Cast In Ruin Part 44

Bellusdeo listened, thought about it for a few seconds, and then shook her head.

"Well, she's going to have to learn."

"I find it a tedious language; it is even less exact than Barrani," the Arkon helpfully interjected.

"Yes. I'm not saying she has to speak it; neither of you usually do. But you both know how. And, more important, you understand it when we lesser mortals are speaking it." She turned back to Bellusdeo. "I'm not unhappy with my living arrangements."

"I see." Bellusdeo folded her arms across her chest in a way that very much implied she was. "I will, of course, have to see them for myself."

If Kaylin had been less than happy about the company on her return home, Maggaron was equally unhappy about his lack of the same company, because Bellusdeo-bending slightly to accommodate Kaylin's purported lack of room-had all but ordered him to remain in Tiamaris. She promised to come back and get him should Kaylin's description of her own home be an exaggeration.

Severn had ducked out on them as soon as he crossed the bridge, which Bellusdeo encouraged; this left Kaylin in the company of a Dragon for the long walk home. A walk that didn't normally feel all that long.

"You understand that I don't really require opulence or finery? After all, I was practically born in a cave."

Kaylin laughed. This didn't seem to offend Bellusdeo.

"The cave was preferable to the Shadows," the Dragon added, her voice softening. "I talk a lot, don't I?"

She did. Kaylin decided a curt nod was the safest reply.

"I used to have sisters."

"But they were-"

"We were one, yes. But we weren't. We didn't see the same things, unless we deliberately shared; we didn't experience the same things. Some of us hated foods that the others loved. The dress was Callie's idea."

Callie didn't really sound like much of a Dragon name. Then again, Bellusdeo seemed very much like a person who used diminutives.

"They're gone. Or they're part of me. I don't know which is true. But I don't hear their voices. I can't see the parts of a day I didn't personally experience."

"Not even through Maggaron?"

"Oh, you are observant!" Bellusdeo laughed. In spite of herself and her very real desire for a bit of peace and privacy, Kaylin found herself liking the sound of that laugh. It died when they reached the front doors of the apartment building. "This is really where you live?"

"Every day." She fished a key out of a pocket, which took time. The door creaked open, and Kaylin held it while Bellusdeo entered. "Up the stairs."

"You really weren't exaggerating."

Kaylin, bent over in a mostly dark room in an attempt to pick up the bits and pieces of stuff on the floor, said nothing. The mirror was flas.h.i.+ng, but a quick perusal told her it wasn't an emergency-it was just Marcus and she didn't need to be chewed out in front of a total stranger.

"It's very small. Is it really one room?"

Suppressing the urge to ask her how high she could count, Kaylin grunted a yes.

"Chosen, understand where I spent the better part of centuries living, and you'll understand why I say I don't need much. Here, at least, I can move around. I can lift my arms. I can open the window." She walked across the room, knelt on the bed, and did just that. "There? I couldn't do anything but listen to Maggaron's voice. I couldn't speak to him at all. He had a very, very rough time, but...he survived it. There's something simple about him," she added, but her tone was not unkind. "I think even the Shadow can't corrupt it." Grinning, she added, "I certainly couldn't."

Kaylin didn't know what to make of Bellusdeo. Because she was tired and practical, she said, "The Dragons I know don't eat much normal food. Do you?"

"Define normal."

"It's not moving, it's not breathing, and it probably never was. Bread and cheese. The cheese may be a little bit dry."

"I did eat at the Tower."

"So did I. More or less. I'm going to eat a bit."

"You didn't eat enough?"

"I'd like to eat without the lectures."

Bellusdeo snorted and sat on the bed; she was, no surprise, heavier than Teela, even if she was shorter. "Why do they lecture you?"

"I'm mortal."

"Are you really?"

Kaylin was silent. Partly because she was chewing, and partly because the question made her uneasy.

"You have a name," the Dragon continued, staring at her in the darkness.

Kaylin glanced at the moon. "Yes," she finally said. "You can see it?"

"No, of course not. But I can sense that it's there. Do you have it because you're Chosen?"

"Indirectly, maybe." She gave up on eating and closed the basket that more or less preserved food. Dusting the crumbs off, she said, "Do you want the bed?"

Since Bellusdeo was more or less on the bed, Kaylin a.s.sumed that was her answer, and stumbled across the floor to retrieve blankets. She also pulled the pillow off the bed, because if she was going to take the floor, she deserved some comfort. But as she made s.p.a.ce for herself, she remembered the egg under the bed, and set about retrieving it. She hit the slats of the bed's underside at least twice, and cursed liberally.

"What does that mean?" Bellusdeo asked, her voice slightly m.u.f.fled by mattress.

Kaylin dragged the box out from under the bed and sat up. "You really don't want to know."

"Does that mean you don't know?"

It was Kaylin's turn to snort; she did it with less smoke. "If you use language like that, they're going to know where you learned it. I can't afford that."

"Can't afford?" Bellusdeo's voice was distinctly cooler.

"I serve the Emperor. I get paid to serve the Emperor. I don't serve him directly. I don't know if you're familiar with the concept of policing, but that's what I do." Kaylin began to unwind the wrappings that cus.h.i.+oned the egg, and hopefully kept it warm while she was away. "Because of the marks on my arms and legs, I'm expected to actually meet the Emperor. I've been instructed to take lessons-etiquette lessons-in order to meet him without offending him."

"And he's considered so easily offended that you will face death without these lessons? Does he honestly care how you hold a fork?"

