‘That depends,’ he said. Stanislav narrowed his eyes at him, but said nothing. ‘We need to know how to get past the dragon, so we’re guessing we need her alive for that.’

The serving girl blinked.

‘We must go,’ said Stanislav. ‘Strike now, while we still can.’

‘No, wait.’ Dalip held the steward’s coat by his collar. ‘What are we missing?’

The serving girl was shaking with confusion. ‘The mistress and the wyvern.’

‘Yes?’

‘She is … she is the wyvern.’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Dalip.

‘She changes between woman and beast.’

‘You have got to be joking.’

‘No.’

No wonder the steward had been so confident, so arrogant. They burst into the geomancer’s room at the top of the castle, and within seconds they’re facing a massive, angry dragon. And not some animal, either, but human intelligence and guile.

‘What the hell do we do?’

After a few moments, Stanislav said: ‘Nothing has changed, and now that we know, we can use it to our advantage. If we can get the geomancer before she changes, then we kill both her and the dragon at the same time. We go in hard, all of us. Bring her down. Stop her any way we can.’

‘What if she changes first? What if she’s already changed?’ Dalip looked at his knife. It didn’t seem very big now.

‘Then we have to kill a dragon instead.’

Stanislav had only seen the creature in the distance: he didn’t understand quite how fierce it was, nor how large it was. Some of them were going to die in the fight, and the thought made Dalip hesitate.

‘What does she value most? If we got hold of that, would she negotiate with us?’ He shook the steward. ‘What about him? Does he mean anything to her?’

The serving girl looked as if she was about to faint. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know. She keeps all of her treasure with her.’

‘This discussion is over,’ said Stanislav. ‘We must attack, kill her, escape. It is all we need to understand.’

‘I’m trying to do the right thing here!’ Dalip’s voice started to rise, and he clamped back down on it. ‘There has to be another way.’

‘There is no other way. That much is clear.’

‘Give me some time with her. Ten minutes. Quarter of an hour. I can talk our way out of this, and no one has to fight.’

‘This is foolishness. She will kill you, and she will be warned.’ Stanislav shrugged off Luiza’s hand. ‘I did not think you a coward.’

‘I’m not … Look, she’s not going to kill me if she thinks you’re going to burn her tower down with all her treasure in it. Even if she turns into a dragon and flies away, she can’t carry it with her.’