“I’m leaving,” I told my sisters. “I know it’s late, but I need my hoard. I need to rest and heal, and to just… I need it.”

  “Can I come?” Mak asked. “Please? I can’t bear the thought of being away from you until you’re completely well again.”

  “Sure. I’d like that. Herald?”

  “Do you even need to ask?” she asked. “Yes. I— I need you. Both of you.”

  “That’s settled then,” I said. “Let the others know that we’ll be away for the night, and grab whatever you need.”

  “Yes, mistress!” Mak said with a cheeky grin. She ran off before I even knew if she was just teasing me or being serious.

  Herald raised her eyebrows at me.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “She’s… I’ve asked her not to call me that. I don’t like it.”

  “No, I believe you,” she lied as she followed our sister.

  “I’m serious! I’ve told her!” I said to her back.

  “Oh, I believe that part,” she said. She didn’t elaborate further, but there was a clear tinge of amusement to her voice, and after how withdrawn she’d been I didn’t want to argue.

  The girls barely packed, not expecting to be away for long, but when she came back down Mak went straight to the strongroom without so much as a how ya going. I could hear coins being moved in there and did my best to wait patiently.

  “How much are you bringing?” I asked when she came back out.

  “Everything that is yours,” she replied matter-of-factly.

  “Good,” Herald said. “That should be enough, right?”

  “More than enough, if our estimates are right, yeah. Though I took it all, just in case.”

  “May as well,” Herald agreed.

  “Oi, hold up!” I said, looking between the two. “What’s all this?”

  “Mak had a theory about how your thresholds work, and we’ve done the numbers together,” Herald said. “We had to estimate quite a lot, but we think we are close enough.”

  “And you think what’s in that bag is enough to bring me over another threshold? I mean, I’ve had the feeling that I’m close, but it’s just a gut feeling, yeah? I don’t have any numbers to base it on.”

  “That’s a good sign!” Mak said happily.

  The trip to the mountain was uneventful. Herald rode on my back as usual, with their light backpack with the gold and some necessities, and Mak was safely cradled in my good arm, my other being there mostly for balance. I did my best not to put any weight on that arm when we landed, but habit, balance, and the lack of pain betrayed me.

  Mak gave me a small, unhappy frown that vanished so quickly that it might as well not have been there.

  “We should talk,” I said as we made our way into the depths, Herald on my right, Mak on my left. The going was slow. Mak kept watching me, so I had to consciously keep my weight off my injured shoulder. “Assuming you and my gut are right, we need to talk about my options.”

  “It is your advancement, and your choice” Herald said, and the way her eyes glimmered in the dark made it perfectly clear that if the conversation ended there I’d never hear the end of it.

  “Yeah, but it affects Mak,” I said, playing along. “I’d really like your thoughts.”

  “You have asked us to act as your advisors,” Mak said eagerly. “I don’t see how we could refuse.”

  Herald made a show of thinking about it, finally saying, “I think you are right, Mak. It is our familial duty to advise our sister. Very well. Draka, what do you have to choose from?”

  “Right!” I felt my excitement growing as I gathered my thoughts. I’d been looking forward to this, and being able to talk to the two of them about it just made it better. Conscience and Instinct were both alert and interested, too, though I was pretty sure what Instinct would choose if given the chance.

  “So,” I said, “first there’s Physical Greatness. It makes me bigger, stronger, just… more, physically. Should do the same for you, Mak.”

  Both of my sisters immediately frowned slightly, and both of them immediately tried to hide it. Herald, I understood. She’d been against it the last time I brought the Advancement up. Mak, though? I’d have imagined she wouldn’t mind another foot or whatever in height.

  “It would also make me more dragony. Instinct loves it. Mother says it would turn me into an idiot and that I should never take it. But I see that neither of you like it. I already know Herald’s reason, but Mak?”

  Even in the dim light I saw her blush before she said, “It’s stupid.”

  “I’m sure it’s not. Go on. If you want to.”

  “Embarrassing, then. But… you’ll both promise not to laugh?”

  “Of course,” I said. Herald agreed, too.

  “Well… I kind of enjoy being small,” Mak said, with a little shrug. “Not just because it makes people underestimate me, either. I like being, you know… wrapped up. It’s comfortable. Feels safe.”

  “Where is my sister, and what have you done with her?” Herald said, barely keeping a straight face.

  “You promised not to laugh!” Mak complained, and there was some genuine hurt on her face.

  “Sorry!” Herald said and schooled her face. “I really am. I was surprised, that is all. You have complained about your height often enough.”

  “It’s not all great,” Mak sighed. “But there it is. I’m sure being taller and stronger and whatever else would be useful, though I can’t properly guess how being ‘more dragony’ would affect me.”

  “There is that,” I mused. “But no. That’s out. The only one who’s hot on it is Instinct, and with apologies to her, she’ll have to deal with not getting it.”

  “Unfair,” the dragon in my head muttered, but she didn’t make more of a fuss about it.

  “Anyway, next is Cunning,” I continued. “It’s supposed to help with both plotting and seeing through the plots of others. Couldn’t tell you what else it might do. For all I know it would just make us smarter.”

