The town of Rethan turned out to be much bigger than Rhen had been picturing. There were over a hundred houses, built along the coastline of the island. There were even houses on the beach, which likely belong to fishermen. There were cobbled streets, lanterns, even trees trimmed into neat, round shapes.

And Rhenor couldn't care less about any of it. All he could think about was where these people had taken Kaz, and how he and Elaya could free him. But at the moment, Rhen just wanted to see the dragon. To tell him that everything was going to be all right, even if it had no way of knowing that. Rhenor just hated the idea of Kaz scared and alone, helpless to whatever these people wanted to do with him.

Though Rhen supposed he should be happy they'd been shot down by people separate from Istamid. He didn't want to imagine what humans from their homeland would do with a captive Dragon Lord.

Rhenor grimaced at that, still not sure how he felt about that title belonging to Kaz. He wasn't mad at Kaz for having it. It was simply that Rhen found it difficult to connect Kaz with being a Dragon Lord. The Lords were cruel, conniving, and almost everyone was terrified of them and their rage. And Kaz was none of this. In fact, the first time Rhen had ever seen him be assertive was on that ship, and Kaz had been acting, then.

All this just made the fact that Kaz must have been scared out of his mind worse.

But surrounded by riders from all sides, Rhen kept his thoughts to himself as he continued following the man who had captured them into an isolated, tall house with a roof made of wooden tiles and stone and wooden walls, much like most of the other houses Rhenor had seen so far. It would be reminiscent of Arlow's houses, if not for the much more elegant look.

All of the houses here, especially this one, were decorated with carvings and small, metal plates of various colors along the walls. The walls themselves were made of smaller, thinner-looking planks, and the tiles forming the roofs were smaller, and uniform, with seemingly no differences or imperfections.

But the people in Arlow were poor, and their houses were built to last in the harsh environment. Barely anyone there would even think about decorating their house instead of working or hunting, busying themselves with trying to make sure they and their families would survive another winter.

But given that here on this island, the climate was much warmer, and the people weren't being taxed to death, Rhenor couldn't say he was surprised.

As they reached the house, the leader, whose name Rhenor still didn't know, got off his horse and let one of his people lead it away. In fact, all of the riders left, save for two who also climbed off their horses and were now watching Rhenor and Elaya through narrowed eyes.

Rhen shot a glare at them. Of course, even with magic, the older man wouldn't let himself be alone with two people he didn't trust. And Rhenor couldn't blame him—if they had been left alone with him, he would certainly try to take the amulet from him. Rhenor might not know what exactly it was, but he had a feeling it had something to do with Elaya's loss of magic.

"Come on in," the man said almost cheerfully as he opened the door, making Rhenor grind his teeth. He was sure the man wasn't trying to antagonize him, but him acting like treating Kaz the way they had was nothing to be upset about was making Rhen see red.

Still, he followed the man inside, as did Elaya and the two guards. Or whatever they were. The man and woman were certainly not dressed like guards, only wearing colorful tunics and trousers. In fact, Rhen didn't think he'd seen anyone wearing armor, at all.

He scanned his eyes over the house interior as he entered, scowling at all the ornate furniture, including a very large, dark, round table in the center, facing a fireplace, which was not lit, but that wasn't surprising as it was warm enough without a fire. There were two bookcases lining the walls, packed with books, as well as gold and silver plates, bowls, and cups displayed in a glass display case next to them.

As if Rhenor needed more of a reason to dislike this man. Though, Rhenor had no frame of reference for this when it came to Rethan. Maybe it wasn't strange to be this rich in this town, though Rhen couldn't imagine that was the case. How could everyone own dozens of books?

"Please, have a seat," the leader said as he sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the round table. There were metal cups and a decanter with water on it, which made Rhen realize that he was thirsty. But he wouldn't give the man the satisfaction of taking a drink.

Rhenor sat down silently, watching through narrowed eyes as one of the guards sat down next to him. The guard glowered back. This was going to be even more unpleasant than Rhen had been expecting.

"Who are you?" the leader asked, sounding incredibly curious as he leaned in, resting his elbows on the table.

"Who are you?" Rhen immediately shot back, feeling very defensive for no real reason. The older man just smiled, looking a bit abashed.

"Ah, yes, excuse me." He cleared his throat. "My name is Corill. I'm the current Wizard of Rethan."

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Rhen exchanged a look with Elaya, not sure what to make of that position, and wondering if she knew something about it, but she looked equally as confused.

"It simply means I was elected to use magic for the good of the town," Corill explained, smiling pleasantly. Gods above, Rhenor hated that smile. Though that begged the question—could truly no one else but Corill use magic? But why would that be the case? If magic could be used freely here, why limit it like this? And how would they even do it? "Now, who are you?"

Rhenor sighed, about to try to figure out how to give the man the simplest, vaguest explanation, but before he could, Elaya answered.

"My name is Elaya, this is Rhenor. We are fugitives, running from Istamid because we rescued our friend from prison."

Her biting tone more than implied her bitterness over these people's treatment of Kaz, but Rhen felt like spelling it out for her, anyway.

"Yes, our friend. Who you shot down, tied up, and dragged off."

