On the eve of our departure, I reported to the meeting room with Kade, Ullion, and a girl called Daria to be briefed on our destination. Headmaster Caparro and Major Falkieth were there, but the briefing was led by a new face—Lieutenant Bellmont, an officer from the war department.

“While Zallabar has still not declared open war despite that underhanded attack on our capital,” Bellmont was saying, “all indications are that Traggar’s alliance with them still holds, and they will be joining in the impending war.” He gestured to a map on the wall, pointing to a cluster of islands north of Elantia. “Traggar is made up of these six main islands here, plus the dozens of smaller islands that run all the way up the coast here.” He traced a path farther north with his white-gloved finger, then brought it back down to the stretch of ocean separating the islands from the mainland. “You will be monitoring the channel, here, for any signs of unusual activity.”

Bellmont then took a few minutes to describe the terrain, and I did my best not to tune him out. I’d already spent the last two days refreshing my knowledge of Traggar. The channel was of variable width and took three to five hours to cross, depending on which point you started at from the mainland or which island you were trying to get to. It was extremely dangerous to attempt the crossing during storms due to the rocks and cliffs, and dragons could be battered badly by the treacherous winds or even struck by lightning.

Unfortunately, the northern border near the channel was never considered a likely front in the last century. Elantia had only ever had a few skirmishes with them, when Traggar attempted to grab pieces of the continent and were driven back. As a result of being out of touch with them for decades, we were not well-prepared as a country to deal with them. I only knew a few phrases of Traggaran since I’d never traveled there. The country’s perpetual rainy season and boggy lands didn’t make it an ideal vacation destination, and it wasn’t a promising location for digging up relics, either.

"Traggar is currently ruled by Zolar the Third," the lieutenant said, tapping at a sketch posted to the wall. The man in question looked like a thug, with beady eyes, close-cropped hair, and a harsh, forbidding face. "Like the rest of his people, he is not at all friendly to Elantians, and should you be captured, he will have your dragons tortured until you give up every bit of intel you have. Traggarans are also extremely untrustworthy, and any contract or promise he might offer you will not be honored. I would highly advise doing anything possible to avoid capture should you run across them for any reason."

The four of us shuddered. I wasn't surprised to hear this about the Traggarans—from what I understood, King Zolar was a despot who had a penchant for divorcing and exiling his wives when he tired of them, and he didn't trust foreigners. Of course, he wasn't the kind of man who kept his promises or was interested in making peace with other nations.

“Since your primary objective is reconnaissance, it is doubtful that you will have to deal with the Traggarans directly," Lieutenant Bellmont said, as if to placate us. He then continued to give us the highlights on Traggar, and the more I heard, the less I liked. Apparently, Traggar was heavily involved in the slave trade—since they'd concentrated on shipbuilding, they had a strong navy, which they'd used to conquer various islands and areas in the southern climates that they cruelly exploited for natural resources. While slave trading was illegal in Traggar itself, it was not illegal in the southern islands, and thus it had become a booming industry for them.

“I don’t think I’d feel guilty at all if we ended up having to kill some of them,” Lessie informed me in a haughty tone.

I hid my smile. “Neither do I. Although Lieutenant Bellmont’s briefing seems a bit biased. After all, a population of over three million has to have a few good eggs, don’t you think?”

“I don’t care about good eggs,” Lessie informed me, and I could just see her tossing her head in my mind’s eye. “I just care about keeping you safe.”

“Something funny, Private Kenrook?”

The lieutenant’s sharp voice brought me back to the present, and I blinked. “No, sir,” I said. I guess I hadn’t managed to hide my smile after all.

The lieutenant held my gaze for a long moment. “While scouting and defense will be your priority, you should all make an effort to learn the language and history in your spare time,” he finally said, his gaze sweeping away from me to take in the others. “Learning as much as you can about the enemy is crucial to winning, no matter how small or large your part in the war is.”

With that, he dismissed us.

The four of us went to our respective rooms to finish packing. In just a few hours, we’d be heading out, and who knew when we’d be coming back to the academy? Hell, would we come back at all? I knew from studying military history that wars often went on for years. Being out there, living and working on a military base, would teach us far more than we could ever learn at the academy. There might not be anything left for the professors to teach us.

It was a sobering thought, and one that made my stomach twist with dread. In my heart, I was still a reluctant cadet. I was still coming to terms with the fact that I was now officially conscripted.

