Tobias shifted on the bench at the mouth of the royal archives. He’d thought about leaving many times — and not just the archives, but his position at Court and dragon society altogether. A small part of him hoped it would be easier if he just left, but the rest of him knew — having intimate knowledge of what happened to drakes who abandoned their coterie, especially the Royal coterie — that his tough problems would just change to other tough problems. A drake didn’t just leave his coterie without the protection of another doyen. And a drake of Tobias’s position didn’t leave. Period.

The only drake who’d managed to escape was Hunter, and Regis was still demanding his head. Tobias was certain that was what Regis had pulled Nero aside to talk about after the Counseling Coteries meeting.

It had been eighteen days since Hunter and his sorcerer inamorata had left Court and Nero had yet to report anything about their location. Of course, given how magically powerful that woman had been, it wouldn’t surprise Tobias if Nero knew where they were and was trying to figure out the best way to deal with her and Hunter without losing any members of the Asar Nergal.

“Or maybe he’s decided Hunter and his inamorata aren’t a threat,” Ophelia said, easing from the shadows just like she’d done earlier that day… or late last night? He’d lost track of how long he’d been sitting there.

“He’s the dugga.” Tobias bit back a growl. Ophelia wasn’t the source of his frustration and didn’t deserve his short temper. “His job is to eliminate all human sorcerers.”

“Technically, if Grey’s thoughts are correct, the wording is ‘all human sorcerer threats’.” She leaned against the wall and raised a dark sculpted eyebrow. “If that human sorcerer is inamorated back to Hunter, then she’s only a threat to those who would hurt Hunter.”

“I’m not sure Regis would agree with an argument of semantics.” Tobias rubbed his temples. He’d been sitting there for hours, his mind whirling from one problem to the next, determined to have solved at least one issue before returning to his office.

He didn’t want to organize a retrieval squad, but he had to. Which meant he needed to pick the squad leader carefully. He wanted to replace Regis on the throne with someone sane, but the divide between coteries as well as Traditionalists and non-Traditionalist made finding a candidate impossible. And Mother of All! Where the hell was the Handmaiden? She could solve all of this by proclaiming someone king, and most of the factions would bow to her revered status and accept her choice.

“Regis doesn’t agree with much of anything anymore, even when it’s in his best interest,” she said. “Don’t tell me you’ve been sitting here all this time trying to figure things out. People are going to start wondering where you are.”

“Let them wonder.” Getting through the situation with as few casualties as possible was more important than the day-to-day functions of the Dragon Court.

“Not sure that’s the attitude you want. Regis sees betrayal at every turn. If you don’t stick to your routine, he’ll suspect you of something.”

“Even if I stay on routine, he’ll suspect me. I need answers and now.” He ran his hands through his hair, not caring that the habit had returned. “There just isn’t a good replacement. Hunter won’t raise a banner and even if he did, the Traditionalists will fight him. Nero, as a grandchild of the Zhongguo Empress, has a legitimate claim.”

“But he’s a Traditionalist, and anyone who supports Hunter will see Nero as another Regis.” Ophelia pinched the bridge of her nose, a sign the voices in her head were getting hard to control. “Although if Nero isn’t actively going after Hunter, he might not be as much of a Traditionalist as we think.”

“Do you know for certain?”

“No. He doesn’t spend a lot of time at Court, and I was chasing down thoughts of an attack from the Sect of the Divine Mother when Regis called the Counseling Coteries meeting, so I couldn’t eavesdrop on anyone’s thoughts.”

“I wish you’d been there. I really want to know what the other doyens are thinking.” Then at least he might have a clue if any of them would be better candidates for king. Although at a quick glance, none of them were great.

Pike, who had the largest coterie, was too young and could barely control his members. He wouldn’t be able to control all of Court. Barna at least was an elder drake, but was heavily invested in the human realm and wouldn’t gain the support of any of the Traditionalists. And while Lothair and Maize were also elder drakes and in control of their coteries, their coteries weren’t as big, neither had a powerful earth magic, and they didn’t have any claim to the throne, making it difficult for either one to legitimately take it.

