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The boat eventually landed in a clearing by a lake. Edu jumped to the ground as soon as they touched down, striding over to give a full report. Adigos oversaw the tethering of the flying machine, making their captives show him how.

'We killed most of them,' said Edu. 'None of them were warriors. The pilot seems willing to cooperate, along with the three crew members we left alive.'

'Commander!' a guard shouted from the boat.

'What is it?' said Edu. The urgency in her tone had him running for the flying machine.

'We found a stowaway.'

A second guard wrestled a writhing, middle-aged woman into view, forcing her over the side, so she landed at Edu's feet.

The first guard threw Edu a length of rope, and he tied the woman's hands behind her back, then maneuvered her into a kneeling position, holding her in place.

The woman started laughing, a crazed, frenzied sound that sent a shiver of unease down Fyia's spine.

'You're the Queen of the Five Kingdoms!' the woman said, between laughs. 'Look at you! You'renothing… and you'll never get the dragons, forwehave them.'

Fyia's pulse raced. She fought to keep her expression neutral. 'Who exactly iswe, and why should I believe a word from your lips?' The woman seemed deranged …

'The Emperor has the dragons,' she said in a singsong voice.

Fyia shuddered. The woman watched Fyia closely with her mismatched eyes, one light green, the other golden, her wild, short grey hair flailing about in the wind.

'You're lying,' said Fyia.

She cackled. 'He sent me to tell you.'

'Why would he do that?'

'He knows you want them … that you search for them … and he has them.' She gave a slow one-shouldered shrug, tipping her head so her chin met her raised shoulder. Her features contorted into an obscure expression that Fyia took to mean,obviously.

'What do you mean,them?' said Fyia.

'Why, all five, of course.'

'Impossible,' said Fyia. 'If you'd told me he had one, I might have been tempted, but all five? There's no way.'

'One hatched just recently,' said the woman, barking out a laugh as soon as the words left her lips.

'Show me proof.'

'The Emperor will be happy to, when you visit him.'

Now Fyia laughed. 'Gag her, lock her up, and watch her closely.'

The two guards jumped down from the boat, gagged the woman, then manhandled her back onboard.

Fyia exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as soon as the woman was out of sight. She was unnatural, her presence … wrong.

'They can't have all five,' said Edu, as though trying to convince himself. 'How could they?'

'But they might have one,' said Adigos. 'They could be bluffing about the other four, so you stop looking for the eggs and go to the Emperor.'

'Or maybe they have nothing,' said Edu, 'and the Emperor is luring you so he can kill you and claim all five of your kingdoms for himself.'

'Well, then the Emperor shall be disappointed,' said Fyia, 'because there's no way in all the Seven Hells I'm going to visit him. But I am going to explore my new flying boat.'

They loaded the flying machine, taking everything save for the food and equipment the guards tasked with riding the horses back would need. The rest of them—including two badly injured guards, and Fyia's wolves—would travel in the sky.