“And I agree,” Zenor said. “But Thread will not wait. Perhaps we should consider the issue at hand.”

“I suppose,” Nuella said, still wistful with the thought of communicating more closely with her watch-wher. She shook herself, dismissing the thought from her mind. “So you are here to coordinate on tomorrow’s Fall.”

“Indeed,” Kindan said. “Given that Lorana can talk with any dragon—”

“Or watch-wher,” Fiona added.

“Or watch-wher,” Kindan accepted the correction with a nod, continuing, “we think it’d be best if we coordinated through her.”

“Aren’t the next four Falls all night Falls?” Zenor asked, nodding toward Nuella. “That’s what we’ve heard here.”

Lorana and Fiona glanced expectantly toward Kindan, who frowned in thought, his lips moving silently. After a moment he nodded, saying, “Telgar, Fort, and High Reaches twice.”

“High Reaches flies tomorrow,” Fiona said.

“It does, but the sun sets later there so the Fall will last from mid-afternoon to late evening there,” Kindan told her.

“Up to the twenty-first hour,” Nuella agreed. “And then their next one actually starts the day before—on the twenty-third, falling through into the twenty-fourth.”

“For some reason,” Zenor said with a droll grin toward Kindan, “the Threadfall charts are all based on Benden time.”

Kindan shrugged and grinned in response.

“It’s only natural,” Nuella said. “That’s where you were posted.”

“You know,” Zenor said, stroking his chin, “if you and Lorana are going to fly this first night Fall, it might make sense for you to fly all of them.”

Fiona gasped in surprise.

“It makes sense,” Zenor told her. “Lorana can speak to any dragon. Her coordination will help save lives—dragon and watch-wher alike.”

“If you’re going to do that,” Fiona said, turning to Lorana and then Nuella, “then Nuella should ride with you.”

“What?” Nuella barked.

“Lorana can’t talk to you directly by mind but your ears work well enough,” Fiona said.

“Besides, with Kindan’s eyes, you’ll not need worry about more threadscore,” Zenor added hastily, giving Fiona a grateful wink.

“Can Zirenth manage three?” Kindan asked.

“Of course,” Lorana said with staunch loyalty for her surrogate mount.

It would be an honor to carry the WherMaster, Zirenth declared with an accompanying rumble from outside.

Nuella’s face lit with a smile, making it clear to Fiona that the bronze’s announcement had been made to all present.

“Well!” Fiona said. “When Zirenth speaks, it’s foolish to argue.”

So it was arranged. Fiona tried her hardest to convert her worry and disappointment into a method of acquiring Sula’s recipe for dainties, but she was thwarted and made the return trip to Telgar in frustrated silence.

“That’s excellent news!” J’lantir said. He glanced at Kindan and Lorana, confiding, “I’d been most concerned about our coordination with the watch-whers.” He paused before adding wistfully, “We at Ista have never had a chance to work with them.”