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I blow out a long breath. “Nine days it is, then. I’ll hold you to this agreement as an oath.”
“So be it.”
There is no time to waste. “I need to borrow one of the dragons. Evya is probably at the underwater palace. The sooner I can get there, the better.”
Falamar hesitates. “They’re all commandeered for the night.”
“You can’t possibly have sent out that many scouts at once. All I need is one dragon so I can try to find Evya again.”
Granted, I have no idea what I will do if I manage to find her. The vision only showed me her face, told me what to sing, and gave me a sense that everything could be made right if I found her. Not much to go on, but finding her has to be a good start.
“If you’re going to the palace tonight, you’ll have to find another way.” The king pauses again. “But I wouldn’t go there now if I were you.”
It takes me a moment to catch the meaning laced into his words, but suddenly it all adds up. The maps and plans he was pouring over when I came in. His frustration that my vision was fulfilled tonight, of all nights.
I tense in alarm. “Did you send an attack against the palace?”
“As you pointed out, Shantura starts tonight. The revelry of the opening celebration will make the Atathari tribe distracted, and it is better to break them down in pieces. You don’t think I’d hinge everything on a single attack at the end, do you?”
Burning stars!I turn and bolt out into the hall, letting the door slam behind me. Falamar shouts something after me, but I have no more patience for his words tonight. I run through the narrow, winding hallways toward the dragon stables, with only one thought in my mind.
I need to get to the Seamother’s palace. I need to warn Evya.
Chapter 5
Evya
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Imight as well havea shark for a mate.
I scowl at the man who stands before me in the center of the crowded festival hall. Chieftain Veltuk bends into a shallow bow, holding my gaze and cringing as if the reverent gesture galls him.
“Evya, daughter of the Seamother, I come to you from the icy waters of the far north. I declare before all the tribes gathered here that I will fight for you and win you, for none can match my prowess in battle ...”
His voice booms through the hall, filling every bit of space from the mosaic floor to the vast, domed ceiling. He even drowns out the sound of the waves that crash against the walls outside. I try to tune out his words and focus on observing him instead.
