“Yes. But I was asked to start with the flower in the center—and end with it as well.” As he spoke, the flower began to grow vines, slender vines with budding leaves; they curled outward, spreading in a circular pattern, one clockwise, one counterclockwise. The movement slowed as Serralyn held up a hand; she approached the illusion and walked around it, examining the leaves and the vines as if they were words she could read with great effort. She then nodded, and he continued.

She watched as the vines grew up, and up again, until they curved, as if to close a circle; they grew down in the same way. “This is exact?” she asked.

“It is.”

“Kaylin.” Kaylin joined Serralyn, leaving the Consort and Teela behind. “Do you recognize this? Look at the way the vines are being laid in circles against each other. Look at the way they entwine.”

Kaylin didn’t have Barrani memory, but she didn’t need it. She understood exactly what Serralyn was now looking at: this pattern, this odd braiding, had been done with Mrs. Erickson’s hair when she had been a child. Into that hair, the blossom had been placed—but Kaylin was almost certain that the flower placed there hadn’t been the livid, disturbing green that the painting had captured.

20

“Where did you see this?” she asked Serralyn, as the pattern continued to form.

“Arbiter Kavallac met me when I entered the library; she said she’d noted the area of study, and had found books in the library that had last been studied before the fall.”

“She didn’t happen to say by who?”

“Not in so many words, no. The librarians believe in the privacy of their students, just as the Academia does. The Academia has rules—or laws, if you prefer—but given the nature of the Academia itself, the rules are enforced by Killianas, and at his discretion. Within the library, the Arbiters are the law. Arbiters Kavallac and Androsse have continued, according to Starrante, their argument; it’s recommended that students avoid the library, as the arguments are intense.

“Starrante, however, believed that the intensity of the argument wouldn’t be a problem for some students.”

“So, you.”

“And Valliant, yes. Robin hasn’t been allowed to enter. I’m not sure what you did or said when you visited—but Kavallac’s eyes were almost blood red the entire time she offered to guide me.”

“Androsse?”

“Wasn’t present. I’m not sure if this was their compromise or not, but it doesn’t matter. I thought I’d be in the library for weeks—around classes—but it was less than a day. Kavallac was following Azoria’s trail, and it seemed to end here.”

“Did she tell you what the book contained?”

Serralyn shook her head. “She gave me the book; she expected me to draw my own conclusions, based on my field of study and my experience.”