My fist collided with his nose. Pain ricocheted through my knuckles as Ronan spun away, crimson spraying across the war room like a macabre signature.
I had no time to argue, no mental energy to squander correcting a child. I was without an advisor, down a general, and Greaves clung to life by the bare will of the gods.
And Nienna was lost in a labyrinth.
“If your dragons can’t help, see yourself out.” My tone was cold, flat, even. Fear and grief rattled the box I caged them in, threatening to spill over. I shoved them aside. I needed discipline. Calculations. Tactics.
Emotions would not rule me.
Ronan sniffed, swallowing what had to be a mouthful of blood, then collapsed into a chair, tilting his head back. “They could.”
“Could?” I repeated, the single word cracking the haze that clouded my mind.
He scoffed, swiping at his nose, then smearing the blood across his trousers. “It’s worthless—she doesn’t even know.”
“Know what? Spit it out, Ronan. I’ll take any aid I can get.”
“Nienna doesn’t know because I never told her. I was too selfish.” He spat on the floor, a dark splatter landing near his boot. “She’s the Dragon’s Heart, you fool. Don’t you grasp that?”
“She was raised in their nest.” My fingers twitched. Another vague answer and I would hurl him from the mountain.
“Sheisone of them!” His bitter laugh tore from his throat. “She’s connected to every dragon. Whenever she needed them, whenever she called, they answered. Gyrak is my dragon, but he would obey her before me. They all listen to her.”
“Then have them find her!” My palm slapped onto the map, shaking it as frustration clawed up my spine.
“She has to call them!” His frustration matched my own. “It’s not like they hear her every thought! She has to reach through the bond, andthenthey hear her. That’s why Tsunami always comes when she’s in danger—she calls for her without knowing it!”
“Your sister can commandevery single dragon,and you never thought to tell her?!”
“No!” He lurched upright, fury spilling over, chair skidding to the floor. “She ordered my dragon around enough as it was. Do you really think I wanted her to recognize the power she held over him? She’s mysister!”
“You immature child.” I ground my teeth. This would’ve been over in an instant. Without thought or hesitation. If Nienna summoned the dragons, we would discover exactly where she was. Yet some boy, afraid his pet would prove more loyal to her, chose silence over truth.
“You think I don’t realize that?” His roar bounced against the stone walls, echoing with his dragon in the distance.
“She has to know.” My head shook, tainted with disbelief. Nienna would have told me. She wouldn’t have kept this secret. How was she able to command the dragons without understanding the extent of her power?
“No,” Ronan said, tugging his hair, snagging the goggles perched there. “She doesn’t. She treats them like hatchmates. Family. Only by accident has she ever tapped into their magic. She can’t control it—not yet. That kind of discipline takes years of practice–”
I held up a hand, blood pumping through my veins. “Then have your dragons listen for her.”
“What do you think they’re doing?”
“Flying around attacking my men!”
Tsunami had turned on my forces. It hadn’t lasted long, but it gave me reason to fear.
“That was a freak accident! She’s wild! She got confused!”
“Did she?” I demanded. “Or was she controlled by the Velli? Did one of them snag her blood from somewhere and overtake her? Can you guarantee it didn’t happen?”
“They never would’ve gotten close enough!”
“They wouldn’t need to,” I hissed. “Your beast attacked her, remember? There was plenty of blood running through Radaan that day.”
Ronan’s skin drained to the hue of fresh snow, pupils widening in dawning horror.
“If I’m right, then Tsunami isn’t the only threat. Your black might turn on you.”
