“Zara,” Lessie called. “There’s an airship landing in the field!”

My head snapped up from the book I’d been studying, and I jumped out of my chair. It had been over a month since Lessie and I had come to this secret vale, and this was the first time we’d had any visitors since Muza.

“Coming!” I called back, rushing out of my room and down the hall. I burst out of the hidden door to see Lessie waiting impatiently for me, her saddle and harness waiting on the ground next to her. I quickly strapped them on, then jumped on her back.

Lessie barely waited for me to settle on her back before she took off, heading for the meadow where the airship had first dropped us off. It only took us a minute to get there, and we landed the same time it did. Tavarian already waited in the field, along with Mr. and Mrs. Barton, though his own dragon was conspicuously absent. I had a feeling that, aside from the caretakers, Lessie and I were the only ones that knew of Muza’s existence, and Tavarian wanted to keep it that way.

"Ah, there you are," Tavarian said. "Lessie can help us bring these back." He gestured to the large supply crates being wheeled off the ship. It occurred to me that the Bartons usually received shipments on their own, and the rope sled standing behind them confirmed my suspicion. Did they typically carry that all the way back by themselves?

Lessie huffed. “I am not tying myself to that thing,” she said. "I am too small to make it through the forest anyway. I will hold the crates and fly them back one by one."

Tavarian nodded when I relayed the message. “I already surmised as much,” he said. “Though we will still transport some of these on the sled.”

“Ah, there you are, Miss Kenrook!” one of the crew members called. He shoved a twine-wrapped package into my hands. “There are some letters in there for you.”

“There are?” My skin prickled in excitement as I turned the package over in my hand. Had Carina and Rhia written to me? What about Jallis?

In the end, we loaded up three of the crates onto the sled, and Lessie agreed to take three more herself. The trek back to the mountain residence wasn’t too bad—Tavarian used his magic to lighten the load a bit, and between the four of us, we got the sled back without much effort.

The moment we were inside, I rushed into the dining area and tossed the package on the table. I tore it open and immediately sorted through it, tossing anything that wasn’t mine in a pile at the head of the table. A lot of it was official correspondence for Tavarian, but there were a few letters from my friends, and also some periodicals detailing the latest and greatest from Elantia as well as a few other countries. I set the Elantian paper aside and gave the rest to Tavarian to look over.

Dear Zara, Jallis’s letter read, his bold, masculine script flowing across the cream-colored paper. I hope you and Lessie are thriving under Lord Tavarian's care and tutelage. Despite what I said to you about him when we first met, he is an honorable man and a good rider. By the time you come back, I won't be surprised if you and Lessie end up flying circles around Kadryn and me. Don't stay away too long, though—I miss you, and I can't wait until you're back so we can go on more adventures together.

Yours, Jallis.

I grinned like a schoolgirl and put the letter aside to read Carina’s next. I’d respond to them once I finished reading them all. There was no rush anyway—the airship had to go on to another town to fuel up and would pass by in a day or two to pick up return mail before heading back to Elantia.

Hey Zara, Carina wrote in the sparse but elegant hand that covered our ledgers. I hope you and Lessie are okay, and that you're not going stir-crazy being shut away wherever Tavarian's hidden you. I wish you'd been able to tell us where you've gone, but as long as my letters reach you, I guess I can live without knowing. After all, I'm a wimp. If someone tried to torture your location out of me, I would be singing in five seconds flat. I still love you, though. Please don't burn this letter.

I laughed, shaking my head, then continued reading.

Things are going well at the shop, but the two guards Captain Marcas have stationed here are a nuisance. They follow me everywhere, and I think they scare off some of the customers because they are so intimidating. But I guess that's better than getting kidnapped by Salcombe. I just wish they'd find him, but there's no sign, even though they've practically torn the city apart.

Come home soon, Zara. The Treasure Trove just isn’t the same without you.

Love, Carina.

I blinked tears out of my eyes and gingerly put the letter aside before I accidentally ruined it. I missed the Treasure Trove and Carina, missed the old days where my most pressing concerns were keeping the shop running and deciding which treasures to track down next. It was true that my new life had solved most of my problems—the shop was booming, and many of my old orphan friends were employed—but being a dragon rider had also brought along a host of new ones.

