‘‘I want to hear about it nonetheless. And what’s that business Jim said about a black dragon stealing a silver’s mate? No one has ever mentioned that before.’’

‘‘It is old history and not important at this time,’’ he said stubbornly.

‘‘I’d like to hear it. I find all this dragon history fascinating,’’ Cyrene chirped. ‘‘It’s kind of romantic.’’

Aisling directed an inelegant snort to her husband. ‘‘Cyrene is right, not to mention the fact that dragons stealing each other’s mates is always an important topic. And don’t give me that ‘not pertinent’ crap. You said you were there when all of this was going down . . . Did you see Baltic’s body?’’

Drake was silent.

‘‘I thought so.’’ Aisling turned back to Kostya. ‘‘You know you’re going to have to go over it—we outnumber you. So why don’t you just tell us and save me the trouble of prying it out of you.’’

Kostya didn’t explode as I thought he would. He looked for a moment like he wanted to, but a glance at his brother had him marching back to the window, his hands clasped behind him as he glared out at the world at large. ‘‘I will tell you not because you threaten me with your pathetic Guardian powers—’’

Jim started toward the dragon until Aisling ordered it back.

‘‘I will tell you so that you know, once and for all, the truth of the matter. You must understand that I have always upheld what Baltic stood for—’’ His head turned enough so that his eyes flashed ebony at Gabriel. ‘‘He wanted the sept whole, complete again.’’

Beside me, Gabriel tensed, although his voice was mild in the extreme. ‘‘That will never happen, Kostya. My sept is content as it is.’’

The muscles in Kostya’s jaw worked a couple of times before he continued. ‘‘Although Baltic’s motives in fighting to regain what was once ours were correct, I began to doubt his method of ensuring success. When it became apparent that his goals had shifted to include domination over all the septs, I realized he was inflamed by the idea of power into conducting acts of war that were decimating the black dragon population. By the start of the eighteenth century, I knew Baltic must change his tactics or risk the total annihilation of the black dragons.’’

Bitterness filled his voice. I leaned against Gabriel, taking comfort from his warmth and strength.