“Leave Montpierre to me,” she said. “I think it would be best if you gave him some time to cool off before attempting to reconcile.”

Reconcile was an optimistic word. How did one reconcile something that had never been in the first place? “Maman, what is it you see in him?”

“Montpierre is not one to suffer fools,” she said, “but he has always been fiercely loyal to me, whether I deserved it or not. The Pain family wanted to take you away, ship you off somewhere you could be forgotten, wherever they sent Guste perhaps, but I wouldn’t allow it. You were, are, my child, and I would raise you as my own. And because it was vitally important to me, Montpierre adopted you, knowing full well that everything he is able to earn in this life will go to you as his first male heir.”

“I don’t want it,” Weysh grumbled. “I plan to turn everything over to you and Sylvie. I can make my own fortune.”

“Don’t be so quick to dismiss it,” she said a bit sharply. “Montpierre has toiled for years to build his business, and you will be starting a family of your own soon, will you not?”

“I, well, that is . . . probably.”

“Yes. So think long and hard before you cast aside everything Montpierre has worked so hard to provide us.”

Us, she said, as if she truly believed Montpierre cared one rat shit about him. Still, he didn’t want to argue with her. “All right, Maman, I will,” he said.

“And do bring your Given by soon. I’m very eager to meet her.”

Weysh hesitated. That would take some time. First and foremost, he had to get Yenni to admit she was his Given. But to explain it all to his mother would be complicated, not to mention embarrassing.

“All right, Maman, I will,” he said again.

An aggressive summer wind whipped stray strands of Weysh’s hair from his braid back. He closed in on the bank of the River Noureer, which ran along the eastern side of the campus. Here the grass was charred and brown, and tall, metal poles stuck up from the ground. This was where Prevan held fire-breathing class, in which dragons worked on the longevity and accuracy of their flame.