‘Any good leader has a contingency plan, Vivien. And when the last team failed to crack the code, or indeed provide me with any progress to build up our defence and win the war I knew was coming, I decided that depending entirely on human effort was unwise.’
I listen to the quiet ticking of the clock, trying to remember anything from that conversation with the dragon.
Tell Wyvernmire that the dragons of Bulgaria agree.
My breath catches in my throat. I shake my head, hardly believing what I’m hearing.
‘You’ve allied with Bulgaria,’ I say slowly. ‘You’re going to betray Queen Ignacia, aren’t you?’
‘Yes,’ Wyvernmire says without hesitation. ‘Unless one of you recruits can translate echolocation, build me a squadron fit for fighting dragons or find a way to breed the blighters themselves, I will be forced to confirm my alliance with Bulgaria in five days’ time.’ She sighs. ‘It wasn’t my preferred plan of action, but you have left me no choice—’
‘You’re going to get us all killed!’ I shout, jumping up frommy chair. ‘Queen Ignacia will want revenge – she’ll take out the whole country! It will be worse than this war and the one before it.’
‘Not with the Bulgarian dragons on our side,’ Wyvernmire says.
I remember it, then. That turquoise line of ink across Dad’s globe, the one linking Britannia to Bulgaria, marked with Wyvernmire’s crest. My parents knew all along.
I stare at Wyvernmire.
How did I ever admire this woman?
‘On your side?’ I say. ‘The Bulgarian dragons have no respect for humans – as soon as you’ve given them what they want, they’ll eradicate the British people, just like they did in Bulgaria.’
‘You’re wrong,’ Wyvernmire replies. ‘Bulgaria was always a threat, of course, even before the Massacre. Simply due to the sheer size of its Bolgorith dragons. That is why Britannia always sought to have the upper hand, to be well versed in Bulgaria’s dragon tongues, to have ambassadors of both species on its soil. And, in the end, we made sure those dragons were in our debt.’
‘You mean they’re only willing to help you because they owe you a favour?’ I splutter. ‘All this time, you’ve been waiting for the Peace Agreement to be broken, haven’t you? Your agreement with Queen Ignacia was only temporary, to help you fight the rebels until the bigger, better Bulgarian dragons came along.’
My head spins with the madness of it all.
‘You must have promised them something,’ I say.‘Bulgarian dragons don’t give a damn about debt. What could you possibly have promised them to make them ally with you?’
‘I’m a politician with over twenty years’ experience negotiating with dragons. You leave that side of the business to me. Please compose yourself, and tell me how many of these dialects you can speak so far. What do you need in order to help you learn faster? Name it, and you shall have it.’
I laugh. ‘Of course you’re dependent on a criminal teenager, because no one at the Academy will help you, will they? They all know, of course, all those experts in dragon tongues, about echolocation. And none of them will touch it with a bargepole, not even Hollingsworth herself, because they know what happened when the Bulgarian humans did. So am I really the only polyglot you’ve got?’
I see a flicker of fear in the Prime Minister’s eyes.
‘My mother ran for her life when the Bulgarian dragons torched her village,’ I say. ‘She watched her mother and her uncle and her cousins be eaten. It was a miracle she made it out of Bulgaria alive. They’ll do the same to your people, rebels and loyalists alike. But you don’t care about them, do you?’ I collapse back into my chair and glare at her. ‘You haven’t even said Dodie’s name.’
‘Dodie’s story is tragic, I’ll agree with you there. But she broke her end of the deal by trying to escape. My Guardians did what was necessary.’
‘Killing a defenceless girl is never necessary.’
‘Oh, Vivien,’ says Wyvernmire with a sigh. ‘You are trying to be honourable. I admire that, truly I do. But the truth isyou’re like me. You do what’s best foryou.’
I shake my head. ‘The only reason I’m here is to save my family. I don’t care what happens to me any more.’
‘Oh, but you do,’ Wyvernmire says softly. ‘Of course youwantto save your family. But you alsowantto be the girl who cracks the dragon code.’ She lets out a throaty laugh. ‘Doing what is necessary to achieve your ambitions is not an unknown concept to you, is it?’
My face begins to burn as a knowing smile creeps across Wyvernmire’s face.
‘You’ve done it once before, with your friend Sophie.’
My throat tightens.
‘Oh yes, I know all about that.’ She speaks slowly, her eyes locked on mine. ‘I got my information from that teacher who was so desperate for a place for her daughter at the University of London. Tell me, Vivien. Can you still replicate Sophie’s handwriting?’
The room spins round me and I feel my entire soul burn with shame.
