‘That’s hardly a way to apologise for leaving me behind in London, isn’t it?’ she says with another smile.
‘How about an apology for letting me believe Atlas was dead?’ I spit. ‘For never telling me what you wanted me to ask the wyverns for? For demanding that I learn an impossible language?’
As my voice gets louder, I see Atlas shift uncomfortably.
And suddenly I hate him.
‘How long have you two been conspiring together?’ I sayshakily. ‘You didn’t think you could trust the rest of us, is that it? And why is that? Because you’re Hollingsworth and King, theoriginalBletchley Park rebels?’ I glare at them both, unable to keep the venom from my tone.
‘Atlas,’ Hollingsworth says with a raised eyebrow. ‘Would you care to explain?’
Atlas blushes an even deeper shade of red. ‘It’s true that I had a secret mission,’ he croaks. ‘A mission to tell you what you didn’t know about the Hebridean Wyverns, and why they were the key to winning the war.’
‘Then why didn’t you?’ I say. I turn to Hollingsworth. ‘Why didn’t you sendmea dracovol?’
‘Because you needed the information fed to you slowly,’ Hollingsworth says without flinching.
A low laugh escapes my lips. ‘I’m sorry?’
Hollingsworth stands up. ‘You know now that wyvern echolocation has the capacity to save us from the Prime Minister and her Bolgoriths, yes?’
‘So Atlas keeps saying,’ I reply. ‘How? And why didn’t you tell me that back in London, instead of telling him?’
‘My plan was to inform you gradually, Vivien. That is why I didn’t send you to Canna straight away, and why I was devastated when I found out you had been arrested and taken here.’
I frown and Hollingsworth folds her hands together, her silver rings glinting in the candlelight.
‘What you went through at Bletchley Park was dreadful,’ she says. ‘I know the bravery it took to refuse to translate echolocation for the Prime Minister, how difficult it must havebeen to see the truth about who she is and change allegiances, so to speak. At the time I had recently confirmed what I had long suspected to be true – that the echolocation of a group of Scottish wyverns could help the Coalition. Except you had just learned from Chumana of the danger that the human exploitation of this hidden tongue poses to dragons. So how could I then ask you to do exactly that in the name of the rebels you only barely trusted?’
‘I sure as hell didn’t expect you to be the one advocating for it,’ I say icily. ‘I told Atlas that you would never endanger dragons in such a way. You, the leader of the Human-Dragon Coalition.’ I look at Atlas, who is still staring at the floor. ‘It seems I was wrong.’
Hollingsworth nods as if agreeing with me and I feel my mind spinning out of control.What is going on?
‘I knew you wouldn’t take kindly to the idea. So I had Atlas feed you the information piece by piece, so that you might come to a gentler realisation of why this unexpected new avenue is crucial to winning the war. Of why I sent you to communicate with the wyverns in the first place.’
I blink.
Feed me the information?
Atlas looks miserable.
‘What . . . what do you mean?’ I breathe.
‘I told you, back in London, about how Bulgarian dragons communicate primarily in echolocation, did I not? That is why they speak fewer tongues than most dragons, why their fighters are sorted into bonded family groups. That sounds a lot like the Hebridean Wyverns, doesn’t it? When my spiesinformed me Wyvernmire was in possession of a loquisonus machine and that you had escaped with it, I had Atlas suggest you use it to listen to the wyverns. And then I told him where Clawtail’s grave was, so he could take you there.’
I stare at him, my whole body hot. He doesn’t move, doesn’t look at me.
‘How did you communicate?’
‘I assigned the secret mission to Atlas before he was sent to Canna,’ Hollingsworth says.
‘And she sent a dracovol telling me to keep the loquisonus machine close, which reached me when we were searching Canna House the first time,’ Atlas says. ‘Then I stole Serena’s radio in the tunnels and got a signal—’
‘Which is how you knew about the grave,’ I finish weakly. I look at Hollingsworth. ‘You’re the one who wrote that memory scroll? How do you know the wyverns can heal humans?’
‘When I received warning from Clementius that Guardians were on their way to my offices to arrest me, I was able to escape and begin the journey to Canna. I knew how angry you would be when you found out about Atlas’s second mission. And I wanted to be the one to tell you the full truth myself.’
‘The full truth?’
