They were both close to her now, so Keita reached up, grabbed them both by the hair, yanked them one way, then slammed them back together so their giant heads collided.

“Owwww!”

“Mad cow!”

“Now listen up,” she ordered both dragons. “You will do as I tell you. Understand? I don’t care that you’re Mì-runach. I don’t care that I have no military rank. You know nothing of the Eastlands and you can only manage to get us killed. So you’ll keep your mouths shut and do as I tell you. Understand?”

“But they’re trying to poison us!” Uther insisted.

“And you think that because . . . ?”

“I went by the kitchens and the witches were putting red stuff in the food.”

“A red powder?” Keita asked.

“Aye.”

“And then a yellow powder?”

Uther frowned. “Aye.”

“That’s seasoning, nincompoop.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m the one who’d know, don’t you think?”

“You mean because you’re a murdering poisoner?”

“Yes, Uther. Because of that.” Keita walked to the door. “Now you two will keep your mouths shut, your eyes open, and you will follow my lead . . . or I will get very angry. And you lads don’t want to see me angry, now do you?”

Keita grinned when both males shook their heads. “Good! I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready!” she trilled, but then she dropped her voice and her brow. “And you two bitches better eat whatever those witches put in front of you or I’ll show you the real difference between Eastland seasonings and poison.”

* * *

The princess walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Uther looked at Caswyn. “Any idea how long before Brannie’s better?”

“No. No idea.”

“It better be soon,” Uther said. “Because that royal is mean.”

“I know!” Caswyn agreed. “She is so mean.”

Caswyn’s big shoulders hitched a little and Uther immediately put his arm around his friend’s shoulders.

“It’ll be okay.”

“But why did she have to be so mean?” Caswyn asked, sniffling. “I mean . . . I’m a nice dragon!”

“And sensitive.”

“Very sensitive!”

* * *

Laughing so hard they could barely speak, Keita and Meihui sat on the floor of Meihui’s private quarters. As the current leader of the coven, she had privacy the other sisters did not.

“You should have seen their faces,” Keita choked out.

“I saw them at dinner.” Meihui pounded her fist on the floor. “They looked terrified!”

“Because they were!”

Meihui fell back on the floor, laughing up at the ceiling. “The really big one looked like he was about to cry.”

“Oh, that was my fault,” Keita happily admitted.

“I bet it was.” Meihui sat up. Keita was pouring two chalices of wine. “I was going to say you haven’t changed. But you have, haven’t you?”

“Depends who you talk to.”