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Winter was slowly fading, but snow still held on in the shadows, while snowdrops peeked out from the ground wherever sunlight fell. Still, the entire area was streaked with muddy puddles and hidden patches of ice ready to catch the unwary.

While focused on calling the dragon, I forgot about this, only to slide on one and not so gracefully land on my rear.

‘Cinared!’ I shouted, ready to scold the dragon for my misstep. ‘Come down this instant!’

My voice carried in the clear air while I scrambled to get up. Unfortunately, the ice was too slippery, and I fell back down.

‘Sanika!’ A plume of smoke and a ball of fire materialised as the dragon roared the endearment.

He plummeted like a meteor, this time without the screams of countless terrified citizens. After several days of his playful antics, everyone had become used to the fire-breathing dragon and treated him as a local attraction.

To say that Truso’s citizens adapted easily to bizarre circumstances was an understatement.

‘Why are you sitting in a puddle of water?’ Cin rumbled as he came closer to nuzzle my hair. I grabbed the spikes protecting his head and used them to pull myself up.

‘I slipped on the ice, and once I was down…’ I shrugged, shivering slightly and pulling on the wet fabric of my dress.

His hot breath surrounded me, warming my clothes. ‘Are you injured? Should I call Reynard?’

‘I landed in a puddle. Stop fretting.’ I placed a hand on his cheek, stroking the protruding eye ridge. ‘I wanted to see you. Everyone’s busy. Rey is with Riordan. Irsha is… worrying over Lily, and Tova is wearing heels.’

Cinared’s muzzle parted, vertical pupils contracting as he stared at me with the dragon’s version of a puzzled expression.

‘Should I be offended at being so far down your list, or ask why you’re upset that your friend’s wearing heels?’

‘There is no list. If there were, yours would be the only name there.’ I sighed, climbing onto his front paw and settling into the crook of his elbow. ‘Tova’s doing it to impress a woman, and I don’t want him getting hurt.’

‘That’s his choice, Sanika.’ He laid his massive head beside me and spread his wing, sheltering us from the wind, creating a cosy, warm alcove. ‘There is tension in your posture. Why? What’s wrong?’

‘Tova found something, a mention of blood or bloodlines being the key to the Wey Gates. If there’s a key, it must have a lock, but our information on the pillars is lacking.’

Cinared was an impressive sounding board, and I rambled on, hoping that by talking, I’d stumble upon an idea.

‘Would it help if I flew there and looked?’ he rumbled, his massive head nestling close, nuzzling my legs for strokes.

‘Maybe, but that would mean Rey would have to go with you. I can’t trust anyone else. Still, he is needed here with all guests about to arrive…’ I paused, wondering if Reynard would know what to look for even if he went to the pillars.

Something else was niggling at me. If Tangra won the war, how did they plan to shut down the pillars? Did they intend to keep them active? For the Empire hated magic; that was unlikely, but maybe that’s why Tova found the mention of the key.

A headache crept in, and the dragon’s purr intensified.

‘Trust my wings, Sanika. Rey thinks Tangra is ready to invade. He wants us to fly there to scout the deployment of their forces. They’d have to use this key to pass these pillars, no?’ Cinared’s giant pupils narrowed when my heart rate spiked at the thought of seeing Tangra’s Prefect again.

‘Yes. I just wish I knew how they did it,’ I said with a sigh.

‘Then it is settled. I’ll fly there to see it, and maybe divert a little to torch the prison you were held in. I can burn your enemies and turn the southern shore into their funeral pyre. Whatever you want, Sanika. I’ll even wear heels for you if you find something to fit my paws,’ he deadpanned.

‘You’ll what?’ I choked on the words, my fear vanishing.

‘Burn the south, wear heels. I should be willing to do more than the dwarf. If he is ready for a little inconvenience to impress the lady of his heart, then so am I.’

I playfully swatted Cin’s nose, but deep down, an unsettling feeling pricked at my soul. If I asked you to fly me to Tivalaran and erase Ernesto Tivala, you’d do it, wouldn’t you?

‘You’re impossible,’ I said once I stopped laughing, and the dragon purred softly.

‘Possibly, but for the first time today I see you smiling. Whatever your worry, I’ll fix it. Your light will never dim in my presence. Now tell me about the dress you’re going to wear, or even better. Tell me how you intend to kill that bastard,’ he said, pushing his snout closer when I snuggled to him. ‘Because I have an idea.’

‘You’re so bloodthirsty. What idea?’

‘I’ll eat him.’ The dragon grinned, exposing rows of very sharp fangs.

‘Cinared! What’s gotten into you today? Besides, dragons don’t eat sentient beings,’ I laughed, and his ridged eyebrow raised in a dragon equivalent of a shrug.

‘That is a popular misconception, Sanika. For a man like Tivala, I’d happily make an exception. And I will chew very slowly.’

This time, I didn’t laugh. That was a deadly promise. Rey had told him of my ordeal in Tivala’s castle. There was no sense in hiding it since their minds were connected.

‘Don’t, Cin. Not for me.’ I kissed his scales. ‘You’ll be alive long after I’m gone. Revenge is for humans, as the hatred disappears once we’re dead. I can’t bear knowing you’ll carry this forever.’ My words were met with gentleness. The dragon’s forked tongue slid from his muzzle and gently caressed my cheek.

‘My Sanika. I cannot soar through the skies without you.’

My breath caught, but before I could ask what he meant, why his words sounded so final, Cinared raised his head, pupils narrowing as he looked at the sky.

I slid off his paw when his muscles tensed. Cin spread his massive wings, stretching them over my head.

‘I’ve asked Reynard to come. My brother is nearby, and his family is with him,’ he said, and as soon as I was at a safe distance, he leapt into the sky.

I straightened up and smoothed my hair. Royalty was coming, and I could at least pretend to be regal.