Fiat certainly heard, for he snarled something rude at her before he leaped onto the table and glared at Bastian. “Do not believe you have won, old man. You may hold the day, but I will win the battle!”

“I name you ouroboros,” Bastian said, slowly getting to his feet, his eyes narrowed as he turned to look at the standing dragons. “As I will so name all who follow you. What say you? Will you remain in the sept with your friends and families? Or will you turn your back on it all and be cast out? Will you follow one who has brought the noble blue sept close to disaster with his treacherous dealings of other septs? Will you stand by while he strives to ruin all that we stand for, all that we worked to rebuild? Or will you return to sanity and reclaim that which Fiat has tried to destroy?”

A couple of the blue dragons glanced hesitantly across to what were assumedly their relations, but none of them moved. They were almost all male, each of them silent as Fiat postured and Bastian pleaded.

“They have no stomach to serve under you,” Fiat said, jumping off the table to stroll with studied nonchalance to his uncle. “It is you who will destroy the sept, you who will alienate everyone, but by then it will be too late. You think naming me ouroboros will harm me?” He laughed, the sound harsh and grating as his gaze slipped to Gabriel. “We will prosper. For we will not be alone. Have you never thought to wonder who was behind the actions of two months past, old friend?”

“I knew it,” I whispered, reaching for my dagger. “I told you he kidnapped them.”

Gabriel stayed my hand with a look, facing Fiat with a placid expression that I knew he didn’t feel. I could feel the dragon fire building in him, threatening to burst free. “What are you implying, Fiat?”

Fiat laughed again, tossing his head back in an affected manner. “Just what I said—I will not be alone. Nor will I forget what has happened here today. I have a very long memory, Gabriel. And my friends, my old friends, have even longer memories than me.”

Bastian made an abbreviated gesture, as if he wanted to punch Fiat but knew he shouldn’t. I gripped my dagger, wondering whether I could slip into the shadow world and follow Fiat without Gabriel noticing.

“No,” Gabriel said under his breath, having read my mind. “He is posturing, nothing more, little bird.”

“Very well. You have made your choice. What’s done cannot be undone.” Bastian gave each of the standing dragons a long, steady look. “Your families will not suffer for your actions, but know that as of this day, you will be dead to the sept.”

Fiat rolled his eyes in an obnoxious display, stopping only to looked past us, directly at Kostya. “I’ll give my friend your kind regards, shall I?”