The more power and wealth you have, the more people will show up at your doorstep trying to wrench a piece of the pie from you. Salcombe’s words echoed in my head, and I shoved them aside with a low growl. I didn’t need any more of his advice, thank you very much.

I opened Rhia’s letter next, hoping her words would cheer me up.

Dear Zara, she wrote, her flowery script dancing across the page. I’d ask if you are well, but I have no doubt you and Lessie are doing just fine. The two of you have such fire in your souls that I doubt even a hailstorm could keep you down. I can’t wait for you to come back and show everyone what you’ve learned from Lord Tavarian.

I smirked, wondering if I should write back and tell her that I got up close and personal with his abs today. Not that I thought there was any potential there, but the look on Rhia’s face would be absolutely priceless.

A look that you won’t be able to see, I reminded myself.

Things are going well here, Rhia continued. Aria is back, but after the stunt she pulled on you, most of her old clique won’t associate with her. There’s a lot less tension overall, and I’ve even made a few more friends with some of the girls from the older houses. I think your time here has shown them that class distinction doesn’t matter as much as they thought it did.

I blinked in surprise at that. I knew I’d shaken things up during my time at the academy, but I hadn’t thought I’d made that much of a difference. The idea that I'd changed a few opinions, opened a few minds, gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling. But was it too good to be true? After all, these girls would be thrown into the Elantian army as soon as they were finished with their training and molded into whatever the military needed them to be.

And so will I.

I shook off the thought and kept reading.

Unfortunately, the academy's atmosphere has started to get tense again. There are rumors we are headed off to war again, and that the older cadets will be drafted. Ykos and I are probably too young to be called, but Jallis and the other riders of his age will be summoned if his father can’t resolve things peacefully with Zallabar.

I miss you, Zara, but I’m glad that you are far away from all this. Don’t come back too soon.

Rhia.

I set the letter on the table, my stomach churning. War with Zallabar? But I thought Tavarian had managed to calm things down. What changed? Had we done something to provoke them again? Anxiety brewed in my chest, making me antsy. What if Jallis and Rhia did get called off to war, while I was stuck here in this valley? Would I come back to find out my friends were dead, their bodies torn apart by cannon fire?

I snatched up the Elantian paper, hoping to find answers. Poring through the articles, I quickly discovered that in the past two weeks, a General Richstein had taken over the Zallabarian government in a bloody coup. Evidently, he'd wanted to go to war with Elantia for years, and this latest change in plans from the current ruler had tipped him over the edge. My heart sank as I kept reading—apparently Richstein promised the Zallabarian citizens riches beyond their wildest dreams once they successfully conquered Elantia and took their revenge for past humiliations they'd suffered at our hands.

“Miss Kenrook?” Tavarian’s voice jerked me out of the article, and I looked up. He stood at the head of the table, looking at me with concern. “Is everything all right? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Here.” I shoved the paper at him. “Read this article.”

Tavarian’s silver eyes darted across the page. His expression went from mild concern to unpleasant surprise. By the time he’d finished reading, his eyes were simmering with frustration.

“It would seem our efforts at peace have been sabotaged,” he said, sitting down in the chair. “I have met General Richstein before—he is a madman who cannot be reasoned with. If he has declared his intentions, it is only a matter of time before he acts on them.”

I wanted to ask Tavarian more about the conflict, but he held up a hand, and instead attacked the pile of correspondence on his desk. Each letter he read seemed to groove more lines of worry into his brow, and by the time he was finished, his face was a hard mask.

“This is worse than I’d feared,” he said, putting the last letter aside. “According to our intelligence department, the Zallabarian government has been mobilizing their forces and offering alliances to other countries that Elantia has offended in the past. There are quite a number of those, but thankfully most are still too small to risk involvement, even if they have a larger country like Zallabar on their side.”

“But some are interested,” I said, reading between the lines.

“Indeed, Traggar and Quoronis are in talks with Zallabar as we speak.”

My blood went cold. Traggar was a country of blond, pale-skinned brutes who lived on a series of islands to the west, while Quoronis, a nation of passionate, dark-haired people, lived to the south of us. With Zallabar to the east, we were hemmed in on three sides.

“We have to do something about this,” I said. My palms grew clammy at the thought of going to war with three countries. If all of them decided to attack at the same time, we were doomed, dragons or not. “I know how this is going to end—with our government sending out every single rider and able-bodied soldier to fight, even those of us whose dragons are still babies.” My blood sizzled at the thought of Lessie being thrown into battle only to be cut down before her life had even started.

