“This garden,” the Consort said, “is a reminder to me. You will note the statues; I asked the High Halls to create statuary—with a fountain—and a representation of all of the Consorts within his memory. Their presence is a comfort to me—a comfort and a command. I have heard, Lord Kaylin, that you are investigating an old criminal. It involves mortals, and their murders, and such investigations have nothing to do with the Barrani—or so we claim.

“But in the course of that investigation,” the Consort continued, turning to face Kaylin, “you came upon a name that is not spoken at court.” She didn’t speak it now, either.

Kaylin nodded slowly, wondering if the Consort was familiar with this because of Ynpharion. If he was the source of the information, he didn’t confirm.

“It is a name known to me, not because I had cause to interact with the person in question—I did not. She was executed before my time.”

“You did not know her personally?”

“I did not. And I would not see her name raised in any place where Barrani might hear it spoken. Yet it has been raised.”

Kaylin wondered, then, if the Consort was behind the death of Sedarias’s agents; she froze at the thought, and kept it—with effort—from her expression.

“In some quarters,” the Consort continued, “it has caused suspicion and death.”

“Were you responsible for those deaths?” So much for effort.

“And you were doing so well,” Teela said.

“Do you suspect my hand in this?” the Consort asked. “And if the answer is yes, as I fear it must be, does it make clear how much of an emergency I consider this? I would ask—I cannot entirely command, given your position in the Hawks—that you abandon all investigation as it pertains to that lone Barrani woman.”

“And if I can’t?”

“I will not threaten you, Lord Kaylin; I am well aware that threats would be of little use. I ask of Teela that she keep her former comrades in check, if it is at all possible.”

“Terrano is playing chess with the Avatar,” Kaylin quite reasonably pointed out. “And he’s not exactly the most subtle of players.”

“No.” The Consort exhaled. “No, it was not at my command that those agents perished. I am not the only lord of this court who considers the history surrounding this one woman to be a great and terrible secret that must not be shared. But had they not died, I would have considered giving that command.”