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The woman nodded. “If they don’t know them, yes.”
“What about those other dragons, the second group?”
“They are connected with the dragon order.” Her voice was calm, but there was an edge of contained anger beneath those words.
“I assume it’s also bad news?”
Tzaria exhaled. “It’s all very complicated. They are not…” She looked away, then back at Fel. “Bad. They’ve been fighting a difficult war. You can’t fault them for being suspicious. At the same time, we’d rather keep you hidden.”
“Why?”
The woman looked down, a cloud covering her eyes. “I knew your father. We both did.”
Father? Fel’s enormous heart beat faster. “Who’s my father?”
Tzaria stared at him. “Ircantari. He was the most powerful living dragon mage, a dear friend, and greatly missed—especially in a time like this.” She then looked down.
There were so many questions circling Fel’s mind that he didn’t even know how to start. “Can you tell me more about him?”
She nodded. “For sure. But first, let’s get settled. Try to drink some water from the entrance, the waterfall. You shouldn’t feel thirsty in this form, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to drink.”
“Do I also eat?”
“Yes, but not very often. That said, you had a rough time with the Boundless back there. I’ll try to get something for you.” She turned to Risomu. “Can you watch him while I go and bring Saik? And some dinner?”
Risomu narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps we should wait and stay put. Make sure nobody else learns about him.”
She shrugged. “The Order saw him.”
“They still don’t know who he is,” Risomu said. “And I’d rather be extra cautious than under cautious. Let’s do it differently then: I’ll go and tell him we aren’t coming back tonight, without any details, and I’ll bring an early dinner for us.”
“That’s fair.” Tzaria nodded.
Risomu traced a circle on the ground by pointing at it with his index finger, then disappeared in it, as Fel watched it, fascinated.
Fel turned to Tzaria. “You can move like the fae.”
“Huh. Maybe. But they don’t have a tenth of the magic we do. Go. Get some water, and then I’ll tell you about your father.”
All about his father. This was better than he had expected.
* * *
Naia spenthours in front of the communication mirror, waiting to see if more kingdoms would contact them, wondering if they would accuse her of lying or something. All she got was silence. Perhaps everyone was waiting for the gathering, when they would all see each other in person again, when lies would be harder to conceal, and when looks would tell so much more than through the mirror.
Naia got up and walked outside. Arry was sitting on the floor in the hallway. She had already told him that there was no need to guard her, and wasn’t going to repeat herself, so she just asked, “How’s the infirmary?”
“Better. Fel… He saved us, Naia.”
“HadIbeen here, perhaps we could have saved even more people.” This was one of the things that hurt her, that made her angry at River. Only one person had died from Umbraar, but maybe it could have been different if she’d been there, with her iron magic and fire.
“Regretting does no good, Naia.”
He stared at her in that way that would make her face warm not long before. She wished he wouldn’t look at her like that because he was a good friend and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. The funny thing was that when she had been a silly teen with a crush on him, she had never imagined he would be interested in her. Now that her crush was over, his actions were blatantly obvious. It was so odd how her feelings had blinded her.
“It’s not regretting,” she said. “It’s looking back and accessing what could have been done differently. That’s how we learn.”
“True. We sent the messenger to the portal hub.”
