No one blinked when we entered the meeting room. Either Assistant Oxenden had cleared it with them first, or everyone just assumed that someone else had invited us. With the level of disorganisation we’d seen so far, I was inclined to believe the second rather than the first. Minister Greenfield walked over to close the curtains himself, rather than lose another argument with Academy Leader Silver by ordering a servant. Academy Leader Silver looked over in irritation but lit a few more lanterns rather than say anything. The lanterns had no effect on the level of light in the room at all, other than making everything look yellower. I was a little sad. It had been fun watching the dragons play.

“We are here to make a decision on whether we proceed with the bonding ceremony as planned,” said Academy Leader Silver. “If everyone could take a seat.”

Good job taking control, I thought. You go, making it clear this is your meeting.

Minister Greenfield did not take his original corner position, instead coming to form a triangle between the academy leaders. My previous seat made up the last point of a parallelogram, so I took it again. Lilianna sat next to me, and after some consideration, Branneth sat next to her. The assistants took polite seats next to their leads, Assistant Altengart even going so far as to push his seat slightly back to be out of easy eyeshot.

As soon as we were quiet, Academy Leader Silver said, “The replacement candidate for Candidate Bethany will arrive later today, so the change in numbers is no longer a concern.”

Wait, what? When did that become an option? Why was that an option? And how had that happened so quickly?

Without giving anyone a chance to comment, Academy Leader Silver continued. “The affected sands have been completely replaced, and none of the dragonets are showing any ill effects. What do we know about Candidate Bethany’s death?”

I took me a moment to realise that he was talking to me. I suspected Academy Leader Silver was trying to pass over his own update so quickly that no-one would have time to object, but his question wasn’t unreasonable. For a second, I froze like a schoolkid confronted with undone schoolwork. But I had many more years of bluffing at a more professional level. To give myself a little time to think, I asked Assistant Oxenden for the documents he kept hold of and shuffled through them to come up with a visual aide. Nifty. A diagram of the bonding grounds, with her body placement marked.

I summarised confidently, “Candidate Bethany died by falling headfirst into the bonding grounds about a third of the way through the Purification Ceremony on Friday. At least one other person was present between the time she fell and the time her body was discovered. There is some evidence that Candidate Bethany entered the academy fraudulently, but we do not yet know if that had anything to do with her death.”

“Could it have been an accident?” asked Academy Leader Silver, intently.

“It could have been,” I agreed, but with no intention of letting things go his way. “But unlikely. She fell almost directly next to the platform. To have hit the ground how and where she did, she would have had to leave the platform already head down.”

I didn’t even have to exaggerate to come to that conclusion. I wasn’t a crime scene expert to know what equations determined the sideways vs downwards forces but I didn’t need to. From the diagram, it was clear that there had been no sideways momentum at all. Candidate Bethany hadn’t jumped or been pushed. She’d dropped directly down.

“Would she have known it was happening?” asked Academy Leader Darkwater.

“Unless she was already unconscious, yes,” I said. “She would have had the entire fall to realise what was happening.”

“Then the answer is clear, isn’t it?” asked Academy Leader Darkwater. “That requires extensive purification, even in the best case. We can clear the old bonding grounds faster than we clean the new one. The most sensible course is to change the location.”

That was already the second time I had been taken by surprise in the meeting. I hadn’t realised that was an option, and this time, I should have. I’d been shown the old grounds during the initial tour, after all. It had been my own carelessness that I’d never pursued the matter.

“You’re just saying that because you want to be in charge!” said Academy Leader Silver.

“I want it to be done correctly,” said Academy Leader Darkwater. “No matter where that happens or how that happens.”

I don’t think anyone believed a word of that, but in front of witnesses, Academy Leader Silver chose not to pursue it. Having dual leadership sounded good until the first disagreement, and this wasn’t the first disagreement. The situation was unstable, and I did not predict it lasting very long. Either one or the other would have to assume effective control of the academy, even if just to get anything done. The problem was, both of them realised that as well, and were determined to be the one who pushed out the other. It would take time to see if the person who presided over the bonding of the heroes was a big thing or a small thing, in terms of influence. But enough small things together were a big thing.

