hard.
"You'll need to work on that," Teela told Moran once the door shut, making the other woman sigh.
"They make such a fuss about me being praevolo, you would think they would understand that I am exceedingly difficult to harm within the Aerie."
"We were talking about Lady Grammayre," Bellusdeo prompted after a moment.
"It was a political marriage, from what I understand," Moran told them. Kaylin nodded, accepting that Moran would have been only passingly aware of Caste Court business at the time, although the thought of her Lord marrying for politics bothered her.
"How many years ago?" Teela questioned.
"Eighteen," Moran answered.
"Any children?" Kaylin asked, because she honestly didn't know. It struck her, then, that she could know so much about a person - about who they were - without knowing almost anything about their life.
"One. He takes after his mother." Moran's tone made it clear what she thought of that.
"Any affection between Lord and Lady Grammayre?" Kaylin questioned, making every Immortal turn to stare at her. "What?" Kaylin asked defensively. "It's a reasonable question!"
"It was a political marriage, Lord Kaylin," Lord Andellen replied, surprisingly gently, earning an interested look from Teela.
"So that means it's impossible for there to be any affection between them?" Everyone in the room nodded, making Kaylin feel like a child again. Kaylin fought back the resentment that caused. "Why would the Hawklord marry politically?" Kaylin asked, because that was something she associated with people who only valued themselves. What could have pushed her Lord to make such a decision? Moran met her eyes and Kaylin could see before she spoke that she wasn't going to like the answer.
"I believe there were serious objections to his involvement in the Hawks," Moran said, causing Kaylin's heart to freeze. "He wasn't Hawklord at the time."
"For us?" Kaylin asked. "He married someone he didn't like for us?"
"You weren't part of the Hawks, then," Teela pointed out, as if that made it better. The others, thankfully, gave Kaylin a minute to accept the weight of her Lord's choice. It was one she knew she could never make, and his sacrifice humbled her.
"What is this room normally?" Kaylin asked, looking around, trying to ground herself.
"Guests of note often wish to tidy themselves up after having been flown up," Moran replied, eyeing Kaylin's hair as she spoke. Kaylin winced and reached up.
"Should we tidy ourselves up?" Teela asked with a sharp smile. Moran coughed and Kaylin snorted.
"I don't believe any of our Baranni guests are in need of 'tidying up,'" Moran answered, "or our valued Dragon visitor."
"And in Kaylin's case, it wouldn't help," Teela tacked on, because someone needed to say it.
"Thank you, Teela," Kaylin replied sarcastically, then shut her mouth because there was really nothing she could add to that. Her hair had escaped her sticks and was undoubtedly a disaster; Teela's, of course, looked perfect. None of the Baranni looked like they had been buffeted in the wind, and Bellusdeo, having only shifted once she arrived, looked equally flawless. Kaylin grimaced; any vanity he might once possessed had died a long time ago.
"I'll send for Lady Grammayre," Moran said, forcing them to stop picking on the human. At least for now. Teela nodded, and the five of them took positions around the room. Being the least threatening member of their party, Kaylin took the seat directly across from the desk while Teela and, to Kaylin's surprise, Andellen flanked her. Tain observed Andellen from the corner, but didn't comment. Working with Immortals had the advantage of never needing to take notes, since perfect memory made them superfluous. Kaylin, lacking this advantage, had trained hard to see like a Hawk.
Lady Grammayre, when she entered, was everything Kaylin associated with Caste Courts. Her hair and clothes were perfect. She wasn't particularly tall - certainly not with three Baranni and a Dragon in the room - but she managed to look down on them anyway. Kaylin immediately tagged her as stupid, because no one looked down on Immortals if they wanted to live.
"Lady Grammayre," Kaylin began, struggling to keep her distaste out of her voice, "could you tell us why you mirrored Lord Grammayre urgently yesterday?"
"It's personal," she replied coldly. Kaylin struggled to keep her disbelief from showing.
