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Her expression must have confirmed his suspicions, because he exploded forward. She backed away, but hit the side of the tunnel, nowhere to run. 'Tell me why you don't seem surprised to see this.'

His face hovered inches away, his features set in a cold, ferocious snarl. She found she liked him like this, and half toyed with the idea of provoking him further, just to see what he would do. But that would be childish, and she needed him, so instead she huffed out a breath and tore her eyes from his.

'I found a ball like that in the Temple of the Whore.'

Cal moved back so he could more easily see her face. 'In the south?'

Fyia nodded. 'And another was found at the Temple of the Sea Serpent in my own Kingdom.'

'What are they?'

Fyia shrugged. 'I wish I knew.'

'What about the Fae'ch egg?'

'Axus said there was nothing on the platform where the egg should have been, but if he found one of those balls, he could have easily hidden it … he is fae, after all.'

'Why didn't you tell me?'

Fyia shrugged again. 'You've been my ally for less than a turn of the clock, assuming you haven't changed your mind about what you said upstairs.'

Cal scowled. 'I'm not changeable by nature.'

'But we are yet to hammer out the terms of our arrangement, whatever it will be …'

Cal took a long breath. 'You've checked four eggs. Where is the fifth?'

Fyia fought the urge to withhold the information, but if they were truly to be allies, he had to believe she trusted him … whether or not that was the case. 'On the Great Glacier,' she said, 'but I don't know exactly …'

'The Temple of the Warrior,' he said immediately, cutting her off. 'My people have long believed a dragon egg to be kept there.'

'Then we know where we must go next. Do you have a relationship with the people there? For trade?'

Cal laughed. 'The people there? There are no people. Only the Emperor's mining operations perched atop the endless ice.'

'You've been?'

'Not personally, but we regularly send scouts to ensure they don't set their sights on our lands. The Emperor is a conquering sort.' He gave her a meaningful look.Just like you.

They searched the depths of the temple for several turns of the clock, finding little of note. Cal was all but ready to call it a day when he stumbled across a small staircase hidden behind a tiny lip in the wall. 'Over here!' he called to Fyia, who was examining a large stone in a section of wall at the edge of the torchlight.

Her inquisitive eyes were alight as she came near, the torchlight reflecting off the streak of pure white in her hair. She fascinated him … a constant surprise, with the energy of a furnace, even if her body didn't produce heat like one. She still had his cloak firmly wrapped around her, skirting the floor as she walked. He liked seeing it there, although he shouldn't, nor could he reconcile the confusing stir of emotions she elicited in his gut—deep, furious hatred that it occurred to him might not in fact be hatred at all …

She cared for nothing but her goals—not even the troubles of her own people trumped them. Cal was yet to decide if that made her noble or selfish, and in turn, what his own choices said about him.

'Are we to stand here all night?' she asked.

Her words jolted him back from his thoughts, and he realized she was probably right—it would be nighttime already, and they'd been missing for an entire day. Guilt sucked at him, but he pushed it away. His people could survive without him for a single turn of the sun, and this—helping Fyia bring back the dragons—was for their good as much as his own.

'I found a staircase,' he said, leading her down into the bowels of the temple. The stone walls changed to rock, and the humidity increased.

'Oh good, I could do with a bath,' said Fyia.

'So long as it doesn’t boil you alive.'

'I'm willing to take my chances.'

'I think you might be insane,' he said, turning back to look up at her, two steps behind.