“You can’t imprison them,” snapped Reese.

  Lord Cronley tilted his head. “I can put them in holding. That is my absolute right to any foreign dragons that come into our land. It is in our treaty. I’d watch your tongue, boy.”

  Kaden watched as Vixenta’s face scrunched up behind her father’s. He hoped she would vouch for him, but she said nothing. Sayori slid off Taldor with a thud. He watched as she made dust swirl around her in a flourish before falling for dramatic effect.

  “My lord,” she addressed him with a bow. “My dragon was injured by Serpent attackers. We were downed by their ballistas. Our water mage companion attempted to heal him as best he could, and your scouts did the same, but he is in need of your experts here. If you could please grant us that kindness, at least I would be eternally grateful.”

  They all watched him to see what his reaction would be. Shifting his weight from one leg to the other. He crossed his arms as Kaden could almost see the gears turning in his head in thought.

  Turning back toward his daughter, he said, “Send for the healers. I will not have a bronze dragon dying on my watch.”

  She nodded, gave Kaden a wink as her father turned away from her, before she set off herself to find whatever healer he spoke of.

  Kaden gave a deep bow as well. He had been around enough of these lords now that he knew what he had to do instead. He had to appeal to their ranking. They cared so much about that.

  “We apologize for such a rude introduction to the water realm.” Stuffing his hand in the side bag still strapped to Zuma, he pulled out the sealed letter for the King. “I bring word from the White City of dire news. As you can see, it is sealed by the white mage councilman Nortu. They instructed us to take this to the king when we first arrived before we initiated our pilgrimage.”

  Lord Cronley gave another squint as he assessed the letter. He reached his hand out to take it. Kaden hesitated a moment, unsure if he should hand over such a valuable item. Taking a deep breath, he made the decision to trust the lord. If he took it away now, he was sure he would take it as an offense and they would be stuck there under his control.

  Taking the envelope from him, Lord Cronley turned it around. It shimmered in the daylight, giving off a soft purple hue as he twisted it. Cronley examined the seal of Nortu’s office on the back, squinting again in thought. He squinted so often that it seemed like a habit. It surprised him that his daughters didn’t share this same tick.

  Handing it back toward Kaden, he said, “Okay, I believe that portion. If something is so important that they had to magically seal an envelope, why did they send you four? You are the new dragon rider my daughter spoke of, yes?”

  “Yes sir, Vixenta—”

  “No, my daughter Iratoi.”

  Kaden blushed. He had assumed that he was speaking of Vixenta since they stationed her there. Iratoi had been ordered elsewhere last he knew. He didn’t think they had such regular communications that he would have known about Kaden.

  “She found you in the wilds or something, correct? A wild matriarch blessed you, or so they say.”

  He felt a little embarrassed by how he was phrasing it. As if Iratoi had just found him wandering around aimlessly, with new magics and a dragon in tow.

  “I knew they had sent you to the citadel already, but I didn’t think you’d be back in our lands this quickly. They don’t normally do that for the last riders. It always felt like a punishment for making everyone else wait so long.”

  Both Evonne and Reese dropped off their dragons as well. Several water mages surrounded them all as if they were a threat. Lord Cronley rose his hand and flicked it away and he watched all the mages visibly relax. Whatever he had done, whatever had been said about him, it was helping them here.

  “They will take your dragons to the holdings. We really do need to keep them from the others at first. No offense to your people,” he motioned to the other three riders, “but dragons of other clans can bring in foreign diseases to more isolated dragons. I would like for my mages to cleanse them before I allow them together.”

  That made more sense to Kaden. The way he had phrased it as they arrived made him think it was a threat. It very well could have been one, but the man was softening before their eyes as he spoke with them. He wondered what had happened while he had been away.

  “Follow me,” he said as he abruptly turned on his heel. He descended the stairs behind him, into the temple, and they were left to scramble behind him.

  Sayori gave Kaden an eyebrow raise as she scuttled to catch up. He knew he wasn’t supposed to say anything, but this was a lord of the country. This was like asking Reese to not say anything to his dad in his own country. He’d be careful with his words. It was like when he had met Lord Loratyk. Half-truths as needed.

  “Everything would be fine, right?”

  The stairs were steep as they went into the temple. Much like the first temple he had been in, this one too, felt like a maze. He wondered if they did this intentionally to confuse people. They followed the lord, passing many curious mages. Unlike the southern temple, the northern one had every mage in battle wear. They weren’t in full armor like the dragon riders, but they were in heavier leathers and clothes.

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  “Was it truly that dire that they would be prepared for war like this?” Kaden wondered.

  They reached an ornate door and Kaden had a feeling he knew the type of person he’d be led to. There had to be a Grand Maester here as there was at the southern temple. Lord Cronley opened the door and led them inside. A figure had their back to them. They were in similar battle wear, but their outfit was more detailed, shining with silver woven thread.

  Their hair was dark and wild. It was sticking out every which way. Kaden thought they may have just rolled out of bed and accepted it, but upon closer look, it seemed as if they had intentionally styled it so. The woman was short in stature, but built stockily. She turned toward them with an obvious look of confusion.

  “Cronley? Who are these people?” she said without even introducing herself.

  He sighed. “They say they’re the dragon riders on their pilgrimage.”

  “They say? What’s going on?”

  “Riders.” he motioned to a few chairs along a table, instructing them to sit. He had led them to some type of study. It must be the office of the grand maester. “This is Grand Maester Pyters.”

