CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE Maren

Sev let go of the sword The tyrant’s body lay still, and I could not look away. Strange, how terrible that man had been in life—how much he had laid waste to. How terrified I had been of him. And in death he was just like any other human. Empty.

We had done it. We had killed the emperor of Zefed. We had toppled the tyrant and freed the dragons. I should have felt utterly elated, but instead I couldn’t catch my breath. My body was trembling, on the verge of collapse.

Sev walked toward me, his hair catching the light as he passed underneath a torch. Should I have gone to him? I could do nothing other than stand with my hands at my sides, watching him come to me, his eyes intense and fixed on my face. And then he was standing in front of me.

“Maren,” he said hoarsely, and then his arms were around me, and I was hugging him so tightly, it was as though I was afraid the world might come apart if I let go. He pressed his forehead against mine, and we breathed together until my heartbeat evened and slowed.

“I was so afraid,” I whispered.

“You never showed it. You saved me.” He drew back abruptly. “What happened to Vix?”

The emperor’s dragon. “He’s dying,” I said, a lump forming in my throat. I had failed him—though I’d been able to sense his consciousness, it was clear that the emperor had ruined him through long years of cruelty. When I’d returned to the garden, he’d collapsed again, too injured to get to his feet. I’d watched his labored breathing as the fires burned out around us, helpless to ease his suffering.

“Perhaps your mother dragon can help?” Sev suggested.

“Naava?” I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Tasia danced around our feet, impatient to greet Sev. He laughed a little and bent down to offer her a hand to sniff before he gently scratched the scales along her spine.

“She’s gotten so big,” he said, marveling.

I tried to smile, but I could not do so in this hall anymore. “Let’s go,” I said, taking his hand. “There’s nothing left here.”

It seemed wrong to walk away from this place as though nothing had happened. But there were no witnesses, no speeches to be made. That would come later. For now we walked slowly together, hand in hand, and it wasn’t until we were halfway down the hallway that I looked down at my feet and remembered.

“I dreamed of this place,” I said.

“I know—we saw each other,” he replied.

“No. Before.” I closed my eyes, remembering. “When we went to Deletev, the first time. I dreamed of standing in this hallway with you. I dreamed of—”

I cut myself off. At the time, my dream had felt transgressive and wrong. But I had done what I’d set out to do. I had rescued Kaia, and she had chosen to leave me. I was indebted to no one, promised to no one.

“What did you dream?” Sev prompted.

“I dreamed that I kissed you here.”

He nodded solemnly, but a hint of a smile touched the corner of his mouth. “A prophecy, do you think?”

He looked at me as though he truly saw me—as though he could drink me in for days and never tire of it. So I stepped forward, closing the distance between us, and kissed him.

It was impossible not to think of Kaia, but I let the flash of her surface in my mind and then disappear. Then it was all Sev’s hands framing my face, my arms around his waist, our chests against each other, and the beat of his heart against mine. Kissing Sev felt completely new, like stepping into the unknown—and at the same time like a strangely familiar culmination to a journey I had been on for longer than I knew.

Tasia chirped near us, jogging my memory, and I broke off the kiss.

Sev’s eyebrows knit together. “Are you all right? Is it Kaia?”

“No,” I said. “I told you, she—we parted ways.” I could not bring myself to say that she had left me. “I remembered, there’s something I need to do. Come with me.”

I wasn’t prepared for the sight of Neve’s lifeless body on the floor near the oubliette. By the choked sound he made, neither was Sev. “She was a friend to me here,” Sev said. “What happened?”

“Milek attacked Tasia. Neve saved us from him.”

“And Milek?”

“I… pushed him into the oubliette.”

Sev leaned over the edge, looking down at what remained at the bottom of the pit. “Good,” he said. Suddenly he looked around. “What happened to Faris? Did you see her?”

“The Aurat?”

Sev nodded.

“No. There was so much happening,” I said. “She helped you?”

Sev touched his wrist. “She gave me the key to the shackles.” There was more to the story, I could tell. But there would be time for all of that later.

“I don’t know if I can free them from the oils,” I said. These dragons were not like the others. The Talons had kept their dragons in servitude, but they had treated them like valuable tools. These dragons had been broken time and time again. I didn’t know if there was anything left underneath their pain. “But I have to try.”

“I know.” Sev walked around the oubliette. “Naava would want to know of this, surely?” he said after a while.

Of course, Naava. In the midst of our struggle in the palace, the larger fight had flown from my head. I listened. There were no more dragon screams in the sky.

“Come outside,” I said, taking his hand.

The palace grounds were still deserted. And though there were sounds of small skirmishes in the distance, the battle in the sky was over. Now a full flight of dragons soared through the air, led by Naava… and they were singing.

Abruptly I was so homesick, a lump formed in my throat. No Verran in my lifetime had seen such a sight. And now this would be normal.

Sev put his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned into him.

“We should go out into the city—we should be helping,” I said.

Sev looked up at the sky. “Do you really think that any of us could keep fighting under a sight like that? All the fighting will soon be over, I’m sure of it. But there will be wounded fighters and civilians. And what better place to treat them than the emperor’s own well-stocked palace?”

