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“And aren’t Arterians supposed to turn in captured rebels to their King?” Tawny counters.

I nod slowly, looking up at her. “Fair...point.”

“You showed me mercy and tried to set me free, even if it risked your own life. That would have been considered high treason.”

The thought of it makes me laugh. As if I didn’t just spend the last several months smuggling a dragon hatchling across the realm. “And that’s why you haven’t killed me yet? Out of obligation?”

She chuckles, leading me to the door, linking her arm through mine to keep me upright. “I wouldn’t try to kill a dragon rider. Besides…you’re on our side now.”

I blink into the blinding light as we walk out of the room. “Your side?”

Shielding my eyes from the bright sunlight until my eyes adjust, I lower my hand. Water babbles somewhere nearby. Rows of buildings sprawl out around us, and fluffy white cloudsscatter on a picturesque blue sky overhead. There’s something about the air here—it’s cold and fresh. Jagged green pine trees line the distant horizon, but Dragon’s Back Ridge is nowhere to be seen.

“Sethan will want to speak to you. They’re in here,” Tawny says.

We cut left down a cobblestone path to a building towering above the rest. She swings open the wooden door and ushers me in. Several groups of people line the walls, but in the center, Cole stands talking with a man who matches his height, their eyes locked while they talk.

The other man’s short gray hair is stark against his tanned, chocolate skin. He has an elegance and grace to him, combined with a hidden lethality in the way he holds his posture. The leader—Sethan—has his arms crossed and jaw set, his shoulders pinned back. His eyebrows furrow at something Cole says.

Everyone in the room turns their attention to Tawny and I as the door closes.

Cole’s expression deflates to a mix of relief and gratitude. Dark bruises mottle his face, and cuts slice his cheeks. Cole’s fingers flicker nervously at the side of his leg before he curls them into fists to stop them. He clears the rest of the distance between us and embraces me.

“You’re awake,” he breathes as if it’s something he held onto for so long.

“Is everyone okay? Did everyone make it?” I ask, my own voice is hoarse in my ears.

His face falls. “We…lost quite a few men and women.”

My heart sinks, and I’m not sure I’m ready to hear who.

But I don’t even get to ask because the door swings open again, followed by a horrified gasp. Melaina enters, a hand covering her gaping mouth.

“Father…?” her voice quivers, tears lining her dark brown eyes.

Sethan’s hard features soften, a grin spreading across his face. “Hi, Melbell.”

Melaina shoves past us and collides into Sethan, wrapping her arms around him tightly as she cries. Sethan rubs a scarred hand up and down her back.

I glance around. Clearly, Cole is as shocked as I am, judging by his expression.

“I thought you were dead? Wh-what are you doing here?” Melaina whimpers.

Sethan brushes a strand of black hair out of Melaina’s face. “I could ask you the same thing, darling.”

Cole clears his throat. “Listen. As I said, if you don’t let us leave, they’ll come looking for us. There’s no way the King will let a full squad disappear in a night and not investigate it. And then they’ll come here. They’ll find you, and there will be a war.”

Melaina backs away from her father, allowing him to respond.

“We can’t risk them coming to the Dragon Lands,” Tawny says to Sethan from beside me.

I swivel back and forth between Tawny and Cole.

The Dragon Lands.

We made it to the Dragon Lands?How long had I been out?

“Days,”Daeja answers, overhearing my inner thoughts.