The carriage rattled as it crossed through the temple gates, beginning its trek back to the Solana estate. Helian and Frost were sitting next to each other, opposite me.

  “Start with the city, then. Unless there’s something else before that I need to know about?”

  Frost sighed. “Okay. So… the sword took control of my body. Well, I guess the thing inside the sword did? It wasn’t completely successful, though, since once Helian smashed the sword, its control broke.”

  “I see. I assume your arm got broken next?”

  “Yes, the tree decided to intervene directly, and Helian had to break my arm to stop me from using magic.”

  “You knew how to use magic the whole time and didn’t tell us?”

  She shrugged. “I figured it was better to keep some secrets, just in case I needed an advantage when things went wrong.”

  “You really need to learn to trust people if you’re ever going to stop getting into trouble…”

  “That’s true, Your Highness. I’ve been working on it.”

  “You mentioned before that it’s important whether the victim wants to be controlled. I’m a little surprised that you did.”

  Frost grimaced. “Well… I thought it would help Helian, though once my head was clear it was obvious I had made a mistake. The tree said it could send her home, and since she’s been so miserable here, I thought it was the right decision.”

  “Could the tree send her home?”

  “It’s possible, at least according to what we know about it. Though I expect being turned to cinders probably ruled that out. Helian doesn’t want to go back, anyway. I should have known better, or at least asked her first.”

  I nodded. “I’m glad you understand your mistake, at least.”

  “In any case, we did something to kill the tree, and that mostly took care of the situation. Though I’m starting to wonder whether the tree is actually dead – we might need to go back to the city and dig up the roots properly to burn them or something.”

  “Frost. Be specific.”

  “Okay, sorry. I’ve… been trying not to think about this. I’m probably also a saintess? Or something akin to that. Helian didn’t destroy the tree by herself, and I think the spell we used was in a language from her world. Er, our world, I guess. Assuming we’re from the same place. I’m not sure.”

  “What brought you to that conclusion? I can’t say I’m especially surprised, but you seemed certain it was untrue when I asked before.”

  “Oh, right. I guess I should mention that next. The dragon told me.”

  Ugh. “Right, the dragon. Of course you met a dragon. Please tell me you didn’t plunder its hoard?”

  She shook her head. “No, of course not. The sword was a gift, it insisted. And I guess the mark on my hand was, too? I’m not really sure…”

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  “What do you mean you’re not sure?”

  “The tail end of our conversation is a bit of a blur.”

  That… is a problem. “What did you promise it in exchange for the gifts?”

  “Well… I promised to bring Helian to meet her, but… I’m not sure whether I promised anything else. I might have?”

  “You… really shouldn’t break a promise with a dragon, Frost. How are you going to keep your promise if you can’t remember it?”

  She shrugged. “I can ask when we go to visit, I guess?”

  Aifé cleared her throat. “Pardon me, but dragons are real? And you met one?”

  I patted her on the shoulder. “Yes. It’s a state secret, though, so if you tell anyone, you’ll be executed.”

  “What’s that mark on your hand, anyway? I assume it’s what you used to cure the priestesses.”

  Well, some of them at least. More than a few seemed to be a lost cause, though I was sure the main temple would try its best to do something about it. Maybe they can come up with some sort of cure for “your blood turned into vines or something”.

  “I’m not sure exactly, but it’s called Liberation, I think? I guess the dragon thought I’d need it. Maybe she knew that the tree wasn’t completely dead. She might have known about the temple too, now that I think of it…”

  I nodded. “I see. Mine’s called Virtue. It’s pretty fussy about when it decides to listen to me, but it’s quite useful to have a lance that breathes fire.” I decided to leave out the other one, since it wasn’t effective on people who knew it existed.

  Frost laughed. “That does seem convenient, especially for fighting human trees. Maybe the dragons knew something all along. Do all royals have one?”

  I supposed there was no harm in telling her at this point, and I knew Aifé would keep her mouth shut. “No, while we all go to visit her once we’re old enough, Silver’s selective about who she gives her gifts to. She rejected both of my brothers and gave elder brother a nasty burn to remember her by. There are probably a few nobles out there with crests as well, since there are other dragons living in the kingdom – at least one in the east, for example, though the duke refuses to tell us where it lives.”

  Aifé frowned. “If a dragon chose you, shouldn’t you be first in line? I can’t imagine the nobles backing someone who was rejected by a dragon, even if he’s the eldest right now. And he has many other defects besides.”

  I sighed. “It’s complicated. I told Father I wasn’t interested… though I’ve been regretting that lately. And if Elder Brother turns out to be responsible for all of this, I’ll make sure he finally pays for everything he’s done.”

  She squeezed my hand tightly and nodded. “I’m proud of you, you know. It can’t have been easy, all this time.”

  “There was nothing I could do about it, at least not then… things were already so messy, and I couldn’t prove he did it. He’s good at covering his tracks, even if he’s a moron.”

  Frost was taken aback. “What did His Highness do, exactly? I didn’t realize he was that much of a problem child.”

  I wasn’t interested in discussing it right now, but I supposed I owed her at least a basic explanation. “I used to have an older sister.”

  Frost coughed. “I see. I’m very sorry to hear that… it must have been difficult.”

  “That whole incident was the beginning of the end for my mother, though Aifé tried her best to help. Ultimately, though, that just got her in trouble… and that’s how she ended up at the temple here in the county.”

  Frost remained silent. I could tell she wanted to know more, but she was trying to be delicate.

  “I suppose you deserve to know, since it’s relevant to what’s been going on. My mother was a saintess, and she ...”

  This was more difficult to talk about than I expected. The wounds hadn’t closed after all.

  While I searched for the right words, Aifé took over. “As you might imagine, the nobility views a saintess’s approval as a sign of one’s suitability to rule. So, when the previous succession battle was at its height, the saintess was arranged to marry one of the princes.”

  I nodded. “My father.”

  Frost grimaced. “Arranged to marry? That’s… unpleasant.”

  Aifé frowned. “Yes, it was a spectacularly poor decision. She never got over it, and eventually… she left us. His Majesty tried his best to help, but one can only do so much to make up for something like that.”

  I sighed. “And to be honest, he’s a coward. Grandfather was still alive, you see, and Father was afraid to defy him. So in the end, Mother and Father did as they were told.”