So we opened the palace doors, and soon enough, the citizens of Irrad began to trickle in. We told everyone we spoke with what had happened within these walls—though most did not believe it until they had seen the emperor’s body for themselves. After that the word spread like wildfire, and as the day wore on, the palace was crowded with people eating and talking and resting. Sev walked among them all, offering words of comfort and encouragement. Soon it seemed he knew every single one.

The dragons flew for hours, but eventually I could not ignore the cries of the imprisoned dragons any longer.

Naava, I need you, I called. Then I returned to the oubliette and sank to the floor, my legs wobbly. I reached within myself and sent down not the strident song that had freed the other dragons but a Verran lullaby that calmed those that were trapped in the pit below, soothing them into slumber. Naava would be here soon. She would help them better than I could.

---

There was a voice calling my name. I opened my eyes to find a blurry figure standing over me—I blinked, and the figure resolved into Sev, standing next to Tovin. I turned my head and found a small force of Seratese fighters behind them, Davina among them.

“You made it,” I said.

Tovin smiled, though it was clear he was exhausted. “You promised me that you would be on the back of a dragon, not—” He waved a hand, indicating the wreckage that surrounded us.

“Couldn’t be helped,” I said.

“And are you the person to thank for turning the emperor’s palace into the town square?”

“That was Sev’s idea,” I said.

“And the emperor?” Davina asked.

“Dead,” Sev said flatly. I looked over at him. He must have been feeling more than he was letting on, but his face was expressionless.

A flurry of emotions crossed Tovin’s face. “The battle is over. We are at peace, but the Seda Serat require a formal treaty to avoid future… unpleasantness. Who can they negotiate with?”

“We can negotiate,” a familiar voice interrupted smoothly. “We have a ruling council already in place.”

I looked past Tovin to find that somehow, impossibly, Rowena ben Garret was standing in the doorway.

“You received my message?” I said, at a loss for what else to say.

Rowena looked at me. “Yes. Although I have to say it was poor form, reneging on an agreement only a few days old.”

“There were circumstances that couldn’t be helped,” I said defensively.

“Rowena,” Sev cut in. “Thank you for offering your council, but we cannot accept.”

“No?” Rowena arched an eyebrow. “You were begging for my help just a few days ago. Here we are, having fought against the emperor’s army at your behest. Don’t forget that I know very well that you led our operative into a trap. I don’t know what games you’ve been playing here in the emperor’s palace, but we have earned the right to take part in planning the future of this empire.”

“You’ll have a part,” Sev said. “All the small kingdoms will participate, Oskiath included. But I will negotiate with the Seratese on behalf of Zefed. Maren will advise on behalf of the dragons.” He spoke confidently, and I was suddenly reminded of the act he’d pulled on our way out of Deletev, fooling the Aurati at the gates. Despite his time on the run, he still wore the mantle of royalty with ease.

“Strong words for someone with no army to speak of,” Rowena said.

“I am the rightful king of Ruzi, and the person who killed the tyrant,” Sev said hotly.

A rumbling voice swept through my mind. I have come, Naava said.

I smiled sweetly at Rowena. “And have you looked to the sky? Because you will find that Sev has the support of the dragons.”

Rowena looked incensed. She took a step toward me, but Davina barred her way. Tasia planted herself in front of me and hissed, baring her fangs. It was clear she remembered Rowena.

“This is ridiculous. You’re a peasant with no understanding—”

Wind swept through the room, and Rowena turned. Naava stood in the doorway, her body barely fitting in the hall. The humans around her fell back as she entered the room. She came to my side and inhaled deeply, then snorted in anger at the sight of the oubliette. What is this travesty?

I nodded. I know. I was able to help them sleep, but I hoped that you would be able to free them. I couldn’t do it.

Her wings rippled in anger, but she nodded. And what else is happening here? She looked around at the humans that surrounded her.

The tyrant of Zefed is dead. The humans must decide who will take command of the empire. I hesitated before I spoke again. Will you lend your support to my friend? We want to remake this land.

Naava sniffed. The heartmate you came to save? We will support him. But tell them to find somewhere else to plot. I must see to these— The sound she made was mournful.

The emperor’s dragon, Vix, is also injured. He is in the garden.

The great dragon shook her head. That one has already passed from this world. She approached the oubliette and folded her wings, settling down on the far side of the pit. Now tell the humans to leave.

I relayed the message to the group. Rowena had the good sense not to argue with Naava, who bared her fangs for emphasis. The humans filed out of the room, leaving only Naava, Tasia, and me standing over the oubliette.

Softly, Naava began to sing.

It was a quieter sound than the song she had thrown across the skies today, and it cast chills over my skin. I should have been happy that Naava was here, but I was suddenly afraid. What if she couldn’t help them? When Naava looked up at me, I knew my fears had come true.

It is as I feared. They are too far gone, Naava said. You have done the best you could. Take the kit with you now—this is not for you to see.

A sob lodged in my throat. These dragons had done nothing wrong. They’d been mistreated their entire lives, and there was nothing I could do to help ease their passing. All I could do was stroke Tasia on the nose and retreat from the courtyard, leaving Naava to her task.

Her words followed me into the hall. You have done well, daughter of dragons. Be proud.

I wasn’t so sure, if this was what had come of it.

“Maren.”

I knew that voice—I had feared I would never hear it again. I turned around. Kaia.