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Koque pulled back, her hands still, adding no gestures of context to her words. “Instead you will conquer through peaceful measures?”

“I will not conquer at all. The animalia Spider told us the true promise. The curse that afflicts both me and Hallu can only be lifted if we unite the continent. You once spoke of how easy it would be to turn the children of Tavornai into our slaves. I would choose instead to become their allies. I would let them have decision and choice in their future.” Tallu’s lips closed, as though there was more he wanted to say, but knew he needed to first hear how Koque would respond.

I watched the side of his face, promising myself that we still had time, promising myself that even if she chose to move against us we could still win and I could save Tallu.

“Saxu doesn’t know,” Koque said. Her expression was completely still, her eyes going slightly wide, but she showed almost no other reaction. Hallu turned to his mother, eyes wide, fingers twisting. Seated in his large chair, his feet didn’t touch the floor, and he inhaled sharply, biting his lip as he stared at his mother.

Tallu made a quick gesture with three fingers. Koque nodded, drumming her fingers on the table, a gesture so foreign because of how controlled she usually was. It was her only sign of indecision, though she glanced at Hallu before dragging her gaze back to Tallu.

“You are telling me because if he decides to move against you he will need Hallu, and so we will need to keep Hallu safe until Saxu is dead or has decided to put away his sword for good.” Koque stilled her fingers, forming a fist on the table.

“You do not have time to think on it. What is your response?” Tallu said, his voice hard.

“You ask me to weigh whether I desire power through my son or both of your lives? I have seen the cost of war in you, Tallu. I have lived with the Krustavians long enough to know that the promise as Dragon Blessed Emperor Wollu proclaimed it can never be fulfilled.” Her lips twitched. “How very like your mother you are, to see a way through that no one else did. I trust your decision. We will hide Prince Hallu. For now, among the servants, but by daybreak, I will take some of my trusted people and we will return to Krustau.”

Tallu exhaled and I could feel the tension leaving his body.

“What did Spider tell you?” I asked Koque.

Her face went pale, and she shook her head. “It is not important to this. Can you trust me? I could just as easily flee with Hallu and wait for General Saxu to find us.”

I looked at Tallu’s profile, waiting for him to make the decision. He dipped his chin only once.

“If you did that, we would need to defeat you, but I cannot kill you now any more than I could later,” Tallu said.

“Give me a few hours. If you can, wait to speak with General Saxu until we are gone in the morning,” Koque said. “I believe that the promise will be fulfilled under your reign.”

“It will,” I agreed. Because I was not losing Tallu, not even if I had to tear the world apart myself.

Forty-One

That night, I found myself drifting in and out of consciousness, aware of Tallu shifting in the bed beside me. I tried and failed to reach for the ocean of magic, wondering how to use it, how to access all the powers the One Dragon had.

In the end, I settled for simply breathing in the dark, feeling as though the magic was beyond me and in me at the same time. I was not the One Dragon. I did not have all of her history, all of her knowledge.

But I could feel the echo of her in my spirit. I knew I had her abilities—the magic of legends, the ability to do all of the magic she had given to animalia and humans. Would I only be able to use those powers—like the legends of old—when I needed them, or would I eventually learn to control them?

When Tallu was breathing evenly beside me, finally asleep, I got up from the bed, finding a chair near the window from which I could look out over the darkened forest.

Lerolian came up next to me, standing beside the window. He didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at me.

“You said your people believe in a river. Tallu told me about it.” I spoke quietly enough that I would not wake Tallu.

“Yes,” Lerolian agreed. “And you claim to have the soul of the One Dragon.”

“What do you remember of your previous lives?” I asked.

“Your previous lives are not something you should remember,” Lerolian said. “But they are a part of you. Your previous lives change who you are, but they belonged to another person. You are allowed to live your own life from your own experiences. It is how I know my brothers and sisters have a chance at happiness. If they were born again into this world with the memories of what happened to us, how could they possibly be happy?”

“I do remember my previous lives,” I said. “Not fully, but as though they happened to someone else. They are like scraps of paper in the fire. As soon as I try to grab hold of them, they crumble between my fingers. The same for the One Dragon. I know more about her through legends than I do from memories.”

“That is as it should be,” Lerolian said. “If you truly are the One Dragon, then you have lived longer than any human alive. More than that, you have lived a half dozen other lives that no one should want to relive. Perhaps they changed who you are, just as your experiences as a child create who you are as a grown man. In the end, you must learn to let them go.”

I nodded, continuing to stare out into the forest. I might be the One Dragon, but I would be myself first. I would trust myself more than the power I should have.

Tallu summoned General Saxu at midmorning. On his instructions, Sagam had prepared as much as possible. Saxu would leave his men outside, and the door could be barricaded if we needed to kill him.

There would be two pots of tea, one containing a sleeping draft, should the conversation go in the wrong direction.