CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Sev 
The door to my chambers was slightly ajar when I arrived that night, and my guards were gone. I stopped well short of the door. Had someone searched my chambers? But why would the guards be missing? Escape flitted through my mind, and I discarded the idea—with the protesters outside the gates, I knew of no other way out of the palace. Besides, I was curious about who I might find inside. I suspected that if I had a visitor, they were no friend to the emperor. Still, I wished for a weapon as I leaned cautiously around the door.
The lanterns were lit, and there was someone standing by the window—Piera.
I stepped quickly inside and closed the door behind me. “What are you doing here? It’s not safe.”
She crossed the room in quick strides, and took my hands in hers. “I had to see you. I haven’t heard anything from you, and I’m frightened. Sev, do you have a plan?”
Of course she hadn’t heard anything from me—she was the empress. It was almost impossible to get near her. “I’m working on it, I promise.”
She shook her head. “You saw Rafael burn the building. He’s seeing conspiracies in shadows—you never know who he might turn on next. Please, Sev. I have to get out.”
I squeezed her hands. “Soon, I promise. I’m not sure when exactly, but you have to be ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
Piera nodded eagerly. Then she bit her lip, looking around the room. “This is where they put you?”
I almost laughed. She truly had grown into her new station, if she could take a moment like this and turn it into a criticism of my living arrangements. “It’s a far cry better than the dungeons,” I said with a shrug.
“Of course. Of course you’re right.” She turned back to me and touched my cheek with a gentle finger. “It’s been so long. I never got a chance to tell you—I’m so sorry about what happened to your mother.”
I swallowed down the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“I’m sorry about a lot of things, actually,” she said. “Sev, will you hold me?”
She wrapped her arms around me without waiting for an answer. And then, without warning, she turned her head and kissed me on the lips.
I froze, startled. Piera’s lips were softer than I’d once imagined in my boyish daydreams, and yet… I felt nothing. None of the heated passion that had fueled my boyish daydreams. Time and perspective had changed me.
That, and the fact that I was in love with someone else.
I stepped back, taking her hands in mine. “I’ll always care for you, Piera. You know that. But—”
“I understand,” she said quickly. She laughed a small, embarrassed laugh. “I suppose I should just be grateful to have had the chance to see you again.”
I smiled at her. “When there’s something to know, I’ll send word. But you should get back now—you shouldn’t be missed.”
She nodded, smiling a bright, forced smile. “Good night, Severin.”
In the morning Idai was gone.
Their absence was barely noted by anyone except me, though I didn’t know how they had made it out of the palace, as the protests had grown into full-fledged riots.
It seemed that the Talons and the emperor’s soldiers had been unsuccessful in quelling the uproar. Curfews had been ignored, and more and more people were joining the crowds that stood, jeering, outside the palace gates. Overnight, someone had blown up a building in the noble district. But the palace walls held, and in the afternoon, the Talons set another building on fire.
Being inside the palace was eerie by contrast. I’d been woken not by the rioting, but by the sound of strings playing through the halls. Vix was a constant presence behind the throne, its very body heating the air. A group of musicians stood to the left of the throne, playing frenetically. And in the center of the hall were the dancers. Instead of addressing the protesters directly, the emperor had called for music and dancing. He was trying—unsuccessfully—to drown them out. And while Rafael’s dragon towered over the proceedings, it had the effect of making the emperor himself appear… small.
He was still dangerous, but in the way that cornered predators were dangerous. The people of Irrad had succeeded in doing something that I could not have done myself—they had changed my perception of the tyrant. I was no longer terrified of him. For the first time, I looked at him and saw someone who was within my power to defeat.
The floor rumbled under my feet. Something was coming—something big.
A green dragon burst through the door of the great hall, a Talon on its back. The music skittered to a halt, as the Talon slid down to the floor and ran to the throne. She dropped to her knees before the emperor, clearly exhausted.
“My lord,” she gasped. “The Ruzian blockade has fallen.”
Maren. A wave of relief washed over me, both for her success and for Ruzi. I barely kept the smile from my face.
