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Lydia told them her about her conversation with Fellaria while they were eating. When she mentioned her saying that the rebels had no reason to trust her, Kylissan began to chuckle.

“That’s probably an understatement, Lydia-ida,” he said. “Fellaria-ida used to help hunt the rebels down and drag them back to their courts. She backed away from that a couple of centuries ago but there’s still a lot of anger and hatred for her. Living so long, we tend to hold grudges.” He frowned at the faintly glowing carvings in the crystal walls of the dining room. “She knows this so she must be really desperate.”

“That or it’s a trap,” Alaryia said. “But I doubt that. Est says mother’s politics have been shifting for a while and she’d know. Apparently she found out something that upset her but she won’t talk about it.”

“And if she’s on the run from Xantaria the exiles might be her best call,” he said. “I’ll send a message to my mother – see what she says.” He closed his eyes and produced a glowing imp which flew off.

“What exactly are these rebels rebelling against?” Matthias asked.

“The idri council,” Kylissan said. “They generally don’t want to be members of a recognised court or want to join a court that the idri council don’t approve of. The council doesn’t like things they can’t control.”

“No one ever had to be a member of a court before,” Alaryia said. “But they decided that was unacceptable and banned it about the same time they banned contact with Taloa. The exiles don’t generally like that rule either. Like the tolerant, they believe peace is a possibility.”

“I certainly hope it is,” Matthias said. “But Xantaria isn’t helping – but then that’s the point isn’t it? She doesn’t want peace.”

“No, not at all,” Kylissan said. “And if she is working with Mitakrian then it explains a lot. Like how he keeps getting into Kithra. I mean, Shalriya raids Kithra but she has to wait for gaps in the wards if she wants to send a large raid through, while he seems to be able to move his troops through whenever he wants. He used to raid the rebels a lot as well but Al put a stop to that.” He gave his wife a fond smile.

“How come you aren’t a dragon?” Yedan blurted suddenly.

“I don’t want to be,” Kylissan replied. “Al respects that.”

“Wha-” Yedan turned to stare at Alaryia as if she’d grown a second head.

“Doesn’t exactly gel with the stories you’ve heard about me?” she asked.

He shook his head and she smiled.

“I would never make anyone a dragon against their will. So you don’t need to worry about that.” She looked back at Matthias. “He can’t stay on Taloa for prolonged periods, you know.”

“I know,” Matthias said. “We were also wondering if you would guard him for us.”

“I will if you wish,” she said. “If you wish, But you do have another option. It’s possible to make a pocket on Taloa that Kitheiri can survive in. I can show Sonia-ida how if you wish to guard him yourselves. And I suspect once we break him loose from Xantaria he’ll want to stay with you anyway.”

“It would certainly be a useful thing to know,” Sonia said. “We should go to the Storm Palace before we go back to Earth and let him hear about Mitakrian working with Xantaria.”

“You should,” Alaryia agreed. “But before that, dessert!”

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