“I assume you’re referring to Estella,” Conrad said, locking his sword into its custom stand.
She nodded. “What do you intend to do about her?”
“At the moment?” He crossed his arms as he turned to face her. “Nothing.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No,” Conrad said calmly. “But you’re overreacting. Estella is not a threat. Bob defeated her long ago. These dramatics are nothing but a final, failing attempt at relevancy.”
Chelsie looked at him like he was crazy. “She’s still a seer.”
“A desperate one.”
“That’s even worse,” she snapped. “This isn’t the time to get cocky. Estella’s always hated us, but she’s never been foolish enough to set foot in Heartstriker Mountain until tonight. Something fundamental has changed.”
“Good,” Conrad said, grinning. “Our clan’s been too long without a war. The younger clutches don’t even know what it means to fight like dragons. They fawn at Bethesda’s feet, playing her games and stabbing each other in the back for a scrap of her favor. We could use a good battle to thin out the ranks, and it’s not like we’re in danger of actually losing. We’re the largest dragon clan in the world, the strongest of the strong. Even if the Three Sisters woke tomorrow, what could they do? Heartstriker is over a hundred dragons strong, and our mountain is a fortress of modern weapons and magic. I’d like to see them try and attack us.”
“They’re not going to charge the mountain,” Chelsie said irritably. “If Estella strikes, she’s going to go for Bethesda.”
“Which means she’ll have to get through both you and me,” Conrad said with a shrug. “Even less likely to work.”
His sister was already opening her mouth for her next argument, but Conrad cut her off. “It doesn’t matter what Estella does,” he growled. “Even if she did manage to actually succeed in killing Mother, that’s not a loss for us.”
Chelsie went very still. “What do you mean?”
He flashed her a knowing look. “Surely you saw who was standing out on the balcony tonight?”
“You can’t be serious,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Amelia’s a drunk.”
“And the top dragon mage in the world,” he reminded her. “That’s the sort of power we should be cultivating here, not sending off to the planes. It’s a waste to go without one of our best just because Bethesda is terrified of having an heir who might actually be able to defeat her.”
Chelsie scowled. “That’s a dangerous thing for a champion to say.”
He shrugged. “It’s because I’m champion that I can say it. My sword and my loyalty belong to Heartstriker. I support whatever brings strength and power to the clan.”
“And to you, of course.”
“Naturally,” Conrad said. “I still don’t believe any plan of Estella’s will succeed, butifit did, there’s no point in pretending we’d be heartbroken over a change of leadership, or have you learned to enjoy being Bethesda’s dog?”
Chelsie’s eyes flashed with a hint of the old fury before she turned away. “You’re my last full brother, so I’m going to forget I heard that. I just came to tell you that Mother’s ordered us to prepare the clan for war.”
“Already done,” Conrad said. “I told you, I’ve been waiting for a chance like this for centuries. Tonight was the last time those ice snakes will leave this mountain alive.”
She nodded and vanished, just disappeared into thin air in front of him. Normally, she saved that trick for when her target’s back was turned, but Conrad knew all of his sister’s secrets, so pretense was unnecessary. He was about to set the wards and head to bed when a breeze blew in from his open balcony, its air heavy with the scent of the frozen northern sea.
Conrad’s lips peeled back into a feral grin. “I knew you ice sisters were desperate,” he growled, grabbing his sword off the rack as he turned to face the White Witch, who was now standing on the edge of his balcony. “But I didn’t know you were stupid.”
He paused there, waiting for her to say the usual rot about how he was dead and so forth, but the dragoness didn’t speak. She just stood there, her striking blue eyes as cold and empty as sea ice. As an intimidation tactic, it worked better than Conrad liked to admit, but he was the Champion of the greatest dragon clan in the world, and it took more than creepy silence to make him flinch.
“What?” he taunted, positioning his sword for the strike that would take off her head. “No final words?”
“She has nothing to say to a son of the broodmare,” growled a voice behind him. “And neither do I.”
Conrad’s eyes went wide. He spun, lashing out with his Fang at the second dragon, the one he’d only now realized was standing behind him. But for all his speed, all his training, Conrad barely managed a half-turn before Estella’s hands shot out to wrap a black chain around his neck.
That was the last thing he saw before the world went dark.
***