  The three riders around him started to bow, so Kaden followed suit. They held the bow for several moments before pulling back up. He knew that the Grand Maesters were the ones actually in charge of the various temples. While the Lords had say over the country itself, the mages were controlled by their own.

  “Oh.” She shuffled some papers around, stuffing some into drawers of a desk. “Welcome! We were not expecting you back so soon.”

  Reese spoke in a regal tone. “We did not expect to be here so soon, but we were directed to deliver something to your king.”

  Sayori must have picked up where he was going with it. “We learned from your riders that you have not received any news from the capital.”

  It was like magic itself to watch as his companions spoke together, feeding off one another. They were becoming a cohesive unit. Evonne nodded and said, “The capital also never received any of your reports. They did not know the situation was as dire as it is here with the House of the Serpents. They likely would not have sent us had they known how dangerous it was for us to merely fly into your region.”

  Her eyes cut to Cronley, and he didn’t even wait for her to ask. “They were attacked over the Yangs Forest. Our patrol picked them up.”

  She looked back to the four of them. “None of you were hurt?”

  Taking a deep breath, Sayori said, “My dragon is currently with your healers.”

  Her body language slacked and she looked defeated. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  Cronley turned to Kaden. “Why did they not receive our messages? Why were none sent here? Tell us what happened.”

  Swallowing hard, he said, “There was a major attack on the citadel. A large force of House of the Serpent agents assaulted it. Dragons and people alike were slain, many were injured.”

  The two water mages gave each other bewildered looks. Grand Maester Pyters shook her head, trying to shake away the news. “They assaulted the citadel?!”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Cronley turned to Reese. “They took out dragons, but none of yours were involved?”

  “Oh, they were,” he said as he leaned back with a smirk. “We had caught them just as the attack was starting and were able to assist in the assault.”

  Evonne shuffled through her pants and pulled out the medal they had given them. She carefully set it on the table for them to see. “We’re the saviors of Night of Fallen Wings.”

  “Oh goodness,” she turned away from them. “They named the damn event.”

  Cronley rubbed his face in frustration. “So you’re telling us that not only are they assaulting our realm, but they made an open assault on the citadel, too? There’s no end to the same snakes.”

  They shared an awkward look as the two adults started whispering to one another. Sayori leaned into Kaden and whispered, “do we tell them about the ambassador?”

  “I mean, we kind of have to, right?”

  “Not all of it. They should know he’s not available, though,” she admitted.

  Kaden cleared his throat. They both whirled around to look at him. “The Ambassador was injured during the whole event. That is why we’re here. We were ordered to inform the king of all the details. We can’t tell you everything, but we can tell you that.”

  Grand Maester Pyters’ head dropped dramatically with a big sigh. “Understood.”

  Cronley just kept shaking his head. “We will need to discuss this. That medal you’re holding is evidence enough that you are who you say you are and that you are respected at the citadel. We cannot stop your pilgrimage.”

  “Are you going to visit the Matriarch while you’re here? I advise doing so now as travel within the realm will be difficult and you won’t be able to return for some time.” The Grand Maester was giving them sympathetic looks.

  Evonne gave Kaden a surprised look. “Um, we haven’t been able to study any of the water rights or magic. I don’t think that it’s appropr—”

  Reese cut her off. “We will see the matriarch while we’re here, if we can.”

  Kaden watched Evonne and Sayori share a look between each other. The Grand Maester nodded. “I think it is the safest choice. I wouldn’t worry, Ms. Fire. With what you’re holding, it already shows you all are worthy. If this matriarch doesn’t deem you worthy, you have three more to present to.”

  Reese laughed. “Wait, so we really do get four chances here in the water realm?”

  “Of course, we want you to have every opportunity to show the world you are full of love and compassion, so we show the same to your chances.”

  They heard a knock at the door, drawing all their attention away. Cronley called out to it and a familiar voice answered back. Vixenta opened the door, saluted, and said, “Sir, something is wrong with the matriarch.”

  It felt like the air was sucked out of the room as the tension between everyone exploded. Lord Cronley turned to them with a look of accusation.

  “What have you done now?”

  Kaden dropped his shoulders in defeat. Nothing could ever go right in their favor. He rubbed his face and said, “she knows I’m here, that’s probably it.”

  The three others groaned at the revelation. Even they were getting tired of his connection to the matriarchs. The rest of the water mages gave them confused looks. Kaden sighed and turned on his heel toward the door.

  “I can’t really explain it right now. You can consult Researcher Tranley for more details if you need it. The most simple explanation is due to the method of my blessing. The matriarchs like to tell me things.”

  Vixenta was the one to give him a skeptical look. “They tell you things?”

  “Yes.”

  “What kind of things?”

  “Visions.”

  Slowly she closed her eyes in response and an audible groan came out of both her and her father. Taking a deep breath, she said to him, “I’ll lead them there.”

  Reese shook his hands out. “Just like that? No questions?”

  “We don’t mess around with visions here in the water realm. They are honored and respected,” explained the Grand Maester. “Researcher Tranley is an expert on this, among other things. I trust the man with my life.”

  “I warn you,” Vixenta added, “the Matriarch is literally causing a fuss. She’ll be dangerous to get near. I advise you to go atop your dragon.”

  “Understood.”

  “Also,” she laughed, “we couldn’t get them out of the pond. So… I hope you know how to.”