‘You’re being very quiet,’ Catherine said uncertainly.

Sighing won’t help. Nor will screaming or throwing things. ‘Perhaps you’d like to tell me a little bit more about your past employment,’ Irene suggested. ‘Previously you hinted you had a career in international intrigue. Should I assume that was a blatant lie too?’

Catherine stared at her hands. ‘Well, I was Uncle’s social secretary,’ she mumbled. ‘For three months. So you could call that international intrigue. Before that I grew up in the country, in a manor house in Liechtenstein with retainers. I didn’t do much there besides read. That’s why I want to be a librarian – a proper one – and spend all my time with books.’

‘What about your parents?’ Irene asked.

‘They died when I was very young. Uncle Silver’s my uncle on my mother’s side. There was an accident while they were travelling and then Uncle did what he could for me. I chose my name because St Catherine is one of the patron saints of librarians . . .’

Irene had been wondering how her student had acquired her name. Powerful Fae hid their true names, choosing an appropriate pseudonym – like Silver, or Sterrington, or Lord Guantes – while the really powerful ones like the Cardinal or the Princess went by titles alone. She pulled herself away from speculation to reality. ‘I wish you’d told me this before,’ she said.

‘Would you have taken me for an apprentice if I had?’ Catherine asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Irene admitted, ‘but at least I’d have had a better idea of what was going on.’

Catherine chewed on her lower lip, trying and failing to look calm and unconcerned. ‘So what are you going to do?’

‘We’re going to take this one day at a time,’ Irene said finally. ‘Our first objective is to stay alive. I’m not happy with you, Catherine – but I’m not going to abandon you.’

‘Thank you,’ Catherine whispered. ‘I hoped you’d understand. Uncle said your parents had been Librarians too.’

Lord Silver had apparently been very free with his information about Irene’s background. ‘They were,’ Irene said, deciding a bit of reciprocal honesty would be good for their relationship. ‘They are. They adopted me as a baby, but yes – libraries are what I’ve known all my life. I’ve always loved books.’

She left out the fact that she’d only found out about the adoption a few months ago. And that it had taken place under dubious circumstances, which her parents had been completely unwilling to discuss. Kai and Vale knew all about it, but she saw no reason to share those details with Catherine.

‘How do you ever let go of them? To pass them to the Library?’ Catherine asked. ‘The books, that is?’

‘Practice. And I do know I can visit them if I really want to . . . We’ll collect the Malory in the morning. For now, get some sleep. You look tired.’ And it would give Irene a chance to draft some letters – to Vale and to a certain Fae uncle. ‘I’ll wake you later so I can nap myself. We should probably take turns to keep watch.’

‘I thought you said we were safe here!’ Catherine protested.

‘Relatively safe.’ Irene looked out at the fog, dyed orange and red by the setting sun. ‘I’d hate to find out I was wrong.’

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kai glanced around the inner sanctum of Lord Zhang Yi’s office. Zhang Yi favoured a calming palette of grey and white. The only notes of colour were framed slices of crystal and gemstone that hung on the walls – Kai spotted a deep green, a red and a purple. Even the chair was upholstered in bone-white cloth, the stools covered in dark grey silk. It was like being inside a frozen cloud. A single tablet rested on the low table.

‘Sit,’ Lord Zhang Yi said, lowering himself into the chair. His back was erect, but he moved with the slow care that Kai had seen in elderly humans with arthritis, like Irene’s Librarian mentor Coppelia. ‘Prince Kai, you have come at a convenient time.’

‘I’m glad to be of service, sir, and hope that my present pleased you,’ Kai answered. Even though Shan Yuan was a couple of feet away, he could sense tension emanating from his older brother. But Kai knew the proper forms of courtesy. He wasn’t going to offend his revered senior – especially not when Zhang Yi was a dragon he truly respected.

‘There was a present?’ Lord Zhang Yi blinked. ‘How kind. But that wasn’t what I wanted to discuss.’

There were only two things that Kai could imagine Lord Zhang Yi wanting to raise: treaty matters and Indigo. Of course, it would be nice to believe that Lord Zhang Yi had heard about his talent with computers and wanted personally to invite him to be his student . . . but that was about as likely as his brother deciding to forget their past rivalry. So he said, ‘Of course, sir. How may I be of assistance?’

‘Fae and computing.’

When it was clear that further detail wasn’t forthcoming, Kai said tentatively, ‘If you would explain, sir?’

‘We do not have a peace with the Fae. We can never expect to be truly at peace. The best that we can hope for is this truce. However . . .’ Lord Zhang Yi’s eyes glittered beneath his thick eyebrows. ‘While we do have the truce, we need to take advantage of it in every way possible.’

Wild images blossomed in Kai’s mind. ‘Are you considering a dragon–Fae student exchange, sir?’

‘Of course not!’ Shan Yuan snapped. ‘Who in their right mind would agree to that?’

‘The fact that you consider such a thing speaks well for your innocent warm-heartedness, boy,’ Lord Zhang Yi said. ‘No doubt this broad-minded attitude is what allows you to tolerate the Fae. Don’t misunderstand me. I agree some of them have certain . . . qualities that would, in our own kind or humans, be worthwhile. Admirable, even. But that only makes them more dangerous. In the long run, we have to expect the worst and make preparations accordingly.’

‘You speak as though you don’t expect the truce to last, sir.’

Lord Zhang Yi briefly withdrew into himself, reduced to rigid weariness. ‘Nothing lasts,’ he said, his voice guttural with age and remembered pain. ‘Neither knowledge, nor skill, nor family, nor the bond between master and student. In another thousand years I will be gone. In time you both will pass as well, and this place will be dust. For all that we pride ourselves on our power and our length of years, Prince Kai, ultimately dragons too are as fleeting as fireflies. There was a time when we never existed; there will also come a time when nobody will remember us. War changes to peace. But, ultimately, peace collapses into war and the cycle continues.’

‘I’ve told you before, sir, you will be remembered as long as my father’s kingdom lasts.’ Shan Yuan spoke with affection, clearly repeating an old reassurance.

‘That’s not as reassuring as you might think.’ Lord Zhang Yi was staring into emptiness. His eyes were on Kai, but his gaze passed through him. ‘Not at all.’

Kai remembered a recently discovered painting which had suggested there was more to dragon history than the dragon monarchs ever wished to reveal. Could it be that a few of the very old dragons, like Lord Zhang Yi, knew something about this?