Kaylein escorts Dain and me back to the castle. Cedany had been in town, treating a villager, but she joins us for the walk back.
Just inside the castle gates, we find Berinon speaking to his soldiers. I tell him I need to see my mother—urgently—and he escorts me in while telling Kaylein to take the rest of the afternoon off with Cedany. Kaylein protests, naturally, but not very hard. Cedany will need to go home soon to make sure the workers repair her cabin properly.
I burst into the council chambers to find Mom and Rhydd locked in a meeting with Trysten and the council, where they’re discussing what to do about Dorwynne, how to find out whether Geraint was right that the king is trying to buy dragons.
“Did you notice the door was closed?” Heward asks dryly.
“I let her in,” Berinon says, his voice a deep rumble. “She says she has news about the dragon.”
“About the dragon story,” I say. “A problem.”
I tell them about the trader and what he said.
“He’s going to take this story to other countries,” I say. “And he won’t be the only one. This story will not stay in Tamarel. We can’t make it stay in Tamarel. People will head into the mountains to see her—or try poaching an egg or baby. Then there are the other kingdoms, and how they’ll react. Wilmot said dragons could be used for war. What if they think that’s what we’re planning to do with them? We need to consider all this and make plans and…” I look from Mom to Rhydd. “And you’ve already thought of this.”
“I have,” Mom says. “Since it concerned a monster, I should have brought you into the discussions. I planned to do that soon. For now, I wanted you to rest. You’ve had a very difficult two weeks and…” Now she’s the one catching my look. She sighs. “And I made a mistake.”
Heward clears his throat.
“Yes, I’m admitting to my child that I made a mistake,” she snaps at him. “I have my way of parenting, and you have yours. As the royal monster hunter—”
“Elect,” Heward says. “Rowan is the royal monster hunter elect until she passes her trials.”
Mom continues what she’d been saying before he interrupted. “As the royal monster hunter, Rowan should have been told what was under discussion. As for her trials, she has already been to the mountains. Twice, if you include the gryphon’s lair.”
“That was the foothills,” Heward says.
“Either way, I believe she has fulfilled the spirit of her trials, if not the exact requirements. Yes, Heward, she was supposed to go alone. But she went into a dragon’s den. Twice. She survived multiple encounters with monsters, all made more dangerous by their panic over the dragon.”
“Rompos,” Berinon says with a grin. “She was attacked by rompos. I believe that’s a first for any monster hunter.”
“Proving, I believe, that she has endured more than would have been expected of her in any trial, and therefore should be recognized as the royal monster hunter.”
“No,” Heward says.
I swear Mom’s teeth grind as she turns to him. Even Berinon’s eyes blaze, belying his stone-faced expression.
“She has not fulfilled—” Heward begins.
“Fine,” Mom says, throwing up her hands. “Fine. In the midst of this dragon crisis, we’ll send our royal monster hunter on a solo camping trip to the mountains. She can lounge by the campfire and enjoy the peace and quiet, now that all the monsters have been scared out of the area. That is a perfect use of our resources.”
“Mariela is right,” says a voice. It’s Liliath, my great-aunt. “Sending Rowan off on what will now be a simple mission is not the proper use of our royal monster hunter, not while we have this diplomatic issue involving a monster.”
“Then Rowan can wait until another year—” Heward tries again.
“No,” Liliath says. “We need our royal monster hunter. I propose that we strike down two birds with this one stone. We send an envoy across the mountains to explain the situation. Rowan will join the expedition. As the person who has seen the dragons, she can argue most eloquently on their behalf. Rhydd will also go, as his first diplomatic mission.”
Mom tenses but doesn’t object.
“That will be Rowan’s trial,” Liliath says. “Escorting the envoy through the mountains and helping convince our neighbors they are in no immediate danger from ‘our’ dragons.”
Liliath turns to the council. “Shall we vote?”
They do, and they agree. Rhydd and I are going across the mountains. Together.
