“Tanner,” she said to the taller of the two, both humans, “how much trouble am I in?”
He laughed. “It depends.”
“On what?”
“On how much Iron Jaw fancies entertaining an Imperial mage. For an hour.” She cringed.
Iron Jaw, as Marcus was affectionately called—depending on your definition of affectionate—was indeed speaking with a man who wore the robes of the Imperial Magi. They were gray with blue edges, a hood, and an unseemly amount of gold embroidery that faded under dim light.
The fact that the mage wasn’t shouting was a hopeful sign; the fact that Marcus wasn’t puffed out like an angry cat was better. His arms were folded in front of his chest, and he’d chosen to abandon his chair, but that might have been because the paperwork would have hidden him otherwise.
She could hope.
Severn peeled off just before she reached the office, and she didn’t have time to either thank or curse him, which was just as well. She had enough time to try to straighten her tunic as the office staff turned to look at her. Well, most of the office staff. Some of them were too busy to notice anything that didn’t involve a lot of screaming, fire, or blood.
Marcus was, of course, aware of her; he’d probably been aware of her presence before she’d laid eyes on him. Leontines had good hearing and an exceptional sense of smell. But he was being Polite Leontine today.
Which was scary.
She made her way to his desk, and stood there, to one side of the back of an Imperial mage.
“Private,” Marcus said in a rolling growl. Okay, so it wasn’t all good.
“Sergeant Kassan,” she replied. She didn’t snap a salute, but she did straighten up. It added an inch or two to her unimpressive height.
“Good of you to join us. In your absence, I’ve been explaining some of your unfortunate nocturnal habits to our guest.”
The emphasis on the last word was like a warning, but with fangs and fur.
The Imperial mage turned; he was slightly bent, as if age was a burden, and his hair was a fringe of pale white. But his eyes—his eyes were a golden hue, and his smile was a quirk of lips over pale teeth.
She recognized the man. “You—but you’re a—you aren’t a—you—”
“Kaylin is not usually lauded for her ability to give impromptu speeches,” Marcus said dryly. “I believe you’ve met Lord Sanabalis?”
They were sequestered in the West Room. Marcus led them there, opened the door, and held it while Sanabalis walked past him. Kaylin hesitated for just a moment, and then she made her way toward the room’s round table.
“Do not annoy this man,” Marcus said in her ear.
She nodded automatically. Of course, had he told her to stand on her head with her fingers in her ears in that same tone of voice, she would have nodded, as well.
But in this case, the desire to cause annoyance was vanishingly small; Sanabalis was a member of the Dragon Court. She’d seen him only once, and once had been enough.
He waited for her to take a seat.
She waited for him to do likewise.
After a moment, the older man—if that was even the right word—shook his head; his eyes were still gold, which was a good sign. In Dragons.
“Please,” he said, “sit.”
She obeyed, and almost missed the chair.
He chose, tactfully, not to notice this error, and once she’d managed to stay seated, he took a seat. The table between them felt brittle and thin, although a man with an ax would have had some difficulty splitting it. A large man with a large ax; the table in the West Room had been built to last.
“Yes,” he said before she could think of something to say, “I am a member of the Imperial Order of Mages. I am, as you are also aware, a member of the Dragon Court, and I confess I am seldom called away from that court.” His smile was genial, even avuncular. She didn’t trust it.
But she wanted to.
He reached into the folds of his robes; you could have hidden whole bodies in it. And bodies might have been preferable to paper, which was what he pulled out. It hit the table with an authoritative thud.
“You will, of course, be familiar with much of what these documents contain. These,” he added, lifting a half inch’s worth, “are your academic transcripts. With annotations.”
“You’re not supposed to have those—even I don’t have access to—”
“As a man who is considering accepting you as a pupil, I have, of course, obtained permission to access these.”
“Oh.” She hesitated and then added, “What do they say?” “You tell me.”
This wasn’t going the way the previous lessons had. So far, he’d failed to make mention of her “unfortunate beginnings.” Which meant he’d also failed to offend her.
“I’m waiting, Kaylin.”
“Probably … that I’m not very good at classroom work. Academic work, I think they call it.”
He raised a brow. “That was a very short sentence for this much writing.”
“They’re clever, they can say the same thing over and over without using the same word twice.”
At that, he did smile.
Oh, what the hell. “I’m not fond of authority.” “Good.”
“I’m not fond of sitting still.” “True, as well.” “I get bored easily.”
“I believe the phrase was ‘dangerous levels of boredom.’” “I’m not great with numbers.”
“You manage an argument over your pay chit at least once a month.”
“Oh, well, money’s different.” She frowned. “They said that?”
“No. That was private investigation on my part.” “I’m a bit brusque.” “‘Actively rude.’” “I’m blunt.”
“'Arrogant and misinformed.’” “I’m a bit on the, um, assertive side.” “I think the previous statement covered that, as well.” He put the papers down. “The rest?” “Variations?”
“Not precisely.” He leaned forward on elbows he placed, with care, to either side of the documents in question. “You are, according to the teachers who failed you, frustratingly bright. One even used the word precocious. But you have no focus, no ability to pay attention to anything that doesn’t suit you. Would you say that’s fair?”
“No.”
“What would you say, Kaylin?”
“I want to be out there. I want to be on the beat. I want to be doing something. I didn’t sign up with the Hawks to sit still while other people risk their lives—”
He lifted a hand. “I believe that this was also covered. And quoted. At length. Don’t feel a need to revisit it on my behalf. You did manage to learn to read. And to write. In two languages.”
“I had to,” she said woodenly. “The Hawklord—” He raised a white brow.
“Lord Grammayre,” she said, correcting herself, “said I was out if I couldn’t manage that. Because the Laws are written in Barrani—High Barrani—and if I didn’t know them, I couldn’t enforce them.”
“‘Represent