Aaron shook his head in disbelief. He’d been hoping for good news. But it sounded like Thisbe had truly gone to the evil side. Is this how people had felt when he’d done the same thing? Because it was excruciating. He had a sudden wave of regret when he thought about Alex, who’d never given up on him, even in the darkest times. How he missed his brother! The thought of never seeing him again was too much to take. If only he could have a moment with him now.

Aaron glanced at Ishibashi. The man had stuck by him as well when he needed a parental figure in his life. It seemed Aaron needed to step into that role now, with Thisbe. It didn’t matter anymore what people thought of him. He needed to be the person who believed in Thisbe when everyone else wrote her off. To be there for her when no one else trusted her.

“What are you thinking?” Ishibashi asked Aaron. “I can see the determination in your eyes.”

“I think we can turn this around,” said Aaron. “I know this isn’t Thisbe’s path to the future. It can’t be! She still has a chance to redeem herself, if we can only get her to stop this nonsense before something terrible happens.”

“I believe in you to be there for Thisbe,” Ishibashi said quietly, giving Aaron a meaningful look. He turned to Maiven. “And you, Queen Maiven. What are your thoughts?”

“I have many,” said the woman, stabbing her swagger stick into the soft ground.

“Things arrre trrricky, though,” Simber said before she could begin to list them. “We’ve lost Rrrohan and Florrrence, two key playerrrs. And we’rrre camped out herrre in this desolate place, of no help to anyone.”

The others looked at him. “What are you suggesting?” Maiven asked him. “That we send ghost dragons to Artimé to pick up the rest of our warriors while we head to the palace to slay the two remaining dragons and rescue Fifer? And then we all take on the castle to free our loved ones and try to talk sense into them?”

Simber was rendered momentarily speechless, for that was exactly what he was thinking.

Ishibashi lowered his eyes and tried to hide the merriment on his face.

Simber gazed at the queen as if he’d underestimated her all this time, because, truth be told, he probably had. “Yes, Queen,” he said. When Maiven let a smile play at the corner of her lips, Simber bowed his head and continued. “I’ll… get rrright on that.”

Making Their Own Plans