Page 78 of Kingdom of Dance

What form that attack would take, Zinnia had no idea. She’d hit a dead end, and it was hard to even remember why she’d once been so convinced that it was important to keep fighting. She was weary of fighting. Weary of everything.

A shadow overhead made both sisters look up, and Zinnia felt a flicker of surprise. She hadn’t come to the beach with the expectation of seeing the dragons, but now that she thought about it, they hadn’t visited in a while.

Rekavidur came in to land first, his yellow scales glinting in the late afternoon sun. He landed on the water like a swan, except that at the last moment he dove straight under and didn’t emerge for at least a minute. Meanwhile, Dannsair had alighted on a large rock not much farther out to sea from where Zinnia and Violet sat.

“Greetings, Zinnia, Violet.”

They greeted the dragon appropriately. Zinnia couldn’t muster much enthusiasm. She’d long ago given up on the hope that the dragons could help her.

“We hoped we’d find you here, Zinnia,” Dannsair said unexpectedly.

Zinnia looked up, her interest stirred. Generally, the dragons came and went according to their own whims. Friendly they might be, but they didn’t usually seem to care much about Zinnia’s presence, one way or the other.

Before she could respond, Rekavidur splashed into the shallows, water running down his scales in a miniature torrent.

“We sensed something in our pass over the city recently, and we decided on reflection that we would do best to make you aware of it.”

Zinnia stared. “What did you sense?”

“A signature of magic that we’ve been searching for,” Rekavidur said calmly.

Dannsair nodded. “We suspect that one of the escaped fugitives from the magic prison in Fernedell is currently hiding in Tola.”

Zinnia’s eyes were wide. “I know he is,” she said, without thinking. “His name is Lorne, and I’ve seen him. Basil has guards combing the city right now.”

“Oh.” Rekavidur sounded mildly surprised. “It seems our intervention was unnecessary.” He crouched as if to spring, but Zinnia flung out a hand. “Wait! How did you know he was here? And why did you want to warn us?”

“Hang on,” said Violet. “I think the real question is, how didyouknow he was here? And what do you mean you’ve seen him?”

“Yes, that is an excellent question, actually,” Rekavidur said, pinning Zinnia with a thoughtful stare.

“I asked my question first,” said Zinnia in irritation.

“Immaterial,” Rekavidur assured her.

Giving in with a bad grace, she slumped back on the rock. “I snuck out to do some investigations of my own and saw him meeting with some unsavory men in a warehouse near the Belna markets.”

“What?!” The screech came from Violet, of course—Rekavidur didn’t seem especially concerned by her revelation.

“What were you investigating?” Dannsair asked curiously.

Zinnia just shrugged. They’d reached the point of the tale where Idric’s magic activated. She could say no more.

“When did this happen?” Violet demanded. “Why didn’t I know about it?”

“Humans love to deceive one another,” said Dannsair, shaking her head.

Zinnia glared up at the purple dragon. Dannsair might not know it, but the comment was utterly unfair. Idric’s deception went much deeper than hers. But of course she once again couldn’t say so. Another aspect of the dragon’s words suddenly clicked in her mind.

“Hang on,” she said. “Why were you searching for Lorne?” She frowned. “Prince Amell told me that his father received anonymous tips about the location of many of the escaped prisoners. Was that from you? Were you secretly helping the Fernedellians round them up?”

She could feel Violet’s astonishment beside her, but she didn’t care. A reckless mood had come over her, and it hardly seemed to matter whether her sister discovered that their dragon friends had been benevolently breaching the agreement.

Rekavidur and Dannsair just stared at her, their catlike orbs unblinking.

Zinnia let out a sigh. “Of course you’re not going to confirm it.”

“We were looking for the fugitive,” Rekavidur said, as if Zinnia hadn’t asked any of the subsequent questions, “because we do not wish him to remain at large long enough to cross paths with someone more dangerous than him.”

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