“WHAT?” The emperor’s shout echoed through the hall.
“There was a girl and—a baby dragon, I think. They did something to make the dragons turn on us. Only Tove, Seku, and I made it back—the rest are… lost.”
Three Talons had escaped. I didn’t know how many had fallen, but the emperor was almost apoplectic. The hall was silent, the only noise the muffled sounds of the riot outside.
The emperor raised his hand, and the page standing at the side of the hall stepped forward. “Find Milek.”
The page took off at a run, and the great hall filled with nervous chatter. I looked around, at a loss for what to do. I should stay, shouldn’t I? I needed to look innocent—curious, even.
Someone jostled me from behind, and I spun to face the lord from Oskiath.
She grabbed my arm as if to steady me and leaned close, whispering in my ear. “The Dragons are close. Midnight tonight. Meet in the stables.”
I nodded, my head spinning. I had a way out, finally—for myself, Neve, Piera, and her son.
Within a few minutes the page returned with the Alchemist. The emperor waved him forward. “Alchemist, how fare the dragons under your care?”
The Alchemist bowed his head. “There has been progress, my lord. We are close.”
“Then I believe it is time for a test. Take one of your dragons… and set them on the streets.”
A gasp swept through the hall—the emperor had managed to shock even those most loyal to him. They all knew the same thing I did: Milek’s work was untried. And one rogue dragon was enough to burn the city to the ground.
“My lord.” Piera stepped forward out of the shadows. She set her hand on Rafael’s shoulder—he jerked away from her touch, but she spoke softly. “Such an important task should not be trusted to half-trained beasts. The fires will risk the entire city. The safety of your son could be compromised.”
I’d never seen her speak in public before. Was this how they were even behind closed doors? There were so many reasons why the emperor should not send a rabid dragon into the city with no direction. She should not be forced to cite his son to make him see that.
“Fine,” said the emperor. He looked across the hall. “Prince Vesper! Faris! To me!”
Now I was surprised. Would he order me to stop the riots? Such a request was impossible.
I followed him as he spun and retreated into the council chambers. Faris met me at the door, and I raised an eyebrow. She pressed her lips together but did not speak as she ushered me inside.
The moment the door closed, Rafael whirled on me.
“Tell me what your friend is doing to my dragons,” Rafael said softly—dangerously. “I will not ask you again.”
“I’ve never seen her turn a dragon against its Talon,” I said truthfully.
He stared at me inscrutably. “Faris?”
Even knowing what was about to happen, there was no preparing for this. Faris’s hand fell onto my shoulder, and fire ignited in my leg. I had fallen from a tree and broken it as a child—I’d forgotten about the pain until now.
“Where does this power come from? How can it be stopped?” the emperor said. I could barely hear him over the roar of torment in my head. Faris lifted her hand, and I rolled over, gasping.
“Kill her, that’s the only way,” I choked out. Just let this stop.
But Rafael wasn’t satisfied. “I am the Flame of the West, master of dragons. That power should be mine! How did she get it? Where did she steal it from?”
Faris brought her hand down once more, and then I couldn’t hear anything as the very air around me buzzed with agony.
“I don’t know! I don’t know!” I screamed. The pain was endless, undulating in waves through my entire body.
And then Faris cried out, collapsing to the floor next to me.
Rafael swore. “Get up!”
But she didn’t move, not when Rafael cursed and threatened her, nor when he picked up a chair and threw it across the room. It slammed against the wall and fell to the floor, the sound echoing across the chamber. The emperor let out a scream of rage, then kicked me hard in the stomach. I flinched, moaning in pain—I didn’t even have the strength left to cry. “This isn’t over,” he said. Then he stalked out of the chamber, slamming the door behind him.
It hurt to breathe, and I was certain that I would vomit if I moved too quickly. I turned my head gingerly to look at Faris.
She lay almost motionless, staring up at the ceiling. I didn’t mind not moving, not as long as the floor was cool and quiet. But after some long minutes of silence, she cleared her throat. “You win, little prince. I’ll help you.”