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Adrenaline shot into Fyia's blood, wrenching her back from her thoughts. She spun and sprinted back to the safety of the pillars. Scorpia was right behind her, although it took another spin of the hand for the tree to close fully, and only then did the section of stone nearest the tree fall away. The rest of the walkway followed, falling into the depths.

Fyia peered over, trying to see how far it fell, but the floor made a scraping noise and abruptly snapped shut.

'Damn,' said Scorpia. 'How could this have happened?'

'Who else knows how to access the egg?' asked Fyia.

'It's hard to say. My parents sent me here to learn when I was young. Back then, an order of sorts existed to protect it. To my knowledge, no one has opened the floor in my lifetime, but I suppose anyone could have … we don't guard the place.'

'Did they show you how to reset the wards?' asked Fyia, her voice full of wonder.

Scorpia laughed. 'My dear, I have only the barest lick of magic, same as most people. They taught me how to open the wards, no more. They reset themselves after each opening. Those with the skill and knowledge to wield such impressive magic are scarce indeed.'

'Did your ancestors banish those with magic too?'

'No. We would never have done anything so stupid, but few of the magical folk ever wanted to live in our lands. I don't know why … maybe it's too hot for them here.

'When the Five Eastern Kingdoms outlawed magic, those remaining couldn't risk being so far from the rest of their kind, especially given your kingdoms sit between the Scorpion lands and the Fae'ch Mountains. A handful of them stayed, a few here in the temple, a couple in the capital. They're all dead now.'

'Can I see the ball?' asked Fyia. Scorpia didn't hesitate. She put it in Fyia's hand, and Fyia studied it from every angle, rolling it around her palm. 'Have you seen one of these before?'

Scorpia shook her head. 'It's reminiscent of the balls from the clock, of course, but never this size, and … it's a strange color.'

It was a strange color: gold, but not yellow-ish, maybe with a hint of pink, and with shimmering streaks of metallic blue and green as it caught the light. It was perfectly smooth, and round, and weighty. In other words, identical to the one Essa had given her.

'You've seen one before?' asked Scorpia, watching Fyia closely.

Fyia considered lying, but the tension in the air told her Scorpia already suspected, and she needed Scorpia onside if she were to reunite the real Five Kingdoms. The thought depressed her … she'd momentarily forgotten about that little fly in her ointment … 'Yes, I have. My friend gave me one, and asked that I take it to my brother. She's an inventor—always coming up with strange new objects—so I thought little of it, and her relationship with my brother is … complicated. I thought it best not to dig too deeply.'

'Where could she have got it from?'

'I don't …' But she did know. The map on the temple's roof had shown the locations of all five eggs. There was no way Essa had been to the north, but she could have visited the Kingdom of Sea Serpents while Fyia was at war.

'What is it?' said Scorpia, impatiently.

'Did you know there's a map on the roof?'

Scorpia went still, raptly interested in Fyia's revelation. 'Of what?'

'Of the known world. I think it depicts the seven original temples, and five gemstones are set into the roof too.'

'You think they represent the dragon eggs?'

'It would make sense, don't you think? There was a gem set into the Fae'ch mountains, and one here, and one in the Kingdom of the Black Hoods.'

'Where were the other two?'

'One was on the Great Glacier, the other in the Kingdom of Sea Serpents.'

'In your own kingdom?' Scorpia said distrustfully.

Fyia nodded. 'I had no idea.'

'Ha! You expect me to believe that?'

'You can believe what you want, but it's the truth.' Fyia already felt stupid enough, and had little desire to be lectured by a foreign Queen.

'And you think your friend—Essa—took the ball from the temple there?'