Michelle Sagara – Cast In Honour (страница 19)

He’d asked Teela. When a lowly private was standing beside her.

“Bellusdeo returned to the Palace in the company of Corporals Handred and Korrin. She was unharmed; she was never in any recognizable danger.”

Marcus growled. At the moment, that was what passed for Leontine breathing. “I left orders with Gavin.”

“Evanton, however, let it be known that he had news that he felt would be of interest to Private Neya,” Teela said smoothly. This did not move Marcus; he knew the Barrani had no particular qualms about lying. “He’s the Keeper, Sergeant. When he feels something is of interest, it generally implies an unspoken ‘if you wish the city to survive.’”

Kaylin privately thought that the city was not in the most pressing danger at the moment, but said nothing. It was very seldom that Teela was willing to throw herself between Marcus’s foul mood and Kaylin, and she meant to appreciate it while it lasted. And it did, to Kaylin’s surprise, last. His fur began to settle.

“Verbal report. Now.”

“I’m not even sure where to start,” Teela began. Marcus was now watching them both with more heavily lidded—but still orange—eyes. “Did you review the mirror transmissions we sent from the Winding Path?”

The Sergeant growled.

“We’d like to see the reports sent to you by the Imperial mages.”

“Come back in a week. We might have something then.”

“Gavin implied—”

“How long have you been working for me?”

Technically, Teela was not working directly for Marcus. She didn’t correct him. “Long enough to know that you can light a fire under their beards and they’ll write more quickly.”

“I think Bellusdeo will take care of that,” Kaylin said. “She was heading straight for the Arkon, and Severn and Tain don’t seem to have made it back to the office yet.”

“Your report?”

Kaylin dutifully repeated what she was almost certain was already in Records by this point.

Marcus’s eyes had shaded to a regular bronze by the time she’d finished. “You don’t think the bodies should be moved.”

“No.”

“Corporal?”

“Nothing about the corpses—aside from their arrangement and the lack of obvious cause of death—seemed out of the ordinary to me. None of our investigators would have noticed anything out of the ordinary, had it not been for Private Neya’s companion. Given that the familiar itself is arguably more unusual, I would nonetheless advise against moving the bodies. Send Red in person.”

“You’re not finished there, are you?”

Teela glanced at Kaylin.

Kaylin, thinking of Gilbert, shook her head. “Not yet, no. Though I’m not certain we’re going to understand what happened, or why, no matter how much time we spend there.”

Growl. Squawk.

“Fine. I’ll give you a week. I’ll reassign the Elani beat for the duration.” He started to carve wood chips out of the surface of his desk, clearly already thinking about the next item on his list. His eyes became a deeper orange as he did.

“Have you talked to Moran yet?”

Chapter 7

“No, sir,” Kaylin replied, already knowing where the conversation was headed.

“I’m going to ask you not to.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ironjaw’s eyes narrowed. “‘Yes,’ you agree not to speak with Moran, or ‘Yes,’ you know I’m asking you not to?”

“You’re asking me not to, sir. Offering her someplace other than the infirmary as a temporary home is not against any law on the books. It’s not against any departmental regulations.” Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t order me not to.”

Marcus said nothing.

Teela stepped on her foot.

Kaylin frowned, thinking. “You’re not actually angry at the fact that I’m late.”

“You’re becoming more observant as you age,” Marcus replied. “It’s not an improvement.”

“What’s happening with Moran?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss Moran’s situation. She has special dispensation to use the infirmary as a base of operations while she recovers from her injuries.” The word while sounded an awful like if.

“Has the Hawklord spoken to you about this?”

Marcus growled. His eyes returned to their more prominent orange, but his fur remained mostly where it had settled.

“We need to check in with Hanson,” Teela said, pulling her away from Marcus before she dug herself in any deeper.

* * *

“Of course the Hawklord has spoken to Marcus. Marcus is enraged. Moran is technically one partial rank below Marcus in hierarchy, but Marcus thinks of Moran as part of his tribe. He is not happy with whatever the Hawklord said. Part of that must have included you—as in, keeping you under a tighter rein. Don’t make Marcus acknowledge that if you want to do anything useful.”

“Is that why he was so pissed off?”

“You being late probably didn’t help. Bellusdeo being absent didn’t help, either. You realize it’s his neck on the line if—”

“Yes. Mine happens to be on the line, as well.”

“He’s aware of that. You’ve slept by his hearth, kitling. You are not his child—but you might as well be. He is never going to trust the Dragons; having Bellusdeo hanging around the office gets under his skin. Having Bellusdeo in the office and outside of his jurisdiction is actively annoying. Having you responsible for her when the Dragon Court doesn’t appear to exercise much control makes him angry.”

“This has nothing to do with Moran.”

“No. Before you give me the side-eye, I’m not entirely familiar with Moran’s circumstances. I admit that I was surprised when I first met her, but she’s sergeant material—and Hawk material—through and through.”

“Tell me why you were surprised.”

Teela hedged. “You know that you are not sent on sensitive investigations.” Sensitive being code for crimes involving the rich and the powerful. “You are left out of investigations of the Caste Courts.”

Kaylin missed a step. “Please tell me Moran isn’t part of the Aerian Caste Court.”

“I know very, very little about the Aerian Caste Court,” Teela replied. This was not an answer, and they both knew it. “But Moran is the daughter of an influential flight. She is the daughter of possibly the influential flight. I don’t know her reasons for joining the Hawks. To be fair, she doesn’t know mine, either. The Hawks are, in theory, not politically or racially motivated.”

“In theory?”

“In practice, the Hawks are people. People are political. I don’t expect any group of people to be perfect, theoretical beings—for one, the pay isn’t nearly high enough. Some of the racial decisions made are purely pragmatic; the Barrani are preferentially sent into figurative war zones because we’re much more likely to survive them. There is no equality because we are not equal; we are different. I attempt to respect those differences.”

“Given your comments about mortals, I’d fail you if I were teaching.”

Teela chuckled. “Respect, among the Barrani, generally means something different. If, for instance, I say I respect your territory, what I mean is I will not attempt to conquer it. It does not mean that I find your sloping, creaking floors, your pathetically short ceilings, your warped doors and their insignificant hinges or your...windows...to be the equal of my own.”

Kaylin rolled her eyes.

“Moran is significant to the Aerians.”

“I hadn’t noticed her being treated with anything but the usual respect.”

“Indeed. You’ve assumed it’s because of her rank and her function.”

Kaylin snorted. “Have you ever tried to avoid her when you’re injured?”

“Frequently.”

“Has it worked?”

“Less frequently.”