“Jade Eyes was insane,” I said. “He’d been talking to the spirits and they told him how to free them. He thought they’d turn back into dragons. But they were just ravening spirits, not dragons any longer, and only the binding spells kept them from destroying everything. I thought I stopped it, but I was too late. If it hadn’t been for Hurog, they’d have killed us all.”

The wound across my stomach was deeper than I’d realized, forcing Garranon to stitch up muscle first, then skin. I looked away and continued talking to distract myself. “Hurog is alive, too. When I sought for more magic to hold the Bane, it came and . . . ate the Bane. That’s what dragons do with their dead, you know.”

“No, I didn’t know that. Ward . . .” Kellen began.

I could hear the apology in his voice and waved my hand in dismissal. “If you trusted every barbarian Shavigman who happened upon your way, you wouldn’t be much of a king,” I said. “However, I hope you don’t expect me to destroy ancient artifacts to prove my loyalty on a regular basis.”

“Done,” he agreed with a grin. Someone called out his name and he excused himself.

Garranon finished stitching and wrapped my middle with cloth that looked as if it had been part of someone’s bedroll. When he was finished, Tisala slid backward until my head rested on her knee.

I looked at her face from my new vantage point. Her left eye was swollen shut and she had a bandage wrapped around her upper arm that was stained with blood. She was beautiful and I told her so.

She laughed and kissed my forehead. “Don’t be an idiot,” she said. She loved me, too.

I closed my eyes, content to rest where I was. Doubtless the politics would continue for a long time yet, but my part was done. Hurog was safe and its dragon was stretched out beside me, safe and whole. The sun was shining through the rain clouds and Tisala’s leg was warm under my head. I slept.

About the Author

Patricia Briggs lived a fairly normal life until she learned to read. After that she spent lazy afternoons flying dragonback and looking for magic swords when she wasn’t horseback riding in the Rocky Mountains.

Once she graduated from Montana State University with degrees in history and German, she spent her time substitute teaching and writing. She and her family live in the Pacific Northwest, where she is hard at work on her newest project.