“Yes, I still know them,” said Leif. “Their aerie’s in the hermits’ caves these days.”
“Do you know where in the hermits’ caves?” Lisabet asked immediately.
Leif nodded. “I can draw you a map. But Drifa’s room is just up here.”
He opened a wooden door that looked to Anders just like all the others, checked inside, and then opened it all the way.
The room was not empty like the others had been. When the dragons had fled after the last great battle, Drifa had already gone missing, and it seemed nobody had gathered up her belongings. There was a big, wide bed, some bookshelves at the end of the room—gaps here and there suggested these had been raided—and a large chest that sat open, a few pieces of clothing still inside it.
Anders’s heart gave a little shiver. He walked into the room and across to the chest, leaning down to pick up a cloak. He held it in his hands, gazing down at the dark crimson fabric, running his fingertips over the metal catchat the neck. His mother had worn this. She had touched this with her own hands.
Rayna came up beside him and silently leaned her shoulder against his.
“Ah,” said Leif quietly. “Yes. When I told you that I had my suspicions about how you had come to carry both wolf and dragon blood, this was what I wondered. I thought—I hoped—you might be her children.”
“Really?” Rayna whispered, looking back at him. “You don’t think it’s wrong?”
Leif shook his head firmly. “My heart is glad to know my friend left something of herself behind. You should know that your mother was not a killer, Anders, Rayna. She never said it to me, but I knew that she loved Felix. I saw them working together, I could tell.”
“We know she didn’t kill him,” Rayna said.
“Do you know who did?” Leif asked quickly.
“No,” said Anders, lifting his head and making himself look around the room. “No, we don’t.”
And they didn’t know what had happened to Drifa either. He found himself keeping quiet about that. If she didn’t want her children to come and find her, he was somehow sure that she wouldn’t want Leif or anyone else to try, either.
He couldn’t see many places that a staff might be hidden, but he didn’t want to search just yet. Not until Leif had left.
Seeming to understand, Leif spoke again. “Perhaps I can find something to draw a map on for you, to show you where to find the aerie.”
“We have a map,” Rayna said, digging it out of her bag and passing it over to Leif.
“This is Drifa’s old map,” he said, his brows shooting up. “Oh, I haven’t seen this in... well, a very long time.” He opened it up and, holding a lamp close, showed them the exact spot in the hermits’ caves they should look. “You’ll see a red flag flying outside the cave mouth,” he said. “There’s a big flat spot, and that’s where you should land. Is there anything else I can tell you before I follow Saphira and Mylestom?”
“What happens if you lose control of the Dragonmeet?” Anders asked quietly.
“I don’t think it’sif,” Leif said with a sigh. “I think it’swhen.The Dragonmeet will talk all day tomorrow about how we didn’t turn up any lost weapons here, and in the old days, they’d have gone on talking for weeks after that. But some of them are getting ready to take action, and I think it could happen as soon as the day after tomorrow.”
The children were silent for a moment, stunned. They’d known things were getting worse, but... the day after tomorrow?
“What will they do?” Ellukka asked quietly.
“Attack the wolves,” Leif said, just as soft.
Anders felt sick just thinking about it. They couldn’t let it happen. “Hayn said the wolves are training,” he replied. “Everyone, even the junior students. Professor Ennar’s in charge, and she was our combat teacher.”
“Where’s the Fyrstulf?” Leif asked, his brows lifting. “Where’s Sigrid?”
“Nobody knows,” Lisabet said tightly.
“Well, wherever she is,” Leif replied, “and whatever she’s out there doing, it’ll make peace harder, not easier, that much I know. But this problem is much larger than Sigrid now. One way or another, I think we’re only a day or two away from a war. You need to act quickly. I’ll do my best to keep the Dragonmeet from doing anything foolish, but it’s only a matter of time.”
He clasped each of their hands in turn, and then took his leave, his footsteps echoing as he made his way down the hall.
The rest of them stood still, and Anders knew he wasn’t the only one wishing that Leif could stay, couldknow everything they knew, could take charge. But that was impossible, and he gave himself a shake.
“Let’s search,” he said. “It shouldn’t take long.”
