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“And?” I flailed my hands. “Do we succeed?”
“I don’t know.”
“So how can you be sure it’s the right thing to do? What if, by leaving, we run into trouble and die? Maybe we leave for the First Jewel but never arrive,” I argued. Because, quite honestly, the thought of travelling left me cold. I’d barely survived my last trip in the desert.
“If we do nothing, the monsters will overwhelm us and we’ll all die.” A grim pronouncement.
“Let’s say I believe you. How are we supposed to find the First Jewel? It’s obviously been lost a long time.”
“I saw it on a map.”
“You have a map? Show me.”
“I can’t.” His scowl didn’t detract from his handsomeness. “It disappeared from my chambers.”
“How convenient.”
“More like annoying.”
“And just what did this supposed map show?” I asked.
“It showed Ulkruuba from the cliffs to the marshes, only on the map there were trees drawn in. The markings were faint but appeared to show seven cities, linked by a vast network of what I thought were roads.”
“Thought?”
“Your uncle suggested it might be tunnels, given they don’t follow the same path as our road.”
“Wait, you think there’s a network of tunnels underground that will lead us to this lost city?” I blinked. “You know that sounds crazy.”
“Only if I’m wrong. Do you have a better idea?”
I didn’t. “Still don’t know why you need to bring me.”
“Would you really prefer it if I left with your friends and you had to sit and wait, alone, a target for more dragons, wondering if, by refusing to come, you caused our deaths because you might have made a difference?”
The guilt layered on so quickly and thoroughly I couldn’t escape. So I clapped. “Well done. Make it so I don’t have a choice.”
“Is this your way of saying I make a persuasive argument?”
“It’s blackmail.”
“It’s the truth. And you know it.”
“I’m not agreeing to anything until I talk to Qynn, Kya, and Palla.”
“What about your uncle?”
“Jrijori is why I’m in this mess.”
“Look on the positive side.”
“Which is what, exactly?”
“We get to spend time together.” He had the nerve to wink.
Damn him for tugging a smile free when I wanted to be annoyed. I didn’t want to go hunting for monsters and lost cities. But he was right. I’d be a mess if they left without me. “How long before we leave?”
“Right after dinner. I’ve got people gathering supplies.”
