Everyone considered this in silence.
“And we’re not going to tell the adults,” Lisabet said eventually. It wasn’t really a question. It was a statement.
One by one, the other five nodded.
“They’ll just discuss it forever,” said Ellukka.
“Or use it to win,” Lisabet said. “You’re our friends, you listen to us—”
“And we understand why you want to use it to keep things even,” Ellukka said with a sigh.
“But the Dragonmeet won’t understand wanting to keep things even,” Lisabet said. “Any more than the Fyrstulf would.” Her voice was perfectly even as she spoke of her mother, though her gaze was down.
“Okay,” said Anders. “So if we’re going to find it and use it, it’s going to be all up to us.”
“I think maybe that’s what Leif means us to do,” Rayna said. “To come up with a new, creative way to solve the problem that neither the wolves nor the dragons would think of. They’re always looking for ways to win. We’re looking for a way to make sure neither side can try to fight the other.”
“Are you all in?” Anders asked.
“Yes,” said Lisabet and Rayna at the same time.
“Yes,” said Theo, nodding his head.
“I’m in,” said Ellukka.
Mikkel sighed, looking down and away, his shoulders rounding. But just as Anders’s heart was starting to thump, the other boy looked up and grinned. “Kidding,” he said. “I’m in. We have to do something, and this is the best we have.”
“Then we don’t have a lot of time to waste,” said Lisabet. “But for now we should get to bed. Let’s meet at breakfast, and we can start figuring out the map’s riddle, and work out where to find the scepter.”
Anders read out the riddle one more time, so everyone could think about it overnight, and then one by one the others trooped out to bed.
Anders and Lisabet got ready for bed, their movements slow. It had been a long day, and for Lisabet, spending so much time next to the warmth of a dragon had been difficult.
“It feels good to be doing something,” she said, as they snuggled down underneath their quilts.
“It does,” Anders agreed. “I hope it’s enough.”
“You’ve done a lot already,” she said. “More than anyone could have imagined.”
“Me?” He felt like laughing—he’d been worried and confused for weeks now. He didn’t feel much like someone who got things done.
“Sure, you,” she said. “You figured out how to see Ulfar with the mirror, made contact with Hayn, met him, got the map, and now you’ve assembled a team. We’re going to do this, Anders. Somehow, we’re going to do it.”
Anders wasn’t sure what to say to that, but as he drifted off, he felt more hopeful than he had in a long time.
Tomorrow, they’d have to work out whereblue meets blue the whole day long.
But for now, they’d sleep.
They met again for breakfast the next day, all itching to discuss the puzzle. But as if they knew exactly when they weren’t wanted, Nico and Krissin, their least favorite Finskólars, sat down at the next table, eating in silence, perfectly able to hear everything that Anders and his friends might say. They pretended to pay no attention, but Nico was glowering at his porridge from beneath his floppy black fringe, and Krissin sat with her head up, like a wolf scenting the breeze.
So Anders silently recited the riddle in his head, and tried to think over it on his own, and joined the others in casting frustrated glances at their two neighbors. There wasn’t room to move far enough from them to speak, so they were stuck waiting for another chance.
When everyone was finished with their breakfast, they rose as one to put away their bowls and plates and head to the classroom. Anders’s frustration bubbled up, and he checked over his shoulder before he whispered to his companions. “Why are Nico and Krissin even in the Finskól? They’re horrible to everyone. Leif could choose anyone, and there are things that matter more than brains.”
Mikkel answered, keeping his voice down. “Leif chooses whoever he wants, and he never explains why. There are all kinds of reasons, though. I’ve read about it in my history studies. Doesn’t mean everyone he chooses is a nice person.”
“We have theories on Nico and Krissin,” Ellukka added. “They might not be nice, but they’re really smart. Perhaps Leif would rather he knew where they were all the time, and what they were doing.”
