In the morning, Theo awoke to find Oriole staring at her.
“You slept through the whole night! I didn’t even know that was possible!” Oriole exclaimed. “What’re you going to do next, stay awake the whole day? That’d be daft…”
“I-” Theo gave her a strange look. “I don’t understand what’s so weird about it.”
“You don’t understand what’s so weird about it!” Oriole repeated after her, laughing and rolling her head comically. “What’re you, a bird?!”
Theo shook her head at the dragon, utterly perplexed. Apparently dragons don’t have the same sleep cycle that I’m used to, she guessed.
Just then, Adder came into Camp.
“If you don’t mind, Oriole,” he said, “I’d like to have a word with…” He trailed off, unsure of what to call Theo.
“River,” Theo helped him.
“Yes, River,” Adder repeated after her, looking at Oriole expectantly.
She grinned at him rather stupidly for a moment before replying, “Alright.”
Yeah, go find someone else to bother, Theo thought.
Oriole turned and looked around, still smiling broadly, then wandered off.
Theo anxiously waited for Adder to speak as he brought her to the edge of the clearing.
“Wycker has been spying on Wystil and he’s gathered much information,” he told her quietly.
“Yes?” Theo prompted.
“Chadwick had a skilled tracker known as Tyrone examine your tracks. Do you know him?”
“Yes,” Theo affirmed, her heart quickening. “What did he say?”
“He saw your tracks that led into the water. He wasn’t sure about Damon’s tracks. He concluded that it must have been someone who came to the site after everyone was gone and then went after your horse-”
“Damon took my horse?” Theo asked, but Adder did not answer.
“He also identified the tracks of three different dragons,” Adder continued. “He took note of how there was a struggle between them, and how they too led to the water and disappeared.”
“What happened to my horse?” Theo pressed.
“Damon caught her and brought her somewhere. Where exactly, I’m not sure.”
“Oh,” Theo responded, disappointed. I’ll have to ask him myself. “What did Chadwick say to all this?”
“He raged with the idea that you’d been taken by dragons. He was, after all, first informed of your troubles by a panicked servant who talked about a large dragon seizing you from the waters.
“Tyrone pointed out that there would be evidence, had you been fed on, so Chadwick is convinced that you’ve been taken alive. Wycker even heard a person call you the…Dragon Slave.”
Realization hit Theo. “Dragon Slave, of course!” she recalled. “It’s a children’s story about a girl who’s snatched by a dragon and forced to work as its slave!”
“Tyrone told Chadwick the only dragon of remarkable size that he’s heard of is the Maelstrom, or as he said, Zeus.” Adder added grimly, “Dragon fighting training has begun.”
“They’re going to attack Zeus?!” Theo awed in horror. “They’ll all die!”
“Of that, I am not so sure,” Adder interjected. “They have the numbers, and they could have the skill…”
They think Zeus took me…Theo was dazed, numb with fear as she imagined her brother and his army trampled and feasted on, in her name. “We have to stop my brother,” she said.
Adder shook his head. “Chadwick would surely declare war on us. For now, I don’t see what we can do but wait and see.”
“My brother cannot declare war on anyone,” Theo said, confused. “Only the king can do that.”
Adder gazed at her with an expression she feared to be sympathy. “That was the other thing I had to tell you,” he led. “I’m very sorry, but…”
“What?” Theo urged him, suspense weighing down on her.
“…your father fell terribly ill two days ago and just died this morning.”
“It- It can’t be!” she exclaimed.
“I’m sorry.”
Theo staggered on all four legs. “And so they’ve made my brother King?” she asked, her mouth dry.
“Chadwick’s coronation took place immediately after your father’s death so that Wystil would not go on without a king. Only his celebration has been put off.”
Theo shook her head, unable to take everything in. All was so unexpected. She didn’t even notice when Adder left. She just stood there, staring at nothing as her mind throbbed with thoughts.