Fathom had been given his own suite of rooms in the Night Palace, which he was sure he would appreciate very much if he could ever find them again.

“This hallway looks familiar,” he said, hesitating at another intersection.

“Black marble walls and mirrors every three steps?” Indigo said. “You’re right. Because that’s what every hallway in this castle looks like.”

“The mirror thing is weird, isn’t it?” he whispered. “I’m not the only one who thinks so?”

“NightWings are very pretty and very special,” she informed him. “They deserve to be reminded of that all the time, everywhere they go.”

He laughed. They were lucky there weren’t any NightWings around to hear them. “Pearl would probably love it, too.”

“Well, she can decorate the Summer Palace with as many mirrors as she wants,” Indigo said. She started down the new hallway and he hurried to catch up with her.

“The Summer Palace?” he echoed. “I thought she wanted nothing to do with that place.”

“She’s changed her mind — you didn’t hear?” Indigo glanced over, then down at her claws as though she’d just remembered that no one talked to him. “Everyone thinks the Island Palace is haunted. She can’t keep any servants there, and most of the dragons who were at the — the party never want to go there again. So she’s moving all surface palace business to the Summer Palace and abandoning the Island Palace.”

“Oh.” Fathom blinked. It made sense. He himself had trouble walking through the Island Palace without remembering bloody talonprints everywhere. The smell of jasmine sometimes made him sick to his stomach, and he never wanted to see a red hibiscus again as long as he lived.

But still — that had been the SeaWings’ above-water palace for generations. Was it gone forever now?

A black dragon carrying a tray came out of a door a few steps ahead of them.

“Excuse me,” Indigo called. “We’re looking for the guest suites.”

“I can take you there,” he said with a bow. “This way.”

As they followed him, Fathom watched Indigo out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t imagining it — she changed completely when there were other dragons around. She squared her shoulders and stood up taller; her voice went deeper and more commanding. The spear in her talons was suddenly a weapon rather than a prop. She really looked like she was ready to kill someone to protect him. Like a true bodyguard.

That should make it easier for him to keep her at a distance, if he could remember to think of her that way. Just a guard. Not the most important dragon in my life.

“Here you are,” said the NightWing servant, gesturing with his tail at a large black door that looked very much like all the other doors they’d passed. “The guest suite for visiting SeaWings.”

“Thank you,” Fathom said. “Um. When is breakfast?”

The black dragon snorted a laugh. “Around midday,” he said. “NightWings never wake up before then, unless the queen rises early and commands our attendance. Usually we stay awake all night and go to sleep at sunrise.”

“Oh,” Fathom said, shivering at the strangeness of this kingdom.

The NightWing paused for a moment, looking Fathom up and down as though he were expecting to see something magic happen. Evidently disappointed, he bowed again and whisked away.

“This tribe is weird,” Indigo observed, shaking her head.

The door opened into a dark antechamber, where droning snores announced that Wharf and Lionfish were fast asleep. Indigo frowned and stepped toward them, but Fathom stopped her with an outstretched wing.

“Let them sleep,” he whispered. “It was a long flight here.”

“They’re supposed to wake up when someone comes through here,” she whispered back. “Like for instance someone planning to attack you. That’s kind of their whole job.”

“And they already hate it,” he observed, heading toward the inner chamber. “We don’t need to make it worse by waking them up to yell at them on their first night here.”

They slipped through into the next room and closed the door on the snoring. In here, where Fathom was supposed to sleep, the only sounds were the splash of a fountain in the corner and the rush of wind outside on the balcony. Several small candles were set around the room, flickering their orange light against the darkness.

He realized that this was the first time he’d been alone with Indigo since … since the massacre.

“I’ll have to yell at them tomorrow, though,” Indigo said, looking unexcited about that prospect. “I wonder if they even bothered to search this room.” She shook out her wings and snapped into bodyguard mode again, poking her spear into all the corners and lifting all the rugs.

“You don’t have to do that,” Fathom said quietly. “I know I’m the real danger here.” He caught one of the billowing curtains and tied it down, avoiding her eyes.

“Is that what you think?” she said. She stopped, only a few steps away from him. “Do you think I’m here to save other dragons from you?”

“You should be,” he said. He held out his front talons, watching the candlelight glow through the webs between his claws. “These are dangerous.”

“Not to me.” Indigo suddenly gathered his talons between hers and stepped closer, holding them near her heart. “Fathom, not to me.”

The curtains rippled in the breeze, reaching for them with long soft tendrils. He was close enough to feel her breath on his scales. He wanted to dive into her eyes and catch the tiny flames reflected there. He wanted to tell her how much he had missed her.

“Especially to you,” he said. “You shouldn’t have come here with me.” He tore himself out of her grasp and turned away, blinking back tears.

“I thought … I thought it was Pearl who was keeping us apart,” Indigo said. “She said it was your idea, but I didn’t believe her.”

“She’s right, though,” Fathom said. “You make me more dangerous. No matter how many oaths I swear, there’s always you — the one dragon who could make me use my power again. Don’t you understand that?”

There was a long pause. Finally he rubbed his eyes and turned to look at her.

Indigo had her wings folded back and was studying him seriously. He’d seen this thoughtful face on her before, whenever they’d been asked to debate two sides of an issue in history class. The way she listens. The way she really thinks. Two more things about her he’d forgotten he missed so much.

“You’re not Albatross,” she said.

“But I might be,” he said.

“I’m not leaving you,” she said. “Do you want me to leave you?”

Say yes. Say yes immediately so she’ll believe you and she’ll have to go.

But nothing came out. The words were caught in his throat, swallowed by the dark room and the nearness of her, after missing her for so long.

A moment passed, and she stepped toward him again, reaching to brush one of his wings with hers. He forgot to breathe.

“I trust you not to use your power,” she said softly. “I’m not afraid of you. I believe we’re safer together, and I think I can protect you from Darkstalker. So I’m not leaving.”

Fathom fought with himself, knowing what he should say, knowing he should push her away and send her home. That normal, happy life was waiting for her back there.

“I should go to sleep,” he said finally instead.

“Yes,” she said, making her “bodyguard face” again. “I’m going to sleep here, at the balcony door, to make sure no one tries to come in this way.”

“All right,” Fathom said. He was torn between relief — he didn’t want to sleep in this big unfamiliar room alone — and anger at himself. Why are you letting her stay? Don’t you care about her?

Indigo lay down in the open archway that led to the balcony and coiled her tail around her talons. In the moonlight, she was a solemn silhouette, quiet as the depths of the ocean.

Fathom dragged a pile of blue-green pillows over to a spot near the fountain and punched them around for a long time before finally settling down on top of them.

“Well done,” Indigo called sleepily. “Those pillows will never question your authority again.”

He smothered his laugh. He didn’t want her to think that everything was fine, that they could be friends again the way they were before. If she had to stay, the only way this would work was if he kept her at a distance.

I mustn’t let the NightWings know she’s important to me, he realized. That could put her in danger, too.

Worries tumbled around in his head as he drifted into sleep. Is it safe to like Darkstalker? What does Queen Vigilance expect from me? Are Wharf and Lionfish spying on me and Indigo and reporting back to Pearl?

What’s going to happen to us now?