“Too late?” Kazul raised her head, startled. She eyed Cimorene briefly, then said, “All right, let’s have it. What’s happened?”

“King Tokoz was poisoned this morning. Roxim said someone put dragonsbane in his coffee.”

Kazul snorted. “Somebody knew Tokoz pretty well.” Seeing Cimorene’s surprised expression, she explained, “Tokoz drank Turkish coffee every morning. The stuff is strong enough to take the roof off your mouth. It’s why no one ever went to talk to him over breakfast. You could boil a whole field’s worth of dragonsbane in Turkish coffee without changing the taste enough to notice. Or the texture.”

Cimorene tried to imagine coffee, even Turkish coffee, strong enough to take the roof off a dragon’s mouth and failed. “I told Roxim about the wizard Alianora and I met, and Roxim said I ought to tell Woraug because Woraug is in charge of finding the poisoner,” she said. “But—”

“But when you caught Antorell picking dragonsbane, he thought Woraug had sent you,” Kazul said. “If Woraug’s mixed up with wizards—” She broke off, coughing. Cimorene watched her anxiously, but the coughing spasm did not last long. “I don’t like this,” Kazul finished when she got her breath back.

“I don’t, either,” Cimorene agreed. “But what can we do about it?”

Kazul frowned and said nothing. For several minutes, the two sat and thought in silence. Then Kazul said, “We can’t do anything until the new King has been chosen. Did Roxim say when the testing will be?”

“Tomorrow,” Cimorene said.

“Tomorrow!” Kazul surged to her feet. “Why didn’t you say so at once? If I’m to be at the Ford of Whispering Snakes tomorrow, I have to—”

“Lie down!” Cimorene commanded. Kazul looked at her in surprise and collapsed in another fit of coughing. Cimorene waited until the dragon’s coughing had subsided, then said sternly, “You’re in no condition to go hauling rocks all over the countryside. I’d be surprised if you can even fly as far as the end of the pass. I think you’re going to have to give up on the trials this time around.”

Kazul made a choking noise. Cimorene looked at her in alarm, then realized that the dragon was laughing.

“It’s not optional, Princess,” Kazul said. “All the adult dragons in the Mountains of Morning are required to show up, no matter what condition they’re in.”

“But—”

“There is no acceptable excuse for missing the testing of a new King,” Kazul repeated. “None. And I have a great deal to do before I leave, so if you’ll—”

“If anything needs to be done around here, I’ll do it,” Cimorene said firmly. “If you don’t rest, you won’t be able to fly at all, and then how will you get to the ford?”