“Right. So. Torloo, Sinder, and I are working together. The battlers who just chased Sinder into the forest are learning tactics for tracking and restraining dragons.”
Sinder strolled in as if that had been his cue. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. All I did was circle back. Everything settled?”
Timur stood. “I was just getting around to your minigame.”
With a nod to Torloo, Sinder said, “Thank you for your indulgence, leader. I’m confident that the challenge I’ve issued to Kyrie won’t interfere with the rookies’ efforts.”
“A challenge?” prompted Torloo.
“His affinities interest me. I want to find out if they have practical applications. Kyrie will give chase. I’ll evade. Torloo will bear witness. Reveille will keep watch.”
Torloo’s tail puffed and settled a few times. “Is it wise for Kyrie’s test and the battlers’ mission to run concurrently?”
“Why not?”
“The battlers might mistake Kyrie for prey.”
Sinder smirked. “They’ll never see him.”
“And the traps?”
“In the unlikely event of a misstep, the traps aren’t lethal, and you and Reveille will be right there. Assuming you can keep up.”
Torloo looked honestly baffled. “You know my speed.”
“Oh, you’re faster,” Sinder drawled. “But you’re definitely going to run into trouble.”
Kyrie immediately understood. Games like this were fun. And necessary.
“What kind of trouble?” Torloo patiently asked, though his tail was puffed double.
Sinder’s smile widened. “Like now, for instance. Where is your friend?”
From under the table, where he now sat with Fend, Kyrie watched Torloo turn a circle.
“Never discount a dragon,” said Sinder. “Even a young one. We’re good at these games.”
Kyrie liked being included, liked being Sinder’s brother.
But Torloo’s agitation grew, to the point that he tucked his tail. “I am forewarned.”
Then something else, too soft to hear. But the winds were willing, and they carried the young wolf’s troubled words to Kyrie—he is like him.
FORTY-EIGHT
Blessing
Lilya had always considered Lapis part of her family. His face had been bending into view since her cradle days, because he doted on Kyrie. But Lapis was too kind to part her from the brother she adored. He had two arms, and so he would carry them both away. Some of her earliest memories involved midnight blue hair, trilling lullabies, and reaching for sparkling baubles that seemed to be singing.
Lapis came to Stately House more than any of the other members of the Amaranthine Council, and she was sure that in his heart, their home was his home.
“Who banished your sparkle?” Lapis asked in scandalized tones. “Surely, it is a crime against the Maker to hide such brilliance under a bushel basket.”
Lilya lifted her wrists, displaying the crystals that made up her wards.
“Lovely, well-behaved remnants, to be sure.” The dragon pointed at her belly with one manicured claw, then twirled it. “Your back?”
“Yes, on my back.” It was no use pretending nothing was there. More softly, she said, “Uncle Lapis, it’s supposed to be a secret.”
He sniffed. “Not from me.”
She glanced up at Moon, whose tail had begun a cheery thump against the floor.
Lapis gracefully waved away her concern. “He is a secret, as well. We are all in excellent company.”
“Who are we to question Argent’s precautions?” asked Glint.
“I can and I do!” Lapis beckoned to Lilya with both hands. “Show me.”
“Manners,” groused Glint. “Surely you can see that it would be inappropriate.”
“We are family. Practically.” Lapis appealed to Lilya. “I suppose you have grown somewhat since I last assisted with your baths. Where is Kyrie, incidentally? He will vouch for me.”
Lilya smiled. “I’ll vouch for you, too.”
“There, see?” Lapis applied himself to Moon. “Why would Glint see overtures where there are none?”
With a short laugh, Moon suggested, “Because he is a father?”
Lapis widened his eyes and tutted. “Lilya is like a daughter to me! Or a niece, at the very least. Tell them, Lilya.”
She thought perhaps it was time to change the subject. “Uncle Lapis, did you know I found a wind dragon.”
He blinked.
He blinked again.
“Surely, you jest?” he murmured. “A wind dragon? Here?”
“I named him Rifflet.” She claimed one of his hands in both her own. “He has the sweetest little voice.”
Lapis succumbed to a flurry of blinks.
Meanwhile, Glint leaned through the door and called, “Radiance? Would you be so good as to … arbitrate?”
She waltzed in, shook her head at them, clapped her hands, and took charge. “We don’t have time for this! Snow finally agreed to this outing, and I won’t see it delayed. Lord Mossberne, you are more than welcome to join us. Lilya, we’re going somewhere safe for your wee ribbon monster, so fetch him along. For Lapis’ sake.”
The dragon looked intrigued. “May I ask the nature of this errand?”
Moon was close enough to tap Lapis’ shoulder. “I’m here for the first time in a good while, and I’ve coaxed my sister to share my path to her bondmate’s monument. I will say the words she cannot.”
Lapis grew solemn. “Surely, I would be intruding.”
But they coaxed, and he smiled and offered to sing a song of remembrance. Which was welcomed with such fluster, Lilya got the impression that Lapis would be doing something rare.
When he trailed after her to fetch Rifflet, she quietly asked, “Is the song special, or is the song special because you’re singing it?”
“A little of both.” Most of his attention was now on the soaring tree overhead. “Dragons collect songs and stories, but instead of committing them to paper, we commit them to memory. And to melody.”
“You sing for us all the time.”
Lapis gave a demure trill. “It is my pleasure to lavish upon Stately House what the wider world rarely hears.”
Lilya stopped on one of the wide stairs. “Are you secretly majestic, or something?”
“I am publicly majestic. I am secretly myself and happiest with people who take me entirely for granted.”
She plucked at his sleeve. “I’ll let you check my seal, but only if Ginkgo’s there.”
“I look forward to his opinion on the matter.”
Lilya jumped down one step but lingered there. “Do you like seals?”
“In the same way I like crossword puzzles and translating ancient poetry. But not nearly as much as I like storytelling in the naproom or taking part in amateur theatricals.”
That’s what he called any game of make believe. Lilya knew Lapis was supposed to be a world-renowned scholar, but whenever he was at Stately House, it didn’t show.
Thinking of Uncle Waaseyaa, Lilya asked, “Why don’t you adopt a crosser?”