I judged that the instability in the academy was an indication of the instability of the entire dragon rider force. A stable and established service would never have allowed the situation to have reached this point. Their political enemies also had their hands so deep in their business, restricting their funding, and arguing about the way they conducted themselves with the Cammions. Things that a strong, unified faction would have ring fenced off for themselves.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

> It is always a joy to watch how quickly His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, puts together clues about the larger political situation and the implications of events. The Rise and Fall of the Dragon Empire provides a comprehensive look at this instability.

“The grounds might be just fine,” said Academy Leader Silver instead. “We can delay it by just a few—”

Academy Leader Darkwater interrupted, “We can’t risk using those grounds until at least the next batch of eggs hatches. It would just be irresponsible. And those blooded dragonets—”

“Shut up about the blooded dragonets,” snapped Academy Leader Silver, in a surprising descent into bad manners. “There aren’t any blooded dragonets.”

“We don’t know that,” objected Academy Leader Darkwater. “Why are we risking things when—”

The blooded dragonets were actually a point in favour of delaying the ceremony rather than moving it. It seemed that Academy Leader Darkwater was too wrapped up in criticising Academy Leader Silver to notice he was weakening his own position.

“Gentlemen,” said Minister Greenfield, perhaps the only person in the room who had the rank to interfere. “Perhaps we could put that matter aside for now.”

Putting that aside was in support of moving the location. I must have mistaken Minister Greenfield’s intentions.

“May I ask what the consequences are for a poor bonding?” I asked, trying to redirect the conversation back towards delaying.

The two took the excuse to deescalate, looking a bit shame faced. The answers weren’t anything I hadn’t already heard. Ill dragons and psychologically scarred riders.

“Is there a risk of the rider themselves being disloyal?” I asked.

“Oh, no,” said Academy Leader Silver with a laugh. “Dragons are entirely linked to their native spires. No matter what the rider wishes, failed or successful bonding, the dragon will return regularly. If they’re confined to prevent that, the dragon will become sick.”

My heart dropped. I had to lower my head to conceal the paling of my face. Bonding to a dragon wasn’t just a risk that might force me onto the battlefield as a rider. It was a lifetime commitment to staying in the good graces of the Enduring Lands. Well, the life of the dragon, to be precise, but I could hardly just kill the dragon to get out of that.

> Many people could, and did, exactly that. As His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, points out previously, it was common enough to have a widely understood euphemism.

I had thought I had all the time in the world to come to the best decision, but I’d been wrong. I only had until the bonding ceremony to come up with a plan. And I didn’t have any good options.

“I’m sure that the gods will not lead us astray,” contributed Branneth. “We should proceed with faith and courage.”

“Yes, well,” said Academy Leader Silver, not sure which side Branneth had meant to support. “Very true.”

“We are running out of time for this meeting,” said Minister Greenfield, repressively. “Let us decide on where to hold the bonding ceremony. We can discuss all other matters, including which dragonets will be included, later.”

I hadn’t been mistaken. I would have assumed Minister Greenfield would be on my side in this, but he wasn’t. He wanted the bonding to go ahead. That meant I’d misunderstood the politics somewhere. It would seem obvious for Minister Greenfield to wish to delay things as much as possible. Indefinite postponing was the same as cancelling, after all.

It took some time, but Academy Leader Silver was overwhelmed by the combined forces of Minister Greenfield and Academy Leader Darkwater. Even my own contribution served to help their argument, rather than Academy Leader Silver’s. I tried to give myself some grace. After all, I hadn’t even realised changing the location had been an option when I’d given my opinion. It didn’t help much. I had completely failed to collect the correct information in time. I needed to find an alternative before the bonding, and the bonding was going ahead as planned. I was only looking at days to get out of things.

Memo to Self

Stuff to avoid

· Becoming a dragon rider Joining the official dragon rider forces

· Participating in bonding

Information gathering

· Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities

· - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private [not useful]

· - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four three days tonight, to fix injury

· Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they’re a better fit

· - Determine just how far heroic independence goes

· - - Legally, very far: complete diplomatic immunity

· - - Practically: assistance can be withdrawn

· Track down itinerary [no point]

· Check safety / security of funicular

Opportunities

· Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 6 5 days]

· - Walk out down dry river bed towards Cammions

· Deliberately failed bonding [not an option]

Preparations

· Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour

· - Use investigating embroidery as excuse? [Meeting planned with artisan]

· Delay the bonding ceremony as much as possible

· - Extend investigation

· - Imply maximum psychic pollution

· Acquire or fake travel documentation?

· Find way to transport food and water

· - Talk to House Holder Fairbanks about food [done]