He faded off, feeling like a fool. He had no idea what he could say that would convince someone who’d been rightfully paranoid her whole life that he was being sincere. But while Julius was thrashing his brain to come up with something that would prove he wasn’t in league with their mother, Amelia just lay back with a smile.
“Like I said, that’s what the cynical part of me thinks, but I’m sick of being cynical. I’m tired of assuming everyone wants to do me in. Basically, I’m tired of acting like Bethesda, so I’m not going to.” She put up her hands. “I quit. You’re not that good a liar, anyway, and Mother didn’t sound like she was faking those death threats.”
“So you believe me?” he asked hopefully.
Amelia shrugged. “That depends. You never did answer me when I asked if you meant what you said about not selling me out?”
Julius nodded, and her face grew grim. “Why?’
“Because selling out one family member to yourmotherso you can save another is awful!” he cried, exasperated. “Maybe I watched too much human television growing up, but I’ve always assumed thatnotkilling your own family was kind of a given.”
“Depends on who’s doing the giving,” Amelia said with a wry smile. “Okay, okay, easy tiger. I believe you.”
Julius blinked. “Really?”
She nodded. “I guess this means I owe you an apology.”
“No, no, it’s all right,” he said quickly. “Most people don’t believe me the first time.” Katya certainly hadn’t, but Amelia was shaking her head.
“Not about that,” she said. “I’m not sorry I didn’t believe you right off, that’s just common sense. But I am sorry for how I treated you.” She looked away. “I thought you were a fool and a coward. At the party, I was having fun stringing you along because you were a cute kid, but when you went to try and help Katya, I just thought you were stupid. Why would anyone try so hard to save a clan that treated them like dirt? I thought you were too naive for words, and that meant you didn’t deserve nice things, especially not a human mage of Marci’s caliber.” She glanced back at him. “I tried to steal her from you, you know.”
He couldn’t have heard that right. “You did?”
“‘Try’ is the operative word there,” Amelia said, laughing. “I made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. You two didn’t have a prayer of defeating Vann Jeger without me, and Marci was smart enough to know it, so I told her I’d save you both if she came to work for me.”
Julius had to fist his hands to keep them from shaking. “And did she agree?”
“No,” Amelia said, almost making him collapse in relief. “Though it wasn’t from lack of trying on my part. I sweetened the deal like you wouldn’t believe, but she still turned me down flat. At first, I thought it was because she was being an idiot, too, falling for a dragon’s charms, but now I get it. Marci isn’t stupid or weak, and neither are you. You’re nice.Actuallynice, even when people don’t deserve it, even when you probably shouldn’t be, and I’m just contrary enough to find that inspiring.”
Now Juliusknewshe was messing with him. “Really?”
Amelia’s look grew grim. “You’re not the only dragon who hates the way things are,” she said. “I don’t regret my years on the planes. I got stronger out there than I ever could have here, but…”
She stopped with a long sigh, running her hands through her bloody hair. “Can you imagine what it’s like to be exiled from your own home? To never be able to even drop by for a visit without being terrified that your mother will make one of the few siblings you actually care about try to kill you? And it’s not like I’m a special case.EveryHeartstriker has suffered under Bethesda. But unlike the rest of the clan, who’re willing to put up with anything to keep their seat on the Heartstriker ride to the top, I’m sick of being afraid. I’mdoneputting up with this, Julius, and from the sound of things just now, so are you. If that doesn’t put us on the same side, I don’t know what does.”
Julius was so shocked by his sister’s words, he didn’t notice she was moving her hand until she’d stuck it right out in front of her, magic sparking from her fingertips. “What’s that?”
Amelia arched an eyebrow. “What does it look like? I’m offering you a life debt.”
“What?” he cried. “Why?”
“Gee, I don’t know,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Maybe because you saved my life? That’s generally how these things work. You could have sold me out to Mother half a dozen times just now, but you didn’t. I’m pretty sure that counts.”
Julius hadn’t thought about it that way, but now that Amelia said it, the thought of her listening while he yelled at their mother made him blush from his chest to his ears. “I’m honored,” he said. “Really, thank you very much, but I can’t accept.”
Amelia looked at him like he was insane. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t like being in debt, and I try not to do things to other people that I don’t enjoy myself.”
That sounded kind of corny even to him, but the Planeswalker just shook her head. “You really are something, aren’t you? I thought Bob was playing a joke on us when he chose you, but now I get it. You’re the anti-dragon.”
Julius winced. “Thank you?”
“It was meant as a compliment,” she assured him, shaking the sparkling magic off her fingers. “But if you won’t accept my debt, I don’t know what to do. It’s not like I can leave this hanging. I might not be a particularly honorable dragon, but I do havesomestandards.” She frowned, thinking. “Maybe we could enter a pact of service for the next year?”
That sounded even worse than a life debt. “What if we just agreed to be friends?”
From the look on Amelia’s face, you’d have thought he’d suggested they swallow frogs. “Why would we dothat?”
