“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me,” I tell them, meeting each of their gazes without flinching.
“Yalina, there is no need for that. We are here to rescue you.” Kaelun holds out his hands in a placating gesture.
“You would harm yourself to save him?” sneers Jah’ruud.
“You would harm yourself rather than be mine?” mutters Aurelion.
I open my mouth to answer, but as the dust settles I catch my first glimpse beyond the ridge and into the valley, and what I see there makes my mouth go dry and my voice catch in my throat. “The river!”
Dropping the knife, I rush forward to the edge, staring down at the sight in front of us. The others blink. Then slowly Kaelun and Jah’ruud turn and Aurelion steps forward to stand beside me.
Below, the mighty Polara cuts a path through the valley where it splits in two—the Fynister and the Vaal. But at the point where the mother river splits, an enormous dam wall blocks the water and diverts it into a deep, dark reservoir. On one side a huge stream of white rushing water spurts into the Fynister River, flowing downstream toward Tarquenor on the coast. But on the other a tiny trickle dribbles into the Vaal. The dry banks are evidence of how high the water levels once were. What remains snakes around the ridge to our right and back toward Vathira.
“What have you done?” I whisper without looking around.
“No. There has been some error,” Aurelion says. “The dam was to be on the Fynister, not the Vaal.”
“Error?” Kaelun scoffs. “It looks more like a declaration of war to me.”
My chest tightens as if a rope has been bound around me. “War.” It is the logical response, but how many Vathirans would die in the face of Tarquenorian strength? We do not have a hope against the powerful city state. I turn to Aurelion. “Tell me you did not know about this.”
“I swear it.”
“Oh come on!” Kaelun interjects. “He set this up from the start.”
“Rhkash, believe me. I am not above making a deal to secure our marriage, but I did not stoop to starving your kingdom of water. This is my brother’s doing, have no doubt.”
I look down at the pathetic trickle of water again, at the dry riverbanks. “We must open the gate. Return the water to the river.”
Aurelion hisses. “We cannot.”
“Do not tell me what I cannot do. There must be a way.”
“Rhkash, my brother will have posted guards—”
He is cut off by a ferocious roar. Wincing, I look around to see five dragons appear out of the darkness, flying in formation. The one in the lead roars another challenge.
Aurelion growls, stepping close and blocking me with his body. “Come no closer.”
The dragons bank, looking surprised. “Who goes there?”
“Do you not recognize your prince?”
The leader makes a hand signal and they land, keeping their distance and watching us warily. “And who are these? Are they humans? Tarquenorian or aliens?”
I step forward, mustering my courage. I will not lie or hide myself when I have every right to be here within Vathiran territory. “I am Solha Yalina of Vathira and these are my friends.”
“Vathirans!” The dragons are instantly alert. The leader gestures, and they all jump forward, wings outstretched.
“Seize them!”
Yalina
“No one touches her!” Jah’ruud’s shout echoes off the dam wall and rings out around the valley, and the wind howls to life, stirring whirlwinds of dust around our feet.
“A wind spirit! An ancient one!”
