left him constantly editing his thoughts, especially if he was tired or distracted. Catch Chapelion in the wrong state of mind, and a conversation that should take but a moment could turn into an hour long ordeal.
'I understand your meaning,' Vulpine said, hoping to regain control of the conversation. 'It's early; you'll find the correct word after breakfast.'
'Is it early?' asked Chapelion. He looked beyond Vulpine, his eyes taking on a dreamy cast as he saw the brightening sky. 'Once more we've worked through the night, it seems. Events continue to build faster than we can respond to them.'
'Events?'
'Word of the massacre of Shandrazel's armies at Dragon Forge has now reached all the sun-dragons.' Chapelion motioned toward the maps. 'In the absence of a king, all sun-dragons who control the various provinces are renouncing the shared defense treaties that had been signed during Albekizan's reign. The kingdom is now full of sun-dragons who imagine they alone are worthy to sit upon the Dragon Throne. Full civil war awaits, I fear, unless we preemptively place a sun-dragon on the throne who is strong enough to dissuade challenges. Unfortunately, no worthy candidate has emerged. Albekizan's eldest son, Hexilizan, made a brief return to the palace several weeks past, but hasn't been seen since. If we could locate him, perhaps he would accept the crown.'
'Why bother?' asked Vulpine. 'We both know that the High Biologian is the true power behind the throne-though Metron in his dotage certainly lost control of Albekizan, and Androkom was a disaster with Shandrazel. I assume your presence on the throne indicates Androkom has been dealt with?'
'Yes. Androkom is currently… hmm… shall we say, on sabbatical? Yes, that sounds acceptably diplomatic. In his absence, the Matriarch has appointed me acting High Biologian. In addition to the support of the valkyries, I have the loyalty of the aerial guard and the remaining earth-dragon contingents here in the palace.'
'Why bother appointing a puppet? Declare yourself king and be done with it.'
Chapelion shook his head. 'We sky-dragons operate best as the power behind the throne. Sun-dragons aren't to be trifled with. Whatever their intellectual deficiencies, they're still the largest winged predator the earth has ever seen, and they…' Again his voice trailed off. He seemed to be looking inside himself, as if searching for the right word, but when he spoke again, it was to correct something he'd already said. 'Perhaps the phrase 'intellectual deficiencies' reveals my own prejudice. In truth, by any objective standards, sun-dragons may be our intellectual superiors. Their brains are much larger, after all. It's an overly comforting fiction that we sky-dragons embrace to think that sun-dragons aren't our equals. It's led to our underestimating them in the past.'
'I'll take your word for it,' said Vulpine. 'You've educated the sons of many prominent sun-dragons; I'm certain in the university they show promise. But I deal with sun-dragons in the real world; they call on me when they've failed to keep their slaves under control. Most strike me as self-centered and slothful.'
'Many are self-centered,' agreed Chapelion. 'But slothful? One sun-dragon alone disproved that notion. Did you know that, when I was but a young lecturer, one of my students was Blasphet himself?'
'The Murder God?' said Vulpine.
'The same. Though, back then, he hadn't yet turned to his murderous path. I remember him well. Blasphet possessed a genius that surpassed any dragon I've since met, of any species. He could read the thickest of tomes in the span of a few hours and recall the most minute details. What's more, he was quick to make connections between the things he learned; as a student he possessed an understanding of anatomy and chemistry that was unrivaled. The world lost a great mind when he was killed.'
Vulpine swayed backwards on his hind-talons. Praise for the hated Murder God was like a slap across his snout. 'Blasphet died invading the Nest! He was attempting genocide against our race! How can you proclaim him a great mind?'
'By choosing my words carefully,' said Chapelion. 'I didn't claim that Blasphet had a kind heart. I'm aware, in retrospect, that his intellectual pursuits were driven by his darker urges. He became an expert botanist to identify the various poisons produced by plants; he excelled in chemistry because it gave him the tools to extract and refine these poisons. He understood the detailed workings of the anatomy of dragons and humans primarily because it gave him insight into the most effective tortures. Most impressively, he was a keen student of the mind-his insights into psychology allowed him to manipulate humans to such a degree that they worshipped him as the Murder God. Yes, in his passing, the world was rid of a monster. Still, I mourn the loss of the knowledge he possessed. If he'd ever wearied himself of murder and turned his attention to writing down all that he knew, he could have advanced many disciplines by decades.'
