The destination was also on the top floor of the dormitories – an open room with circular seating. It had a metal duct against the wall, ones I had also noticed in our rooms. As I passed it, I was relieved to find that it was emitting heat. The temperature was still dropping, and I had been afraid the academy would have characterised it as ‘pleasantly mild’ and done nothing about it.

Down the far side were some impressive set of windows, and I walked over to look at the view. The world must have had at least one moon, because it was surprisingly bright. We were at much the same level as the old section, and the dragons were flying. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they were base diving. The dragons fell from the top cliff into the canyon before flying out underneath the landing platform. In greyscale, the difference between the different breeds was more marked than they had been during the day. It would have been a magnificent sight if it hadn’t been for the circumstances.

Minister Greenfield entered last, immediately ordering the curtains to be shut before taking refuge in the corner, his assistant actively moving a chair to make that possible. He was there to supervise, not to participate. I was forced away from my viewing spot and found a chair of my own. They were heavy pieces of furniture, and a surprise to find above the tree line. They couldn’t all have been imported by dragon, that would have been just too prohibitive. There must be another path up the mountain, one that could support larger cargos.

Academy Leader Silver looked around the room before shutting and locking the door. “We wanted to have a word with you all about why we have summoned you all.”

> This meeting is also described in The Rise and Fall of the Dragon Empire, not that it would be obvious based purely on the descriptions.

I blinked. Okay, I could see why this was something that needed to be discussed on the very first day. I could not see why it had not been the very first meeting after we arrived. I think it had been fair for me to assume that it’s absence so far meant they hadn’t intended to discuss it at all. To misquote a classic quite horribly, I was no longer surprised I had not seen an itinerary. I was surprised there was anyone who had.

Academy Leader Silver unrolled a map from one of the containers on the wall. It was an expensive looking thing, hand drawn and colour coded in shades of yellows and purples. He pointed at the deepest purple area, either an island or a continent depending on the scale, marked Heartlands.

“I am going to be more bluntly honest tonight than anyone would be outside these four walls. We live in dread of the Empire of the People.”

That had to be an excess of translation. No way did I believe anyone was letting being labelled ‘non-people’ pass in their own language. Also, complete bullshit on his blunt honesty, too. Well, perhaps that was a step too far. Academy Leader Silver might genuinely believe the propaganda he was about to unveil. He hadn’t done anything to impress me with his intelligence.

“Where are we on the map?” asked Lilianna.

Academy Leader Silver seemed a bit taken aback at having his dramatic silence interrupted, but after some stuttering, he pointed out some features. The chairs screeched against the floor as we leaned around to look. The neighbouring smaller island was bisected by mountains. The Enduring Lands was the gold section facing away from the empire, about two-thirds of the area. The academy was in the mountains that made up the border. The Cammions were the rest of the island, in muted violet. It seemed that the sea was a good barrier, but the mountains were a great one.

Academy Leader Silver restarted, “Thirty years ago, the Empire invaded. They reached all the way to our borders – these very mountains! – before internal difficulties called them back. I remember as a child, huddling in our beds, waiting to hear if we would still be alive the next day, or if we would be overrun by the empire’s armies and horses and hellhounds. We cheered when they departed, but it was with heavy hearts. We all knew that at any moment they could return to slaughter our men and take our women and children into slavery.”

I had to give it to Academy Leader Silver. It was an excellent speech. Very dramatic. Possibly even true.

“That can’t be allowed!” announced Branneth. “Do not fear, we will do everything in our power to stop them.”

Speak for yourself.

“What kind of armies are we talking about? How densely populated are the Heartlands?” I asked. “More or less than the Enduring Lands?”

“About the same,” said Academy Leader Silver, once again thrown off his stride. “But with more land under their control, so they can support much larger armies.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

As I suspected, the Heartlands were not themselves a nomadic people. It wasn’t impossible for a nomadic society to gain enough of a technological and military advantage over an agricultural to sustain long term control – Genghis Khan for an excellent example – but it required extraordinary circumstances. Armies win battles, but economies win wars. The Cammions were not the same cultural group as the rest of the empire. They had almost certainly lived exactly in the same place before the invasion as now and had somehow miraculously they had not been slaughtered to the last person. Oh, no doubt some had, but the others had submitted and lived. I doubt I could find out whether that had been a good trade for them or not.