"Lord Grammayre was nearly absorbed by Shadow yesterday," Kaylin told her incredulously, "immediately after leaving you." The woman simply nodded her head.
"I was, of course, informed."
"The prime suspect in a murder investigation is a spouse," Teela told her, earning a look from Kaylin because that didn't really apply to cases involving Shadow. Or any magic, for that matter. "Given your actions yesterday, I would suggest it is in your best interest to cooperate fully with us." Lady Grammayre stared at Teela for a long minute.
"I found out that our son had done something…unfortunate and called my husband to deal with it."
"You couldn't deal with it yourself?" Kaylin asked. Then again, the nobles in the human Caste Court weren't famed for their competence, either.
"Grammayre is his father," she said sharply. "He should deal with it himself."
"What did your son do?" Teela asked. Lady Grammayre met her eyes, clearly debating her answer.
"He had an… unfortunate relationship with a girl."
"He got someone pregnant," Tain clarified, almost certainly for Kaylin's sake.
"You called the Hawklord out of work, urgently, because your son got someone pregnant?" This woman made no sense. "You know that's unlikely to change over the course of a few hours, right?"
"They aren't married," she almost hissed in reply. "They cannot be married - she is completely unsuitable." Kaylin thought then of Moran's life as an illegitimate child in the Aerie.
"Who the hell cares?" The woman stared at her.
"I believe," Teela cut in, before Kaylin found more words, "that your praevolo was also born out of wedlock. Surely there can be no stigma to her birth?" Lady Grammayre stiffened.
"The praevolo is, of course, not responsible for the circumstances of her birth." Kaylin opened her mouth to reply, but Teela spoke first.
"Thank you for your time, Lady Grammayre. Once Lord Grammayre wakes, we will have him corroborate your account." She stiffly excused herself and Kaylin was left staring at the door.
"Why would he marry her?"
"Kitling," Teela began.
"No, seriously. Even if he had to marry for politics, surely he could have found someone better."
"Political marriages are not made for people's happiness," Bellusdeo commented, and Kaylin cringed realizing who she had been speaking in front of.
"Sorry." The Dragon shook her head.
"I did not take offence, Kaylin. The fact that you want your Lord to be happy speaks of your regard for him." Before they could continue on the topic, Moran opened the door.
"Are you ready to speak to the witnesses?" Teela's lips pursed in distaste.
"We might as well get this over with," Tain suggested, sounding resigned. "The accounts won't sound any better in an hour." Teela looked at him and shrugged. They all knew that there was almost nothing in the world less accurate than a firsthand account of an event, but sometimes that was all they had. Kaylin grimaced and prepared to hear complete nonsense. What came out was different.
"I only looked up because the movement seemed wrong," one man told them.
"I saw him falter out of the corner of my eye," another said. "His movements seemed wrong."
"I had just returned when I heard the commotion. When I turned around, I saw him struggling to reach the Aerie. His movements seemed wrong." Kaylin had begun scowling at the second account. By the time the last of them - there had been six - left, Kaylin was so angry she couldn't move.
"They're lying," she growled.
"Who doesn't?" Teela asked, all Baranni. But Kaylin didn't have the patience for that today.
"Our Lord was almost devoured by Shadows and they're lying."
"It's not a crime, Kitling," Tain commented.
"Obstructing an investigation is a crime," Kaylin countered. "According to-"
"Do not site the Laws to us, Kitling," Teela interrupted. "I know them better than you, anyway. And there are a few ways their memories could have been magically altered."
"I didn't sense any magic on them," Kaylin objected, "or see a sigil."
"Once the memories had been altered, they could have removed the magic," Teela offered, "although if even you didn't spot the caster's signature, it's more likely that they're lying."
"Whoever is involved doesn't know shit about investigations," Kaylin commented. Teela and Bellusdeo snorted in agreement.
"I've only been following you around for a few months and even I can identify this as an armature mistake," the Dragon agreed.
