Andrew’s mind whirled. He hadn’t expected enthusiasm, and he’d known hostility was a possibility. But he’d thought they’d have more of a chance to explain themselves. “We’re not your enemies!” Andrew said, taking a step forward. The soldier’s eyes swung to him, and a few gripped their spears tighter.

  “That is what you said before, and look where it’s gotten us,” the commander replied. “What land do the Grealish want to take this time? The mountains? Our river lands? The northern coast? No, I for one will not let you conquer us with your new sorcery.”

  Andrew tried to think of some response. All three of the major nations had taken land from one another over the centuries. He hadn’t realized how much tension that had created. He was sure Daniel knew. That was probably the engine he was really using to ensure their conflict. It didn’t matter so much in the Iron Valley, which had only ever needed to worry about local dragons and the Mottled roaming over the mountains. But to the people who lived near the borders, it was probably on their mind all the time.

  So no reply came to him as the commander ordered the trio bound. The soldiers stepped forward, drawing out heavy ropes.

  Jarnvaror growled. The dragon’s head lowered until it was next to Peter, his teeth bared and his golden eyes flashing. Andrew saw the men hesitate. Perhaps they’d thought that Jarnvaror would be tame because they’d saddled him.

  “Calm down, Jarn,” Peter said. “We’re just going to be staying with these guys for a while.”

  “We should kill that, so you can’t just run away,” the commander muttered.

  Peter spun to look at him, first with a look of horror, then rage spreading over his face.

  “Bad idea,” Andrew managed to cut in before Peter could speak. All eyes turned to him. “Have you ever fought a dragon? It’s almost impossible without a mage, and even with one, you’d probably lose dozens of men, since this dragon knows how to recognize mages and doesn’t like them. My brother is the only thing that keeps him from going wild, but he can’t do that if you try and kill him. He’ll come with us and be calm. We won’t try and run. But it would be a mistake to try putting him down, unless you want to sacrifice dozens of men and only succeed at convincing him to fly away and come back later.”

  Everyone was still for a moment. Jarnvaror rumbled something low into the silence, which Andrew thought must be a question. But Peter didn’t reply. He kept his eyes fixed on the commander. Finally, the officer shrugged. “You will be kept under guard, and some distance from the dragon,” he said. “He’ll be able to hear you, but if you give him a command we don’t authorize, you die.”

  “Understood,” Andrew said.

  Jarnvaror gave a more insistent rumble, and Peter began explaining that yes, they would be staying, and that these people were very scared of him, so they want him to stay in a particular spot. Peter very pointedly did not look at the commander as he was talking to Jarnvaror. The commander didn’t appear to be listening anymore as he surveyed the army’s encampment, apparently looking for a location suitable for their new guests.

  “Maybe if Captain Yamada is here, we’ll still be able to talk our way out of this,” Anna muttered next to Andrew.

  “I doubt he has the authority for that,” Andrew said. “I’m sorry I had us dismount. We could have just flown off the moment we realized they weren’t interested in talking.”

  “I don’t think they would have given us the chance,” Anna said. “They would have had their bows out instead of spears. I don’t think I could have blocked the arrows.” Andrew could only grunt in reply.

  Moments later, they’d been escorted to the edge of the camp, where a wide area was cleared away for the dragon to lay down, while a large group of guards stood around the trio, ready to act if anyone made a sudden move.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The dragon seemed nervous around the crowd of soldiers. His eyes kept flicking back and forth, his tail twitching like a cat’s. He would hum something, and Peter would answer, usually explain what something was for the dragon, but a few times telling him not to worry and that the three of them would be fine.

  The biggest point of concern came when the commander had their wrists tied to stakes in the ground. Jarnvaror gave a loud growl at that, an unmistakable warning.

  “Tell him to stop,” the commander insisted.

  Peter didn’t look at the commander. He kept his eyes fixed on Jarnvaror. “Don’t worry, Jarn. They’re just scared, like I told you. This helps them feel safer.”

  “Stop telling the dragon we’re cowards!” the commander barked.

