Tate looked back at the other man in confusion.
“His status as dragon-ridden prohibited him from taking the throne,” Ryu murmured.
Tate could guess the rest of the story. “He wasn’t happy about that?”
“At one time I would have said he didn’t desire it. He was in the last group to attempt the Rift before it stopped releasing dragons. He knew before he entered that taking a bonded would exclude him from the line of succession.”
Ryu shook his head, his expression pained. “Something went wrong with him, but I don’t know what. Before, I would have called him the most loyal of those who served the emperor. Thirteen years ago, he killed over a dozen palace officials and important figures in the empire in the span of one night before attempting to murder the emperor.”
And they let him live?
Thaddeus didn’t strike her as the merciful type. Was it because of some lingering sense of obligation or affection? Or was there some deeper reason for why Tyne was sent to the Deeps and not killed or relegated to Devos?
Tyne ignored them as he scanned the nobles and court officials, his gaze stopping near the emperor.
A wide smile broke over his face as he made a tsking sound. “How scandalous. I didn’t think to see you here again.” He shot a playful look Tate’s way. “I see now why you were confused before. He’s quite the tricky one, isn’t he?”
“What are you talking about?”
Tyne guffawed, bending at the waist. “You mean you don’t realize?”
“Speak plain,” Thora instructed from his position at the head of the table.
Tyne rose to his full height. “You’re still here, old man? I thought your dragon would have devoured you long before now.”
Thora lowered his chin as a dark scowl took over his face. “You mean like yours did you.”
Tyne’s playful expression disappeared. “Nonsense. I devoured my dragon. Not the other way around.”
Deep rumbling sounds came from the throats of the dragon-ridden around Tate. The eyes of the emperor’s guards turned watchful, and chairs scrapped against the floor as many of those present found their feet. No one wanted to be trapped in a room, no matter how big, with five of the most powerful lifeforms to walk the land.
The Kairi and the Silva were the only ones to remain seated, watching with the same heightened vigilance they’d had when the pontificator was trying to incite the crowd against the sleepers.
“Oh? Did that strike a nerve, my former comrades?” Tyne smirked, looking all too thrilled at the reaction he’d gotten.
We’re getting off track. There are more important things to discuss than that man’s arrogance.Night’s bearing was regal as he looked down his nose at them. A feat made all the more impressive considering he was the shortest of those present—at least when he was on all fours. When he rose on his hind legs, his height would rival Dewdrop’s.
Tate didn’t know how to classify Tyne’s expression as he focused on her friend. There was interest there but also something harder to define. Something that left Tate feeling cold and off balance.
“What are you looking at?” Dewdrop growled in a low voice.
Tyne’s attention drifted over the three of them. First Dewdrop, then Night, and last Tate. “I’m trying to figure out where you three get your confidence from, each more outrageous than the last.” Tyne shivered, his body shimmying. “I can’t tell you how excited such things make me.”
“Tate, I take it back,” Dewdrop said calmly. “Christopher wasn’t crazy. This man is.”
I’m in agreement with the idiot cub.
Dewdrop glared at the Veles. “Who are you calling idiot?”
The one with a broken arm.
“Not the time,” Tate sang. If Dewdrop and Night wanted to argue, they could wait until the slightly unbalanced dragon-ridden wasn’t in the same room as them. The one who’d already demonstrated his aptitude for killing.
“The Veles is right. The traitor’s fate can wait. We have more pressing matters to attend to,” Ryu said.
“What are you talking about?” Thaddeus asked.
Tate lifted her head to focus on the emperor. “The sleepers leaving their long sleep all at once isn’t your most pressing problem.”
