“You don’t have to kill her,” Sunny protested as Blister advanced on Blaze.
“Perhaps,” Blister said over her shoulder. “But I certainly want to.”
“Can’t you fight for me?” Blaze pleaded, turning to Queen Glacier. “I don’t want to die like this.”
Queen Glacier looked torn. She had to know there was no chance Blaze would survive this duel, which meant she’d get none of the promised territory for the IceWings — and she’d be left with a bordering kingdom ruled by a queen who’d been her enemy for eighteen years.
But Sunny could see that Glacier wanted to be just and fair. She couldn’t fight a SandWing’s battle for her, not one-on-one for the throne like this.
The IceWing shook her head. “I’m sorry, Blaze. This is your fight.” She touched Blaze’s wing with her own, briefly, then turned and flew up to join her fellow ice dragons on the wall.
Blaze faced her sister, wide-eyed with fear.
“You can forfeit,” Sunny cried. “You don’t have to fight! Let her be queen and live.”
“It’s too late for that,” Blister snarled. “She wanted to be queen badly enough to fight for it all these years. She can’t back down now that it’s just the two of us.” With a swift, sudden movement, Blister darted at Blaze, bit down viciously on the edge of one of her wings, and darted away again.
“Ow!” Blaze shrieked. She staggered back, staring at her wing. “Three moons, it’s bleeding! I’m bleeding!”
“Oh, brother,” Glory said, but there was pity in her expression.
“Shouldn’t we stop them?” Sunny asked her friends.
“It’s royal SandWing business now,” Starflight said, touching the bandage around his eyes and ducking his head. “They’ll fight, and Blister will win, but the important thing is that it means the war is over. There will be a queen on the SandWing throne, and no one else has to die.”
“Except Blaze,” Glory observed.
The two SandWings circled each other, hissing and jabbing with their tails like two scorpions.
“Poor Blaze,” Sunny said. “It doesn’t seem fair.” She curled into Clay’s side, leaning against his scales.
“I wish someone else could be queen,” Fatespeaker said. “Blister is so creepy.”
“And smart,” Starflight agreed. “Who knows what she’ll do once the throne is really hers.” He scratched his claws across the stone. “With a united SandWing army at her clawtips and the treasure, if she’s the one who stole it … she could easily be the most dangerous dragon in Pyrrhia.”
“Isn’t there anyone else?” Sunny asked. She turned and saw Smolder still standing in the shadows of the doorway. He met her eyes and started toward her, carefully avoiding his sisters.
“I don’t think so,” Starflight said. “None of the three sisters have exactly taken the time to have dragonets.”
“Hello,” Smolder said, sliding up to them. Flower was perched on his shoulder, staring around at all the dragons with her big, brown, dragonlike eyes. “Aren’t you all dramatic troublemakers. Do you think Blister is going to let me live? I’m guessing no. This would probably be a good time for me to run away.” He cast a speculative glance at the sky. “But to where? Could you use another Outclaw, perhaps?” he asked Thorn.
“You have some nerve,” Thorn snapped. “I should kill you myself for that trick you played, locking us in the library.”
“As if I had a choice,” Smolder said reproachfully. “And it didn’t even work. Burn was this close to killing me until she got your message about meeting her here tonight.”
I should be mad at him, too, Sunny thought, but she couldn’t be. He wasn’t evil — he wasn’t even mean. He was a dragon in a terrible family, in a hard situation, in danger of being put to death like his brothers at any moment. He could have killed her the moment he got his talons on her. He could have left her in the tower. Maybe she shouldn’t like him, but she did anyway.
Smolder pointed to his sister’s dead body with a rueful expression. “I must admit, I never expected to outlive her.”
“It probably won’t be by much, if that’s any consolation,” Thorn said bluntly.
“Smolder,” Sunny broke in, “are there any other dragons in line for the SandWing throne? Did Queen Oasis have any sisters or other daughters? Or did any of these three have dragonets?”