  “Gods forbid!” This time Herald didn’t even try to hold her laughter in. “Please do not turn our sweet, tiny sister into a smart-ass!”

  “I’ll pick you up and knock your head on the stalactites!” Mak warned.

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  “Jokes aside,” Herald said as her mirth petered out, “I do not see any situation where being more clever would not potentially be useful.”

  Mak nodded. “I sure wouldn’t mind. I’ve never been worried about my intelligence; I think we’ve all been pretty lucky there. But like Herald says, being smarter would always be useful. So would some kind of intuition for how to outsmart our enemies, if that’s what it is. It sounds like a good option.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been passing it over for a while, but I’ve always considered it,” I said. “The last two are something called Kin-sense, but that one’s out. Not useful enough. Lets me sense where my blood relatives are, best I can tell, but I don’t even know if it would help you find Herald or Tam, Mak, or if you’d just be able to tell where Mother is.”

  “Knowing where to find a dragon capable of hollowing out a mountain isn’t useful until it is,” Mak said thoughtfully. “Either useless, or possibly life saving. But, yeah.”

  “Not useful enough,” Herald agreed. “And the last?”

  “The last I know about is, ah…” I looked back and forth between the two of them. “Acid spit.”

  “Ooouw!” Mak perked up, eyes bright and studying me with an attentiveness that was frankly worrying.“Is that what it sounds like? Like what the alchemists sell, for etching metal and things like that?”

  “Literally what it says on the tin— ah, what it sounds like. Best I can tell anyway. Spit acid, have it eat away at things. Stone, metal… faces…”

  “That’s disgusting,” Herald said. Her voice was a little wobbly, and when I looked at her, her throat twitched like she just suppressed a retch.

  “Dead useful, though!” Mak said, and if her interest before had been worrying, the excitement that it had grown into was almost scary. “I’d never need to worry about being caught unarmed! Or being locked up, for that matter. Spit acid in the lock, give it some time, and break the manacles open!”

  “Is it not too gruesome, though?” Herald countered. “Killing someone is one thing, even breaking an arm or a knee or whatever. But I saw a man once who’d been an alchemist’s apprentice, and his hand was just a fused mess of flesh from spilling acid on it. It would not even heal magically! He said he would have to have the hand removed and regenerated once his apprenticeship was over.”

  “I could have melted Zabra’s smug fucking face off when they grabbed me,” Mak mused, like she hadn’t heard a word. She was so into the idea that I couldn’t decide if it was an argument for or against the advancement.

  “Right,” I said, keeping my voice neutral. “And then there’s whatever replaced my last pick. I won’t know that until it’s time, and I likely won’t be in any state to discuss it once we add this money to the hoard. I’ll be in too much pain from growing.”

  “Can’t we just add it a little at a time?” Mak asked, her enthusiasm instantly replaced by concern. The problem was easy enough to see. She’d been the one who took the initiative to bring all this money, and now it was going to cause me pain, which put her in a very uncomfortable position. She wanted me to get stronger. She wanted to get stronger, herself. But the idea of causing me any kind of discomfort was pretty much unthinkable to her.

  “I don’t think so,” I told her gently. “Not unless we want to be at it for hours. I’d rather just get it over with. And don’t worry! The last few times it’s knocked me out pretty fast, so I don’t even feel it for that long.”

  “If you say so,” she said. She relaxed a little, but not even the unintentional command not to worry had her completely at ease.

  To bring us back to safer waters I asked them both, “So Cunning is the front runner?”

  “I would say so,” Herald said.

  “I’d prefer the acid,” Mak said, “but Cunning sounds good too.”

  “Anything I should keep in mind for your sake, Mak? For the new option, I mean.”

  “I’m already flattered beyond belief that you’re being so open with us, and asking our opinions at all. No. Every choice you’ve made so far has been wonderful. If your intuition tells you that whatever new option you have is better than Cunning, then I’m sure that it is.”

  As nice as that was to hear, and as much as I’d grown to love Mak, she was still Mak. Her judgement when it came to me and my qualities was suspect to say the least. But when I looked at Herald she nodded and said, “I cannot know that you have always made the optimal choice, but those choices seem rational to me. Of course we trust you to make the best choice once you know all your options.”

  Soon thereafter we reached the hoard. Neither the tunnel nor the bulge that I used for my nest looked anywhere near as big as they once had, and I wondered how much longer I’d be able to stay here. Even when I grew too large for the tunnel, I’d fit in the chamber for a while longer — though perhaps not comfortably. I’d be able to get in Shifted, and I could have Mak and Herald carry treasure in. But it was only a matter of time, really. Months. Years, perhaps, but not many. Not at the pace I was growing.

  Herald walked right in the way she always did, lighting my lightstone, shaking out the pillows and blankets and generally making herself comfortable. Mak’s attitude was more reverential. Not in the overwhelmed way that she had been the first time, but more like a worshipper stepping into a temple. Yeah, that fit. She had that feeling about her, like someone entering a holy space; to her, it probably was. Reverence, mixed with satisfaction and comfort.

