“Perhaps you have returned to Grimere and you’re looking for me now,” he mused. “How would I know? Maybe you’re feeling terrible about everything. Maybe you can’t sleep at night because you’re worried.”

That’s the thought he preferred to dwell on when he went to bed. For some reason it brought him comfort when he felt most alone and scared. “Yes,” he said sleepily as he turned in one night. “I see you are very sorry. I understand you had to sneak the others out when you had a chance. Oh? You returned the next day but heard rumors that I had perished? That makes sense.”

What didn’t make sense was that the Revinir was out roaming different parts of the land of the dragons. He hoped she hadn’t gone to the cavelands to terrorize the ghost dragons. But there probably wasn’t much she could do to them. They couldn’t kill her, but they could drive her away easily enough. Why had she come all the way out here to the palace only to leave soon after? Who was she looking for? He couldn’t stop making guesses. She might have been searching for him, but then again maybe she wasn’t. Did she still believe him dead? Or had Drock been forced to spill the beans on that? And speaking of Drock, would he ever figure out where Dev was? Would Astrid remember to tell him if he showed up looking for him?

It was a concern for Dev, but not nearly a big enough one to make him want to find out the answer by physically going anywhere. These peaceful days, after the world had tried for the umpteenth time to do him in, were a welcome relief and a much-needed respite for a boy who’d been a slave all his life.

He could get used to this solitary way of living. He could even find it in his heart to forgive Thisbe if she had a good enough reason for abandoning him. But the more days that passed, the more Dev got a feeling that something bad was coming again. Dread was his primary emotion. It was the only thing he could count on.

The fact that the Revinir hadn’t roared in weeks was of growing concern. What did it mean? Had something happened to her? Or was she doing it on purpose to hide her whereabouts? She was the most devious creature Dev had ever known, so of course he had to imagine the worst. “What is the worst thing she could do?” Dev wondered aloud. “And where is she? How in the world is anyone going to be able to stop her?” With that familiar feeling of dread, Dev realized the future of this land might really be up to him and Drock. It gave him nightmares.

That night he dreamed of the most horrible thing he could ever imagine—the Revinir returning and capturing him, then imprisoning him in the castle dungeon and torturing him to the edge of his life. The nightmare was so powerful it made him sweat and cry out and fall off the sofa.