I could feel a sob welling up in my throat, and I couldn’t stop it, but it made no sound when it came out. Aaru’s fingers were tight around my arm.

Nine had reached us, but she didn’t speak. She just watched the muffled horror of everyone in the chamber.

“All right.” Paorah drummed his fingers over the desk. “Now again, I ask you all to listen. Anyone else speaking out of turn will be dealt with similarly.” He waved the guards back, and all the blue-jacketed men and women began moving toward their posts, leaving the body where it had fallen. As a reminder. “My deal with the Algotti Empire is simple,” he said at last. “We all know the Great Abandonment will not stop with Idris. I don’t know which island will be next, but it is inevitable. Sooner or later, it will be Anahera, and I have a duty to my people. I must protect them.”

The room was quiet.

“I brought you all here in my new ships. The Red Fleet. This will be how we reach the Algotti Empire. However, space is limited, and we’ll all have choices to make: Who do you want to bring? There will be room for seven hundred and fifty people on each ship. One ship for each island.”

Dark dread poured through me. Choosing. How could anyone choose who to save? How could anyone decide between children and doctors? Or inventors or historians? It was cruel.

Movement from the gallery drew my attention, and I realized at once how naïve I’d been: the high magistrate had already made his choices, and he’d chosen his friends. The wealthy. The corrupt.

“The empress has graciously agreed to take in a number of us,” he said. “We would not be her subjects, but honored guests, held in the highest esteem.”

Several people looked as though they wanted to protest, but the body was still slumped over the desk, blood leaking in small rivers across the polished wood until it dripped onto the floor.

No one said a word.

“Now,” the high magistrate continued, “I suggest you choose your people wisely. Look for those with skills and wealth. Social usefulness. Use families as a bargaining tool if you must, but get the people we need in order to make a clean transition from our islands to the empire.

“I know you’re all wondering what we will be giving up by aligning ourselves with the empire.” He pressed his hands against the surface of his desk. “As a gesture of goodwill, I have given the empress seven dragons, for which she is very grateful.”

Dragons.

My head spun, and I swayed, but Aaru’s grip remained tight on my arm. Still, I couldn’t help but imagine seven children of the gods sedated and sent away, awakening in a strange land. How frightened they must have been. How angry.

“Why send the dragons away?” Eka Delro stood, and though one of the guards approached her, the high magistrate didn’t give the order. “We should fight to preserve our islands, and that means we need every dragon to appeal to the gods on our behalf. If we send them away, we’re inviting trouble.”