"You think the Sitorians had earlier converts?" I asked.
"Maybe. Or maybe the camp system wasn't their first attempt. Maybe they tried other methods that didn't work as well." Alar wrapped his arm around Kailin's shoulders. "What if those riders were early converts? What if they were killed to keep the secret when their dragons started to suspect something?"
It was an interesting theory.
"That would require other converts in maintenance positions," I said. "Someone to sabotage the saddles, create the conditions for 'accidents.' Which is exactly what we've found in the current situation."
"The pattern repeats," Alar agreed. "Recruits placed in support positions, waiting for orders, creating opportunities for disaster."
Kailin shook her head. "If riders were being converted, their bonded dragons would have known, and if they killed the riders, they would have told Nyxath, who would have told Saphir."
She was right. The theory had a fatal flaw.
"Unless the Sitorians found a way to convert the dragons too," I said, mostly to see the reaction.
The laughter started with Morek, a deep belly laugh that shook his entire frame. Shovia joined in, her harsh snort of amusement cutting through the tension. Even Kailin smiled, and Alar's lips twitched.
"Convert dragons to Elusitor worship?" Shovia managed between laughs. "The religion that wants all dragons dead?"
"Okay, okay." I held up my hands in surrender. "I admit it's absurd."
"Dragons aren't as stupid as people," Morek said, still chuckling. "They're not going to follow a faith that promises their extinction as a core tenet."
"Dragons don't use drugs," Kailin pointed out. "All of Elusitor worship is based on drug use."
I frowned as another absurd idea tickled my mind. "If we can find a way to counteract the drug, we might end the worship of Elusitor. Perhaps that's how we are supposed to save Aurorys."
Alar regarded me with a smile. "Really? That's your idea? And how do you propose we do that? Put something in their water supply that is an antidote to the drug?"
I shrugged. "I came up with the idea. I leave the implementation to those smarter than me."
40
KAILIN
"Dreamers walk between worlds.
Some nights the path is theirs to choose, other nights it chooses them."
—Shaman Erasme Kaine
The conversation lingered in my mind long after the others had retired to their rooms.
Our combined analysis of Elusitor worship was disturbing. The mechanics of conversion made a terrible kind of sense. The targeting of vulnerable children, the use of drugs to create transcendent experiences, and the building of cages made of addiction and ideology.
Understanding the enemy didn't make them less monstrous, but it did make them less mysterious.
I stood at the kitchen counter and poured hot water over the tea leaves. The familiar bitter smell rose with the steam, earthy and floral. Half dose, Saphir had said. Every other night.
Tonight was an every-other-night.
I carried the cup to our room and put it on the nightstand.
Behind me, Alar was getting ready for sleep, or rather for sitting in the armchair he'd brought from the common room so he could watch over me while I slept.
"You're not doing this tonight," I said. "No armchair. No vigil. You're getting in bed with me."
"Kailin—"