'Hmph,' said Vulpine. 'I'll leave you to ponder timelines that involve 'if' and 'could.' I'm more focused on here and now.' He glanced down at the map. He unslung the metal tube he'd captured from Jandra, and thrust the end of it to a piece of parchment on which a small city by a river was circled in thick red lines. 'Dragon Forge is the most urgent threat we face, Chapelion. I'll leave you to deal with politics. You can send diplomats to the abodes of the various sun-dragons and flatter, bribe, or deceive them into obeying you. But if the human rebellion spreads beyond Dragon Forge in any meaningful way, the entire fabric of the kingdom will be rent.'
'Agreed,' said Chapelion. 'This adds urgency to my desire to select a new king. A strong army can…'
'Respectfully, sir,' interrupted Vulpine, 'you make a grave mistake if you wait for a new king to deal with this problem.'
Chapelion shook his head. 'You overestimate the threat these rebels pose. They only command one city; it is far from the abode of any sun-dragons. They can't spread their power far.'
'It's not power I fear they will spread, but chaos,' said Vulpine. 'As I journeyed here, I saw many human towns abandoned. I see that the Free City is occupied, I assume by human refugees. If this unrest lasts into the spring, it will threaten the food supplies of the dragons. If no planting is done by humans, famine will spread through the land.'
'What would you have me do? The rebels at Dragon Forge are said to possess a new type of bow that repelled an army of sun-dragons and earth-dragons.'
'Give me command of half the aerial guard and a contingent of valkyries. Allow me to access the king's treasuries and buy back the loyalties of the earth-dragon soldiers that currently roam the kingdom as bandits. We need to establish a complete blockade of Dragon Forge.'
Chapelion nodded thoughtfully. 'You've always possessed a better strategic mind than I have, Vulpine. I've been so occupied with politics I've paid little attention to the human uprising.'
'Right now humans around the kingdom are learning of the humans' little victory. Instead of allowing this news to spread hope of rebellion among the humans, it's important that humans shiver with horror when they hear the words Dragon Forge. Humans are creatures of habit; they fear change. As long as they are kept relatively content, we control them because they have a difficult time imagining life any other way. Let Dragon Forge remain in human hands for long, however, and soon every last man in this kingdom will be embracing the romantic notion that he's a heroic rebel. It's a vision that infected Shay, after all, and you were certain he'd never betray you.'
Chapelion sighed as he stared down at the map. He nudged his glasses further up his long face. His brow wrinkled as his eyes focused on the iron rod in Vulpine's fore-talon.
'What is this device you carry?'
'That's an excellent question,' said Vulpine, lifting the instrument. 'I took this from Shay. Jandra killed Balikan with an identical weapon. The device produced a loud, focused explosion that propelled lead pellets at an unimaginable speed. Balikan's head simply vanished. You are more the historian than I am, but I suspect this may be something that hasn't existed in this world for centuries: a gun.'
'By the bones,' Chapelion said reverently, reaching out to take the weapon. 'The secret of manufacturing gunpowder vanished ages ago.'
Vulpine held up the belt he'd taken. 'This contains cotton pouches filled with black powder. I can identify some of the components by smell; I imagine Bazanel at the College of Spires can make short work of the recipe.'
Chapelion turned the gun over and over in his claws, studying the firing mechanism, sniffing at the barrel. 'The scale pattern in the steel is curious. Could it be evidence that it was manufactured by a dragon?'
Vulpine shook his head. 'Since the steel is of recent origin, and since Shay's trail took him to Dragon Forge, I can only deduce the rebels at the foundry produced these.'
'This is horrible,' said Chapelion. 'It was reported that they possessed a new type of bow. I didn't expect that they'd manufactured something like this.'
'And they didn't expect us to capture one so quickly,' said Vulpine. 'If Bazanel can reproduce the chemistry of the powder, I'm certain that valkyrie engineers can duplicate the mechanics, or even improve them. We can negate
