Anna looked up at the giant bronze statue. It had looked big from the sky, and even here at a distance it was a marvel. The fact that Jarnvaror, when perched on the statues shoulder, only looked about the size of a large hawk or an eagle only served to make the statue seem more surreal.

  From the sounds of it, town criers had already made several announcements—just to make sure no one missed it—about the dragon accompanying the king and queen as a guest to the city, and assuring them not to worry. It didn’t seem to help. At least not much. People along the road on either side of the statue were looking up and whispering to one another about the dragon. Most looked terrified, though a few were merely curious.

  Jarnvaror either didn’t notice the stir, or he didn’t care. He lounged on the statue’s shoulder like a great cat, with his neck stretched out along the statues raised arm, and his tail wrapped around its neck.

  “Is he asleep?” Anna asked.

  “Doesn’t look like it,” Peter said. “He’s probably spotted us already.”

  “How can you tell?” Anna asked.

  “His eyes are open,” Peter said. “And he’s following us with his head a bit.”

  “How can you see that from here?”

  Peter shrugged. “See the little yellow spot for his eye?” he asked. Anna shook her head. “Don’t know what to tell you,” Peter said. “But he’s awake.” He raised his hand and waved to the dragon. Jarnvaror lifted his head from the statue and made a chirping noise to greet them.

  “Don’t antagonize it!” a woman standing nearby cried out, almost shaking.

  “He’s just saying hello,” Peter said. He cocked his ear, looking back at the dragon as another sound carried down to them. “And asking what took us so long,” Peter added.

  “Don’t call him here!” Anna begged, seeing Peter draw a breath in to shout.

  Peter paused, nodded, then continued to bellow, “We’ll meet you at the base of the statue! See you in a bit!” Jarnvaror roared something back, causing several of the others on the road to stumble away at the sound. “In a minute!” Peter replied, and started walking quickly toward the statue. Anna jogged to keep up.

  “He’s not upset, is he?” Anna asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Peter said. “Though, it’s kind of hard to tell when we’re shouting, anyway.”

  “Of course,” Anna said. She doubted any of the townspeople would care very much if Peter said he wasn’t angry.

  When they actually reached the statue, a group of guards and knights was gathered at its base. Some directed foot traffic away from the statue, while others were huddled at its feet, talking furiously and gesturing up at Jarnvaror. “That may not be the best place for him to lounge,” Anna muttered.

  “Yeah, but he looks pretty comfortable to me. I don’t think he’d like to go somewhere else.”

  “Stay away, citizens,” one of the guards told them. “We don’t want to agitate the beast anymore.

  “Oh, he’s fine,” Peter said, then shouted up the statue, “You’re good, right, Jarn?”

  The dragon called something down in a low rumble, then rose up on the bronze warrior’s shoulder.

  “He’s the beast tongue!” Anna exclaimed, trying to keep the soldiers calm before Jarnvaror came down. She didn’t want Halcyon bursting out in the middle of the street. She doubted his influence would be enough to calm the everyone in the square if something went wrong.

  The guards heard her, though they didn’t lower their guard as Jarnvaror spread his wings and let himself fall off the statue, gliding in a smooth spiral down to the feet of the warrior. “Looks like you found yourself a comfortable spot,” Peter said, to which Jarnvaror responded with a low rumble.

  As Peter jumped in to describing the events of the day the dragon had missed, Anna explained to the guard that this sort of thing was just how the dragon operated, and they really didn’t need to worry. The longer Peter talked, the more they relaxed, though they decided they would at least stay nearby to make sure no one foolish enough to agitate the dragon would get a chance. Anna thought that was very smart.

  The guards gave them a little space, so Anna sat down next to Peter. When he reached the part about Anna’s discovery, she looked down at her bracelet. She focused in on Halcyon, and an idea occurred to her. “What’s Jarnvaror feeling?” she asked the Wisp.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  There were a few seconds where nothing happened. Then, through Halcyon, she felt a strange rush. Feelings seemed to pop up, last for a few moments, then change to something else. Each was sharp and clear, and they were almost in a cycle, as if the dragon was feeling them all at the same time,but Halcyon could only show her one. Amusement was the predominant feeling as the dragon listened to Peter, though a sort of lingering boredom and frustration were attached to it. Perhaps he wasn’t so fond of waiting on them as he’d let on to Peter. Still underlying it all was a sense of protectiveness directed toward the beast tongue. She realized that some of that included her as well. She was surprised by how touched she felt at that.

  Anna held her hand out to Peter the faint glow of the gem was facing him. “Hey,” she said. Peter looked over at her, and the dragon followed his gaze. Peter frowned and touched the gem. He blinked. Then his eyes got wide and he looked back at Jarnvaror.

  “Looks like they can do it with you, too,” Peter said. Anna felt the dragon’s mood become more curious, though with the way he cocked his head, she didn’t need the Wisps to tell her that. He rumbled something, and Peter shrugged. “Well, I’m assuming its you,” Peter replied. He looked down at Anna. “Right?”

