“I get that,” said Thisbe impatiently, “but if we call Florence now, she can send someone for us and we’ll all be in Artimé training together.”

“Ah, but then the Revinir will find out, and she’ll be even angrier. And you’re assuming our people can fight off four dragons. I feel confident they will attack if we attempt to leave, and even if we succeed in escaping, they’ll follow us if we don’t slay them! We can’t have our people fighting those dragons when they’re not the ones who matter. There’s only one dragon who matters, and we need to save our fighters for her. I really wish you’d listen to my idea.”

By now, Dev had heard bits and pieces of Fifer’s backward-sounding plan to join the Revinir’s side, and he’d agreed strongly with Thisbe. But he hadn’t heard Fifer explain it directly. “All right,” he said from across the room. “I’ll take the bait. What is your plan exactly, Fifer?”

Thisbe rolled her eyes and turned away, but didn’t try to stop Fifer from answering.

Fifer fidgeted with her robe, not expecting the abrupt question and not wanting to mess up the answer again. But she’d been mulling things over for a long time, and she was ready.

“Okay,” she said. “Here is where we stand. From our best deductions, based on what all three of us know, the Revinir came here some time ago to scout out the area and discovered that it was remote and deserted—that was when Dev hid in the river.”

Dev nodded. “Agreed.”

Thisbe didn’t indicate she was listening.

Fifer continued. “She probably scouted out other areas too, and decided that since Thisbe was so good at escaping the castle, she needed a new place to keep her from which she couldn’t escape. So she chose this palace—she could easily station dragons around here to keep her locked in the area, but she wouldn’t starve to death, and she could find shelter from the weather. She doesn’t want Thisbe dead, but she wants to break her. She believes that because Thisbe’s level of evilness is greater than her level of goodness, she’s the easiest nut to crack of all the black-eyed rulers. And rightly or wrongly, she concludes that because of this, Thisbe will be the one most likely to join her. In her mind, they will successfully create the bond between dragon and black-eyed ruler that is necessary to take over authentic leadership of Grimere and the land of the dragons.”

Dev frowned. “What is necessary to do that? I’ve never known the rules.”