Inside this room was an easel, a chair in front of it, and a chair behind. The walls in this room were bare, but huddled against each of them, even the wall which was mostly window, were shapeless tarpaulins. Kaylin approached those beneath the window’s light and very carefully pulled the rough cloth back.

There were paintings here. Kaylin didn’t know much about painting, but she knew what she liked. Azoria’s work was, to Kaylin’s eye, good. She’d clearly been interested in portraiture; all of the visible canvases were of people, but the canvases, still stretched, were stacked in a lean against the wall that supported them. Kaylin began to separate them, looking at the people she’d painted in various poses. Some were unfinished; they stood, in very fine and detailed clothing, in a cloud of white, as if background were irrelevant. All were Barrani.

Teela, after a moment’s pause, joined Kaylin, choosing to examine the canvases to the left of the door as they entered. Terrano and Serralyn took the right side. Kaylin would have warned Terrano to handle the paintings with care, but Serralyn was clearly in charge there.

Kaylin recognized none of the subjects. That made sense: most of these had probably been painted before the High Halls had collapsed in on itself to contain deadly Shadow.

“Yes,” the Avatar said. “Her later work is elsewhere.”

Kaylin rose. “Where are the rest?”

“In her gallery. I do not believe she allowed a single person to enter it in my time. Here, she did entertain subjects. Some, she gifted the paintings she had done; some she abandoned, unsatisfied. And some, she retained for her own personal reasons.”

“Does it break any rules if we see them?”

“No—it is unusual, but were I reluctant to breach her privacy, I would not have retrieved these rooms. They are not rooms which will ever see use again; she cannot return to them. And if, as you fear, she is still a danger, it is information we require. The privacy of a person long dead is of far less import than the safety of the Consort and the Lake.” To Kaylin, he added, “I am not Hallionne. That was never my function.”

Given the deaths that occurred regularly within the High Halls, he was definitely not a Hallionne.

“The gallery,” the Avatar said. “Lady, please remain here.”

“You said it was safe,” Kaylin—who had not been asked to stand back—pointed out.

“Where the Lady is concerned, we practice an abundance of caution.”

Of course. Kaylin felt the same impulse, but felt minor resentment regardless.

“It is why people are complicated,” the Avatar said.

“Yes, but in this case I resent you, not her.”

“That is true.” The Avatar smiled. Lifting a hand, he opened the door.