Yandor’s head whips in my direction. He gives a joyous shake as I throw my arms around him. I press my face into his smooth scales. He rests his heavy head against my shoulder, his hot breaths blowing against my hair.

“I missed you.” My voice catches.

“I spotted him when I went back for those healing herbs,” Prince Meilek says. “Thought you might be pleased.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

We mount our drakes in silence and head back through the camps toward Ronin’s manor house. Torchlight speckles the grasslands as if to mirror the starlit sky above. The camps are quieter now, but no less crowded.

“I need to ask you to do something for me,” I say as we near the Dead Wood. “Saengo is still in the manor house under Ronin’s care. Will you get her out for me? I don’t trust her with him once he learns we’ve discovered his plan.”

He frowns. “Where will you be?”

“I have to go to Spinner’s End.”

By the tone of his voice, I can guess that he’s scowling when he asks, “What for?”

“Warning everyone of the attack will lose Queen Meilyr the element of surprise. But the only way any of them will stand a chance is if we remove Ronin. And to do that, I have to go back to his castle.”

Destroying Ronin’s familiar bond should save Saengo, but it should also render him powerless. And I think, even if Saengo’s life didn’t depend on its destruction, even if Ronin hadn’t chosen power over peace, I would still choose to destroy the Dead Wood. It is a disease on the land, infecting the kingdoms with its twisted power. It is a relic of an ancient war, a monument to hatred. It must be brought down.

“You’ll never make it in time,” he says.

“I know. But this is the only way to ensure victory in the long run.”

As long as the leaders are warned, there’s little else I can do in the grasslands. If there’s a battle, it might very well be over before I even reach Spinner’s End, but so long as I can sever Ronin’s power, then I can end the war before it spreads.

“Once you’ve warned those in the manor house and retrieved Saengo,” I say, “maybe you can reach your sister before she attacks. If she knows her plan with Ronin has been exposed, then she might listen to reason and retreat.”

“I’ll try. If we can avoid bloodshed, we might yet be able to salvage the peace.”