“True,” Bethesda said. “But you’re an I. Your own siblings and the Js might be desperate enough to follow you, but no H or higher would ever rally behind a dragon who was lower ranked than themselves.”
That struck Julius as depressingly accurate, but Ian looked more stubborn than ever. “Then I will convince them otherwise,” he said, lifting his chin confidently. “But I didn’t come back here to rejoin the crowd. If I have to win a vote, then I’ll win a vote, but Iwillbe on that Council, and when I am,Iwill show you how to properly rule a clan.”
Bethesda was growling by the time he finished, and honestly, Julius was on the verge himself, though not for the same reasons. He didn’t like Ian’s conqueror’s attitude any more now than he had when he’d first met him in the DFZ all those weeks ago. But while he didn’t actually see how Ian was going to pull it off, letting him run would give David a real opponent, which was what he’d been fighting his mother for all morning.
“I have no problem letting you try for the seat,” he said slowly. “But if you’re actually going to do this, it has to be a fair race, and that can’t happen if Svena’s offer of protection is contingent on your winning. We can’t have you threatening dragons with death by Algonquin if they don’t vote for you. Letting you back into the clan without punishment is already a huge boon, so here’s my proposal. You get Svena to protect us beforethe election and for a year afterward, even if you don’t win. Do that, and we’ll let you run. Otherwise, no deal.”
Ian’s eyes narrowed. “Svena is pregnant,” he said stiffly. “That puts great demands on her magic already. It will be hard to convince her to expend what’s left protecting a clan she doesn’t have a stake in.”
“So convince her,” Julius said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be good at? And you did say you were here to compromise. That implies not getting everything you want.”
For a moment, Ian looked taken aback, and then he shook his head. “Power suits you surprisingly well, Julius Heartstriker,” he said with a sigh. “Fine. You have your compromise. Let me run in this election as a Heartstriker without giving up my place in Svena’s clan, and I’ll convince her to help protect your mountain—which I suppose I should callourmountain—for one year starting today, regardless of the vote’s outcome. Is that fair?”
Julius started to say it was more than fair, but before he could get the words out, his mother stepped right in front of him.
“I might not run this clan anymore,” she growled. “But neither does he. Julius might be willing to roll over for the White Witch’s protection, but I absolutely refuse to consider another half-grown whelp for this farce of a Council. Especially one who doesn’t even look like a Heartstriker!”
She glared right into Ian’s now dark-brown eyes as she said this, leaving no question what clan feature she was referring to, and Julius gritted his teeth in frustration. “What does it matter?” he demanded. “Everyone knows Ian’s a Heartstriker. We’re on the edge of a real alliance with what’s left of the Daughters of the Three Sisters, who, I’ll remind you, are still a very powerful dragon clan specializing in magic, the exact area where Heartstriker is weakest. Honestly, eye color seems to be the least important factor here.”
Bethesda sneered. “Spoken like a dragon who knows nothing.”
“Then enlighten him,” Ian said coldly. “Tell him how, with the exception of the As, nine clutches from nine different fathers all miraculously ended up with your eyes. I figured it out ages ago, but Julius has never had a suitably treacherous mind. If he’s going to be on the Council, though, he needs to know these things. So tell him, Mother. Tell him what you did.”
Bethesda set her jaw stubbornly. When it was clear she wasn’t going to say another word, Ian turned to his brother. “It’s how she knows when we’re lying.”
“Oh, wonderful,” their mother groaned. “Just tell him everything, why don’t you?”
“How doesthatwork?” Julius asked at the same time.
“Better than you would think,” Ian said. “Bethesda’s no mage, but she’s always beenverygood at manipulating her clutches, especially while the whelps are still in their eggs and can’t fight back.”
Julius turned back to his mother in horror. “You put a spell on us before we’d even hatched?”
“What better time to do it?” Bethesda said defensively. “I have a lot of children. I didn’t have time to learn all of your tells, so I took out some insurance to make things easier on myself. Plus, the green lookedsoattractive. Really added to the whole Heartstriker mystique.”
She finished with a smile, but Julius was still appalled. “That’show you always knew,” he whispered. “It was the eyes this whole time.” His hands clenched into fists. “I was never a bad liar at all, was I?”
“Oh no, you’re dreadful,” Bethesda said quickly. “Ian, on the other hand, is a marvelous little liar, which is why he isn’t coming back without his eyes. If I must be stuck on this farce of a Council, I refuse to do it with someone I can’t trust.”
The sheer hypocrisy of that statement left Julius speechless, but not for long. “All the more reason to let him run. We need someone who isn’t in your pocket. I say we take the compromise.”
“Too bad,” Bethesda said with a flip of her long black hair. “Because I say we don’t, and until we get our third member, that puts us at an impasse.” She pursed her lips at Ian. “Bad luck, dear. Looks like you don’t win today.”
“Good thing I haven’t played all my cards yet, then,” Ian replied, lifting his chin. “You know Svena is pregnant.”
Bethesda rolled her eyes. “It’s the only reason we’re talking.”
“But what you don’t know is that the male half of those eggs are mine,” Ian continued sharply. “I’d intended to raise them independently since Svena’s sisters have odd ideas about male dragons. If I returned to Heartstriker, though, that would give me another option.”
By the time he finished, Bethesda was paying absolute attention. “And?”
Ian flashed her a superior look. “Give me what I ask. Accept me as a Heartstriker again, and I’ll bring any male children back to the clan with me. You’ll get your Three Sisters blood at last, Bethesda, so what do you say? Do we have a deal?”
“Done,” Bethesda said instantly, turning to Julius. “He’s in.”
“You can’t just trade dragons like that!” Julius cried. “They’re children, not playing cards!”
“Oh please, they don’t care,” his mother said. “They’re not even born. And I’m sure they’d much rather be Heartstrikers than whatever it is Svena’s calling herself these days.”