At this, Corill's smile disappeared, but instead of looking annoyed by what Rhen had said, he looked very confused.

"Humans from Istamid have managed to capture a dragon?"

Rhen huffed. He wished that were the case, though not with Kaz. If anyone tried to capture Kaz again after they got him out of the current situation, Rhenor wouldn't hold himself accountable for what he might do. Twice was more than enough.

"No, it was a dragon's prison."

Corill's eyebrows rose higher. "Dragons imprisoning dragons? What for?"

Elaya sighed. She no doubt still blamed herself for what had happened in Sigallah. "Kaz helped us steal money from the King."

Silence filled the room with Corill and both of his guards looking at them with wide eyes. They'd probably never heard of a dragon doing anything like that before. Not that Rhen could blame them—he hadn't either. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, maybe he wouldn't have believed it either.

"A peculiar beast you've flown here with."

Rhenor glared at Corill so much it almost hurt. "He is not a beast."

"We came here looking for asylum," Elaya said, her voice strained as she very obviously struggled to sound at least a little neutral.

"And you shall receive it," Corill replied easily. "Of course, that decision is up to the council, but I'm sure they will accept you. We take in anyone who escapes from Istamid and looks to settle here."

Rhenor had to fight not to snap at him that he had no interest in staying even one day if he wasn't forced to. Instead, he voiced the question most important in his mind, forcing his words past gritted teeth. "And Kaz?"

"The dragon will be put to work, of course. They are invaluable with all manner of tasks," Corill explained, sounding quite pleased with that while Rhen felt his blood start to boil. "Though I assume this one is quite headstrong if it truly rebelled against its King. It might require more training than usual."

With that Corill looked meaningfully at the male guard, who got up and left, while Rhenor felt his mind shut down from all the shock and fury he was feeling. "What?!"

"What do you mean training?" Elaya demanded, sounding equally as outraged as Rhenor.

"I understand that you think of the dragon as a friend," Corill said, patient and understanding. Gods, how Rhenor wanted to hurt him. "But it is not."

"He," Elaya corrected, gripping the edge of the table so hard her knuckles were going white.

"Dragons are fundamentally different to humans. They feel and think differently. We can't live side by side without them trying to control us."

Elaya sprung up, her chair scraping loudly against the wooden floor. "I've known Kaz since I was six. He's not interested in controlling anything. He just wants to read and research."

The guard who was still in the room got up as well, her hand on the sword hanging from her belt. She didn't need to draw it to make the threat clear. If Corill hadn't had magic, then Rhenor would consider trying to attack, but there was no way for them to win under these conditions.

"Be that as it may, dragons are very manipulative. You are very powerful with magic, aren't you?" Corill asked, gesturing to Elaya to sit down, which she did, though with a glare. "It would make sense for them to have you befriend a dragon to make you more willing to use magic for their purposes."

Elaya looked stunned for a moment, and so did Rhenor. The fact that Kaz had lied to him about not being human and would have continued doing so if he hadn't had to come to save them was immediately at the forefront of his mind, but Rhen quickly chased those thoughts away.

Kaz hadn't wanted to manipulate him, then. He'd just done it because he'd been afraid Rhen wouldn't help him with those earthquakes in Arlow, and then he was afraid of saying it because he feared Rhenor would reject him. And quite frankly, Kaz was most likely right on both of those counts. So no, what Kaz had done wasn't right, but it was understandable, and certainly not manipulation.

"Kaz has done nothing wrong," Elaya finally said, her voice firm and resolute. Rhen found himself nodding, scowling at Corill, especially after the man sighed. Whether he did it on purpose or not, Corill seemed to have the air of someone who thought they always knew better, and it made Rhenor angry.

"The two of you are hardly objective in this if you truly do consider the dragon your friend."

The man had not used Kaz's name to refer to him once, had he? If these people truly thought of dragons as beasts, then it made sense that talking about them as if they were farm animals didn't seem horrifying to them. But it was. When Kaz was in his other form, he was virtually indistinguishable from a human, in both body and soul, aside from the pointed ears.

"Just let us leave, then," Rhenor said, feeling a sort of desperation start to build up inside of him when he imagined what kind of life Kaz would have if he was forced to stay here. "We will never come back here."

Corill shook his head. "The two of you can leave at any time. The dragon is too dangerous to be left to its own devices."

"Where are you keeping him?" Elaya asked, her voice forcefully neutral. Rhen could practically feel the anger bubbling behind her words because he felt the same way.

"If you wish to see the dragon, you will get a chance once it is trained enough to follow orders. Before then, it is a danger to everyone, including itself."

Not much else was said before Elaya asked if they could leave now, and surprisingly Corill didn't seem to have a problem with it. But Rhenor didn't even think to question it. He was too angry and determined to go save Kaz that he was ready to go immediately.

And so was Elaya, if the way she headed at a brisk pace behind Corill's house was any indication. She stopped in a narrow, out-of-the-way alley, and Rhen followed behind her, eager what plan she had in mind to fix this mess.

She looked him right in the eye when he caught up, fire in her gaze. "We're getting Kaz away from here. Right now."