He could tell that at least half the Dragonmeet didn’t believe him, and all of them were studying him closely. Except for Ellukka’s father, who pointed at Rayna. “What about you?” he asked. “If you really are his sister, can’t you do it?”
Rayna shook her head. “I can’t even breathe a spark, Valerius,” she said. “Leif’s been trying to teach me.”
Lisabet turned to look at her. “Maybe you will be able to do it too,” she mused. “If you can’t make flame, and Anders can’t make ice, perhaps both of you are made to throw icefire instead.”
“Perhaps you can both learn in time,” Leif said. “We must try to teach you.”
“So you want them to stay?” Torsten asked, throwing up his hands as if Leif simply couldn’t be reasoned with.
“We cannot throw them out,” Leif said simply. “They will be attacked if they return to the wolves, and they will die on their own. And they cannot be prisoners here forever. That is not who we are.”
Anders was pretty sure itwaswho some of them were, and a moment later, the hubbub around the table confirmed it.
“A vote,” Ellukka’s father, Valerius, suggested, his voice rising over the others. “We have spoken enough, let us put it to a vote.”
There was a general rumble of agreement up and down the table, and Anders felt like his knees were going to give out. This vote wasnotgoing to go their way. No matter what Leif said, it was clear nearly all the Dragonmeet mistrusted them.
“All those who—” Valerius began, clearly intending on holding the vote then and there, but Leif cut him off.
“I invoke—” he began loudly.
“Raise your hand, all those—” Valerius tried again.
“Valerius, no,” Leif snapped, finally raising his voice properly. He lowered it again, to speak over the shocked silence up and down the table. “By the power invested in me by the vote of my people, as Drekleid and as head of the Finskól, I declare the wolves Anders and Lisabet Finskólars. I extend to them all the protections of the Finskól.”
The table exploded.
“What’s the Finskól?” Anders whispered to Rayna as the members of the Dragonmeet shouted at one another.
“It’s a special school for gifted students,” she whispered back. “The Drekleid runs it and chooses the students. If you’re in his school, they’re not allowed to throw you outorlock you up.”
“Leif,” protested Valerius. “They’re wolves, you can’t possibly think—”
“They’re not just wolves, they’re the wolves who led their pack to find us,” Torsten pointed out, and plenty of others raised their voices to agree.
“Finskólars?” said the young woman with the messy blond bun. She and the young man beside her were the only two who seemed likely to vote with Leif.
“You and Mylestom have recently graduated,” Leif said, nodding to the pair. “Anders and Lisabet will take the places you have vacated. The decision is mine alone, and it has been made.”
Ellukka’s father tried again. “Leif, the Finskól is an honor for dragons alone.”
“Actually,” said Ellukka, speaking up again from her spot by Rayna’s side, “it’s an honor for whomever Leif chooses.”
“That’s enough, Ellukka,” he snapped, and she shot him a defiant glare.
“Your daughter is correct, Valerius,” Leif said. “And today, I am choosing Anders and Lisabet.”
“At least we’ll know where they are,” said the young man called Mylestom. He had short, dark-brown hair where the young woman beside him had messy blond curls, darker brown skin than hers, and a serious expression to match her smile. He studied the two wolves through wire-rimmed glasses.
“At least we’ll know where they are?” Valerius repeated. “We don’t even knowwhatthey are.”
Torsten thumped the table in agreement with one of his big fists, drawing more murmurs. In some ways, the Dragonmeet reminded Anders of the flocks of birds he’d seen down by the docks—when one made a noise, all the others joined in with raucous agreement.
“Besides, youwouldagree,” the woman next to Torsten said to Mylestom. “You were his student until last year.”
“And he taught me how to think for myself,” Mylestom shot back. “Saphira and I ask more questions and have more open minds than any of you, and that’s exactly what the Dragonmeet needs. It’s why we were elected—the younger dragons see it, even if you don’t.”
“Perhaps,” said Leif, cutting across what was setting out to be a pretty magnificent argument, “we can conclude this conversation at another time. We have further matters to discuss. Anders, Lisabet, Rayna, please do not depart Drekhelm without permission. There are no lessons today, as we prepare for tonight’s equinox celebrations. I will expect you in class tomorrow morning.”