  “That’s the only reason he’s letting you do this,” Peter retorted. Andrew winced worried that the commander might retaliate at the insult. Jarnvaror chose that moment to snort, turn to the side, and yawn. Apparently, Jarnvaror’s toothy profile was enough to convince the commander that Peter was right. He said nothing more to the trio as he gave his guards instructions for keeping watch on them.

  Andrew sighed, kneeling on the ground next to his stake. He had enough slack in the rope that he could shift position, but he couldn’t separate his hands at all. He glanced at Anna. “Any special insights?” he asked gesturing to her own bound wrists as best he could.

  Anna shook her head. “I had them pull back so I could seem a bit more genuine,” she said. “And… well, Halcyon’s probably the only thing keeping me from panicking, now.”

  “Yeah,” Andrew muttered. “Looks like we’re going to be here for a while.”

  “I don’t know,” Peter said. “Maybe they’ll get tired of having us here before they move on. Then we’ll just fly away.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to work, young Wisp Seeker,” one of the guards said over his shoulder. “Your best chance would be on a petition from one of us to the king. Some of us remember your service, both in the north and with Nordar.”

  Andrew turned. The voice was vaguely familiar. It was Anna who seemed to recognize the speaker first, because she said, “You were one of Captain Yamada’s Vice Captains, weren’t you. Ban, right?”

  “You remember, miss Anna. I am pleased,” said the soldier. “Yes, I served as a vice captain for Yamada Shigeru on our expedition to the frost lake. Vice Captain Lee told me about what you did when the Nordarin prince came at the coast.”

  “Is Captain Yamada here?” Andrew asked.

  “He is serving on the king’s personal guard,” Ban answered.

  “Is that nearby?” Andrew asked.

  “The king marches to the border with us. The plan was to see the army off. But we have been waylaid by these Wisp users.” The other guards shuffled their feet at the mention of the Wisps. Some cast looks at the three of them, and at Anna in particular. Andrew couldn’t tell through the visor, but he got the impression that they were in equal parts fearful and accusatory.

  “You shouldn’t be talking to the prisoners, Lieutenant,” said one of them. He sounded rather young.

  “These three are not the enemy,” Ban replied. “Captain Yamada trusted them, and they did not lead him wrong.”

  “But the story is they fled, giving the Grealish Matron the excuse she needed to start the war.”

  “She’s being manipulated by Chancelor Daniel,” Andrew said. “He’s the one who organized the attack in Borac.”

  “We only fled to protect the king and queen,” Anna said. “He was trying to assassinate them.”

  “And pin it on everyone else,” Peter added.

  Several of the guards looked at them. Even through the visors, Andrew could sense the abject incredulity. “It’s true,” Andrew said. “We believe we know why he did it. And that’s why we’ve come. We wanted to tell your king so-“

  Andrew was cut off as Jarnvaror made a sudden movement. He rose, snorting and looking at the sky. The guards yelled and lowered their spears. The dragon ignored them. He huffed and puffed, scanning the air over head. Andrew looked at Peter, who was trying to follow his gaze.

  “What’s he doing?” Ban asked.

  “Stop him!” demanded another guard, turning his spear on Peter, since Jarnvaror clearly didn’t seem to care. This did get the dragons attention, as he snapped his head to face the man and hissed.

  “We’re still pretty close to the mountains,” Peter said. He looked at Andrew and frowned. “Sorry, sometimes I forget you can’t hear some of their long calls at all.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked the guard who’d lowered his spear. He’d raised it again, with Jarnvaror’s golden eyes fixed on him. The man trembled, but refused to back down. Andrew started scanning the sky as soon as his brother mentioned mountains. He knew what lived in the mountains.

  And there he saw it. High as it was over the forest it might have been a large bird, were it not for long shimmering tale and the massive jade wings. “That’s an emerald dragon, isn’t it?” Andrew asked. The soldiers started at Andrews words. A few looked up and saw the second dragon flying over them. They exclaimed and pointed it out to the others.

  Peter nodded. “She is. And she wants to know why we’ve stopped so close to her nest.”