Cast in Silence ***** by Michelle Sagara

Kaylin Neya’s story continues and we finally learn what she did that she is so ashamed that she has never told anyone. Previously, there were six months that she simply would not talk about. While the streets that she escaped as a child are not the ones she has vowed to protect, she is sent back to the Fiefs in this book.

Where she didn’t have to face her past in the previous book, though she tries to tell Severn at one point, this book lays it all bare. The darkest parts of Kaylin become clear as has the good and light that are in her through time travel, a Test, and the people she cares for.

People who like Tiamaris, and I can’t imagine that too many people would dislike him (but that could just be because I find him brilliant), better keep reading because the ending will surprise you and make you smile in regards to him.

We get to see Nightshade as he was when he was younger, during the Dragon Wars, and it is somewhat clear that he was more like-able then. He was more open, though Barrani at any point are not wholly open, and more honest. Now the question is, can he show that side to Kaylin and if he can, what will she do about it? What is Kaylin to Nightshade? What is he to her? We know that he would accept everything that she has done because Barrani are what they are. However, an immortal and a mortal? Personally, I hope that they wind up not as lovers, but as easy friends.

We get to see Severn quietly accept everything that Kaylin has done. Where Kaylin doesn’t like to be touched, Severn is allowed to place a hand on her shoulder or cheek multiple times, to wrap his chain around her, to kiss her on the forehead, and she allows herself to kiss him on the cheek. When she is going through her past so obviously, he is the one who sees the most as he is the one who is closest to her. She doesn’t flinch away from him and he is the person she trusts most. I’m just hoping that now that he knows everything she can allow herself to fall in love. But since the two main men in her life know everything about her past now, the question is who she will choose. I hope that it’s Severn since he’s been there for her since she was five essentially and he killed to protect her.

I can’t wait until the next one comes out later this year.