But the truth was that the Revinir didn’t think she’d need the dragon-bone broth for much longer, because she was just about ready to agree to Thisbe’s demands. She’d thought about it—leaving the seven islands alone. And she’d realized that all she really had to do to get what she wanted was to tell Thisbe she wasn’t going to touch her precious islands—even though Warbler was already technically hers. And they could do the agreement thing and become the true leaders and release all the mind-controlled dragons and people and let the pesky ghost dragons die, and then the Revinir would be adored by all because she’d restored the land after forty years under the control of that dumb king and his usurpers.

And after that, she could go take over the seven islands anyway.

As she and Thisbe sat down to breakfast, the Revinir peered at the young woman. “How did you sleep?” she asked, because she supposed that was something friends might ask each other.

“Great,” said Thisbe. “You?”

“Fine.” The Revinir thought Thisbe seemed slightly preoccupied. Was she having second thoughts about their partnership? “I wanted to see you this morning because I wished to talk more about our agreement,” the dragon-woman said.

“Oh,” said Thisbe, perking up. “Good. I’d like that as well. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, actually. And like I’ve told you, I’m ready to join you in going forward with it.”

“On your condition, of course,” the Revinir said dryly.

“Well,” said Thisbe, “yes, obviously. But I wonder if you’ve really taken in how very large the land of the dragons is. There’s so much to explore and expand here. There’s that other village down the mountain. The forest, which is huge. The cavelands, which will be empty once the ghost dragons are gone. And the whole palace and village where Ashguard’s property is that could be restored and repopulated. Plus the crater lake and the entire city of Grimere, of course. That’s a lot of land to rule over. And…” She hesitated, looking into the Revinir’s eyes. “It seems like it might be just the right size for a dragon and a black-eyed ruler to enjoy together without having to always keep an eye on things that are so far away. The traveling is so tedious, isn’t it?”