Conor was in front of him, his red-brown curls blowing themselves into new tangles as they walked. Behind him was Amina, jigging with impatience.

Now Joe could see his brother and sister down in the middle of the marketplace. Half-siblings, really, but there were no half measures about it in Joe’s eyes. He adored them both.

His brother, Isak, was Head Dragonguard, famous for having read every book in the city library. Tall and calm, with white hair and black-rimmed eyeglasses, Isak stood now with the mother dragon and her covered clutch of eggs. They were circled by all the adult dragons on Arcosi – a dozen in total.

Next, his eyes fell on his sister, Tarya, standing next to 21her husband, Duke Vigo. Tarya was the island’s general, and she’d led its forces to victory in the revolution when Vigo had become duke, thirteen years earlier.

Joe noticed that his sister looked tired. Tarya’s wild blonde curls were plaited close against her scalp, in the dragonrider style. She wore her sword at her hip, her ceremonial armour and arm-guards. She’d always been his fierce, capable sister, but now her face was grey-white. They all knew the reason for this: she’d just announced her pregnancy. She bit her lip as if she was fighting sickness. His mother had told her it was normal and she would start feeling stronger soon. Joe hoped for her sake that Tarya wouldn’t be sick right here – she’d hate that.

Next to Tarya stood Rosa, her second-in-command and old friend, with her huge orange dragon, Ando. Everyone expected Rosa to take over from the general while she cared for her new baby; some were surprised it hadn’t happened already.

‘Wait!’ the dragonguard with the Potentials called.

Joe and the others paused just outside the marketplace. Any moment now, the duke would start the ceremony, and then they would file into the empty space to take their positions.

He felt his whole body buzzing with excitement and impatience.

Just then someone wormed into the space between Joe and Amina, and leaned forward to murmur, ‘Feeling lucky, birthday boy?’

It was Noah, from Joe’s group at the city’s school, where 22all the children of Arcosi went for a few years at least. He was small and wiry, with a thin freckled face, and light brown hair that flopped over his eyes. He was also wearing the white clothes of a Potential.

‘What are you doing here?’ Joe’s heart sank. ‘I thought you hated the duke and my sister.’

Noah’s father had been one of the soldiers out of a job when the dragons came. He’d been killed last year in a street brawl, and Noah blamed Vigo and Tarya for taking away his father’s job, his pride and his life.

Joe and his friends had tried to be kind to Noah as he grieved, but he didn’t make it easy.

‘Yeah, so?’ Noah narrowed his eyes and glared in the duke’s direction. ‘Why should I miss out on a dragon?’