“Would that I had your belief. If she continued to study forbidden arts, or arts unknown to us, we believe—had she survived—she would have made the same attempt.” The Consort lowered her chin. “And now you tell me that you believe she has survived.”

Kaylin hesitated. “It might be better to say she’s survived in some fashion. If you could identify names, if you could look at the words in the Lake and recognize some part of the life they lived, you’d know if she’d returned to the Lake in any form.” She had, as she so often did with the Consort, abandoned High Barrani for language that was more natural for her.

“Consorts carry a weight of responsibility, but they are people, Lord Kaylin. They are people with emotions and experiences. Were such a thing possible, Consorts might have been tempted, throughout our history, to strike out or strike back when the balance of power is in their hands; they might consign the word to an eternity of isolation.

“Perhaps for that reason, we were not granted that ability. Historical records are quite clear: she is dead. Her line is dead. I have no reason to believe that the historical records were built on a foundation of lies.”

“No reason except the hints of her, the traces of her, that we stumbled across.”

The Consort nodded. Her indigo eyes turned to Teela, and remained there. “Tell me.”

“Our investigation led us to a modest house—for mortals. You would not consider it suitable for any purpose, but to the mortals it is a reasonable, if small, home. Were it not for the fact that it is much smaller than the houses to either side, it would not be notable at all.

“The old woman who is its sole occupant would likewise garner little attention in most normal circumstances; she is considered a bit fanciful.”

“Fanciful?”

“She believes she can see the ghosts of the dead.”

“How did you come to meet her?”

“She makes a daily trek to the Halls of Law, where she offers those Hawks at the public desk baked goods and gossip. The gossip, however, involves the ghosts she sees and their remarkably mundane concerns. She has been a fixture of the office for all of the years I’ve occupied it,” Teela added.

This was almost a lie. Barrani were never scheduled for desk duty.

“Kaylin was on desk duty a few days ago, and the old woman came with gossip that involved Kaylin’s duty partner. Kaylin also has a weakness for food which an older woman could easily exploit, but this particular visitor is not one of them. She likes to bake. She likes the Hawks. She’s lonely.