His brother flashed him a wide smile. “That’s an impressive bit of social insight for a dragon who claims not to be manipulative,” he said, standing up. “But as much as I’d love to stay and live down to your expectations, I have to move on. Schemes to foil, plots to thwart, naps to resume, you know how it is. You, however, should get back to the party. Mother’s going to want to see you in—” he looked at his bare wrist “—two minutes, and youdon’twant her to come looking for you.”
That went without saying. “What does she want from me?”
“You’ll find out in one minute, fifty-eight seconds,” Bob replied, jogging down the hall away from the party toward the interior of the mountain. His pigeon joined him halfway, fluttering off its perch on one of the hanging tapestries to land on his shoulder. That was all Julius saw before the seer vanished around the corner. Even so, he stood there a moment longer, staring at the place where his brother had been and debating the wisdom of just bailing back down to his old room. In the end, though, disobeying a seer’s advice on top of everything else that had happened tonight felt too much like inviting disaster, and so, with a heavy sigh, Julius turned and began trudging back to see what his mother wanted.
***
By the time he got back to the throne room, the party was in full swing. Estella must have left immediately after her encounter with Bob, because Heartstriker was once again the only scent in the room, and everyone seemed to be celebrating. Bethesda was perched on her throne at the top of the raised dais, holding court while Chelsie and Conrad flanked her feet like a pair of guard dogs. Neither C looked happy about this arrangement, but their mother was almost cackling in delight. Even the sight of Julius didn’t seem to bring her down. Quite the opposite. She waved him over the moment she spotted him, motioning for her other, more highly ranked children to step aside.
“The diplomat returns unscathed,” she cooed. “I can’t tell you how many reports I’ve gotten about you sneaking off with Katya. Gold star for initiative! So let’s hear it. What did the Failure of the Three Sisters have to say?”
The last thing Julius wanted to do was repeat what Katya had told him in confidence to his mother. Fortunately for him, there was little Bethesda would care about to report. “She knows nothing,” he said honestly. “Estella came back this morning and scooped her up, but otherwise hasn’t told her anything.”
“Is that so?” His mother pursed her lips and turned to Ian, who was standing beside her with a look of polite interest so attentive it had to be faked. “What do you think?”
“It makes sense,” he said. “Svena dotes on Katya, but anyone with eyes can see she’s the weak link of the clan, and highly prone to running. Of course they wouldn’t tell her anything important.”
“Pity,” Bethesda said. “But I suppose it makes no difference. Whatever plot Estella is hatching, the mating contract between our clans is signed in blood. Even seers can’t wiggle out of that. I don’t care if the world is burning, Ianwillfly a mating flight with the White Witch Sunday evening if I have to throw her into the air myself.”
She said that last part like she was looking forward to it. Julius, however, had gotten hung up on the bit before it. “Sunday?” he said, horrified. “As in the day after tomorrow Sunday?”
“What other Sunday would I be talking about?” his mother said, tossing her hair. “I’m not giving them time to figure out how to betray me.”
The dragons around her made agreeing sounds, but Julius couldn’t believe his ears. “What about us?” he asked. “That’s no time at all! I mean, when something is so obviously a trap, surelyweneed time to—”
“Oh, Julius, don’t be dense,” Bethesda scoffed. “Everythingbetween dragons is a trap. But what you and Estella both fail to grasp is that it doesn’t matter. Today, tomorrow, or a week from now makes no difference at all. So long as the flight takes place over Heartstriker territory, I’ve already won. The Northern Star can twist her plots however she likes, but nothing changes the fact that she will be inmymountain, which is protected bymyseer andmydragons andmymilitary grade security systems.” Her smile turned bloodthirsty. “Given all that, you could say Estella’s walking intomytrap. But do you want to know the best part, Julius?”
He wasn’t sure he had the stomach for it, but she was going to tell him anyway, so he nodded.
“The best part comes after,” Bethesda whispered, leaning down to grin at him. “Once Estella’s dead, caught in the very trap she laid for me, Svena will become head of the Three Sisters in truth, and everyone will know thatIwas the one who put her there. I’ll destroy my ancient enemy, earn their new clan head’s life debt,andget my mating flight all in one fell swoop. If that’s not a reason to celebrate, I don’t know what is.”
Julius hadn’t actually considered the situation from that angle. But even with his mother’s obvious confidence, he still couldn’t bring himself to believe that walking into a trap, even when you weresureyours was better, was a good idea. He didn’t see howanyof this was good, period, but from the conversations going on around him, it was clear the rest of the clan thought Bethesda had just clinched the deal of the century, and that made him angrier than anything. Logically, he knew it was foolish to pit his own opinion against dragons with centuries more experience in this sort of thing, but this kind of premature victory celebration felt arrogant even by dragon standards. No matter how tight that contract was, Estella was still a seer. Like Bob said, she never showed a move unless she wanted you to counter it. How could Bethesda and the others possibly be this confident?
But infuriating as it was, there was nothing he could do, and it wasn’t like this behavior was a new development. Bethesda’s behavior tonight was just more of the same arrogant, aggressive, winner-take-all thinking that had made her the Heartstriker in the first place. She’d built her empire by taking seemingly hopeless opportunities and making them work by whatever means necessary. For all he knew, Sunday night would be no different. Tonight, though, Julius was done. He’d done his duty as a good son and voiced his warning. If his mother wanted to ignore it, that was her decision. Right now, he had more important matters on his plate.
“Where’s Justin?”
His voice cut through the buzz of conversation, and Bethesda cast him a cutting look. “What?”
“Where is Justin?” Julius said again, forcing himself to meet her eyes. “I already heard you took his Fang. I just want to know where he is so I can talk to him.”
“Talk to him?” Bethesda laughed aloud. “What good willthatdo?”
Julius began to sweat. He was more than used to being mocked by this point, but the way she said that made him feel like he was missing something. “I just thought he might be upset and—”
“Please,” his mother scoffed. “Who do you think he is, you? Justin’s adragon, darling. A proper one. He doesn’t get upset. He gets even.”
Now Juliusreallyfelt like he was missing something. “What does that mean?”
“It means that when Chelsie confiscates his sword for breaking the rules, he doesn’t waste time moping around,” she said proudly. “He immediately starts scheming on a plan to convince me that he deserves it back.”
With those words, everything came together with chilling clarity. “So he’s just out there alone?” Julius asked, voice shaking. “Plotting to impress you?”
“Yes,” his mother replied. “Personally, I can’t wait. Justin can be a thick-headed idiot, but when it comes to audacity, he never disappoints.” She pressed a hand against her chest. “My genes at work, clearly.”
The other dragons chuckled at that, but Julius had no time to waste. The idea of his brother alone with the loss of his sword was bad enough, but the thought of him trying to pull off a stunt big enough to impress Bethesda on his own was absolutely terrifying. “Where is he?”
“I haven’t been keeping track,” Bethesda said with shrug. “He’s hardly relevant at the moment, and I don’t want to spoil the surprise when he finally does burst back onto the scene.”
