Zogar is glaring at Eldrath.
“I am arranging for the maps to be brought here.” Eldrath sets down the device. “This is called a phone,” he tells me. “It’s used for communication, and, well, for many other things. It’s really more like a handheld computer, and a computer…” He shrugs. “If you two plan to stay here for an extended time, you must acquire your own phones.” He taps the device. “Very useful. Even for elves.”
“I’m excited to learn more.” I glance at Zogar, and another frown melts from his face, leaving him with his resting skeptic face, which is better than his active angry face.
“Why are we here?” my husband asks, gruffly.
“Zogar,” I interject. “Eldrath has been very kind to offer his hospitality, and he’s already provided us with some very good information.”
Eldrath nods toward me. “Thank you, Queen Rosomon?—”
“Just Rosomon, please.” I was a princess my whole life, but don’t enjoy titles.
“Rosomon, then.” Eldrath smiles softly, and multiple colors flash in his eyes. “I appreciate your kind words, but yourhusband is right. I’ve not yet touched on the reasons I asked you to come here.”
“Go on then,” Zogar says gruffly.
I draw a deep breath, hoping that if I grow calmer, some of it will transfer to my husband. His default emotions today are gruff, angry and skeptical.
“My primary objective in asking you here,” Eldrath says, “was to give you an open opportunity to ask your questions more freely.”
“I can’t speak freely at the council?” Zogar’s anger face has returned.
“Vespera invited only sovereigns she trusts, but I don’t trust everyone there. Not fully.”
“Whom don’t you trust?” Zogar leans forward.
"Lucian?” I ask.
Eldrath shakes his head. “I don’t want to disparage anyone. You should make your own judgments. Trust has become as rare and valuable as diamonds in this city, and everyone must mine their own.”
As he says the word diamonds, some of the gems embedded in his chair glow and sparkle, as if they heard their name called. Every moment I spend in this world reveals something new and amazing.
“May I ask a question?” I say, when Zogar doesn’t immediately pose another.
Smiling, Eldrath sweeps one of his elegant hands to the side, inviting my query.
“As I mentioned earlier, for as long as anyone can remember, minions of darkness—we thought they were demons—have been breaching the veil to enter the Light. Based on what I was taught, these demon invasions are why humans first mounted dragons.”
Zogar grunts.
I turn toward him. “Husband. I well know that my knowledge is highly flawed. When I make a mistake, do feel free to correct me.” My words are curt, but I offer him a soft smile. “I know I have much to learn.” I grin, hoping he’ll recognize the joke we’ve shared about how often he told me that, when I first mounted him.
Zogar’s lips don’t smile, but his eyes flash with a speck of humor—and perhaps something else. “Your understanding isn’tentirelyincorrect, my queen. But humans first mounted my people before the veil was fully constructed. Riders were helpful to improve our vision, especially as the Darkness waned, and as the veil neared completion, we required human riders to fly.”
“Oh,” I say. “I had no idea.”
He nods. “That said, after the veil was complete, it’s true that the humans’ efforts to remount us increased after the minions of darkness began to appear.”
“When did they first appear?” Eldrath asks.
“About a hundred and fifty years ago,” Zogar responds, and I’m happy that he’s at least talking to the elven overlord now.
“Our history calls that the Great Upheaval,” I add.
“Do you know who is sending them?” Zogar asks. “And why?”
Eldrath tips his head to the side, accentuating the length of his neck. “I have a theory.”