"An assassin with the ability to manipulate Shadows, but no common sense?" Tain surmised. "Probably an Arcanist."
"As much as I like blaming everything on the Arcanists," Kaylin began, "we should include the Imperial Mages, too." Everyone, excluding Andellen, turned to stare at Kaylin.
"Kitling, that was almost mature. Wrong, of course, but mature." Kaylin grimaced. Honestly, Teela was always going to think of her as a child.
"Why can't it be an Imperial Mage?"
"Because the Imperial Mages are closely monitored and the Emperor would not allow someone to experiment with Shadow in the heart of his hoard." Kaylin had to accept, given the way Dragons reacted to a threat to their hoard, that Teela was most likely correct. Kaylin grimaced. Teela fell silent and looked at the door, which was Teela speak for 'someone's coming'. Kaylin shut up. The door opened and the Aerian who had been accompanying Moran yesterday stepped in.
"Please have a seat," Kaylin greeted, hoping that he had been with Moran the day before because he wasn't prone to bouts of lying. "What's your name?"
"I am Declan, of the Eastern Flight. Praevolo Moran asked me to testify today."
"Can you tell us when you first became aware that something had happened to Lord Grammayre?"
"I was working on a very delicate spell, when the magical resonance was disturbed and the spell was shattered. I planned to head to the Halls of Law to inform Praevolo Moran of the potential incursion in our territory when I saw Lord Grammayre fall from the sky." Kaylin had never heard it used as a title before, and wondered if he was the only one doing so, or if that was the correct form of address for Moran now. Since Clint wasn't using it, she assumed it was just Declan.
"You couldn't just mirror her?"
"Mirrors are not secure, and I was not willing to have the message intercepted."
"What did you do when you saw Lord Grammayre fall?"
"I flew out and caught him," was the response. Meaning this Arcanist had saved their Lord's life. Kaylin grimaced, never a fan of owing an Arcanist.
"Thank you for saving Lord Grammayre," Kaylin said, and she new without looking that Teela was staring at her in blue-eyed irritation. To her surprise, the Arcanist shrugged.
"Someone had to do it." Teela's laughter broke the silence.
"There were six other witnesses, that we are aware of, and not one of them moved to save Lord Grammayre." The man in front of them looked a little shocked at the prospect.
"Here's something new, Teela," Tain drawled from his spot in the corner, "a naive Arcanist."
"I am not naive!" He protested, making even Kaylin feel a little bad for him. She cleared her throat and went back to questioning him; being a source of Immortal amusement was never fun.
"Once you caught Lord Grammayre, what did you do?"
"I returned to the Aerie. By this point, Praevolo Moran had been notified, and arrived shortly, accompanied by Hawks. I then escorted her to the Baranni High Court where you healed him." Kaylin wondered when the Baranni Hawks had attached themselves to Moran, but she could ask later.
"Thank you for your co-operation," she said, instead. "We will contact you if we have any further questions." He stood up, then paused, looking at her face.
"I had never imagined someone could heal him in that condition." It was Kaylin's turn to shrug.
"If I didn't know the person well, I wouldn't have been able to." After holding her eyes one more moment, he nodded and left. Kaylin frowned after him.
"He's a really weird Arcanist," she commented.
"Is there a normal Arcanist?" Bellusdeo asked. Kaylin nodded, distracted.
"Arrogant, powerful, manipulative-"
"Kitling," Teela interrupted pointedly. "Since there is the possibility of someone listening in on this conversation-" Kaylin opened her mouth in protest, "not a large one, but a possibility - let us try not to have you make any more enemies than you already have. My schedule's full." Kaylin snorted, but subsided.
"If there's nothing more to be gained here, I believe you intended to examine the location of the attack?" Andellen commented, drawing Kaylin's attention. She nodded and pushed to her feet.
"Let's go."
"I'll lead," Teela said, stepping in front, "so that we make it to the exit today." Kaylin scowled, but let her take point.