“No, this is love. War will come later.”
“Focus, you two,” Erob said.
“Marlies,” said Tonio, “tell us more about these crystals.”
“We’ve found only three so far,” the master healer said. “Sofia had a crystal, which Fleur implanted after the knife accident.” Ezaara mentally flinched. Roberto squeezed her hand as Marlies continued. “Unocco had one under his wing. And Roberto, could you please explain the effect yours had?”
His face heated. Now it was his turn to blush—but in shame. “Shadows wreathed my mind, driving me to seek Ezaara’s life.” He swallowed, remembering. “I had coherent thoughts, moments where I admired her. And surges of anger against dragons, even Erob. I could move and talk, but darkness stalked me. I … I …” He shrugged, overwhelmed by his memory of Ezaara bravely trying to distract him as his blade pricked her soft skin, blood dribbling down her throat. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply.
An image shot into his head: him and Ezaara feasting on fish by the lake in summer. “That’s what I want you to remember every time that other horrible memory pops to mind,” Ezaara said.
Hope surged inside him. With her, he could face down his darkest demons. “Thank you.”
He addressed Tonio. “Zens wanted to break me. He knew if I killed Ezaara, I’d be filled with self-hatred and be useless to the realm. It would’ve only been a matter of time until he coerced me into abusing people with my mental talents.” He shuddered.
Tonio scratched his head, looking awkward. “I personally apologize for leaving you in Death Valley, Roberto, and for the grudge I’ve held against your father. If these crystals had such an awful effect, maybe your father had a similar crystal. Zens could’ve driven him to do what he did.”
The spymaster looked disconcertingly humble. “I agree.” That was odd, too, understanding his father, instead of hating him. Gods, he had to tell Adelina about Pa.
“What about Zens’ creatures?” Tonio asked.
“I saw his workroom. He grows tharuks in tanks, hundreds of them. And he’s growing something else too. Large black creatures the size of a haystack with strange dark cloth draped around them.”
“Cloth? Like a cloak?” Tonio frowned. “Do they have tusks, like tharuks? Any horns or claws? What are their jaws like? We need to know how they can harm us.”
Gods, it was hopeless. He’d spent weeks in Death Valley and hardly discovered anything. No, he knew they were big. He knew where they were, and how to get into that cavern.
“No. You’re not going back again,” Ezaara melded.
“They were suspended in liquid in glass tanks, all curled up, so they were hard to see. I saw a flash of a horn or tusk, something that was a limb or a tail, and that strange cloth that hung around their bodies. I couldn’t risk lingering, because Zens and a whole lot of tharuks were in that cavern.”
Elbows on the table, Tonio steepled his fingers. “As big as a haystack? Something the size of Erob, then? Or Zaarusha?”
Oh, gods. “The cloth—it could be wings. A horn, a tail. Zens might be creating an army of dragons.”
“The dragon gods help us,” Lars whispered.
No one spoke, torches crackling in their sconces as they all stared at each other.
Hand-fasting
Ezaara lay in her bathtub, steam rising around her in the chill air. She huffed out her breath, the fog swirling among tendrils of steam. “I could almost pass for a smoke-breathing dragon.”
Zaarusha’s head appeared at her door. “Not by a long shot. You’d need horns and a tail.”
“And wings.”
The queen set the wood in the grate alight. Soon a blaze was crackling. “You’d better get out. Linaia’s warned me that Adelina will be here soon.”
Ezaara stepped out of the bath, dried herself, and pulled on her undergarments and a thick robe. She sat by the blazing fire, drying her hair.
The door opened and Adelina appeared with armfuls of luxurious multi-hued fabric.
“What’s all that for?”
“You.” Adelina smiled. “Don’t look so surprised, I’ve been working on your outfit since Roberto asked if you two could be hand-fasted. Although today’s come around so quickly, I can hardly believe it.” She popped the pile on Ezaara’s bed.
“The cloth’s so beautiful. Those colors look like Zaarusha’s scales. Where did you get it?”
“There are advantages to having mages in this place. Master Giddi magicked the fabric so it shimmers. He said it’s your hand-fasting gift. Now, come here and try it on. These shiny ribbons fasten the dress. See? And here …” She held up riders’ garb made of the same material. “These go underneath. The whole idea is to echo your first public flight. A similar robe and breeches, a dress over the top that you can undo when it’s time to fly, and a similar hairstyle. But better, oh, so much better.”
When she touched the silky fabric—the colors flitting through it in the torchlight—Ezaara had to agree.
Hours later, her hair in braids and coils threaded with thin shimmering ribbons, Ezaara was dressed in her elegant garb, flowing gown and matching slippers. She sat in Zaarusha’s saddle, on the ledge, her stomach a stampede of butterflies. “Do you think he’ll like it?”
“Roberto wouldn’t care if you turned up in dragonet dung.” Adelina winked, already in her own finery. “He’ll love it, trust me.”
Ezaara grinned. “Remember the first time we surprised him?”
“At your flight? It was fun to see my brother flummoxed—he’s usually so in control.”
Ezaara squeezed Adelina’s hand. “Thank you for being my friend. You mean the world to me, Adelina.”
Adelina’s eyes were bright with moisture, but Ezaara didn’t care because hers were too.
Linaia landed on the ledge, and Adelina flew off, calling, “Give me a few minutes to check Roberto’s ready.”
Dusk had come early. The
