Page 96 of Grave Situation

And yet, somehow, it is.

“It’s a real bond,” I say. “It’s not going anywhere, and it definitely can’t be removed.” I’m pretty sure I’d instinctively attack anyone who tried.

“Then we have to assume you and Leicht can’t be separated. Does… Does hewantto go back?” Jaimin ventures.

“I want vengeance.”

“Yeah, I hear and agree with that, but I can’t delay this mission for vengeance. Tia would haunt me for all eternity. So can you trust that the other dragons and the riders—and maybe the mages—will enact vengeance on our behalf? Or are you going to drag me off with you?”I can’t believe this is a conversation I’m even having, but if Leicht decides we’re going, there’s not a lot I can do to stop him… unless I try to kill him using magic. Which might get me arrested by the dragon riders, and then I wouldn’t be able to continue the mission anyway.

Even from here, we all hear Leicht’s growl of annoyance, and we turn to glance in that direction.“Tia was determined to see this task met,”he says finally.“I will honor her memory.”

“He wants to stay,” I report. “He wants to finish what Tia started.”

“We could tell the riders that,” Master suggests. “They’d understand that kind of honor.”

“But they’ll bring up the communication barrier,” Jaimin argues, shaking his head. “What if they decide to have another bonded pair join us? There’s too much chance of them guessing.”

An idea strikes me. “What if we tell them the truth?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“I think you need some sleep.”Master shakes his head. “Tell them the truth? Didn’t we decide we wanted toavoidhaving you locked up for experiments?”

“Not the whole truth,” I explain. “Part of it. Or rather, we don’t tell them… we pretend we want it to happen.”

“He needs sleep,” Master says to Jaimin. “Is there something you can do for him?”

“Just listen to my idea,” I insist, even as Jaimin lifts a hand toward me. “We go back and have the ceremony, pretend everything is normal.” The word catches in my throat. There’s nothing normal about a pyre ceremony for Tia. I force myself to continue. “Then, when the riders start preparing to leave, Leicht tells them that he doesn’t want to go. That he needs to see this mission through. They can’t force him to go back.” Wait…“Can they?”

“No.”

“That doesn’t solve the problem of one of them wanting to stay,” Jaimin begins, and I lift a finger in awaitgesture.

“Then one of us will raise the issue of communication—before they can. They tell us Leicht says he wants to stay. We sayokay, if he wants to, sure, a dragon could be useful, but oh, wait… without Tia, we won’t be able to talk to him.”

I pause for any interruptions, but they seem to be past that stage now and just wait for me to finish.

“That’s when the stone will join the conversation. It will imply that it can solve that issue, we’ll ask it to, and then I’ll announce I can hear Leicht in my head.”

My master and my… Jaimin exchange doubting looks.

“That still brings us back to you being a mage who bonded a dragon,” Jaimin says gently. “They won’t let that go so easily.”

I shake my head. “No, they don’t need to know about the bond. It’s just about communication. When Leicht has something to say, I’ll ‘hear’ it. We can write it off as an extension of my telepathy and suggest it’s temporary for the mission.”

Master strokes his chin. “There are a lot of ways that could fall apart, but I don’t think we have a better idea,” he concedes. “Of course, it all depends on the stone’s cooperation. It may need to outright lie if one of them asks the wrong question—can it even do that?”

My shoulders sag. “I don’t know.”

They wait, and reluctantly, I fish the stone from the bag around my neck. I don’t want to talk to it, either, but today seems to be a day of things I don’t want, and I can’t let Tia down.

That doesn’t stop me from passing the chunk of rock to Master, though. He can have this chat.

His lips tighten, and I know he wants to scold me, but instead he looks at the stone in his hand. “Did you follow all that?” he asks it.

~Yes~

“Are you willing to assist with this plan? Can you lie if we need you to?”

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