‘But you’ve known for a while that itisa language,’ I insist. ‘Because Dr Hollingsworth told you so. That’s why you sentherto my house to recruit me, and not Dolores Seymour.’
Wyvernmire raises an eyebrow.
‘Only someone fluent in a language is qualified to vouch for another person’s fluency,’ I say. ‘Just because someone can attempt some convincing Wyrmerian sentences doesn’t mean they have the correct accent, the understanding of the nuances and implications linked to the culture of that language. There was no way Dolores Seymour could have judged my mastery of dragon tongues when she doesn’t speak any herself.’
Does Wyvernmire know that Hollingsworth sent me my mother’s work?
‘The Bulgarians referred to it as a code, so that is how it became known,’ Wyvernmire says.
‘The Bulgarians?’ I say.
I’m not going to let her know that Dr Seymour told me about the Bulgarian humans’ study of echolocation, the one that got them all murdered. My guess is that she was never supposed to reveal that particular knowledge to her recruits.
‘I’m afraid it was their great progress in learning echolocation that drove their fellow countrydragons to massacre them,’ Wyvernmire says. She watches me closely and I try to feign surprise. ‘Hence why we are so very careful about keeping your work in the glasshouse a secret.’
‘Butyouknow echolocation is a language that comes as naturally to the dragons as breathing. So why do you still call it a code? Is it to make it sound more dangerous?’
‘It might as well be a code, seeing how far we are from understanding it,’ Wyvernmire says coldly, her peaceful demeanour suddenly gone. ‘Now, are you here to tell methat might have changed?’
‘I’m starting to understand its … variations,’ I say. ‘But it’s going to take longer to learn than we thought. It’s not just learning one language. It’s more like learning several.’
‘There are several echolocation languages?’ Wyvernmire says.
‘I believe so, yes.’
‘And how different are they from each other?’ She sits back in her chair, her forehead suddenly creased.
I pause. If I tell her, then there’s no going back.
‘Well?’ she says. ‘Are they as different as French and Dutch?’
‘No,’ I say quickly. ‘They’re similar. They all stem from one universal language, like …’
‘Yes?’
‘Like dialects.’
Wyvernmire stands up and begins pacing the floor.
‘Hollingsworth, Seymour, they must have known this—’
‘No!’ I say. ‘They didn’t. I only discovered it because my mother was studying dragon dialects related to spoken tongues, and I realised echolocation could work similarly.’
‘We don’t have time to learn several echolocation dialects.’
‘Prime Minister,’ I say, ‘you have the entire Academy of Draconic Linguistics at your disposal. If you recruit some of its linguists, I’m sure they’ll decipher the dialects in no time.’
Wyvernmire shakes her head. Two bright red splotches have appeared on the soft skin of her neck.
‘Three months was never going to be enough,’ I say. ‘But five years could be—’
‘Five years?’ Wyvernmire spins round to face me, her expression dark with fury. ‘We barely have five days.’
Five days?
‘The situation has become urgent,’ Wyvernmire says. ‘An increasing number of Queen Ignacia’s dragons are abandoning her to join the rebellion. I have already made contact with Borislav.’
‘Borislav? The Bulgarian dragon I translated for?’
