The moment they had landed, she had slipped down Avatre’s side to stand facing Coresan, as Kiron untied the butchered goats the Bedu had brought—the first fruits of their raids on the Tian Sacred Herds. Coresan, of course, knew what was coming, and though still standing vigilant guard over her precious eggs, was swaying side to side with eagerness and hunger. She did look immensely better than she had when they had first found her. Her scales were shiny and clean, and although she was lean, she no longer had bones showing. Her golden eyes were bright, and the membranes of her wings supple, smooth, and a healthy copper-orange in color. Kiron privately thought that Avatre was much more beautiful—he liked Avatre’s deep scarlet, and didn’t much care for the lighter, more coppery shade of her mother. But there was no doubt that Coresan was impressive.

Aket-ten had landed before Kiron had, and was about to drag a goat quarter over to the eager and visibly hungry dragon. “Should I take that?” Nofret asked eagerly, as she stepped forward.

Well, that’s a good sign! She’s not afraid at all!

“Not just yet. We want her to get the edge off her hunger first,” he cautioned. “Let Aket-ten introduce you to her; she’ll have to get quite close before she can use her magic.”

Though visibly disappointed, Nofret nodded, and once about half of Aket-ten’s load was inside Coresan, Aket-ten motioned that Nofret should come take the next quarter over.

Kiron and Aket-ten were quite used to hauling large chunks of meat about, but poor Nofret staggered for a moment under the unexpectedly heavy burden. Once again, though, she gamely rose to the challenge, and pulled the haunch to the waiting dragon.

Coresan eyed the newcomer carefully. Nofret didn’t look anything like Aket-ten; she was taller, willow-slim, and even her hair was different—since Lord Ya-tiren and his servants had arrived, she had been able to wear her long hair in the noble style of thousands of plaits ending in beads, so that every time she moved her head, she rattled pleasantly, like a systrum. Nofret made no sudden moves, only looked the dragon squarely in the eyes as she’d been told to, and waited for Coresan to take the meat.

The dragon looked extremely reluctant to take a step nearer the stranger, despite what Aket-ten had “said” to her. Instead, she stretched out her neck as far as it would go, and with the very tips of her jaws, snagged the skin of the haunch in her teeth and dragged it to herself, keeping one eye on Nofret at all times.