  Anna nodded. “Seems like it’s not limited to people,” Anna said. Then again, the Halcyon was very familiar with Jarnvaror. She looked around, hoping to spot a bird roosting nearby, or maybe a cat or dog wandering the streets. There was nothing, which probably had to do with the building sized predator in the middle of the road.

  Still, the Wisps seemed to pick up on her curiosity. The dragon’s feelings faded. They weren’t replaced by anything for several seconds. Then, they started imparting to her another set of mixed feelings. Unlike Jarnvaror’s these were muted, almost detached. It was hard to tell exactly what they were. A desire of some sort, she thought, but to what wasn’t very specific. And she couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

  As she had the thought, an image flashed through her mind. It wasn’t as long or detailed as the vision they’d shown her before. Only a flash of green and brown and light, and a sense of being very small. She looked around. There were a few trees and bushes planted along side the road. Suddenly, she was certain they’d shown her the feelings of a bird, hiding in the plants.

  “He understands!” She gasped. She looked at Peter. “He understands when I’m asking about animals, too!”

  “Great,” Peter said. “Though, how will animal emotions be useful?”

  Anna shook her head. “That’s not the point!” she said. She looked around and found one of the guards still nearby. Halcyon picked up on what she meant right away. Suddenly, she could feel the guard’s lingering worry over Jarnvaror and his relief that things had calmed down. “He understands!” Anna said.

  “Maybe we’ll be able to talk to him by morning,” Peter said. Anna knew he was joking, but a part of her believed that they might be able to at this rate.

  She hardly noticed as Peter finished his conversation with the dragon, though she did catch his request, on behalf of the guards, to find a better place to wait for them. He offered the landing ground in the pavilion. The dragon disagreed. From the sounds of it, he liked the warm metal and the high place to watch everything that was going on. Peter only shrugged and promised to come see him again in the morning.

  They found, on returning to camp, that both the Ryukyuujin and Nordarin had arrived in their absence. The pavilion was full, now, of servants and soldiers from all four nations. Andrew informed them that the royals and a select few of their guards were staying in the palace. Peter joked about how they didn’t make the cut, but Anna just found herself focusing on the Wisps themselves.

  She sat outside the tent and stared into the bracelet, willing them to tell her something new, to actually talk to her. Halcyon responded by picking random people along the path or in the nearby tents to share emotions with. Sometimes Anna could identify who it was. A glance at the face of the man walking past would tell her it was his nerves she was feeling. Or overhearing the argument in the tent next door. Often, though, she couldn’t identify who Halcyon was showing her.

  She only managed a breakthrough as the sun set and the trio went to the cook tent to get some supper. They sat by the Thornwoods. Having already told them the part Daniel wanted to save for the meeting, Peter decided he might as well share it all and explained Anna’s discovery. They asked her to show them, though Jeremy looked a little uneasy at the thought of having Wisps in his head again. So she focused on Hannah.

  “He just senses your curiosity,” Anna said. Then she noticed a few other emotions creep in. There was a small flash of disappointment at her words, but that vanished in an instant. More significant was a low, underlying worry. Anna guessed it was about the Wisps themselves. And there was a general contentment that Anna thought had to do with the company. Suddenly, Anna gasped.

  “Is something wrong?” Jeremy asked, worry for his sister written all over his face.

  Anna shook her head. “No. A thought just occurred to me. I’m going to try… Yes!”

  “What is it?” Hannah asked.

  Anna grinned at the four of them. “I just realized: sometimes I only get one feeling from the person Halcyon is focused on. Sometimes it’s more.”

  “I noticed that with Jarn,” Peter said. “That wasn’t because he was a dragon?”

  Anna shook her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t know about you, but I usually feel a mix of things all at once.”

  “That doesn’t sound right,” Peter said. Jeremy laughed, and Hannah rolled her eyes.

  “What did you find out?” Andrew asked.

  “Halcyon can only share one emotion at a time,” Anna said. “But if the other Wisps join him, they can each find a bit more detail.”

  “How’d you find that out?” Andrew asked.

  “Well, when Halcyon started on Hannah, I was disappointed there was only one thing he picked up. As soon as I’d said it, though. More appeared. I thought it might have been the other Wisps joining in.” Anna looked down at her bracelet. “So I tried asking… well, something like asking, anyway. For them to go one at a time.”

  “And?” Andrew asked.

  “They started shifting between the various feelings,” Anna said.

  “That’s amazing!” Jeremy said. “You’re really starting to understand them.”

  Anna decided not to reply to that. She put her hand in her lap so no one else would brush the bracelet. She didn’t want them to feel her mix of emotions. Ecstatic as she was at the progress, she couldn’t help feeling that it was the other way around. She didn’t understand anything more about them. But they were starting to understand her.