Arcolin heard that with astonishment; could Samdal really be such a fool? And yet, nothing Samdal had said in their conversation would be considered wise.

“Are you?” the dragon asked, mildly enough, but his voice sharpened. “And yet you left Horngard, Regent though you be, to wander about in search of the last heir of the Dragon Throne … and I do not see with you couriers who might keep you informed of what happens there, or by whom you could send your counsel back.”

“The Council—”

“Of which you are the head. Why did you leave, Samdal Veldan’s son, instead of sending someone else?”

Samdal was trembling now; Arcolin could see his hands clenched at his sides. “I—I—they wouldn’t—they didn’t think—and I—I’d known him—”

“We were friends as boys,” Arcolin said, to spare him.

“So your Council ignores you?” the dragon said, still looking at Samdal.

Samdal looked down. The dragon cocked his head on one side, as Arcolin had seen lizards do, focusing on prey. Arcolin watched … and out came that impossible tongue, far too long to fit into the human-shaped head, shimmering from its own heat.

“See me clearly, Chancellor,” the dragon said, without moving tongue or lips.

Samdal looked up, panic in every line of his face.

“What am I, Sssamdal?”

“I—I—not a—not a—a dragon?”

“Yesss.” The tongue withdrew. “I am Dragon, Samdal. You claim descent from Horngard’s first Chancellor. What is your duty to dragonkind?”

Samdal dropped to the carpet and bowed his head to touch it.

“I … am Dragon’s servant, no more.”

“No.” The dragon’s voice was low but uncompromising. “Your duty to dragonkind is to keep the faith in Horngard should the king be absent or die. You are not my servant only, but Horngard’s. Your duty lies elsewhere, and yet you are here.”

“I—I thought—”

“Wrongly.” The dragon sighed, a long breath of hot air. “Your duty is wisdom, Chancellor, but a fool cannot advise a king. Count Arcolin learned his wisdom in war, and not all war-wisdom is of fighting. What I see is order in his company’s camp, as I saw it in his domain; he governs well what he has, and he shows wisdom in understanding that he no longer belongs to Horngard. He has other oaths to keep. You, on the other hand—you have left your duty, apparently without knowing.” He turned to Arcolin. “Count, I will myself take that ring you hold, for this man should not be in authority. Will you yield it to me?”