Soon they were ready to head up to the library. They chose to go early in the day, to make the most of the daylight and spend as long as possible reading.

They walked through the tunnels for what felt like hours. Winter led the way with her lamp, and Joe was pleased to 95note he’d learned the route by heart too, from memorising their maps.

‘We’re here!’ she said finally. She bent to unlatch a small iron door, only waist-high, and light streamed in. ‘When we go through, we’ll be in the palace grounds, near the stables.’ She put out the lanterns and placed them on the ground.

‘You do mean right inside? Beyond the walls?’ Joe had to double-check.

‘Joe, you know this, you carved the map,’ Winter said. She tapped the wall impatiently. ‘Are you ready?’

His heart was beating fast. ‘Ready.’

But he wasn’t. The daylight was dazzling as he stumbled out; after all those weeks underground, it hurt his eyes and sent tears streaming down his cheeks. He tripped and fell to his knees.

‘Quickly, before anyone sees us,’ Winter hissed, pulling him upright. ‘Just walk, can’t you?’

Somehow Joe made his feet obey. His shirt stuck to his back, damply. His legs were wobbling. He squinted against the sunshine, shading his face with his hand.

‘I can’t … I can’t. It’s too much.’ His chest felt tight, like a water flask about to burst. He gripped Winter’s arm, as if he were drowning, sucking in cool air.

‘It’s all right,’ she said. Her voice was steady and warm, as if she were calming a spooked horse. ‘Not far now. One more step. And another.’

Slowly, the panic receded. Joe stood a little taller and looked around them for the first time. They were walk­ing through the palace gardens, past the dragonhalls – the 96ancient one from the olden days, and the newer ones that made up Arcosi’s dragonschool. The gardens were full of city folk taking a break in the shade. People were sitting on benches, or strolling through the gardens, past the fountains splashing cool water and the late-blooming roses that filled the air with their rich sweet scent.

Normal life was happening, to other people. Joe felt like a ghost, watching the living. His old life was gone, and he felt miles away from all the ordinary people of Arcosi.

The dragonhalls were built in a horseshoe shape with the oldest one in the middle. Its door was open, and Joe could see his sister Tarya’s red dragon, Heral, dozing there. The newer halls had their doors closed and Joe heard Isak’s voice in the middle of a lesson.

Isak! His brother was right there. Where Joe had longed to be for so long.

He remembered how angry Isak had been on Hatching Day. Joe had shamed him in the worst possible way. He’d ruined the sacred ceremony that Isak had so carefully organised, people had been injured, Milla had been burned. Any of the hatchlings might have been hurt, or killed in the stampede, all because of him. And since the Great Loss, every baby dragon was more precious than ever.