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Fascinated despite herself, she nodded

Dr Silk relearay, his eyelashes stark white Karigan, who had seen s in her life, was not repulsed or taken aback but more curious

He looked mildly disappointed by her lack of reaction "I learned the hard way not to look directly into an etherea engine when one threatens to ih I’ve never heard of anyone else being thus afflicted in such accidents However, I believeift, for all that it pains me, and makes everyday vision different For instance, here is what I see when I look at you I see an aura of green clouding around you, and dark wings Tell s It was not the first tial Duff, his Rider ability just es around her She stared hard at Dr Silk, his eyes agleaal was able to soic users What Dr Silk had seen sounded very ht out the saht he have heard the Rider call? No, she thought He was not Riderto say?"

She shook her head "No I--I don’t knohy you would see such a thing I don’t knohat it means"

He appraised her aeyes of his before replacing his specs "I believe you It is how I see people--the aural energy around them Sometimes there are patterns, but yours is different It is why I first took an interest in Professor Josston’s supposed niece You aredifferent Josston was clever to come up with the story that you’d been in an asylum How better to explain you? Here we have taken you prisoner, you were struck hard by the emperor’s Eternal Guardian, which was surely painful, you are in ed to be let go You bargained on behalf of Mr Harlowe, not yourself Most fe nuisances of themselves in the same situation You have exhibited no such nor your face before strangers I do not think you are mad, and these factors combined with the story of your arrival and the questions you have answered, lead me to surmise you are who you claim to be" He paused then went on "You mentioned you traveled into Blackveil with Eletians We found on your person a small round crystal we associate with Eletians"

"Yes It was my mother’s, and it was only recently passed to me"

"Your ave her the crystal" Although Karigan had come to question how much she really knew about either of her parents, she was firm on at least that point: Her mother had not been Eletian

"How did it come about, this friendship between your mother and an Eletian? At that ti appearances outside their forest"

"I don’t know exactly" That ht out her an did not feel she needed to bring Laurelyn into this discussion with Dr Silk "My mother died when I was little, and I only found out about all this toward the end of winter My winter"

"So what are they used for, these crystals?"

"The Eletians, on the expedition, used theends about how they collected silver moonbeams Have you heard those?"

"Yes, yes, of course But we can’t ht up"

"You have so the war"

There was too an had failed to learn about the eside the Sacoridians? Had the entire population been annihilated? What had becoht up just for Eletians" So that she could illuht she knew, the better

"Magic?" Dr Silk ed "Even in my time, we find Eletians to be very cryptic"

Dr Silk chuckled "Can’t argue with that This line of questioning is, of course, leading somewhere" He stood unexpectedly and came around the desk "Coan corrected "Or Sir Karigan"

"Coh he hadn’t heard "We haven’t all day"

She held her tongue and followed hiht her, they set off into the depths of the palace This time she paid attention--not so much to the ornamentation, unless it provided a convenient landh the hushed corridors When they caon this time, she stumbled to a halt and reht have been hostly Yates, there were corridors to either side of the fountain Yates had pointed to the one on the left It led to the prison of forgotten days She kneith that inexplicable sense of knowing Would Dr Silk take her there? The scything moon was held captive there, whatever that le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">