> Historical sources are, as always, split on this matter. The Cammions were allowed to continue their way of life largely undisturbed after the invasion and were awarded some protection from external forces. The small drain of providing tribute was also not particularly significant. Instead, it was the tendency for promising youngsters to immigrate into the Heartlands that probably doomed them as a society.

“The size of the army doesn’t matter against the pureness of our hearts,” said Branneth.

“Well said,” replied Academy Leader Silver, but with an expression that suggested that was a little much, even for him.

“Does the empire have a settled outpost on this side of the sea?” I probed further. “To support some sort of viceroy?”

“They do,” said Academy Leader Silver, finding a port on the map.

It wasn’t very large, and a single representative wasn’t very much. It didn’t seem like the empire had found anything that would tempt any of their own to put down colonies. That didn’t tell me anything about why they’d kept it. National pride? Honouring their invasion promises to the Cammions? In case of future population expansions? To maintain a fortified beachhead for a second attempt? Those all had different implications for my personal safety.

“How much of the regular army is settled permanently with the Cammions?” I asked.

Academy Leader Silver tried to look unconcerned, but mostly just looked irritated. “That depends on many different factors, you understand, and the Empire keeps such matters secret.”

An unexpectedly useful answer for me. I couldn’t have judged whether a thousand men or a hundred thousand would qualify as ‘a lot’. I could judge that ‘we’d rather not say’ meant it was nothing like they were trying to imply. The only question was more, or less?

Branneth glared at me, and I realised that I’d better tone it down. But once again, Lilianna came to my rescue.

“How exactly are you hoping we can help you?” she asked. “There’s not much we can do against an entire army.”

“With the grace of the gods, it won’t come to that,” said Academy Leader Silver, attempting to sound reassuring. “Even those evil monsters in the Empire are not so far gone as to deny the sanctity of a hero. If a hero – and their bodyguard – goes to stop an atrocity, not even they could use it as an excuse to invade us.”

There was a temptation in that moment. To assume that meant I could just be a figurehead and have nothing to do with anything. But it was a trap. Figurehead was also a polite term for powerless.

“Are they looking for an excuse to invade?” Lilianna followed up.

“Certain parts of their government are. Others can be swayed. It’d be expensive for them, everyone agrees, especially with our dragons. But no one on their side thinks they’d fail.”

“Then in the meantime you’re asking us to … protect the academy from thunderstorm owls?” she asked.

“If only that were all,” said Academy Leader Silver with a pained sigh. “We would have suffered under our own resources. It is not. They’ve been destroying our spires and harassing the mountain villages.”

I flicked a glance to Minister Greenfield, who was listening in stone-faced silence. If he thought everything could be solved by simply going away, then I wondered how recently those spires and villages had come. No part of the academy dated back as far as the invasion. I’d be interested to see a map from the Cammions, and just where they thought the border was. How close had we come to being summoned by them instead, to defend them from the evil invading dragons?

But if we genuinely could not be used as a casus belli, did that also imply that we had some degree of diplomatic immunity as well? Even from our summoning country?

Academy Leader Silver regained control of the conversation and moved on to training. It seemed the consensus that the Cammions would not make any significant attacks until after the next spring thaw. Autumn was harvest period, even for the Cammions, and after that the snow would make travel difficult. They had time to teach us dragon riding and magical basics. It was a wash, I decided. I appreciated that meant I had the equivalent amount of time to consider my options. I did not appreciate that I might also be trapped by those snows.

Memo to Self

Stuff to avoid

· Becoming a dragon rider

Information gathering

· Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities

· - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private

· - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four days

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

· - Determine just how far heroic independence goes

· Track down itinerary [no point]

Opportunities

· Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 days]

Preparations

· Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour