Aket-ten came up through the hole in the roof of the tower to stand beside him. He smiled at her, and made room for her to sit on the sand-scoured parapet. “Look—” she said, pointing straight down below.

Directly below was Kashet’s pen. Entering it were Ari—and Nofret.

Their voices drifted up on the hot wind.

“—but of course there can be more dragons, and more dragon riders,” Nofret was saying, in a voice that sounded surprised. “It is not so difficult! How do we get young falcons? We take them from the nest, of course—and we can do the same with dragonets. We have ten dragons that can guard us while we take a single youngster, and we can ensure we do no harm by taking the ones that might not otherwise live, just as we do with falcons!”

“That never occurred to me,” Ari replied, sounding surprised. “But—by Haras, you are right! We can set a watch on the dragon nests—take the ones that are not prospering—take the ones from parents that are not skilled—”

“And tell me, are there not times when the parents are slain, as happens with falcons?” Nofret asked “Or injured, or killed by a disease? We can save those entire clutches—and of course, since they will have bonded first to their parents, they will eventually breed as well, and then we will have the best of both sorts of dragon, tame and wild!”

Her voice was alight with enthusiasm, as Kiron had never heard before. And Ari’s when he replied, was warm with pleasure.

“How is it that you know so much about falcons?” he asked, “And care so much about dragons? I have—forgive me, my lady, but I admit my experience with women is rather limited—I never met a woman who—who—”

“Who thought about more than hair and gowns and jewels?” she laughed. “But I was a falconer, Ari! I helped tend and raise my father’s birds—Pe-atep was my father’s man, and I trained him. As for dragons, well—the first time I met Aket-ten and saw her Re-eth-ke, my thought was not, that was Toreth’s dragon, it was I want one like that! I confess to you, I was raw with envy, and I would have traded every gown, wig, and gem in the world for a dragon of my own.”

“Ah, now I understand why you thought so much about how to gain more!” Ari laughed—and his hand inched toward Nofret’s.

“Oh, I must also confess that my first flight was utterly terrifying,” she said, a smile still in her voice, “And for a little while—a little—I thought ‘perhaps this is not for me’—but I managed to get beyond that fear as I watched Aket-ten and Kiron flying away into the sky.”

And her hand inched toward his.