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'My land?' said Fyia. 'I am aware.'

The Emperor's face scrunched. 'Yes, that,' he said, waving for someone to bring him tea, 'but other things too.'

'Such as?' said Fyia, her tone businesslike.

'Such as this,' he said. He pulled a perfectly round metal ball from his brightly colored robes.

It took great effort for Fyia not to react. She kept her eyes trained on the metal ball, scrutinizing it for any discrepancy … any sign that it was not what she knew it to be. Where had he got it? The Great Glacier, or the Fae'ch mountains? Or were there more in the world, waiting to be found?

'And what is that?' said Fyia.

'Ha!' The Emperor laughed. 'Your poker face is not the worst I've seen, but neither is it the best, girl.'

Girl. His dropping any pretense of respect so soon was a bad sign.

'What is it?' Fyia repeated, for although she knew in one sense, in another, she had no clue …

'It is a ball made of a special metal that I … procured.'

'Where does oneprocuresuch things?' said Fyia.

The Emperor laughed again, as though this were sport. 'The Fae'ch are a tricksy people. Outsmarting their kind brings a special kind of pleasure.'

Then this was the ball from the Fae'ch mountain. The mad woman appeared at the Emperor's shoulder, and he held out his hand. She took it, then bit the meat at the base of his thumb. Fyia's stomach roiled as the Emperor grunted in what seemed to be a mix of pleasure and pain. What in all the Seven Hells? His children barely blinked, so presumably this was not an abnormal occurrence.

'You bought it from the Fae'ch?' asked Fyia, when the woman released him.

He smiled. 'No,' he said cryptically. 'And also, yes.'

'What does it do?' said Fyia, leaning forward in her chair.

'It is needed to bring back the dragons, of course,' he said. His features were those of a cat with all the cream.

'How so?' said Fyia.

He raised a single finger and waggled it back and forth. 'I have something you want,' he said, holding up the ball, 'and you have something I want.' He pocketed the ball.

Fyia fought to remain calm, telling herself not to hurl her dagger across the table. 'What do you want?' she said evenly.

He chuckled as he leaned back in his chair, then turned serious. 'I have much: a colossal empire, a mighty army, ships that fly in the air … but what I do not have, is the ancient blood of the Five Great Kingdoms beating in my children's veins.'

The Emperor had spent his life consolidating that which his father and grandfather had crafted. They'd wiped away the nomadic traditions that had existed in their lands for countless generations. They'd built great cities and made much wealth, but had always stayed on their side of the Kraken Sea.

The Emperor had been happy to trade and profit from relations with those outside his lands, but had never shown an interest in visiting, nor seriously pursued taking a foreign wife, with the exception of when he'd agreed with Fyia's parents that he would marry her … She'd chalked that up to her parents, more than the Emperor, because if rumors could be believed, he usually found the idea abhorrent, considering his own people superior to those from foreign lands. Maybe the rumors were wrong.

'And I do not have dragons,' the Emperor continued. He drew out the worddragons,relishing each syllable.

'Neither do I,' Fyia said, flippantly.

'But you want them, and you need this to get them,' he said. He held up the ball again, twisting it in his fingers so it caught the light.

'Is that so?' said Fyia. She wished she could afford a glance at Cal, to see his reaction.

'It is,' he said smugly. 'I will help you find them, and abstain from decimating your kingdoms with my superior forces.'

'How kind.'

'And in return, you will marry me, and give me an heir with magic … an heir of whom I can be proud.'