Cast In Courtlight by Michelle Sagara

palm out, and turned away.
    He was a Dragon, through and through. “I also know that you’ve used that power to kill. To kill quickly, yes, but also to kill slowly and painfully. I understand that the Imperial Order of Mages can at times be insular. I understand that their insularity feels like condescension. I will not even argue that it is anything else, in your case.
    “But you are playing games with something that you don’t understand.”
    “You don’t understand it either.”
    “No,” he said without pause. “And it is because it is not understood that it is feared. You’ve treated this as a game, Kaylin Neya. The time for games has passed.” His eyes were still gold, but his lower lids rose, lending opacity to the clarity of color.
    “The Dragon Emperor is well aware of what you faced in the fief of Nightshade. We do not name the outcaste, and because we do not, I do not believe it has occurred to the Emperor – or his Court – that you
can
.”
    She frowned.
    “Names have power, Kaylin.”
    “I… know.”
    “Good. It is not to light candles that I have come – and yes, I am aware of what you did with the last one – although candles are a focal exercise that even the most junior of mages must master.”
    “Why?”
    “Because it shows us that they are in control of their power, and not the inverse. And for most, it
is
a struggle. You would be an object of envy for many of the students that pass through our doors.”
    “I don’t want to pass through your doors.”
    “No. And I think it best for the Order that you never do. I will be honest with you, because it is something you understand. We – none of us who know – are certain you
can
be taught. Do you understand this? We do not know what you are capable of yet. It is to test your capabilities that we have been sent.”
    “Why didn’t they just – ”
    “Say so? It may have escaped your notice, but the Imperial Order of Mages is not accustomed to explaining themselves to a young, undereducated girl.”
    “You are.”
    “I have less to lose,” he replied quietly. “And I am aware, as perhaps they were not, of how much
you
have to lose, should we fail. Or rather, should
you
fail.”
    This caught her attention and dragged it round in a death grip.
    “Yes,” he continued in that serene voice. “Should you fail, you will be called up before the Dragon Emperor. The fact that you are, without question, loyal to the Hawks has caused the Emperor – twice – to stay his hand. I cannot think of a person for whom he has stayed his hand three times. If you cannot be trained, if you
cannot
learn to abide these classroom chores, these boring hours spent staring at an unlit candle wick, you will be removed from the ranks of the Hawks.”
    “Will I still be alive?”
    Sanabalis did not answer the question.
    “Can I ask a different question?”
    “You are free to ask anything.”
    “Who else has he stayed his hand with twice?”
    Sanabalis’s frosted brows drew closer together. “Pardon?”
    “You said you couldn’t think of a person to whom he’d granted clemency three times. That implies that you
can
think of a person to whom he’s granted it twice. I mean, besides me.”
    At that, the Dragon laughed. The sound almost deafened her, and she was glad she was in the West Room; nothing escaped its doors. “You are an odd woman, Kaylin Neya. But I think I will answer your question, since it is close to my heart.” She didn’t ask him which heart; she understood it was metaphor.
    “Lord Tiamaris of the Dragon Court.” Her jaw almost dropped; it probably would have if it hadn’t been attached to the rest of her face. Tiamaris, honorary Hawk, was so… prim and proper it was hard to imagine he could ever do anything to offend his Lord.
    “Lord Tiamaris was the last student I chose to accept,” he added. “At my age, students are seldom sent to me.”
    “Why?”
    “I am the Court of last resort, Kaylin. If I judge a mage to be