“Maiven Taveer said that the dragons must be of sound mind, which they are not, and they must vote for a leader, which they have not done. And the black-eyed people appoint a ruler, which they have done—it’s Queen Maiven Taveer, not Thisbe. We don’t think the Revinir knows these rules, because she believes she can just assume the position of head dragon. And she doesn’t know that Maiven is alive, much less that she’s the reigning queen of Grimere.”

“Okay,” said Dev, trying to keep up.

Fifer continued. “But she does seem to know that the ruling dragon and the black-eyed ruler must also officially choose each other to be partners in order to restore the leadership of the land. Without that agreement, the rightful rulership cannot be restored, and the ghost dragons won’t be able to pass on to their next life.”

“And you think the answer to this is for Thisbe to pretend she’s ready to make that commitment to the Revinir?” asked Dev. “So it gives Thisbe the power and the title of ruler alongside a tyrant—which would make Thisbe look like a terrible person.”

“Exactly!” said Thisbe, turning sharply. “And even if I wanted to do that, which I don’t, the bigger problem is that the black-eyed people choose their ruler, and so do the dragons. We’ve already got our ruler in Maiven—”

“Whom the Revinir doesn’t know exists,” Fifer reminded her.

“—and,” Thisbe went on, “the dragons, in their right minds, would never choose the Revinir to lead them!”

“That’s exactly my point,” said Fifer. “They’re not in their right minds. So the rulership won’t actually transfer, and all will be fine. But the Revinir knows nothing of this! Think of it from her perspective. She believes she has everything she needs except the black-eyed ruler to give her the blessing of the partnership. She’s so close to it that she’s practically drooling.”

“So…,” said Dev, thinking hard. “But wait. If Thisbe isn’t the proper leader, because Maiven is, then the partnership won’t go through.”

“That is what I’ve been trying to say,” said Fifer, and she began ticking things off on her fingers: “The dragons aren’t in their right minds to choose a leader. Even if they were, they wouldn’t choose her. The Revinir doesn’t know about Maiven being the chosen pick for the black-eyed rulers. So she won’t know that this plan will fail in a variety of ways.”

Thisbe looked highly skeptical. “Then what good is it to do it?”