Page 110

“If you have all that power, what do you need me for?” Naî asked.

“I might be the One Dragon, but I haven’t mastered all of her powers yet. I have no idea how to shift into my dragon form here in the mortal realm. I could do it in the temple of the animalia, but here…” I looked up at her. “Naî, we need to go to Forsaith so that I can use the powers I have been given to save the people there, to grow life where there is only death. Will you help me?”

Naî sighed, the breath flowing out of her in a long stream of air. “Fine, but even I cannot fly the distance in a single day.”

Tallu called everyone who needed to know where we were going together.

“We are going to Forsaith. Prince Airón has received a gift of powers from the animalia, and we wish to test the extent of them.” We had both agreed that no one could know what I was until we were certain I could use all of the powers given to me.

The response was expected. General Saxu and Sagam were aligned in their worries over Tallu’s safety and their concerns about the logistics of the emperor crossing the Imperium to Forsaith. Koque stayed quiet, but I could see her mind working as she considered the political ramifications. Tallu’s servants fretted over their ability to maintain his standard of care while traveling to yet another conquered nation.

Tallu held up his hand. “We will be traveling by dragon, and will only stay long enough to test Prince Airón’s powers. We will return within a few days. We do not need to bring the entire convoy. We do not need to take everyone with us. In the meantime, General Saxu, I ask that you bring our remaining men and any of our other allies to one of the strongholds House Atobe has maintained. We will need to return to the Mountainside Palace or find somewhere else to hold court eventually. Now that our enemies have been defeated there is no reason for us to let nobles and courtiers run wild with what rightfully belongs to us.”

General Saxu nodded, but I could see his cheekbones standing out as he forced himself not to ask any more questions, to keep hold of his discontent.

“Even if you are only gone a few days, I must insist that you take some Dogs with you.” Sagam was not about to let go of Tallu’s safety with as much grace as General Saxu. “Asahi and I have been to Forsaith. It is not safe for anyone, even Your Imperial Majesty.”

Tallu frowned, the slightest twitch of his brows pulling together as he glared at Sagam.

“This is an order from your emperor,” Tallu said.

“The nation of Forsaith is dangerous,” Sagam repeated. “It is filled with criminals and monsters that were let loose when we killed their masters.”

“Do you doubt me?” Tallu asked.

“Never.” Sagam lowered himself into a bow, forming a triangle with his fingers. “Do you doubt me, Your Imperial Majesty?”

The words might have been considered a challenge by anyone else, but Sagam had only ever been loyal to Tallu, even when Tallu gave him no reason to be.

“We can fit two additional men with us,” I said, although Naî was not going to like it. I had seen her at full size, and we could fit more than that. But two men was a compromise, and having grown up a twin, I knew the power of compromise as it most often led to us succeeding in stealing cookies rather than getting caught when we fought over who got how many.

So it was decided that Sagam and Asahi would join us, while General Saxu took the rest of our convoy, including Empress Koque and Prince Hallu, to a safer location inside the Imperium.

Tallu paused before mounting Naî, gazing back at me. Brushing my hand across his shoulders, I pushed ice magic into him, healing as much as I dared. His face firmed, and he offered me a smile, the sort of smile I could live in, the sort of smile I knew would be our future. When we were done, I was sure that we could find a place where all he would do was smile.

Once mounted on Naî, Tallu called down the last few orders and then the dragon launched herself into the air, pushing up into the sky, her wings flapping, her eyes focused on a destination. I rode in front, Tallu’s arms wrapped around me from behind. He rested his chin against my shoulder and I had to keep my hands on Naî’s back, because otherwise I would turn and wrap him in my arms.

Soon. Soon this would be done. If I could heal Forsaith, then I could do all the magic we needed to show the world Tallu was true, to show the world that he wanted peace. By the time the sun set, we were well inside the Imperium, nearly at Mountain Thrown Lake. Naî set down near a stream, burying her face in it as she drank and drank. The rest of us stretched, our muscles tired and our minds elsewhere.

“We could stop at the Lakeshore Palace,” Sagam said. “It is secure and there are some servants.”

“They will talk about us,” Tallu said. “Even well-trained servants will ask questions that I do not want to answer.”

Sagam nodded, his mouth pulled unhappily, so we camped overnight in the woods, curled around each other for warmth, with Asahi and Sagam trading shifts. I would have insisted on taking one, but I waited until Tallu was asleep and then worked ice magic on him, feeling the thrum of power pushing into his body, healing him. I was sure that somewhere in the One Dragon’s vast catalog of abilities there lay a more efficient way to heal him, but I did not want to risk it, not when we were so close to not needing to heal him at all.

The next day we flew again, and Naî seemed better as we traveled further north and the air around us grew colder. When we traveled through clouds, it was almost like traveling through frozen rain, and she made a joyous sound, dipping in and out of them until I shouted that the rest of us were not ice dragons and unless she wanted to arrive with four icicles on her back, we needed to stay above the clouds.

The smoke I had seen as a child did not prepare me for what was left of Forsaith. Naî approached barren earth, pocked by black trees still planted in the ground, charred to skeletons. As Naî flew further in, her own joy muted at the horror beneath her.

Finally, she landed. We got off carefully, still sore, still tired, although Tallu looked much better, his skin retaining its sheen, his eyes sharp as we searched for danger.

The blood mages flickered into existence, their pained expressions telling us how little they had enjoyed being dragged along at a dragon’s pace. I frowned when I only counted three. Lerolian looked away when I raised a questioning eyebrow at him. So, we had lost one more.

“We will look around,” Lerolian said, his voice low, containing none of the amusement I associated with him.

But I could feel there was nothing around us, no vibrations in the earth that would have indicated animals or people with the glow of life in their heart. Asahi and Sagam insisted on creating a perimeter by clearing the land around us, pushing away dead trees and other debris until a large open circle allowed us to see any enemies coming.

“What do you need?” Tallu asked me.