The only other candidate could be Grey. He was an ancient drake, the Handmaiden’s servant, and most considered him the second in command in her coterie of two. But as Hunter’s friend, he’d run into the same problem as Hunter. Support from non-Traditionalists and rejection from Traditionalists.

“There’s another ancient dragon you’re not considering,” Ophelia said with a pointed stare, clearly indicating he should consider himself in the running.

“Yeah, no.” It was bad enough he was the chamberlain. He didn’t want the throne.

“You know how to run Court. You have connections with every doyen, their Seconds, and their heads of security.”

“Drakes see me as a servant to the Court. Nothing more.”

“People respect you.”

“Not enough. I’d need a powerful earth magic to maintain control, and I have nothing. I can’t even make a gate to leave.” One of his other worries, because if he wanted to get the hell out of Court, he’d have to go to a gatekeeper, and then Regis would know he’d left.

Ophelia eased away from the wall. “You’re going to have to come up with someone.”

“Why do you think I’ve been sitting here?” If Regis remained in power, dragons would die. If Tobias backed the wrong drake, dragons would die. And if Tobias approached the wrong dragon, he’d be charged with treason, and he’d be tortured for who knew how long until the Handmaiden returned and rebirthed him, essentially killing him.

“How about picking a leader for the retrieval squad? You have a short list, even if you don’t like any of them.”

“I don’t like the idea of a retrieval squad.”

“Regis will expect one. And soon.”

“You’re telling me something I already know.”

“I know.” Ophelia sighed. “I just can’t help myself. I don’t like the position you’re in.”

“That makes two of us.”

“You just think the word, and I’ll gate you out of here.”

“And then what will happen to all the dragons in the Royal Coterie you say I’m protecting?” he asked, throwing her words from earlier back at her.

“Then, Mother of All, make a choice for king and do something.” She flashed her teeth at him, her expression all aggression. “Stop wallowing.”

“Fine. Find out where Barna stands in this mess.” The doyen of the Major Brown coterie wasn’t ideal, but he was probably the best of all the bad choices. With Zenobia in prison, he could — most of the time — exert dominance over everyone on the council now, other than Nero, and he had the next largest coterie after the Major Green. There were more non-Traditionalists than Traditionalists—

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Ophelia said. “Zenobia’s coup with human mages has swung the pendulum for those drakes on the fence.”

“Then also do a little eavesdropping on Nero. Find out if he really isn’t going after Hunter and his sorcerer.” Nero really was the best choice. He might be a Traditionalist, but he had royal heritage, he was an ancient dragon with a powerful earth magic — and, unlike Barna, had clear dominance over the other Counseling Coterie doyens. If he could somehow be convinced to form an alliance with Hunter, it would still alienate some of the Traditionalists, but with any luck not all of them.

“Especially if Hunter’s inamorata can demonstrate she has dragon interests in mind,” Ophelia said, finishing Tobias’s thought, again. “The Handmaiden could be gone for a few hundred years. A sorcerer to help dragonkind during this transition, even if she is a human, would be a valuable asset to a new king.”

“True, and I hate when you do that.”

“You didn’t say that out loud?” Ophelia asked, blinking her lashes in mock innocence.

“You know I didn’t. Now go eavesdrop on Nero and find out how much of a staunch Traditionalist he really is.” Mother, here was hoping he wasn’t. An alliance with Hunter would be everything he needed — and Tobias wasn’t going to think too hard about how difficult it would be to get Hunter and Nero to form an alliance. One step at a time.

“Nero and Barna are second on my list.” Ophelia headed to the hall leading up to the main passages in Court. “The Sect of the Divine Mother is planning something, and soon. Whatever that is, it takes priority.”

“Report as soon as you know something.” If she thought it was more important than finding a replacement for Regis and stabilizing Court, it had to be serious.

“Deadly serious,” she said as she left.

Ice churned in Tobias’s gut. Too much was happening too fast and too many dragon souls were being lost. If the Handmaiden didn’t come back soon, he feared there wouldn’t be a Dragon Court left for her to return to.