“And all I’d have to do is betray my people.” I knew I’d been stripped of my title, likely branded a witch. If I came back and defeated a dragon as dangerous as Duke Kaen said? I was as good as staking my claim to replace Duke Xun.

What you protect is what you rule.

I was tempted. After all, with my expertise and experience, how difficult would it be to arrange for a much less violent revolution in Jorat? Duke Kaen didn’t understand the Joratese the way I did. He didn’t understand how to sway their loyalty. I did—without dragons, without demons.

All those deaths would stop if I agreed to his plan. And not after I’d found a spear and killed a dragon. Not after I’d figured out how to defeat Relos Var. Immediately.

How many lives would I save if I pledged my loyalty to Duke Kaen? I could gain everything I desired. Kaen would have no reason to send Aeyan’arric after Joratese villages. If Kaen’s story about Morios proved true, I’d help save hundreds of thousands of lives by defeating him.

All I had to do was say yes.

Kaen said, “Would it be a betrayal, though? Is it not justice, when they wronged you first? Relos Var told me about your situation. Your Markreev didn’t protect you when he should have. He exploited his power over you to force you into an unworthy match. Your grandfather betrayed you by assuming you would submit to another man’s rule and by allowing his lamentably racist leanings to overcome his sense of your true value.”

“Yet those people didn’t frame me for witchcraft, kill me in a duel, kidnap me, and hold me against my will in another country.”

“If your enthusiasm to rescue someone who has done you wrong is proportional to the crime, we’ve made a fine start at convincing you Yor is worth saving.” He smiled, no doubt thinking himself hilarious.

“Oh?” I laughed, because I found it just the opposite. “And why does Yor need saving?”

“Because our land is dying,” Azhen Kaen said, all humor vanishing. “Quur has murdered it.”

The young wife who’d questioned me when I first arrived, Veixizhau, was waiting for me when I returned to the wives’ quarters. I couldn’t tell if she’d decided to impress or one-up me, but she wore a samite gown and a blinding diamond necklace.

I was distracted, thinking of honor and whether I placed more importance on my pride than my people. Wasn’t the whole reason I’d come here to gain Relos Var’s and Duke Kaen’s trust by whatever means necessary? So why did I balk at Kaen’s deal? I didn’t have to keep my promise to them, after all.

But I wanted to.