  “I wish I could just stay here for a while,” she whispered. Her voice echoed softly before being swallowed by the mountain. “I don’t think any place has made me feel quite so safe, ever since I was little.”

  “I know what you mean,” Herald said from where she lounged among the coins. “You feel completely untouchable, right? High above, yet deep below, and with hundreds of feet of stone between us and the world.”

  “And Draka’s here, and you,” Mak added with a sigh of contentment. Then she turned to me and asked, “Could we bring the others here sometime? Tam and Val, at least?”

  Instinct recoiled inside me. This was my hoard. There was trust, and then there was the level of absolute faith needed to bring someone here. I was tempted to follow my inner dragon and just refused offhand, but that wouldn’t be fair or smart. I forced myself to really think about it and be honest with myself and them. Then I said, “I would be comfortable with bringing Kira and Ardek here, I think. I’m not sure about Tam and Val. I love them, but they’re not mine. You understand? I wish it were different, but I don’t know how I’d react if anyone who didn’t belong to me came in here. I don’t want to…”

  I didn’t have to finish the thought. “I understand,” Herald said. “It saddens me to hear it, but I understand. We both do.”

  Mak nodded.

  “Perhaps in time?” Herald suggested.

  “Perhaps,” I agreed. “My father apparently had dozens or hundreds of people coming and going, and Mother says that the hoard will be easier to manage as I get older. Stronger, I guess. But I can’t risk it yet.”

  “Of course,” Mak said, gently rubbing my good shoulder. “Thank you for considering that.”

  Herald, perhaps a little uncomfortable at just how comfortable her sister was getting, changed the subject. “Shall we get to the main event, then?” she suggested, lifting the large bag of coin out of her backpack. It was mostly gold, but a considerable amount of it was in silver, and the bag must have weighed ten pounds at the very least. “Draka, do you want to get comfortable first?”

  “Yeah, thanks,” I said, shuffling over to lay down beside her on the coins. Mak watched to make sure I didn’t strain myself too much then wordlessly settled in against me. When I was comfortable I told Herald, “All right, I’m as ready as I’ll be. And I may well be out all morning, or even all day, so you two should settle in, too. You brought water and all, right?”

  “Of course we did,” Herald said. “This is not my first time seeing you pass a threshold, remember?”

  “Yeah, right.” I hesitated as I had an idea. I felt a little self-conscious about it then decided that I was being stupid. Herald might laugh, but not in any mean way. My sisters wouldn’t judge me. “Could you pour that bag over me? Over my head and neck? I like how it feels.”

  Herald did, indeed, laugh. But it was that laugh she had when she thought I was being cute, and I loved that. “Sure,” she said. Then she lifted the bag and tipped it, letting the coins rustle and clink and jingle down on and around me. The scent of the precious metals rose in the air and enveloped me, and I had enough time to appreciate them before the familiar pressure, in my bones and in my mind, started building.

  Adamantine claws. That was my new option, and I knew instinctively that it would make both my teeth, claws, and horns strong enough to tear stone or metal, if I was strong enough to put that kind of force behind them. And I was tempted. Oh, I was sorely tempted. Having seen what my mother could do had put a real envy in me that only tearing stone with my bare claws could fix, and I’d love to see what Mak could do with teeth and nails able to keep up with her strength.

  But it was not the time. We were both plenty strong enough, and there would be time enough in the future — I intended to leverage our “acquisition” of the lord exchequer to the fullest. What we needed to weather the war was smarts.

  I didn’t wait for the pressure to build into pain before choosing Cunning. It had been with me for months, having replaced Tongues after I gained my very first Advancement, and now its time had come.

  Perhaps there was some personal insight to be had in analyzing why I’d chosen to invest in anything but my brain for so long, but I didn’t have time for it. The pain in my bones and muscle ramped up to the point where I barely felt my sisters’ gentle touches or soothing words.

  I let everything go dark.

  I could have used the opportunity to dreamwalk. To talk to people under my sway, to find what they may have learned and to give them direction. In the south and on the sea, the war raged on. We needed to prepare, and to do what we could to turn it around. If what Soandel had told us was true — and he certainly must have believed that it was, unless Herald’s power worked very differently to mine — then the League was unlikely to send any real help until Karakan was so weak as to fall under Tavvanar’s control instead of Happar’s or Tekeretek’s. I could not allow that to happen. I may still have opponents on the Council, but Karakan was mine. I’d see the other cities burn before they took it from me.

  In the north the riches and secrets of Old Mallin waited. The Rifts were slowly spreading, bringing the monsters they spawned ever closer to settled lands — though, if we were lucky, Mother and her appetite for magic might keep them in check. It seemed fairly clear to me that dragons had once been an important part of keeping the Rifts under control, and in a mostly wild place like Mallin, that had failed. I needed to discuss that with her.

  There was much to do. Many dangers, and more opportunities. But that night, morning, and the following afternoon, I rested. For a short while I was safe and happy, deep inside my mountain with the two most important people in the world.

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