Part 34 (1/2)
Yes.
But that changed the nature of his name, and that allowed him to free himself from the Shadows who knew it.... Yes. She thought about it. The High Lord-the current High Lord-had failed the test of name that the High Halls demanded of all of its rulers. His name had been revealed to the Shadows over which the High Halls had been constructed. But the High Lord's name had been only part of the whole rune which had been meant for him at birth; it had been enough to breathe life into his still, infant form-but it had never been the whole of what had been intended for him.
Kaylin had found the defining stroke, she had pulled it, whole, from the Barrani Lake of Life, and carried it to where he hid, captive by his choice in his own home.
But that single stroke had always been part of his name. And yet...no one had known. Kaylin herself hadn't known until she'd approached him. She didn't understand the genesis of true names. She didn't understand their purpose, beyond the basics: Immortals required them to live. She could recognize them, but how was it even possible that they could be sundered and still somehow function in parts?
Severn followed her thoughts; they were a more forceful version of his own at this point.
What if Bellusdeo was aware of how that might be done in the inverse order? He asked the question at almost the same minute Kaylin did. Neither of them had any answers to give each other.
She couldn't give him a name, he continued, not in the way you took yours-but what if this was as close as she could come? The sword is, from everything I've seen, part of what he now is. His name is part of hers.
There's a difference between the High Lord and Maggaron. I mean, a difference between their names. The High Lord owned it all. The part and the whole. It wasn't spread between two; it wasn't given away. Maggaron can't have a name-but he does. Maggaron was immortal because of it. But...I think he has the name when he has the sword. No, that can't be it. He and the sword are bound somehow, even when he's not carrying it. If we could break that, I think he'd be safe.
And the sword?
I don't know. If the sword has a name of its own, it's not owned by Shadow.
She stopped thinking about anything but angry Dragons when Tara stopped outside a set of severe and imposing doors. They were the tallest doors Kaylin had seen in the Tower so far, and they were made of a wood so dark it was almost black. ”The doors don't change appearance to reflect your Lord's mood, do they?”
”Yes,” Tara answered, her eyes pretty much the same color as said doors.
Kaylin never wanted to live in a place where the decor changed to reflect her mood. Then again, it might keep Teela and Tain out on the bad days.
The doors rolled open. Maggaron looked completely normal when he pa.s.sed beneath their arch, they were so tall. Tara looked tiny when seen at his side. But although the three Dragon Lords were in their mortal forms, they didn't look in any way insignificant as they turned, eyes orange-red, toward the open doors.
Bellusdeo lay on a bed at the room's far end.
”What,” the Arkon said sharply, ”do you want?” A little puff of smoke accompanied his words, but at least there were no scorch marks on the floor.
”Not anymore,” Tara said pleasantly to Kaylin. She bowed to the Arkon, who looked slightly confused-and not happy to be so-by her comment. ”I am correcting a misapprehension on the part of Kaylin.”
The Arkon's brows scrunched together. ”My apologies, Lady.”
”None are required, Arkon. I requested the presence of Corporal Handred and Private Neya; I also requested the presence of Maggaron. It was my desire that they speak with you, not theirs.”
Because we're sane, Kaylin thought.
”Have you discovered anything further?” the Avatar continued, still directing her words to the Arkon; she generally avoided discussions about sanity or insanity with Kaylin.
”No, Lady. We have been discussing the situation.” And he clearly wasn't happy with that discussion. ”What have you come to ask?”
She turned to Maggaron. ”Please show the Arkon your sword.” Maggaron instantly did as bid; it was hard to tell whether it was due to respect for the Avatar, or for the Dragons. He didn't hand the sword over, however; he merely approached and held the blade out for the Dragons' inspection.
”It is the same sword that Private Neya was carrying,” the Avatar told them all.
The Arkon raised a brow, but the news didn't seem to surprise him greatly. The blade, however, caused familiar furrows to develop in his brow. He snorted. This time, there was fire in it.
”The blade,” Tara said when the Arkon failed to express his annoyance in words, ”is some part of the Ascendant's name.”
CHAPTER 18.
”I beg your pardon?”
When Tara repeated her words, the Arkon turned to Tiamaris. Tiamaris looked grim, but said, ”She means what she said literally.”
”I cannot decipher the meaning of her words.”
”She feels that the sword is physically part of the Ascendant's name-the name that Private Neya knows, and the name that the Shadows used against him.”
”The...sword.”
”That is what she means.” Before the Arkon could speak again, Tiamaris added, ”The words make little sense to me on the surface; I merely report what the Tower believes. Tara?”
”Kaylin will explain.”
The Arkon's brows rose in disbelief. When they fell again, they reached new lows. ”Private Neya?”
She glanced at Severn; Severn, however, was studying his boots. ”When he's holding the sword-and only then-the runes on the blade take the shape and form of his name.” She took a deep breath, expelled it-notably without the smoke that seemed to be unhealthily wafting in this room-and continued, figuring it was better to get possible bad news out of the way. ”We think that the sword is part of Bellusdeo's name. Not all of it,” she added quickly.
”Lord Sanabalis, has your student become notably more erratic or unstable as of late?”
”No, Arkon.”
”Has she undergone some type of trauma that causes damage in mortals?”
”Not to my knowledge, Arkon.”
Kaylin cleared her throat. Politely. It was Sanabalis who acknowledged her first. ”Kaylin, please explain what you mean.”
”We believe that the woman whose body now resides in this room-for the eighth time-is the human form of the Dragon Bellusdeo.”
”Bellusdeo?”
”It's what the Norannir called her when they were at home.”
The silence that followed this statement was significant. It wasn't pretty. ”Tara didn't tell you?” Kaylin finally asked.
”They were not to be disturbed,” Tara replied when the Dragons all swiveled to look at her. ”Is it a name with which you are familiar?”
”No,” Tiamaris replied. He glanced at Sanabalis, who also shook his head. The Arkon was both still and silent.
”Private,” Sanabalis said curtly, ”please fill us in on the results of the day's investigation.”
Kaylin, who had so desperately wanted to avoid mention of the memory crystal in the Arkon's very good hearing, swallowed air and did as Sanabalis had all but ordered. True to form, the Arkon's eyes darkened a shade when she mentioned where the memory crystal now was; Sanabalis, however, promised he would see to its safe return. It only barely mollified a Dragon who was already in a foul temper to begin with.