I pressed my new uniform, checked and rechecked my bags, then tucked Lessie in. I would have stayed with her in the stables all night, but the stable master kicked me out, and I trudged back to my room, miserable. Changing into my pajamas, I slid beneath the sheets and closed my eyes, trying to sleep. But all I could see was Ragor’s ruined wing, the sound of cannon fire echoing in my ears. And we were only going to see more of that…

A knock on my door pulled me from my grim thoughts, and I jumped out of bed, my blood pumping. “Yes?” I cried, peering through the peephole. I wasn’t stupid enough to throw the door open, not after Salcombe had successfully kidnapped me once from campus. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust, but soon, Mrs. Browning, the residence hall mistress, came into view and I opened the door.

“Sorry to wake you, Miss Kenrook,” she said, “but you have a visitor.”

“A visitor?” I frowned. “Who?”

“Lord Tavarian.” She gave a slight smile at my stunned look. “Normally I would not allow visitors past curfew, but in this case, I will make an exception. He is waiting for you in the lounge.”

“I’ll be right there,” I blurted, then slammed the door in her face. I shucked off my pajamas and hurriedly threw on my clothes, then checked my wild hair in the mirror and smoothed it down a bit. Not that I was trying to impress him, but I did have some dignity.

"Miss Kenrook." Lord Tavarian rose from his chair by the fire as I entered the room. He looked well put together, as always, in one of those dark suits he always wore, his long, black hair pulled neatly back at the nape of his neck. But there were shadows beneath his eyes, tension in his angular face that spoke of exhaustion. And something flickered in his silver eyes, an odd look I couldn't quite place my finger on…

“Lord Tavarian.” I crossed the room in quick strides, then stopped short just before him. That familiar tension hummed in the air between us, and I paused, unsure how to greet him. “How did you get back here so fast?” I asked, trying to cover up my awkwardness.

“I had a bit of help from Muza.” A brief smile flickered across his features, but it died as those silver eyes flicked up and down my body, taking me in. “You are unharmed? I heard about what happened with Salcombe.”

I sucked in a breath as I recognized the odd look in his eyes as guilt. “He didn’t hurt me. Just threatened me.”

His mouth tightened in a grim line. “I dropped by the estate to check on you on my way back to Dragon’s Table, and was horrified to find you and Lessie gone. If Mr. and Mrs. Barton hadn’t received a letter from the headmaster explaining where you were and what had happened, I would have torn apart the countryside looking for you.”

His heated words made my skin prickle with warmth. Salcombe would have never said something like that to me. Even when we’d been on good terms, he’d always kept me at arm’s distance—ours was a relationship of mutual convenience, not affection. When I’d first met Tavarian, I’d painted him with the same cold, calculated strokes that Salcombe presented to the world.

But I was wrong. He wasn't cold, just armored. He kept his heart protected to shelter the many secrets he held close to his chest.

“I’m so glad you made it back,” I said, with feeling. “You were gone for so long that I was worried you’d offended the Quoronians and they’d decided to take you prisoner.”

Tavarian chuckled darkly. “The Quoronians would have sent me back in a box, in pieces, if that had been the case.”

“Not helping.” I scowled.

He sighed. “I’m sorry I left you,” he said, looking chagrined. “I wish I never had. If your friends hadn’t been there to rescue you…”

"Please, don't." I held up my hand before he could continue beating himself up. "You couldn't have known that Salcombe had a tracking spell on me. If it were anyone else who'd been looking for me, I'd probably still be tucked away in that little valley, safe and sound."

His eyes flared. “Location spell? The headmaster didn’t mention that.” Gesturing to the chairs, he made me sit down, then fill him in on everything.

By the time I was done, Tavarian’s face was set in a deep scowl. “Of course he would use your hair for the tracking spell,” he said, raking his eyes over my fiery mane. “You have so much of it that you wouldn’t notice if a few strands got clipped here or there.” He paused. “If shaving your head would cancel out the spell, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

My hands flew to my scalp. “That’s not funny,” I growled.

“Actually, it is a little funny,” he said, surprising me as the corner of his mouth quirked up. But that brief hint of levity disappeared, replaced by something that looked very much like pride. “You’ve come a long way, Miss Kenrook. Escaping Salcombe’s clutches, downing that airship, and now you’re headed out on your first mission. I’m impressed.”

I cleared my throat around the lump that was trying to form there. “Yeah,” I said quietly. “And all because you took a chance on a street rat.”

"You've never been a street rat." His eyes sharpened, and he pulled my dragon blade from a leather pouch sitting by the chair. My heart leaped as he handed it to me, along with my lock pick and goggles. "This blade is proof of that, and one day, when this is all over, we will trace your lineage and find out who your parents were. You deserve to know to which house you belong."

“Thanks.” I smiled, meeting his gaze. “But I already know which house I belong to.”

