“No,” I said. “You know what he is. For longer than I care to think about, he was a slave of the Hurogmeten. When I first met him . . .” I tried to think of a way to describe the terrified, defiant soul who’d offered himself to me with the platinum ring I still wore, though its spell was broken.

I decided finally that his condition after a thousand years of slavery was something I didn’t need to share, not even with Tisala. “When I met him, he asked me a riddle as we stood over the bones of a dragon one of my ancestors had killed. He asked me if I would have let the dragon go free, knowing that by chaining it I could have saved Hurog.”

I looked away briefly, remembering the sight of the chains that held the dragon long after its death. “I told him no. But he, wise man that he was, didn’t believe me. In the end I proved that to save the world I would not only sacrifice Hurog, which I was sworn to protect, but also Oreg himself.” I met her eyes. “I won’t do it again. This is not Oreg’s fight. I won’t use him as my ancestor used that poor dragon who died in her chains.”

“Out to save the world by yourself again, Ward?” she said.

I flinched at the truth of that, but I answered as honestly as I could. “I am the Hurogmeten. It is my job to protect the dragons that are left, not place them in jeopardy. Even if Jakoven uses the Bane to level the world, Oreg will survive.”

“Will he?” she asked softly. “I don’t think that he’d survive your death. Everyone needs a reason to live, Ward, even dragons. You didn’t see him when you were in the Asylum and he couldn’t get to you. I think that if you leave Oreg behind, even if you survive and win, Oreg won’t. Letting the dragon go free is more than keeping it safe, you know.”

“I won’t use him,” I said, but the battle was already lost, and even I knew it.

The door at my back opened and I turned on my heel to see Oreg slip in looking apologetic. “I spent a long time,” he said to Tisala without looking at me “spying on people and hearing things that I had no business hearing. For the last few years, I’ve been trying to drop old habits. So when I was walking to my room, and I grew tired and rested my head against the door to Ward’s room, it wasn’t to eavesdrop. But you can imagine my surprise when instead of Ward declaring his undying love, I heard my own name.Naturally, I had to listen to what he had to say.”

“Naturally,” agreed Tisala, smiling.