Remy’s jaw tightened. “My allegiance lies with my dragon.” His voice sharp enough to cut steel. “I will never betray Katama.”
I paused, then reached out silently through the bond.Kaelith… do you believe him?
Her answer came without hesitation, a rumble of magic and certainty in the back of my mind.I do. It’s the only reason he’s still alive. His loyalty to Katama is absolute.
I glanced at Zander then.
And he met my eyes with a flicker of something knowing.
He asked Hein the same question, I realized. And Hein must’ve answered like Kaelith did.
Remy exhaled. “The Order’s being framed for Belana’s death.”
I nodded. “The question is… why?”
“Convenience,” Remy said flatly.
“Believability,” I added.
He looked at me. “Exactly.”
And the silence that followed wasn’t empty. It was heavy with truth.
And the understanding that the game we were in was deeper, and far more dangerous than any of us had realized.
I turned to Zander as we broke away from the thick of the grounds, the tension still clinging to the air like smoke after a fire.
“How am I supposed to get into a royal function?” I asked, already dreading the answer. “You think they’ll just let me walk in?”
He barely looked over his shoulder as he replied, “You’re going as my date.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“My presence was requested,” he clarified, voice clipped. “I must attend a royal dinner. It’s during the evening hours and won’t last long. A formality. A show of power. Nothing more.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And dragging me in with you is just part of the performance?”
He glanced at me then, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You’re more than a prop. But yes. Let them see you on my arm. Let them wonder. It will set Theron’s teeth on edge as well.”
That… was fair.
He stepped closer, voice dropping so no one could overhear. “While I’m trapped smiling through stale wine and empty words, I need you to talk. Everyone who’ll listen. I want to know whoknew Mattin was sympathetic to the Varnari, and who else might be leaning that way.”
“Anyone in particular?
“Everyone you can. While we are waiting for the banquet, we will speak with the other squads to see what they know.”
“Every squad?”
“All of them,” he said. Then added, “Except Iron Fang.”
I nodded grimly. We all knew. The Iron Fang riders were loyal to Theron, outspoken, proud, disciplined to the point of brutality. But none of their dragons had turned on them, not even in the face of Mattin’s execution. Whatever else they believed, they were still bonded. Still true to their dragons.
For now.
I made my way across the grounds, careful to approach without alarming anyone. The squads were still scattered, murmuring, pretending to stretch or polish their weapons, but the undercurrent of suspicion hummed like a second heartbeat.
I spotted a member of Stormforge leaning against a post near the mess tent, a tall woman with sun-browned skin, a long scar running down one arm, and a gaze sharp enough to cleave through excuses.