There was a flicker of surprise, followed by sudden warmth, as he smiled at me. “Careful,” he said. “If you keep talking like that, I’ll start to believe you actually enjoy being a dragon rider.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I do enjoy being a dragon rider. I just don’t enjoy the part where I have to place my dragon’s life in danger just because my country couldn’t get its shit together.”

Tavarian sighed. “If I could, I’d send you straight back to the valley,” he said. “But I can’t countermand the general’s orders. I sent him a letter regarding Salcombe, and the danger he poses not just to you, but to Elantia and the world as a whole, but I will not hold my breath. The military will merely see this as the ravings of a madman over magical ‘mumbo jumbo’ and will not take it seriously.”

“Great.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to relieve the pressure of an oncoming headache. “Speaking of Salcombe, I ran into some of his friends a few weeks ago.”

“Oh?” Tavarian’s eyes sharpened. “What did you discover?”

I filled him in on my trip to the catacombs, what I’d witnessed and overheard in that sepulcher. “It sounds like Red Beard, whoever he is, knows where the piece of heart is.”

Tavarian sighed. “If you’d been able to get a better description of him, I’d be able to notify the city guards to keep a look out for him,” he said. “I’ll send word to have those catacombs scoured and the temple searched. Perhaps one of the temple staff will be able to tell us something useful, or some of the acolytes are still lurking there.”

“Maybe.” I doubted any of Salcombe’s followers would continue to meet in the catacombs, not after I’d spooked them. They would have found a new hiding place.

“I do admit that I assumed Salcombe would be traveling with the piece of heart on him, since he needs it to keep up his health,” Tavarian said, shifting the subject back to the heart. “But I suppose it makes sense that he would have found an alternative. Better to keep an object like that hidden rather than take it place to place while you’re on the run. I checked my dispatches when I stopped at the estate, and read the reports about Salcombe’s detention in Zallabar. His estate here in Zuar City is under guard, and if he manages to escape the Zallabarian authorities and return here, he will be apprehended.”

“Isn’t there any way that we can snatch him away from them?” I asked. “Since he’s Elantian?”

“Perhaps we would have had a chance six months ago, but not now,” Tavarian said heavily. “Besides, there is no time for me to attempt it just now. I am leaving for Traggar to see if I can convince them to stand down as well.”

My eyes widened. “You can’t be serious. They’ll eat you alive!” Hadn’t Lieutenant Bellmont just finished telling me how much the Traggarans hated us?

I waited for Tavarian to tell me that I was being dramatic, that everything would be fine. But his face settled into grim lines that made my stomach twist.

“It’s true that my chances of success are not very good,” he said, and for the first time since I’d met him, I hated that he was agreeing with me. “But the Traggarans will hear me out nonetheless. King Zolar is highly capricious, and it is quite possible that he may turn against Zallabar if they annoy him enough. With the right words, I might be able to facilitate such a change of heart.”

“Right.” The Traggarans weren’t known for keeping their promises, and that included their alliance with Zallabar. If a better opportunity came knocking…

“If I succeed, and Traggar backs down, your presence will no longer be needed at the channel,” Tavarian went on, rising from his chair. I stood as well, my eyelids heavy. I needed to catch a few hours of sleep so I didn’t fall out of the saddle tomorrow. “The general would be much more amenable to giving you an extended leave so I can spend more time training you and Lessie.”

The impact of his words hit me, and I blinked away the sudden tears. “Really? You can do that?” I’d thought Lessie and I would be stuck for years, but if this was true…we might be able to come home in a matter of weeks.

He smiled. “I do have some influence around here.” But his amusement faded, and he took my hand. “I have every intention of making it back alive from Traggar, but there is a very good chance I might not. If things should go wrong, I have made provisions for you and Lessie in my will.”

I stared at him. “Your will?”

“Of course. You are both members of my house. No matter what happens, you will always be taken care of.”

Tears sprang to my eyes, a well of emotions rising inside me. Overwhelmed, I threw my arms around his neck in a spontaneous hug that surprised us both. Tavarian had already done so much for me, but this…

“Thank you,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek. A shockwave rippled through me at the gesture, and I felt it hit him too. What was wrong with me?

Tavarian, who had initially frozen, suddenly wrapped his arms around me, returning the hug. “Stay safe,” he said roughly, his cheek warm against mine.

Embarrassed, I stepped out of his arms and hastily beat a retreat to my room. But as I put distance between us, I recalled the way his body had stiffened just a brief moment before he’d wrapped those strong arms around my body and sank against me. As if affection was a foreign concept to him.

When was the last time Tavarian had been hugged?