Page 318 of The Priory of the Orange Tree

He cupped one of her hands between his. “You still feel cold.”

“It will pass.”

Loth turned to Sabran and straightened her crown of pearls, which had gone awry in the embrace. “I remember your mother wearing this. She would be proud of this alliance, Sab.”

She raised a smile. “I hope so.”

“We have an hour before the third day of spring begins. I had better see Meg.”

“Meg is not here,” Ead said.

Loth stilled. “What?”

She told him everything that had happened since she had woken from her sleep of death. How Tané had eaten the fruit, and how the rulers of the South had come to broker an alliance. When she revealed exactly where his sister was, Loth took a deep breath.

“You let her go to Cárscaro.” He said it to them both. “To a siege.”

“Loth,” Ead said, “Meg made her own choice.”

“She was determined to play her part, and I saw no reason to take that from her,” Sabran explained. “Captain Lintley is with her.”

He imagined his sister on the barren plain, hunkered in a field hospital among the filth and blood of battle. He thought of Margret with the bloodblaze and felt sick.

“I must address the Inysh seafarers,” Sabran murmured. “I pray we see the dawn.”

Loth swallowed the cork of dread in his throat. “May Cleolind watch over us all,” he said.

On the deck of theDancing Pearl, Tané stood among the soldiers and archers who had gathered to await the hour.

The Unceasing Emperor was on the upper deck. Behind him, like an immense shadow, the Imperial Dragon loomed. Her scales were darkest gold, eyes blue as glaciers. Long tendrils matched the white of her horns. At the stern were three of the Seiikinese dragon elders. Even after all the time Tané had spent in the company of dragons, these ones were the most colossal she had ever seen.

Close to the elders, the Warlord of Seiiki kept watch beside the Sea General. Tané knew her former commander was more than aware of her presence. Every time she looked away from him, she sensed his attention snap to her face.

Onren and Kanperu were among the dragonriders. The latter had gained a scar across one eye since Tané had last seen him. Their dragons waited behind theDefiance.

A touch on her arm made her look back. A figure emerged from the shadows behind her, wearing a hooded cloak.

Ead.

“Where is Roos?” Tané asked her softly.

“The fever has set in. His fight today will be for his life.” Ead never took her gaze from Sabran. “Has your dragon arrived?” Tané shook her head. “Could you ride another?”

“I am no longer a rider.”

“But surely today—”

“You do not seem to understand,” Tané said shortly. “I am disgraced. They will not even speak to me.”

Finally, Ead nodded. “Keep the jewel close,” was all she said before she returned to the shadows.

Tané tried to concentrate. A breath of wind caressed her spine, unsettled her hair, and rose to fill the sails of theDancing Pearl.

Deep in the Abyss, there was movement. No more than the flicker of butterfly wings, or the quickening of a child in the womb.

“He comes,” the Imperial Dragon said. Her voice quaked through the ships.

Tané reached for her case. The jewel was so cold that she could feel it through the wood and lacquer.

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