“I know that,” Tavarian said tersely. He drummed his long fingers on the tabletop, his lips pursed as he thought. “I have a decent relationship with the Foreign Minister of Quoronis, and some political leverage there for favors exchanged in the past. If I can neutralize them, our chances of survival will increase exponentially.”

“Then we’ll have to go there,” I said. “When do we leave?”

“We are not leaving,” Tavarian said grimly. “I am. You and Lessie will stay here, where it is safe, and continue your studies and training as best as you can until I get back.”

“No way!” I slapped my hand on the table, indignant. “I’m not a child you can just leave behind, Tavarian. I’ve been to Quoronis plenty of times, and I know their culture well. Let me come along. Maybe I can help somehow.”

“Even if you could help somehow, you would have to leave Lessie behind,” Tavarian said. “She is too inexperienced a flier to keep up with Muza and me, and I’m not sure she can even clear the cliffs yet. You know how important it is that I get to Quoronis post-haste.”

“You’re not going to take an airship?” I scowled. I’d thought that Muza would stay behind with Lessie, but now that I knew he wasn’t, Tavarian had a point. I couldn’t leave Lessie here all by herself for days or even weeks on end. It wasn’t right, and I knew she wouldn’t do that to me.

“No, Muza will be faster, especially as he will not have to make refueling stops along the way,” Tavarian said. “I’ve managed to perfect a sort of shielding spell, so he can drop me off without being seen before returning to his own home. I will return here by airship when I am finished.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. I didn’t like the idea of being stuck here in this valley, but I couldn’t risk Tavarian’s mission just because of my selfish desires. While I was decent at negotiating with traders and salesmen, politics and warfare were another matter entirely. Tavarian would be able to work better if he didn’t have to worry about me, and he’d already wasted weeks training me while the country slid deeper and deeper into peril.

The two of them left that night, and Lessie and I stood outside, watching as they disappeared into the darkness. “I don’t understand why Muza couldn’t just come back here after dropping Tavarian off,” Lessie said forlornly. “He says he was supposed to return home for a week anyway, so he could attend to other matters, but what sort of obligations does a free dragon have?”

“You’ve got me,” I said, petting her flank. I wondered if maybe there was more to this secret place of Muza’s than he or Tavarian had let on, but I doubted I would find out anytime soon. I wasn’t going to push, either—the fact that Tavarian had trusted Lessie and me with Muza’s secret was an honor. Even if I was bound to silence, Lessie wasn’t, and she could tell the other dragons about Muza when we returned home. She wouldn’t, of course, but Tavarian didn’t know that for sure. Lessie was a young dragon, after all.

Lessie was so forlorn about Muza’s absence that I stayed with her in the stables until she fell asleep. The warmth of her body lulled me into falling asleep as well, and I woke up the next morning with a crick in my neck.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” I said, nudging her big head. She let out a rumble, and I chuckled when she buried her face into the hay—the equivalent of putting a pillow over her head. I decided to let her be, so I walked out into the morning sunshine and stretched my arms over my head. I had a feeling Lessie was going through another growth spurt and needed the extra sleep.

The smell of grass and earth and flowering trees lulled me deeper into the forest, and I decided to go for a walk to clear my head and stretch my muscles. I wasn’t ready to go back to the Hall—I already knew I would feel Tavarian’s absence the moment I stepped inside. He and Muza had become part of our lives these past few weeks, and I’d taken their companionship for granted.

Maybe I’ll spend the day exploring, I told myself. After all, Tavarian wasn’t around to tell me what to do. Who said I had to spend the whole time training? It had been a good while since I’d last exercised my treasure hunting abilities, and there were bound to be a few items hanging around a place like this.

I closed my eyes and activated my treasure sense, spreading it as far as it could go in the hopes that I could pick up something. I immediately picked up on something about half a mile away. Using the trick Tavarian had taught me, I called up an image of it.

“A stone statue,” I muttered, focusing. “Three feet tall. Pre-Plague, maybe?”

“Good,” a familiar voice said from behind me, smug and sinister all at once. “I’m glad to see your senses are still sharp. You’re going to need them.”

I spun around, reaching for the weapon at my hip, but it wasn’t there. A blinding flash of light hit me straight in the face, and I was plunged into a deep, black darkness.