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Lemuel turned his attention to Hekon while Assal made angry noises. “Is there harm innotacting today?”
Hekon gave Akoni and Keon a cold look, then back to Lemuel. “There is no specific reason why we need to act now, beyond we had resolved to act. There is a window of opportunity and how long that window remains open will be unpredictable. When that window begins to close,immediateaction will be necessary. If the Seat is willing to trust my sole judgement on that matter, then waiting remains an option until it is no longer an option.”
Assal and Sorren moved to speak, but Petrarchyan stood. “We’ve already decided to act. I see no problem leaving it to Hekon, if Hekon is willing to shoulder that responsibility and burden alone.”
Sorren asked Akoni, “Areyousuggesting we re-populate Homeworld?”
“I am saying Lemuria was not inhabitable when our ancestors fled here. As humans would say, Homeworld is a fixer-upper. An investor special.”
Keon coughed on shock. Then kept coughing. He excused himself back to our little spot and took Akoni’s empty place. Auryn brushed his fingers down Keon’s spine to ease the spasm.
Dekka’s smile was small and chilling. “I think it is far more likely Helena was sent to shatterourorder, including our plans to dismantle human civilization.Weneed to re-colonize and rebuild Homeworld, and that was never part of our plans. How does that sound, Diamond Wyrm?”
Mayriel rubbed her head and winced. She didn’t say anything but flicked a hand as if to saysure, yeah, whatever, kindly fuck off now.
“Are you sure, Hekon?” Lemuel looked between the Wyrm and his consort. “A’ka? The fate of human civilization is an immense burden to bear alone.”
Hekon and A’ka exchanged a long look. She smiled sadly at him. He turned back to the Seat. “I accept responsibility.”
Dekka’s blue skin raced with celestial points of light and she seemed to glow, softly, casting Mahon in a summer night shadow of firefly glow. She leaned back against Mahon, a cruel smile lifting the corners of her lips. “Then we will proceed.”
Thirty-Four
“Why is Sorren coming with us?” I asked under my breath. The Wyrm was in a regular shendyt of fiery gold, and there was something about the way he carried himself, with his deep red hair braided back from his face and plaited into what looked like a single large feather, unnerved me.
Akoni watched his father for a long moment while the Wyrm tossed his bags into the boat we were going to share for the long trip back to North for our official scouting mission to Homeworld. Alana was nowhere to be seen. Sorren also had what looked like two weapons slipped into loops on his bag. “My father has a name that is never used, but it is the purpose he serves on the Seat.”
“Which is?”
“The War Wyrm.” Akoni’s tone was grim. “My father, before he made himself Wyrm, was one of Lemuria’s soldiers. And he has been preparing the mopping up, if you will, of topside.”
“Lemuria has anarmy?”
“You thought we were pacifists?”
“Of course not. I just didn’t know there was anarmy.”
“We’re peaceful, not pushovers.”
“But the army can’t be that big.”
“Does it need to be?”
So Lemuria was just pulling an army out of a closet and dusting it off. Of all the Wyrms I would not have wanted to encounter on a battlefield,Sorrenwas at the top of that list. Dekka would at least accept your surrender over tea.
Sorren was the living, fiery, Wyrm-medallion-bearing avatar offuck around, find out.
Then he’d stomp on your head a few times. Just to be sure.
“Time to go,” Auryn said pleasantly, nudging both of us towards the dock, like weweren’tabout to go on a road trip with our estranged father-in-law.
“Dick,” I muttered.
“Not now, dear.”
We survivedthe trip to North without so much as a grumpy glare from Sorren. The Wyrm remained tucked into his tablet and probably making topside conquest plans. Dragons were very patient travelers—they had no sense of time, so six hours in a boat versus eighteen hours was more or less the same to them.
Our last stop before we arrived at the remote dock in North, Sorren changed into a blood-red, formal shendyt. The shade of red was unlike anything I’d seen in Lemuria, and it seemed heavy and wicked—the perfect shade of red for the violent, ruthless Sorren.
