It turned out breakfast was in a much smaller cavern than at Ulfar, packed with little tables instead of long ones, the whole room occupied by perhaps twenty dragons, many of whom didn’t seem to know that either Anders or Lisabet was anyone unusual. Ellukka sent the wolves to sit at a table with Rayna and plunged into the queue along one wall to find them breakfast.
“Dragons move around a lot,” Rayna said as she thumped down onto a bench, then shuffled over to make room for Anders beside her. “Lots of them don’t have what they’d really consider a home, they just have a lot of different places they stay. That’s why there are cupboards full of spare clothes, guest bedrooms everywhere. There’s usually about two hundred at Drekhelm, but there’s lots more right now, because of the equinox, and because the whole Dragonmeet is here at once. Those of us in the Finskól are wherever Leif is, but he’s almost always here at Drekhelm. He arranges our meals and our rooms.”
Ellukka returned with the food, setting down a platter of buttered dark bread, slices of meat and cheese, and a jug of milk, then producing four mugs from where she’d stowed them precariously in her pockets. The four of them fell silent for a little as they ate and drank, and Anders listened to the worried hubbub around him. He caught only snatches of conversation—he heard the Snowstone mentioned, the Dragonmeet—and kept his head down.
“Today you’ll probably discuss what you’re going to study with Leif,” Ellukka said. “And you’ll meet the other six students. They’re all older than we are.”
“What are they like?” Anders asked.
“Some are nicer than others,” Rayna replied, wrinkling her nose. “And we like Mikkel and Theo best. But they’re all clever. You can see why he chose them.” The nose wrinkle gave way to a quick, dimpled smile. “Same reason he chose us. We’re brilliant.”
The others laughed, and Anders did too, a moment later. He’d been caught looking at Rayna, finding his own face in hers. He had that same dimple, he wrinkled his nose just like she did. They were both holding their slices of bread exactly the same way in their right hands, come to that, their left hands curled around their mugs.
Leif had said he believed the two of them were related, however impossible Anders had always been taught that was, and Anders was determined to believe it. To learn more andproveit. This place felt nothing like home, but he had friends and family here, and he mustn’t forget that.
He knew what he wanted to study at the Finskól—his heritage, his history, who he was.Whathe was, and what he could do. The more he knew, the better his chances of mastering his powers. Of protecting himself, Rayna, and Lisabet.
Mikkel and Theo showed up toward the end of breakfast to collect them, and the six of them made their way to class together, Rayna slinging her arm around Anders’s shoulders, which was a little tricky, because he was taller than she was. Still, it felt better than good to have her at his side again, and he felt foolish for his reaction to her haircut the night before. Itdidlook good, and just as he’d formed bonds to his pack, she’d formed bonds here. It didn’t lessen their own. As she gave him a squeeze, he noticed once again that the heat radiating from her skin actually felt good. This newfound tolerance to—even enjoyment of—heat made him a little more certain that the clue to his icefire was to be found in his ties to both wolves and the dragon girl by his side.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Ellukka burst out behind them, causing Lisabet to laugh, and the others to turn around to check on her. “I’m not wearing any harness,” she said, all indignation. “Just because dogs wear leashes, doesn’t mean dragons wear...”
Anders was having trouble not laughing at the outrage in her expression, and Rayna, Theo, and Mikkel didn’t bother trying to restrain themselves.
“Firstly,” said Lisabet with dignity, though her mouth was still twitching to a smile, “‘dog’ isn’t an insult like you think it is. We’re wolves, not dogs, but dogs are tough, loyal, and intelligent. And secondly, isn’t it just like wearing clothes?”
Ellukka snorted, turning her attention to the other dragons. “She wants me to wear a harness when I’m transformed, so she can ride me,” she informed them. “And stop laughing. Would a little support kill you?”
“We’re not allowed far from Drekhelm right now anyway,” Rayna said, fighting to keep her face straight. “But itwouldbe a safer way to all move together.”
“Why would I want to do that?” Ellukka asked. “When I got there, I’d just have a wolf with me, what’s the point?”
Rayna dissolved into giggles once more. “I’m sorry, you have to admit it’s a clever idea. It can’t be easy holding on otherwise. It might be useful for the people up here who don’t transform, or for the children who haven’t tried yet. Aren’t you worried one of them will fall off one day?”
Ellukka pushed out her lower lip, considering, as Lisabet wisely remained silent. “I suppose,” she said eventually. “Maybe.”
The conversation broke off as they arrived in the classroom. It was a largish room already occupied by a few students seated at two long tables, both strewn with books and papers left there from previous lessons. There were bookshelves down either side, packed with books, boxes, and the occasional artifact, and a tall window with an arched top stood at the end of the room, looking out onto the mountains. It was sealed with thick glass, completely transparent in some places and a little opaque in others, thick strips of lead dividing it up into square panes. Anders was caught for a long moment, staring out at the peaks that stretched away to the northwest, growing higher and higher, flawlessly capped with white snow, until they vanished into the clouds altogether.
Then a voice yanked his attention back to the room. “Are these the wolves?”
The speaker was a short girl dressed all in black, unusual in a dragon—different from the others Anders had met so far. Her equally black hair was in two long braids down her back, and her skin was a deep brown, almost a match for her dress. She looked only a couple of years older than Anders, but she carried herself as though she was infinitely superior.
She sat next to a tall, thin boy with startlingly blue eyes in a white face, and a shock of black hair that flopped over his forehead. He was about the same age as she was, and he shared her sneer.
“Anders, Lisabet,” said Ellukka, in the politest tone he’d heard from her so far—though also the frostiest—“this is Krissin, who’s studying sciences, and Nico, who’s studying mathematics.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Anders said, and as Lisabet echoed his words, he almost sensed, rather than saw, Rayna rolling her eyes beside him.
“You can sit at the other table,” Krissin told them, flipping one braid over her shoulder. Anders was only too happy to oblige.
“Yes,” said one of the girls at the other table, pushing aside some books to make a clear space. “Come on over and sit here.” She shuffled along the bench she was sitting on, her long sheet of jet-black hair, which hung down past her waist, rippling like water as she moved. She was athletically built, and looked like she had ancestors from Ohiro, like Theo did—and Viktoria, back at Ulfar. The boy opposite her had a broad grin that made it look like he’d already been up to mischief nobody knew about, tousled blond hair, and twinkling green eyes behind a pair of glasses.
“I’m Ferdie,” he said. “I’m studying medicine.”
“But really,” the girl said wryly, “he’s here because Leif realized he charms everyone he meets, so he thought someone better teach Ferdie how to lead, since he’s bound to be in charge one day.”
Ferdie simply laughed but didn’t deny the charge. “And this is Bryn,” he said, pointing to his companion. “Languages. All of them, as far as I can tell.” He pointed farther down the table at a girl with very pale skin, a tangle of curly brown hair, and a smudge of grease on her nose, who was bent over a small contraption, ignoring the rest of the group. “And that’s Isabina, our mechanic.”
Isabina lifted a hand to wave a greeting without looking up, carefully moving a cog into place with a pair of tweezers.
