“Yes, you should have,” Linsha said. “It would have made your lordship’s appearance in the middle of a battle a little easier to accept. I would have known what to expect instead of learning for the first time that the man I respect and admire is also the dragon I love.”

He inhaled sharply, unsure if he understood what she meant. “What about Lanther?”

Her expression turned severe at the mention of his name. “What about Lanther?” she shot back.

“You married him.”

Linsha threw up her hands. He certainly had some things in common with human men. “Were you listening when I told you about Lanther? I hid nothing from you. I had the choice of marrying him or being left for his officers and men. Which would you prefer? The marriage has not been consummated and never will be. I think widowhood would suit me better!”

“I will see what I can do,” he said softly. On its own accord, his hand lifted to her face and cupped her cheek in his palm. “I have learned much about you these past few months, and you are not a ‘mere human.’ You have more skill and talent and honor than many dragons I know.”

He moved a little closer until the warmth of his body touched her skin. Linsha felt herself trembling as her muscles slowly melted in the heat of his nearness. She leaned her cheek into his palm and did not take her eyes off him.

“I promise there is nothing more I haven’t told you. I didn’t tell you about Wanderer’s army from the first because, to be honest, I don’t want to take you there or to the Missing City. I would rather take you far out of harm’s way, because I really don’t know if I can bear to-”

His words were cut off by a shout.

“Dark Knights!” Varia screeched. She came winging back followed by Callista, running as fast she could in the sand. Close behind her raced five Knights of Neraka, intent on catching such a fine prize. They saw the second woman and an unarmed man and whooped with the thrill of an imminent capture.

Lord Bight snarled. He broke away from Linsha and spun around to face the charging knights. “Get behind me!” he ordered.

Linsha felt a powerful wrench at their separation, and the anger Lord Bight had fueled in her resurfaced and found another target. She laughed. “I’ve been fighting jealous Tarmak women in the Akeelawasee. These are boys in comparison.”

Just as Callista reached them, Linsha dashed forward toward the nearest knight. The look of triumph on his face turned to surprise as she ran at him without a sword or a shield or a spear. Jamming to a halt, she dropped to her side in the sand and kicked his feet out from under him. The knight fell heavily. He tried to roll out of the way, but a second knight tripped over him, fell, and dropped his sword. Lord Bight snatched up the weapon and decapitated the man with a powerful swing of his right arm.

The remaining four men shouted with anger. The first knight on the ground tried to get up. He made it to his knees before Linsha clambered onto his back, wrenched the dagger out of his sheath, and stabbed it deep into the base of his neck just above the collar of his breastplate. She didn’t wait for him to die before she jumped to her feet and went after a third knight. By that time it was too late. Lord Bight might have been in human shape, but he still possessed a more powerful strength and speed than any normal man. He killed two knights before they had a chance to defend themselves, and he turned with a roar on the last knight. The knight, terrified out of his wits, took to his heels and ran for the woods where more knights surely waited. Linsha flipped her dagger around, grasped the blade carefully, and threw it at the knight. It was a good throw, but it bounced off his armor.

Grinning, Lord Bight said, “This is better,” and threw his sword. It caught the running knight between the shoulder blades, pierced his body to the hilt, and threw him several feet before he hit the ground, quite dead.

Linsha looked around at the dead knights in satisfaction. That would teach them to interrupt an important conversation. Unfortunately, it was a conversation that could not be continued now. These knights had probably been part of a talon on patrol. There would be more knights on the beach very soon. It was time to go. She saw the glow of light on the sand and stared up as Lord Bight shapeshifted back to Crucible. The transformation still amazed her.

Varia fluttered down and came to land on her shoulder. She peered around Linsha’s tousled hair to see her face. “Are you all right?” the owl asked hesitantly.

“I am not angry with him-or you-if that’s what you mean. I just wish one of you had seen fit to tell me, or warn me.” She pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and touched her cheek to Varia’s warm feathers. “I don’t think I will ever forget that shock of seeing Crucible turn into Lord Bight and knowing I could lose both of them.”

“He would not let me tell you,” Varia explained. “lyesta did not tell you either, because she felt Crucible should be the one. She never laughed at you, Linsha. She always approved. I think that’s why she asked you to defend the eggs. She knew Crucible would be there to help you.”

Linsha gave a scant nod and bent to examine the dead knights. “I am still going to Missing City, with or without him, to get those eggs.”

“I know,” Varia said, “And so does he.”

Linsha gestured to Callista to help her, and together they took two cloaks, a clean wool tunic, a pair of boots, a small pack full of trail food and utensils, a long knife, a sword, and a scabbard off the dead knights. Everything else they left because it was either too dirty or the wrong size. Body robbing was not something Linsha often indulged in, but this time she felt it necessary for their survival. She gave the dagger to Callista along with a cloak and the bag of food. She discarded her own filthy silk tunic, put on the warmer one, and secured it with the knotted belt Afec had given her.

Varia almost fell off her shoulder trying to see the knotted belt. “Where did you get that?”

“The Damjatt, Afec, made it. He gave it to help protect me from spells of the Keena priests. I don’t know how well it works.”

Varia chuckled in her throat. “Knot magic is very old. It is not strong, but I think it can ward off minor spells and abate more powerful ones. This Afec was a clever man.”

“Yes, he was,” Linsha said with fondness. She considered showing Varia the tome Afec had given to her then decided to wait. There wasn’t time to explain the whole of her misgivings. She pulled a boot over her bare foot. “Now what can you tell me about this army that is marching toward the Missing City?”

“They’ve already defeated one army of Tarmaks in a battle. They’re well organized, well led, and determined. They’re trying to break the grip of the Tarmaks on the Plains. They don’t really want the city, because their army is not big enough to take it. But if they can lure the main Tarmak army out and defeat it before the reinforcements arrive, they hope to free Duntollik at least.”

“Then they’ll be happy to know the reinforcements will not be here for a long time.” Linsha grunted as she pulled on the other boot. She jumped to her feet. “Time to go.”

The two women and the owl hurried to the dragon and climbed onto his back. Wasting no time, the bronze dragon crouched on the sand then sprang upward with a mighty leap that flattened his riders to his back. His wings swept down, and he was airborne, beating westward toward Missing City.

“Are you sure that is where you want to go?” he asked Linsha after a long silence. “I could take you anywhere. Even Solace.”

“The eggs are in the city,” Linsha said from the depths of her warm cloak. “I have seen them. I have also seen what the Tarmaks do to them.”

“So have I,” Crucible growled, resigned to her decision. “We’ll go get them.”