The scepter’s head is wedged in tight.”
A shiver went down Anders’s spine. “Well,” he said slowly. “I don’t know what it means yet, but this is it. This is how we find the Sun Scepter.”
“This is how we stop the Snowstone weakening the dragons,” Rayna whispered.
Anders nodded slowly. “This is how we keep the peace.”
Chapter Eight
ASANDERS FOLDED UP THE MAP AND TUCKED ITinside his coat, Ellukka spoke. “The Sun Scepter could change everything,” she said intently. “This is how we could end the feud forever. We dragons have never tried to start fights—it’s only ever been the wolves. This could be a way to weaken them so much we can take charge for good.Thatcould be how we keep peace.”
Anders froze. “Ellukka, no,” he said, stumbling over the words in horror. “No, that’s not what this is for. It’s not what we agreed. We agreed we were going to find a balance, a way to make sure neither the wolvesnorthe dragons were strong enough to beat each other.”
She turned to him, hands on her hips. “Why are you defending them? The wolves have wanted posters up for you, you should be on our side!”
“I’m not on your side,” Anders began, “I’m—”
“Well, you can’t be ontheirside!” she interrupted.
“I’m not on anyone’s side!”
Suddenly all three of the girls were staring at him, and he realized he’d shouted. Henevershouted.
“I think we’re on both sides,” Rayna said, for once the voice of reason. “I think we have to be, because weareboth, Ellukka.” She didn’t sound completely certain—and Anders had never seen her show the slightest concern for wolves before. But the idea of an uncle was a powerful draw. Especially one who cared about them as much as Hayn seemed to.
“Let’s talk about it when we get back,” Lisabet suggested. “Mikkel and Theo must be covering for us by now.”
They walked a little farther from the city gates in silence, until they were in a dark gully where the dragons could transform and take off without being seen. Anders and Lisabet wrapped all their layers of clothing around themselves tightly, preparing for the freezing cold of the night air.
This time there was no landscape to see below them—just black beneath and the stars above, and the feeling of flying endlessly through the night. Occasionally Anders saw the moonlight glint off a river or lake, but after a time he was too cold to really look for anything below. He retreated inside his own thoughts, going over everything that had happened that day, and everything that would happen next.
The girls landed a little ways around the mountain from the doors to the Great Hall, scrambling for purchase on the loose scree and the snow, and once they were securely in place, Anders and Lisabet slid down to the ground. Rayna and Ellukka transformed back into humans, and the four of them made their way up the mountainside together. The dragons were already looking stronger with the mountainside beneath their feet, and even Lisabet, strengthened by a day in Holbard’s cold air, looked all right.
They were hoping that they’d be able to slip through the little human-size doors unnoticed, and hurry away into the passageways of Drekhelm, with nobody the wiser that they’d been out at all.
But they weren’t that lucky. Ellukka walked carefully through the door with the others behind her. Anders was right on her heels, unbuttoning his coat, which meant that when she suddenly stopped, Anders, Rayna, and Lisabet piled up behind her—Anders got a faceful of blond plait and nearly inhaled it.
When he stepped out to see what had made her stop, his heart sank. There were her father, Valerius, and the bushy-bearded member of the Dragonmeet, Torsten, who had been so suspicious of him when he’d first met the council. The two big men were sitting together at one of the small tables around the edge of the Great Hall—the center was left clear for dragons to land in—and the remains of their dinner were lying before them. They must have come here for a chance to talk.
“Ellukka?” Valerius said, rising to his feet. “What were you doing outside at this time of night?”
Ellukka opened her mouth and closed it again, but Rayna didn’t miss a beat.
“Stargazing,” she said, from behind her friend. “It’s a beautifully clear night.”
“What?” Valerius looked from Rayna to Ellukka and back again, and beside him, Torsten snorted.
“We just stepped outside,” said Rayna.
Belatedly, Ellukka came to life. “Stargazing,” she said, nodding vigorously. She was doing a terrible job of pretending, and if Valerius couldn’t tell, Torsten clearly could.
“And why were you stargazing?” he asked, frowning behind his beard.
“Why not?” Rayna said breezily—Anders knew she knew full well what Torsten thought of at least two of them, but she’d faced down scarier people on the streets of Holbard. “It’s a beautiful night.”
“You’re not supposed to be outside after dark,” Torsten said with a scowl. “Particularly the wolves. How do we know you weren’t signaling someone?”
“Signaling?” Anders spoke up for that. “Who would we signal?”
