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“What can some dwarves want of me?” Ox complained, but he didn’t leave, and his feet didn’t carve new valleys into the earth. “I am animalia. They are mortal beings, I am the one whose offense they should try to avoid.”

“Ox,” I chided. “For one gone so long from this world, you have spent the past few years remaking it in a way that appeals to you.”

This time, when Ox pounded his foot into the ground, a small crater appeared underneath it.

“You dare to try and tell me what to do. You may have the powers of the One Dragon, you may have her spirit in you, but you are not the same creature.”

“That is certainly the truth,” I said. “But you and the rest of the animalia recognized me as her reincarnation. And I do have all of her powers and her short temper. Which explains several things from my childhood. So let us dispense with pretending. Do not dig any more rivers without both parties’ approval, and I will not have to test my skills against you. I have learned a great deal of patience living in the Imperium, so I welcome the opportunity you gift me with to throw aside the shackles of such a skill.”

Ox showed his teeth, refusing to back down, and just when I thought I would have to make good on my threat, he lowered his head into a bow.

“Perhaps this reincarnation is more patient. In your previous life, you would have already thrown me into the ocean for my insolence.” Ox laughed. “I am not a particularly good swimmer.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” I said wryly. “Would you like to show me your people?”

In Krustau, the tale was a song, one that could be sung in halls that echoed through tunnels and caverns.

The song began with the genealogy of King Vostop, tracing it back to the first dwarves who had shaken their hands in agreement over Spider’s tapestry. Then, it told of the evil King Inor who let monsters in the deepest parts of the mountains kill and mutilate his people.

It told of an evil animalia, and the dwarf who had risen up against it. It told of how he gathered allies from the Imperium and the Northern Kingdom, working together to slay King Inor and the animalia, although it cost him Mountain Thrown City and half the dwarves living in it.

The emperor of the Imperium, touched by King Vostop’s sacrifice, held out his hand in peace. Their alliance spread accord throughout the Imperium due to Vostop’s unquestionable character.

The emperor also offered King Vostop a gift: his mother, the most beautiful and clever woman in the entire Imperium. They said that when she spoke, gemstones shook free from the walls of the mine and landed in her hands. When she sang, the dragon of the deep, the dragon of fire answered her. When she planned, even the threads of Spider found themselves malleable to her whims.

King Vostop and Queen Koque lived happily and ruled well. It was under them that the second age of prosperity began.

Koque did not look nervous, which was more than could be said for me on my own wedding day. Still, I brought her a small cup of tea, stepping around the heavy, complicated gowns she had to wear. Krustavian wedding celebrations were simpler, but the plan was to have two ceremonies.

One in the Imperium where she would be leaving both of her sons, the other in Krustau where she would rise to the position of queen.

“You still have a chance to say no. I’m more than happy to help you run away from all of this,” I said. “I doubt the garment will fit on a horse, but perhaps a dragon? Although we would have to find a different one. Naî has been very excited to see this entire event, and she keeps asking what the feast will be like.”

Koque laughed, although not hard enough to jostle the tea in her hand. “No. I’ve no plans to run away.”

I could practically hear the words she left unsaid. Not after waiting so long.

We enjoyed the tea for a few breaths, the leaves spiced with herbs from the Ariphadeus.

“I fear leaving,” Koque said finally.

“Because of what Spider said all those years ago?” I asked, because I had been by her side long enough to recognize the weight she had carried. “What did the weaver tell you? Know that she can touch the threads, but the image they show is up to interpretation. And I have been able to see many a horse in clouds that Tallu claims are most certainly dragons.”

“I will be queen of Krustau, and my son will sit on the black throne,” Koque said, staring down at her tea.

“Your son does sit on the throne,” I pointed out.

Koque looked up from her cup, raising an eyebrow. I pressed my lips together because I knew what she meant.

“Spider said both my sons would sit on the black throne, and when Tallu first told me of his plans, I knew that there was another option. I could turn General Saxu to me. It would be nothing at all to make him recognize the danger Tallu presented.” Her hands began to tremble and I reached out to take the cup before any liquid could splash onto her dress. “Both my sons would sit on the throne, Hallu after I had killed Tallu for him.”

I knelt in front of her, covering her hands with mine. Her face was stoic; she was unwilling to smear her makeup. “But you made a different choice. And the tapestry is not finished.”

“But what if it is not I who kills Tallu?” She barely whispered the words. “Both my sons sit on the throne.”

“I think that you underestimate brotherly affection,” I said. “I know this: the tapestry is still being woven. Only a fool uses the color of the threads to guess the pattern of it. Although I may be, you have never struck me as that unwise.”

Koque shot me a look of pure amusement, and I grinned at her, feeling satisfaction that I had won against her own better judgment.