The words hang there, raw and naked.
He keeps going as if afraid he’ll lose the nerve. “We can’t thrive on these lands alone, only survive. The sea’s not enough to support us the way we need. The earth’s practically dead. We need the Dravari. We need this peace. But I need your people toneed us too, which is why I went digging for anything that might help us.”
He’d said something about this, but he hadn’t fully explained it. “Why didn’t you tell us all of this?”
“I couldn’t have you know that you had more leverage than me. I wouldn’t have gotten as good of a deal, and I’m the leader of my people, I needed the best deal possible,” he says, matter-of-factly.
Gareth’s mind is working. “That’s why you risked so much. Why you tried so hard for the treaty.”
Sevrin nods. “We had to give the Dravari something they wanted to save my people. So I did.”
Lucien is quiet, for once. He takes my hand, squeezes it, and looks at Sevrin with respect.
Alaric’s face softens. “You should have told us sooner.”
Sevrin’s voice is barely above a whisper. “Maybe.”
I reach for him, tangling my fingers with his. He squeezes back, hard.
We sit like that for a while, the four of us, watching the lava and our dragons. The air hums with energy, and the ground trembles every few minutes, like something is trying to break free.
“How will we know if it worked?” Lucien asks eventually.
Sevrin shrugs. “If in a few months there are baby males.” He laughs, grim and hopeful all at the same time.
“I guess it’s as easy as that,” Gareth says.
Ebron roars, and the surface of the main pool stirs, ripples moving outward as the dragons start shifting. Then, one by one the dragons start to emerge. Ebron comes out first, his black scales glowing brighter than ever, heat rippling off him in waves. Then the others, each transformed just a little, looking brighter, sharper, eyes burning with life.
Rosanthra climbs out last, steaming and glorious, and she shakes herself like a giant pink dog, spraying droplets of lava everywhere. Sevrin laughs, and for a second, nothing else matters.
Then, from over the hill a shadow moves. A dark, sinuous form, white and skeletal, slides across the dark earth on silent claws. It’s a bone wyrm, and on its back ride three Hollowborn in black armor, their faces hidden by bone-like face painting.
I tense. The others do, too. Even the dragons freeze, watching the newcomers with wary eyes.
Sevrin stands up, wipes his hands on his pants, and heads to meet them. He turns back just long enough to wink at me. “Be right back.”
He walks with a confident swagger that turns me on. He’s home. These arehislands andhispeople.
I watch him go, heart in my throat. I want this to work so badly it hurts. I want him to be the hero who saves his people. I want him to be the one who brings more male dragon babies, and the leader who secured peace between our people.
But mostly, I just want to have a long, happy life with him.
I turn to the others. “If this doesn’t work…”
Gareth shrugs. “We try something else.”
Alaric puts an arm around my shoulders. “We’re not going to let anything destroy this treaty. We’re a family. The only real family we princes have ever had.”
Lucien leans against me, warm and solid. “We won’t let anything happen to him, no matter what.”
I watch the Hollowborn reach Sevrin and slide off the bone wyrm’s back. They stand in a tight circle, heads together, words lost in the roar of lava and dragons. I see hands clasp and shoulders bump.
And I don’t speak “man,” but I think all of that is a good sign. Whatever we have to do here still, we should be safe.
With the Hollowborn.
It’s a crazy idea… but maybe not that crazy anymore.
