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“What is it?” I asked.

“I should say they were learning from the elder trees,” Lady Chaliko said.

“What changed?” I asked.

“There is something out there. It looks like an elder tree, but is not one of the ones that you grew. Riini spends too much time learning from it.” Lady Chaliko wet her lips and swallowed. “I worry for her.”

“What is wrong with the tree?” I pressed.

Lady Chaliko twisted the tin of powder in her fingers, some iridescence coming off on her fingertips. “I’m not sure I can explain it. When you scratch its bark, the sap burns. Not just flesh, but the forest itself. It contains knowledge that is dangerous. Riini says the last elves that fought the Imperium planted it and grew it, but that does not make me feel safer.”

“What is Riini learning from it?” Tallu asked, his brows drawn together. He looked in the same direction as Lady Chaliko when she glanced toward the window.

“Terrible things. She says she knows how they grew the Guardian and is attempting to grow another herself.” Lady Chaliko winced a smile. “What are you doing here? We saw the attack in the distance—the smoke, the screams. Is the rest of your army on their way?”

“No,” I said. “They should be trying to get aboard General Namati’s boats. We came alone. On our way here, the forest dragon died beneath me.”

Lady Chaliko gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. The tin went flying, and iridescent powder fell on the floor in an arc. “What?”

“It died,” I said. “It came apart, the leaves turning brittle and cracking. By the time we reached the ground, there was nothing left.”

“Oh,” Lady Chaliko turned her head, covering her mouth and eyes with her fingertips. “Oh.”

The word became a moan of unhappiness. She pressed her fingers into her eyes, her breath coming unevenly as she gasped for air.

“Is it truly dead?” she whispered.

I thought about what she had just told us. The forest dragon had been born when we grew the new elder trees. Its pieces had come from the leaves. When she had been trying to grow them, the dragons had died whenever one of her saplings did.

“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “The one I was riding died. But the dragon itself comes from the elder trees and, as far as I know, those are not dead yet. Kacha has not killed them. I can still hear their call in the distance.”

“Can you?” she asked, reaching forward and grabbing hold of my hands. “I don’t know what would happen to the children if the trees died again.”

“It’s there. But the children should be able to hear it too.” The trees sang in the distance, and I could feel the flow of power in Tavornai the same way that in the north, I could feel the flow of a river underneath frozen ice.

“Good,” she sighed.

Tallu was looking at me, his brow still drawn, his lips pressed together, but his gaze was focused, as though he was convinced I was about to jump back into battle.

“Where is Riini?” I asked. “Kacha is coming. I only killed half his men. Before he attacked us I had a plan.”

“A plan you need the children for,” Lady Chaliko said. Her shoulders sloped. Empress Koque was easily twenty years older than her, but the two women looked almost the same age when Lady Chaliko’s face showed the anxiety and disappointment life had brought her.

“Lady Chaliko, you should go check on your father. Your brothers will probably be leaving for Namati’s ships if they are going to attempt to attack Kacha or defend what is left of Tavornai.” Empress Koque’s voice was calm and smooth. “I will show His Imperial Majesty and Prince Airón what you have built.”

There was a promise in the words, and Lady Chaliko, born and bred in the Imperium, picked up on it. She nodded her head gratefully, her smile turning her back into a girl of only fifteen. Standing, she brushed at her skirt. Then she frowned. “Dinner⁠—”

“I will bring them,” Empress Koque reassured her.

Lady Chaliko exhaled, risking a small twitched smile at the two of us before she turned and left the treehouse. We sat in silence for a moment, listening to her retreating feet, the sounds of the forest filtering in through the open windows. There was more laughter, children playing beneath us, and I stood to look out the window.

A half-dozen children were playing with the Guardian, running close enough that the creature could snap at them, its slow movements proving it had no intention of hurting them. Another child ran around the back of the creature, tugging hard at its tail, but instead of whipping it across the child’s face, using its newly grown thorns to slice open his skin, the creature turned and mock-roared, rolling onto its side and exposing its stomach.

“I am almost certain that creature ate at least half of General Saxu’s men on our way here. And yet these children have it rolling over like a puppy. If we could have their technique at controlling it, this war would be over.” I couldn’t help the amusement in my voice, the soft feeling of warmth that spread through my chest.

“What is your plan?” Empress Koque asked. “Quickly. The children will return.”

I glanced over at her, but she wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were fixed on Tallu. He turned to me and gestured with an open hand, indicating that I should speak.