“I represent an alliance of my own,” NiVom said. “There are some dozen of us, Protectors all, who believe your rule has grown rather—erratic of late. There’s a rumor going around that you mean to groom AuRon’s daughter Istach to take your place. We won’t have it. Many of the dragons left in the Lavadome agree.”

“We’ll see. Call the Aerial Host,” the Copper ordered.

BaMelphistran stood still.

“You just lost your leadership and your good name, NoSohoth! Send for AuSurath.”

No messenger moved. The Griffaran Guard stood still, without an actual attack on the Tyr’s life requiring action, they had no reason to become a part of the conflict.

The Copper felt a brief dizziness, as though the polished stone beneath his feet had suddenly fallen away and he was suspended in space. He lashed his tail to keep from fainting.

“It’s already too late,” NiVom said.

“Meaning?” the Copper asked.

“We’ve just recognized a new Tyr.”

Behind him, the Copper heard Shadowcatch’s teeth grinding louder than ever.

“You, I suppose,” Wistala said.

“No, I’ve no ambition to sit atop Imperial Rock. The twins, SiHazathant and Regalia. They’re handsome, popular, and performed heroically during the Wheel of Fire attack. Best of all, they’re of Tyr FeHazathant’s blood. They’re consulting with Ibidio now on which Protectors are backing them. Most of them are.”

“Even Istach of Old Uldam?” the Copper asked.

“Yes.”

Well, it’s the smart move, the Copper thought. Istach would do the smart thing.

“What about you, brother?” the Copper asked AuRon.

His brother looked from the NiVom’s group of dragons to the Copper’s.

“To tell the truth,” AuRon said, “I’m indifferent to who sits on top of this dank rock. But I don’t care for how this is being done—threats of bloodshed, meetings in the dead of night, everyone waking to find a new Tyr in place. Even my barbarian tribal neighbors in the north would call it rotten. Suppose we gathered all the dragons of the Alliance and put it to them?”

“That sort of thing was tried before, in the age of Silver-high,” LaDibar said. “The dragons just selected whichever demagogue promised them the most coin for their gold-gizzards.”

“Most of the dragons in the Lavadome can’t be trusted with their own waste,” NoSohoth said. “It’s up to the leaders to decide, dragons with responsibility and foresight.”

“You, too, NoSohoth?” the Copper asked.

“I am not following one faction or the other, RuGaard. I’ve always served whomever is named Tyr, to the best of my ability.”

AuRon snorted, then ambled over to stand beside his sister, behind the Copper.

“I’m with you, my Tyr,” he said.

“We can’t do this again,” an elderly Wyrr leader behind NiVom said. “Civil war. I lived through one, just in my youth. Smashed eggs, bodies strewn across the hills, starvation. It’s horrible. Spare us that, RuGaard. You’ll be remembered as one of the great Tyrs who knew when to step aside.”

NiVom stepped forward. “It’s up to you, RuGaard.”

“Why are you pressing for this, NiVom? I thought you wanted to be Tyr.”

“We’ve worked out a new structure for the Dragon Empire. The Tyr is to remain in the Lavadome, the heart of the Empire. I’ll take charge of the Protectors in the Upper World. Right now the Protectors are badly coordinated, each is acting for his own interests and those of his lands, rather than for the Empire as a whole. That’s going to stop. I say again, what will it be? Civil war? You’ll have the weaker side.”

“I’ll have the Firemaids,” the Copper said. “Ayafeeia warned me of this plot.”

“The Aerial Host will side with the twins,” BaMelphistran said.

“Then there’s an alternative?”

“I’ll give you the same one you gave me, all those years ago. Flight. Leave the limits of the Dragon Empire and never return, or you’ll forfeit your life.”

“Then try to kill me and be done with it,” the Copper said. “I’m not leaving my dragons. I know there are some still loyal to me.”

“Not only will your life be forfeited, but so will your mate’s.”

“Nilrasha! She’s not a threat to anyone. She plays a part in no faction”

“Save your dwindling one.”

