I did not inform her of the petty interactions of mortals, Ynpharion said before Kaylin could ask.

“I said technically,” Kaylin said, wondering who among the Hawks—if it was a Hawk problem at all—would have passed the information on. It wasn’t the first time she’d wondered either, given the effect the name Azoria had on the Barrani. “Clearly we have an informant in the Halls of Law. Do they report to you?”

18

The Consort, the only Barrani Kaylin had ever met with white hair, raised a pale brow at the question. As her eyes were already almost black, they couldn’t get any darker; Kaylin imagined poor manners would take a back seat to everything else. Or hoped they would.

The Consort surprised Kaylin. “No. They do not report to me; nor are they beholden to me in any but the general way.”

“The general way?”

“I am the Lady; I am the mother of our race unless and until someone suitable for the duties I have undertaken is found. The Barrani in general believe that I would fight—as our kind does—to retain my position, because they believe that position comes with power. I will not argue; it does. But it comes with a burden of responsibility and duty, the shouldering of which can break us; we can never set it aside. Were someone suitable found, I would gratefully pass on the weight of that burden.”

That was unlikely to happen. If Kaylin grew to hate being a Hawk, she could quit. There would be consequences, of course—she had no idea what she would do without that job to define her. The Consort didn’t have that option. And it was the Lake that somehow chose the successor.

“My mother did not want me to become the Consort,” she continued, eyes dark. “Did you know? She did not want that for her daughter.”

No, of course not. She knew, better than any, how costly the burden could be; she, too, had borne it. And because she had and could, she had no desire to see those she loved suffer for the sake of a title, a position. It probably made her very unlike most of her kin—just as the Consort was.

“But if given a choice between me and someone the Lake did not accept, it was me. Come, I am restless. Walk with me. I would leave An’Teela behind, but she is already entangled in this; I could ask my brother—” she obviously meant the High Lord “—to forbid all investigation, but I can see the color of An’Teela’s eyes; she will not obey.”

“But he’s the High Lord!”