Cast in Courtlight

## **Blurb**

In Elantra, a job well done is rewarded with a more dangerous task. And so, after defeating a dark evil, Kaylin must enter a place of deceit and treachery. A world where silk and jewels hide deadly secrets….

Kaylin goes before the Barrani High Court, where a misspoken word brings sure death. And Kaylin's never been known for her grace or manners. But the High Lord's heir is suspiciously ill and Kaylin's healing magic is the only shot at saving him—if she manages to dodge the traps laid for her.

Only to discover that the healing might turn out to be the simplest of the tasks before her…

## **Plot**

Kaylin staggers in to work after an exhausting night helping at the Midwives Guild. Her commitment to them perplexes Nightshade, who accurately predicts her lack of focus will annoy her superiors Sgt. Marcus and Hawklord Grammayre, who need all hands to help with the festival crowds and the grifters they inevitably attract. Her magic classes are going so poorly, they turn her training over to Lord Sanabalis of the dragon court, who spends much of the next few books trying to get her to learn "the shape of fire" (the True Word that encapsulates its essence) well enough to light a candle. But before their first class, she's summoned urgently to the High Halls of the Barrani Court, where she helps Teela avoid a death-trapped door, and revives younger prince Lord of the West March from a poison-induced coma by entering his mind forest, then learning and saying his true Name. He names her "kyuthe" (approximately family to a non-Barrani), and later introduces her to his brother, the heir and Lord of the Green who is not only dying but also magically compromised by someone who knows his True Name. This clarifies why the generally pro-forma lordship ceremony is dangerous this year: an actual succession crisis and war could easily start.

As she and Severn investigate who is targeting the royal family, her escort (the Barrani Andellen and Samaran from Castle Nightshade) tricks them into entering the Tower of Names, where they must pass through psychological torments of the Test of Names or die. This is the same ordeal all Barrani must endure to become Lords. After many trials, Kaylin is able to pull two True Names from the Lake of Names; she applies them to herself and Severn, and they thus emerge as both the only pair and the only mortals to have survived the trials.

Collapsing afterwards, Kaylin dreams of Lord of the Green, and realizes that he failed his trial, but his mother rescued him and kept him alive after he failed his trial. Returning to the High Halls, she feels guided to the naming chamber and beyond, where she finds not only the source of the Ferals, but many thousands of damned Barrani souls, whose pleas for release is what cause so many to fail the trials and swell the ranks, which should include Lord of the Green. As the lordship ceremony begins and ferals are released, Kaylin steps to the edge of the black pool holding the Lord of the Green, convinces him to share his name, modifies its writing slightly to release him, and with the help of formerly hostile Lord Evarrim, gets him to the garden-throne room, where the Emperor passes him the title Lord of the Green and he takes control of the wild magics, forcing the ferals back. The consort has been injured in the battle, and--supported by Kaylin and her daughter--enters a magical cave and the two Barrani women jump into a river of light: the source, counterpart to the dark river of names. The daughter emerges, taking upon herself the title of Consort; she and her brother form the core of a brighter future.

Kaylin and Severn go to the graves of the foundlings he murdered to save Kaylin and the world (Steffi and Jade), choosing to accept this as their shared history rather than forget or be divided by it.

## List of Characters

1. Marcus
2. Caitlin
3. Kaylin
4. Grammamyre
5. Tain
6. Severn
7. Nightshade
8. Marya
9. Andellen
10. Gerrold
11. Evarrim
12. Tanner
13. Sanabalis
14. Teela
15. Lirienne
16. Moran
17. Samaran
18. Quartermaster
19. High Lord
20. Jade
21. Steffi
22. Consort