Page 94

She smiled, then laid her head on his chest. 'Seemed unfair for me to have all the pleasure. I wouldn't want you to think I'm the kind of Queen who takes but never gives, and once we're back in the real world …'

'Believe me, I enjoyed last night,' he said, stroking her hair.

They lay in silence for a moment, Cal drawing circles on her back. 'How did you do it?' he asked.

She rested her chin on his chest as she looked up into his eyes. 'Bring you such pleasure? Well …'

He poked her side, making her squirm. 'You united five kingdoms …'

She played with the ridges of muscle on his stomach, a mischievous look on her face. 'Of course, I started by usurping my poor, defenseless big brother … everyone knows that.'

He poked her again. 'Seriously …'

'I told you … my brother gave me his crown, and without my aunt—Starfall—I never could have taken the throne from my parents. Without my general, and Edu, and my spymaster, and my Cruaxee, it would have been impossible.'

'But you led them.'

'I did,' she agreed. 'People think great leaders are the warriors out front, swinging their swords, beating their chests, proving their power to the world. My parents mocked me for years because I was no warrior, and nor did I care for the usual pursuits of a lady. That's when they started calling me Fyia. To ridicule me. Because they said I had no fire inside me, and only a single dragon scale—nothing compared to my great and powerful brother. They were jealous, because they had no magic of their own, and thought I squandered mine.

'But I am skilled at watching and learning—especially from the mistakes of others. I'd seen mighty warriors overthrown in the training ring because they got cocky … let their guard down. And I watched children as they played, and saw it was not always the biggest, or strongest, who led the gang. It was the one who could make the othersbelievein them. That's what a true leader does. Sure, some of them stand out front, beating their war drum, and people can believe in that, but that's not the only way. It's certainly not the most effective way.'

'So you gave them something to believe in? That's all it took?'

She laughed and gently pinched his skin. 'No, that is notallit took. But it was the start, and it carried us through our darkest times. I believe in the dragons. I believe in myself. I believe we can and will return our lands to their former glory, if we fight hard enough. And I am yet to hear an argument to convince me otherwise. I remind myself at my most difficult moments that I am no warrior—I don't need to be—I need to be smart, to lead, to keep a level head when everything is going to hell, to have people around me I can trust, who have the skills I don't possess …

'Sensis is my warrior, Edu my council and my protection, Starfall my … I don't know what she is, but she has backbone enough for all of us.'

'And your brother?'

Something painful took hold of Fyia's face, and he wished he hadn't asked. 'I thought he was my most trusted friend, but … he tricked me. I gave him the metal ball found in the Temple of the Sea Serpent. He didn't tell me what it was, or why he wanted it.'

'I'm … sorry.' Cal couldn’t think of anything else to say.

'What about you?' she said, meeting his gaze. 'Why didn't your mother support your bid to become King?'

He inhaled a long breath. 'She's not my mother,' he said, his voice full of pain.

'She's not?'

He shook his head. 'I was the illegitimate child of the late King. He and the Queen Mother had two children, but they were both killed in the same avalanche that took the King. They were spoiled, brattish children whom she doted on, despite her intelligence. And my father loved her wily ways, which, to be fair, usually served the Black Hoods well.'

'Who did she support instead of you?' Fyia asked, stroking his chest.

'My distant cousin.'

'Zhura?' said Fyia, meeting his eyes again.

He laughed. 'No. The Queen Mother has little respect for Zhura. It was Zhura's brother. He was in the Queen Mother's pocket, and she wanted to rule through him. He even had a Cruaxee—snow cats—but he was no match for me and my bears.'

'You killed him?'

'I had no choice,' said Cal. He tried to send away the images of the dying man's blood spilling out across the snow, the eyes of his nation watching on, cheering his victory.

'Did the people support you?'

'Most did, especially because I'm fire-touched, and because of my Cruaxee—Zhura saw to it there wasn't a single person who didn’t know—and I look like my father, and have worked with my people since I was a child … that helped.'

'Zhura seems a loyal type.'