“I’ll stand by him.”

AuRon could never say why he spoke up thus. Years later, when asked, he simply replied that the words were out before he knew he had said them.

SiHazathant and Regalia entered the Audience Chamber from the Tyr’s door. A more perfectly matched set of dragons would be hard to imagine—their red and green became deeper and more brilliant the closer they stood.

“All hail, Tyr SiHazathant and Queen Regalia,” NoSohoth said.

NiVom’s faction roared, the Copper’s stayed silent and still.

“I’m glad to see you here, RuGaard,” SiHazathant said.

“We’ve no wish to be enemies,” Regalia added. “You’ve done great things for dragonkind. But your hearts and mind are only half in the Lavadome. Your care for your mate does you honor, but a Tyr must devote himself to all dragons, not just one.”

“Will you recognize me as your Tyr, RuGaard?” SiHazathant said, getting to the point in the manner of old FeHazathant.

“I will not fight you,” the Copper said, tiredly. “Just let me return to Nilrasha. She deserves better than this. She sacrificed her wings for our cause.”

“So it is to be exile,” Regalia said. “Very well, go in peace. Who goes with you?”

“And I,” said AuRon.

“But your mate—” SiHazathant said, looking at NiVom in doubt.

“Natasatch is one of the Protectors backing you,” NiVom said. “She wishes to remain in her position as Protector.”

“It will be a bitter exile for both of you, AuRon,” NoSohoth said.

“Natasatch is perfectly capable of acting as Protector of Dairuss. Perhaps better, for she’s an armored dragon. One well-placed Ironrider arrow would slay me.”

“We’ll allow her to visit you on your island now and again,” NiVom said. “But if you insist on not recognizing SiHazathant as Tyr, you must not be allowed to return to the Empire.”

“My Tyr must have his bodyguard,” Shadowcatch said, heavily. But then he did everything heavily. “I shall follow Tyr RuGaard wherever he goes.”

“I will go with Tyr RuGaard as well,” Wistala said.

For the first time, NiVom looked doubtful. “You’re leaving as well, Wistala?”

“I’m his Queen-Consort.”

“That’s an informal tradition. There’s no need for you to leave.”

“Other than the duty I owe my brother. I abandoned him to his fate once. I won’t do it again.”

“Very well. The banishment applies to you, as well, then.”

“I am a Hypatian citizen by position,” Wistala said. “I’m not sure you can banish me from Hypatia. But I take it I am free of my oaths to the Firemaids?” Wistala asked.

“That is for you to resolve with your conscience.”

“I’ll not wait here,” the Copper said. “I hope you enjoy a quieter reign than I did, SiHazathant.”

“Thank you, RuGaard. BaMelphistran, see to it that he leaves in safety and security, and is supplied with whatever he wants that will aid him on his journey. Do this if you value your position as head of the Aerial Host.”

The Copper took one last look at the Audience Chamber, full of banners won in victories. He’d been at many of those battles. He’d miss the clucks and squawks of griffaran over him.

“Why did you join me?” he asked AuRon as they returned to the plaza atop the Imperial Rock to take off.

AuRon blinked. “It’s one way out of your crossbreeding of human and dragon society. I now have an excellent excuse never to return.”

“What about your mate?”

AuRon shifted his feet, as though trying to decide what to say. “She has a tooth for this sort of life. It’s not for me. She thinks of the Alliance as her home, not my island.”

“It looks like your island will have to do for me. And Nilrasha, though she’ll have to make the journey on foot. If you’ll have us, that is.”

“You may find it quiet, after the Lavadome.”

“I should very much like a little quiet. Let’s get a mouthful before we take off. I want to get to my mate’s cave before the news of this reaches her.”

Chapter 18

To the Copper, AuRon was entirely too cheerful about leaving the Lavadome.

NiVom, with his gargoyle escort, relished watching him fly into ignominity, flapping along with the artificial joint doing its job—just.

They took the swiftest exit they could, the south door, even if it meant a longer flight north to Nilrasha’s eyrie.