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him.”
    “And we shouldn’t lose any more daylight,” Zollin said. “It’s good to see you, father.”
    “And you, son. Take care of my grandbaby.”
    “We will,” Brianna said.
    “We’ll be here waiting when you return,” Quinn said, and he saw a look cross Brianna’s face that he didn’t recognize, but it was gone in an instant and Zollin was embracing him. He stood back and watched the two of them hurry to the dragons who were waiting patiently nearby. Brianna jumped into the air, her body spinning in a summersault that was higher than any person should have been able to leap. She landed lightly on the big black dragon’s back, settling herself quickly as the huge creature’s wings unfurled.
    Zollin rose up into the air magically, a sight that still made Quinn’s jaw drop. Zollin was slower to get settled on the huge muscular shoulders of the green behemoth. Quinn wasn’t certain, but he thought perhaps Ferno had grown even larger since the last time he’d seen the dragon. That had been over a year before when Zollin and Brianna had returned in triumph to Orrock. He waved as his son took to the air, and then watched the dragons fly out of sight. The small farm was quiet with everyone gone. Quinn looked over to his horse, which was still tied to the post near the back of Zollin’s house. It looked at Quinn nervously and then dropped its head to munch on more grass.
    Quinn yawned and thought about going back inside and getting some more sleep, but then decided against it. Instead he saddled the horse and led it away from the house. There would be plenty of time for sleep, he decided, once he had checked on Mansel and learned more about Brynar’s missing cow.

Chapter 7
    Roleena loved mornings at sea. She made it a habit to rise before dawn each day, partly because she didn’t trust her crew not to kill her in her sleep, and partly because she loved to watch the sunrise from the command deck of her ship.
    The Crest Dancer was truly her ship. She had taken control of it, faced down the mutinous crew and then won their allegiance. The ship’s former captain had been a weak man. Roleena knew that when he allowed the wizard Zollin to leave the ship without consequence. Roleena’s blood boiled whenever she thought of the wizard. He was hardly more than a boy, just barely into manhood, and probably more to blame for the chaos in the Five Kingdoms than people thought. Some were calling him a savior; others knew the truth. He was an instigator. Trouble seemed to follow him wherever he went. At sea, men would call a man like that a jinx and be rid of him forever by casting him overboard, but the captain had done nothing. Not when the huge black dragon had attacked them and ruined her leg. And not when Zollin summoned a sea creature to their ship, further endangering the entire crew.
    Roleena had looked the captain in the eye when she killed him. She had been close enough to smell the oil he used to keep his thinning hair slicked back and out of his eyes when on deck. She had gone into his cabin, lured him close, then slipped a long, thin dagger between his ribs. The fat fool had soiled himself before dying, and Roleena had been forced to air her new cabin out for two whole days before she could stand the smell.
    All Roleena had needed to take the ship was the help of one small group of disgruntled sailors. Slice, the ringleader with the horrid scar across his cheek, had thrown in his support when she announced what she had done. The other passengers on board had been set adrift in the ship’s longboat or given to the crew as playthings. The crew had taken to the pirate life quickly and quite happily. She had known they would. They were men, after all, separated from their families and any real sense of morality. They were like sheep in that regard. They would follow a strong leader, and Roleena ruled her crew with a quiet rage. None dared cross her openly, and once Slice’s band vocalized their support, the