Michelle Sagara - Cast in Peril

“I’m going to guess that the disappearances in Tiamaris aren’t unique. It’s possible they’ve also occurred outside the fief.”

Tara hesitated, and Kaylin marked it. The Avatar’s eyes once again lost the semblance of normal eyes, becoming black stone instead. “My Lord gives me permission to discuss this. He gives you permission to discuss it as well, but asks that any official discussion—with your Sergeant or with the Lord of Hawks—be referred to him.

“I believe the building I was studying in the hall of perception might somehow be involved, but if the Arcanists attempted to create a portal that is similar to the one you discovered, they would find it much, much more difficult beyond the bounds of the fiefs.”

“Why?”

“There is a reason that the Towers were built and a reason they were built here. Beyond the borders of the fiefs, the type of power required would be much, much more significant. If they were very lucky, planned well, and made use of the magical storms that engulfed a large part of the City itself, yes, there is every possibility such a gateway exists in the City proper. The magical storms, however, were not predictable, and I consider their use in this case unlikely. It is not just a matter of power—although power is necessary—but also a matter of precision.”

“But they could build gateways like this in the other fiefs?”

Tara nodded. “They are most likely to be found near the border zones; a singularly powerful but unwise mage might attempt their construction within the zone itself.”

“What is it about the fiefs that make it easier or simpler here?”

Tara shrugged, a gesture that looked, in all details, as if it could have come from Morse. It probably had. “The same thing that allows Ferals to hunt in the streets. The Ferals don’t cross the bridge.”

“You don’t think they can.”

“No.”

“If ‘Michael’ were leading Yvander across the border to Nightshade, it’s likely that a portal exists in Nightshade.”

Tara nodded. “We have been far more vigilant than Barren was capable of being. Given the recent difficulty with the borders, the ongoing threat posed by Shadows that managed to enter the fief during the period of instability, and the necessity of reconstruction, it is more difficult to conduct large-scale and illegal magics without the possibility of detection.”

“You didn’t detect this door.”

“Not immediately.”

They reached the Tower. “Our apologies to the Halls of Law,” Tara said softly. “I do not think the missing boy will be found.”

The doors rolled open; Kaylin remained on the outside. “If people are disappearing, there has to be some reason. The people Tiamaris listed as missing are all human, but they span age and gender. I’ve seen many ways humans can be bought and sold, but their value is entirely dependent on age, gender, and appearance. None of those require something as complicated as the portal. None of them require any level of magic. But magic clearly was used.

“The victims aren’t, as far as you know, in the city anymore. They had to be sent somewhere.”

“They were sent to the outlands,” Tara replied.

“Tara, where are the outlands? Are they even in the Empire?”

“Not in the sense Elantra is, no. But if you mean to ask me why those victims came from the fief, I believe it to be because such a portal could be opened here.”

“Could it be opened in Ravellon?”

“Perhaps—but there is little chance, in my opinion, that the ones who opened the portal would survive the opening.”

“So it had to be here. What purpose would random victims serve?”

“There was once a theory,” Tara replied, “that mortals were malleable because they had no True Names and therefore no confinement. They are not fixed in shape.”

“They are,” Kaylin replied sharply. “If you attempt to break their shape, you generally damage—or kill—them.” But as she spoke, she thought of the Leontines and their story of origin and fell silent.

“The Ancients did not perceive life the way you do,” Tara finally said. “I have not heard the voices of the Ancients for so long, Kaylin. Nor do I hear them now, in this; it is too small, too precise, and too secretive. My Lord will speak with the Imperial Order, but I think it unlikely that the Imperial Order will offer enlightenment. It is possible that the Arkon may have information that is relevant.”

“Yvander was being led to Nightshade,” Kaylin said. The words were sharp and heavy. “In Nightshade, no one’s likely to care.”

Tara frowned. “If something is preying on his people, he will. If he does not have sympathy for the individuals who have gone missing,” she added, “he is nonetheless Lord in his domain, and he cannot afford to overlook such predations.”

“He didn’t give a damn about the Ferals,” was the sharp reply. “And there were certainly brothels like Barren’s, where predators from the City were welcomed.”

“He did not turn a blind eye to the latter,” was Tara’s cool reply. “He profited from it, in a fashion of his choosing.”

Kaylin’s hands bunched into instant fists. She’d learned, on the other hand, to keep still when she was in the grip of a sudden, unexpected anger. She met Tara’s steady gaze and saw that the Avatar’s eyes were no longer obsidian.

“I have angered you,” she said.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because,” Kaylin replied, exhaling and loosening her hands, “I hate what you’re saying.”

“Is it inaccurate?”

“No. If it were inaccurate, I wouldn’t be angry. You’re not wrong, and I hate that you’re not wrong.”

“My Lord would be sympathetic,” Tara replied. Her wings folded into her back and disappeared as she straightened out her apron.

“We’ll take word to the Halls,” Kaylin said after a long pause. “If I don’t come to visit in the next two months, it’s not because I’m angry.”

Tara frowned. “You are leaving?”

“Yes. I’m going to the West March.” The West March suddenly seemed like a terrible waste of time. People were being kidnapped in the fiefs, and Kaylin and Severn were two Hawks who could navigate its streets. She didn’t say this.

On the other hand, standing on the front steps of the Tower, she didn’t need to; Tara heard it anyway.

* * *

“Kaylin.”

Kaylin, shoulders hunched, was looking for something to kick. “I don’t want to go to the West March. I want to be here.”

“The fiefs aren’t our jurisdiction.”

Kaylin said nothing for two blocks.

“And that’s not why you’re angry.”

Severn knew her. Sometimes, she forgot how well. “No.”

“Nightshade?”

“Yes.” She wanted to spit. She couldn’t bring herself to say the name. “I’ll bet you any money—and I mean any—that there’s a portal to wherever across the border. Whoever was taking Yvander to ‘lunch’ was leading him there.”

“I wouldn’t touch that bet.”

No one still breathing would. “But it makes no sense. The kidnappings. I hate magic.”

The small dragon hissed in her ear.

“I’m sorry, but I do.”

He nipped her earlobe. Had he been larger, she would have grabbed him and tossed him off her shoulders. As it was, she managed to ignore him. “I think this has something to do with the embezzling. The biggest difficulty we’ve had in solving this case has been the lack of distribution of the stolen funds. It’s not in banks. It’s not in drugs. It’s not in gems or other concessions. It’s not in the hands of merchants.”

“You think it’s in the hands of fieflords.”

She did. “Tara’s half-right. They couldn’t just grab people off the street. Dozens? The fieflords would have to notice that. But what if they just buy people? Pay off fieflords? It’s not much different from killing them in brothels we’d shut down in two seconds on this side of the river. They don’t have that option with Tiamaris. He’d eat them for lunch.