"I haven't had the opportunity to ask. If and when I do meet him, it won't be the first question on the list." She pulled the egg into her lap and curled her arms around it.

"What are you doing?"

There were reasons why Kaylin occasionally valued her privacy. Gritting her teeth, she said, "I'm holding an egg."

"Yes, I can see that. Why?"

"Because I have some hope that one day, if I'm very careful with it, it will hatch."

"May I examine it?"

Kaylin's arms tightened. It was brief, and it was also stupid, but Kaylin had reached the point of stupid-tired.

"Ah. It is yours, then?"

"Humans don't give birth to eggs-" Kaylin stopped speaking, since that's more or less how this egg had come into being. "No."

"I do not believe you understand or interpret the word yours correctly in this context."

"I'm mortal. I don't have a h.o.a.rd."

"No, of course not. But even mortals are possessive."

"I prefer the term protective."

"Why?"

"Never mind." She lay down on the slightly warped and creaky floor, and curled around the egg on her side. "I'm not going to be great company tonight. I'm too exhausted. Why don't you get some-"

"Sleep?" Kaylin could hear the Dragon's smile; she couldn't see it.

"Or whatever it is you do when your pet mortals are sleeping."

"Generally, I like to fly. I've been told that flight is off limits, as far as the Emperor is concerned. If you'd like," she added, "you can take the bed."

Kaylin wanted to say yes, but she also didn't want to move. "Sorry," she muttered. "I forgot about the sleeping part when I offered it." Unfortunately, she also forgot about the Elantran part, as well, sliding out of Barrani without thought.

"I am grateful to you, Chosen. I am in your debt. I do not know how much you understand about our kind, but debt is not something we wish to accrue."

It was the last thing Kaylin heard before she slept.

The first thing she heard when morning hit was Bellusdeo's voice. Unfortunately, the second thing she heard was Marcus's. She peeled herself off the floor so quickly she almost knocked the egg flying. She didn't; instead, she picked it up and carried it the few feet to the mirror.

Bellusdeo was standing in front of it, her head tilted to one side; she was staring at a face full of orange-eyed, bristling Leontine. One glance out the window made clear that the morning-or the part in which if she woke quickly she'd make it to the office on time-had pa.s.sed her by. Part of the reason she hated to have guests at this time of day was the urge to scream, Why didn't you wake me up?

It wasn't their responsibility, after all-but it rankled anyway.

In this particular case, it was worse; not only had she not been woken, but Bellusdeo was now chatting with Marcus, and from his expression, he really wasn't appreciating the subst.i.tution.

"Bellusdeo," Kaylin hissed from the outer edge of the mirror's view. It was pointless to hope that Marcus couldn't hear her. The Dragon turned her head. Her eyes were a shade of orange that was paler than Marcus's, but not by much.

"Private Neya!"

She cringed her way to where Bellusdeo was standing, in large part because the Dragon occupied most of the mirror's field of view. It was a cheap mirror, relatively speaking, but it was also a popular one because it had a limited viewing angle.

"Sergeant Ka.s.san," she said, trying for dignity. Given what she was holding and what she was wearing, it was hard. "This is Bellusdeo."

He growled. "We've established that."

"She's a-a guest of the Dragon Court."

"And the Dragon Court has now moved into your apartment?"

"No, sir."

"Has the Dragon Court changed your schedule?"

"No, sir."

He opened his mouth to bark out another question and then snapped it shut for a few merciful seconds. "What are you holding?"

She glanced down. "An...egg, sir."

"Yes, I can see that. What kind of egg?"

"I'm not sure."

"Did it come with your guest?"

"No, sir. I-I picked it up just before the Norannir arrived."

"It's probably rotten, then. Get rid of it, get dressed, and get your b.u.t.t into the office."

Getting dressed took all of two minutes. Packing the egg very carefully back into its nesting crate took ten. Getting Bellusdeo out the door took longer than either. Kaylin had wedged her into some of Kaylin's clothing, and Bellusdeo clearly had ideas about fas.h.i.+on that didn't encompa.s.s Kaylin's rather meager wardrobe.

"You didn't eat breakfast."

"Leontines like to remove people's throats when they're p.i.s.sed off. The Leontine," she added. "Not the people without throats." When Bellusdeo failed to move, Kaylin said, "I need a throat in order to eat. You can stay here if you want; I need to run."

But the Dragon was now staring at the egg that Kaylin had very carefully-if hurriedly-deposited back in its box; she was also frowning. "I didn't care for your Sergeant," she said, not taking her eyes off the egg's sh.e.l.l. "But he didn't seem to care for your egg. Where did you get it?"

"You really need to learn to speak Elantran," Kaylin replied-in Barrani. "It's a long story. Well, if you're mortal. Can we talk about it while we're walking?"

Bellusdeo, even in Kaylin's clothing, turned a lot of heads as they walked the few blocks between home and work. She didn't seem to notice. The merchants along the Ablayne nodded to Kaylin as she pa.s.sed them; she'd've stopped to introduce the Dragon, but her eye was on the sun's position.

Bellusdeo, however, didn't seem to mind a clipped, fast walk. She didn't seem to notice it, either.

Kaylin climbed the stairs to the Halls' front door. There, she met Clint and Tanner. Clint was grinning. "You're late," he pointed out.

"This," Kaylin said to Bellusdeo, "is Clint. The wingless guy to his left is Tanner. They guard the doors when they're not making fun of me."

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance," Bellusdeo told them.

"This is Bellusdeo. She's a guest of the Dragon Court."