Leah peeped through the crack.
Nadira was standing over a young girl who was vomiting, her face gray and beaded with sweat. The girl clutched her belly, moaning. She vomited again and again, until she was dry retching. The acrid stench of stomach bile wafted through the air. Next to Leah, Mara heaved.
Shards, hopefully Mara could control herself. Fumbling in the dark, Leah clapped a hand over her friend’s mouth and guided Mara’s hand to her nose, so she could pinch it.
“By the Egg, that stinks,” Snake-tongue said, cleaning her fingernails with her dagger. “The poor girl must’ve eaten something that disagreed with her.” Striding to the girl, she held the dagger to her throat. “You’ll be more careful of what you eat now, won’t you?”
Pale, the girl nodded, eyes flitting to two other girls cowering in a corner.
“Take her to the infirmary. If any of you rat me out, there’ll be worse,” Snake-tongue threatened, waving her dagger.
One of Nadira and Sofia’s friends marched the girl out.
“Meeting dismissed,” Snake-tongue snapped. “Nadira, a moment.”
The other girls left.
“That went well, Sofia. What are you planning next?” Nadira asked.
Snake-tongue’s voice was filled with loathing. “I’m going straight for the Queen’s Rider.”
§
The spymaster cocked his head, frowning. Tonio had always had something against Roberto, so Adelina had been worried about coming to him with her concerns, but right now, he was listening. Adelina fiddled with a pebble in her pocket, turning it over and over.
“So, you’re telling me this has gone on for some time?” Tonio said, his eyes flitting from her to Leah and Mara. “That Sofia has been slandering the Queen’s Rider, and has abused a younger girl?”
“Yes,” said Leah, “we heard it all, hidden in a cupboard.”
He arched a slim eyebrow. “And may I ask why you were hiding in a cupboard?”
“To hear her plans,” Adelina answered for them.
“Aha, very resourceful, but also dangerous if you were found. What would your strategy have been then?”
Next to Adelina, Leah gulped. “To run.”
He nodded. “I train my dragon corps spies in a similar manner: to be discreet, but to flee should the situation get dangerous.”
Leah beamed. Mara sat up straighter.
Good. Adelina was glad the girls were being recognized for their work.
Tonio continued. “I don’t mind you keeping your ears open and reporting any more gossip or violence directly to me, however, I do not, under any circumstances, want you to play at being spies. Observe as you go about your daily duties. No more hiding in cupboards. I don’t want you to get hurt. Is that clear?”
Leah and Mara nodded.
“You may also tell Adelina what you’ve heard, but only after you report to me,” Tonio said. “Now, go about your day. Well done, girls.”
Leah and Mara went to the door, waiting for Adelina.
“I’ll be a moment,” she said. “Please tell Master Jerrick I’ll be late for archery.”
“Will do,” Mara called.
Alone with the spymaster, Adelina’s palms grew damp. She rubbed them on her breeches.
Tonio’s face was grave. “Be careful, Adelina, it’s a dangerous game you’re playing.”
Well, that was unexpected. “What game?”
“Playing spymaster with these young girls. If something happens to them, you’ll never get it off your conscience.” Lines deepened in his face.
Familiarity knifed through Adelina’s belly. They were grief lines. He was speaking from experience. Someone he loved had been hurt or died while spying for him.
“Now, what did you want to talk to me about?” His manner suddenly became brusque, as if she was a fly he wanted to brush off. This was the Tonio she knew.
Adelina straightened her spine. She couldn’t back down now. This was the real reason she’d come. “Master Tonio, I know my brother is captive in Death Valley. What is the council doing about it?”
“Nothing,” Tonio snapped, stalking to the door and opening it. He gestured for her to leave.
“Nothing?” She’d expected excuses, reasons, not just nothing. A dark pit yawned in her belly—ready to swallow her.
“What I meant was nothing at present,” he said smoothly. “We have plans to rescue your brother straight after race day.”
Adelina nodded. “Thank you.” She didn’t believe a word Tonio had just said. She’d bet a dragon’s weight in gold that the spymaster would change his plans.
Archery practice could wait. It was time to visit Erob.
Riona’s Trap
It was still dark when Kierion swung into Riona’s saddle with a bladder of blood-beet dye and his quiver on his back, covered by Fenni’s cloak. Once his feet were in the stirrups, he tucked the invisibility cloak tightly around him. It hung right over his boots. Brilliant—if anyone saw Riona, they’d think she was hunting. It wasn’t unusual to see dragons flying solo. He pulled the cloak’s hood down over his face.
Riona’s feet crunched on the snow as she headed to the front of the ledge and took off. Clouds scudded over the moon, blanketing the basin in darkness. The muted flapping of her wings was the only sound. No one else was about. He’d planned this trip well, popping by the infirmary last night to collect the wizard cloak still tucked beneath Adelina’s bed.
A chill breeze ruffled his cloak. By the Egg, it was cold, but soon enough it would be dawn and he’d be in Spanglewood Forest.
They were at the edge of Dragon’s Teeth when a lone blue guard flew toward them. Heart pounding, Kierion yanked the hood lower and hunched over Riona’s back. “Who is it?” He asked Riona, unable to see past the hood.
“Septimor and Seppi. Stay still.”
Kierion held his breath, in case he let out a cloud of fog in the cool air. Septimor’s wingbeats sounded dangerously close. Could the blue dragon sense his heart thudding against his ribs?
