A smile lit her tired eyes. “Don’t worry about it. To be honest, I missed the big galoot when it was at your house. It’s just that things are a bit tense with all the wyverns being prickly with one another, although, thank god, the issues with Kostya are now over. That stress, at least, is gone.”

“I know Drake will probably have a fit at the idea, but would you like Gabriel to make sure everything is OK with you? Maybe the baby is moving or something.”

“Oh, she’s moved. She’s always moving, usually kicking me right in the bladder,” Aisling answered, shifting again. She heaved a sigh that seemed to come all the way up from her toes. “I just hope she decides to come soon, because I’m awfully tired of feeling like a fully loaded Goodyear blimp.”

I glared at Jim as it opened its mouth. “Don’t you dare!”

“Sheesh!” was all it said, looking away.

Aisling laughed, drawing Drake’s attention from Fiat, who was loudly demanding to be released. He hurried over to us just as Kaawa entered the room along with Nora.

“Are you in pain, kincsem?” Drake asked.

“No. Just need to use the expectant Goodyear blimp’s room. Help me up?”

He lifted her up, watching with worried eyes as she toddled out the door.

“Gabriel would be happy to check her over if you’re worried,” I told Drake, feeling a slight pang of betrayal toward Aisling, since I knew she hated to be fussed over.

He actually thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. “Our midwife will be here in a few hours. If Aisling goes into labor before then, we will have Kaawa attend to her.”

I’d forgotten that Gabriel’s mom was a midwife, as well. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to be of help. I’m afraid I’m utterly useless when it comes to this sort of thing, but I want you and Aisling to know that if I can do anything to make her more comfortable, I’ll be delighted to do it.”

Drake thanked me, and moved toward the door, ostensibly to greet Fiat, but clearly waiting for Aisling to return. I wandered over to where Kaawa and Nora were chatting.

“Do you mind if I watch the shard being re-formed?” Nora interrupted herself to ask me, her eyes bright with interest behind the red rims of her glasses. “From what Kaawa tells me, it’s truly a remarkable occasion, and I would dearly like to witness it, if I may.”

“Of course. I don’t know that there’s going to be any fireworks, but you’re welcome to stay and watch. I just hope I don’t bungle the ceremony.” I hoped no one saw quite how nervous I was about the upcoming event. My stomach felt like it was filled with jumping beans, and I had an uncomfortable presentiment that something was going to go horribly wrong.

“You’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Nora said, flashing a smile at me. “I have no doubt Kaawa prepared you well for it.”

“My daughter could do no less,” Kaawa said with simple majesty, making me feel simultaneously unworthy of such trust and filled to overflowing with a determination to do both Gabriel and her proud.

A persistent worry soon took care of any warm, fuzzy feeling I might have had at Kaawa’s praise.

“Are you sure now is a good time to do this?” I asked Gabriel, pulling him aside for a moment. “Kostya is here, and Baltic is still out there doing god knows what, and now Fiat is here and is pissed as hell. Maybe we should do this later, when no other dragons are around.”

He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to him, speaking into my temple. “Do not fear, little bird. I won’t let anything happen to you or the dragon heart.”

“I know you won’t, but . . .” I stopped, unable to put into words the heavy feeling that hung over my heart. The dragon shard had been oddly quiet inside me, much to my surprise. I had been grateful that it hadn’t tried to get me to throw myself on any of the other wyverns present, but now that I had a chance to think about it, it hadn’t been prompting me to do anything particularly dragonish. It was as if it was holding its breath in anticipation.

That thought made me more nervous than anything else.

“No, I will not sit down! I have had enough of this treatment ! You will release me now or pay the consequences!” Fiat yelled, jerking his arm out of István’s hold.

Everyone stopped talking to eye him.

“I have been unfairly detained by Drake and Gabriel,” Fiat yelled. “You are all witnesses to this fact! I demand that a sárkány be called to punish them!”

Chuan Ren’s eyes narrowed on him. When Fiat had entered the room, both her son and her husband had been blocking her, obviously intending to prevent her from killing him dead on the spot. “You have no status in the weyr,” she said now, pushing aside her son to stride forward.

I saw the glint of metal in her hand before I could speak, but she wasn’t fast enough.

Drake had just unlocked the handcuffs that held Fiat, which was a lucky thing considering Fiat caught Chuan Ren’s wrist just as she was about to plunge the dagger into his heart.

“Oh, please,” he said, scorn dripping from his voice as he twisted her wrist. “Do you think I have been wyvern as long as I have without anticipating assassination attempts?”

She snarled something that was most likely obscene, but yielded when both Drake and Jian grabbed her arms. With an immense amount of control, she shook off both men and stood watching Fiat with hooded eyes. “I repeat: you are no longer recognized by any sept within the weyr.”

“You are mistaken,” Fiat said just as calmly, rubbing his wrist where the handcuffs had bound him. “I am the wyvern of the red dragons.”

“You lie,” Chuan Ren spat. “You have never challenged me for my sept. You were too cowardly to even face me when I was released from Abaddon.”

“I don’t have need to challenge you,” he said, shaking his head as if saddened by her ignorance. “I challenged, and defeated, the previous wyvern, the one who took over when you were banished. Thus, by the laws that govern the weyr, I am the recognized wyvern, not you.”

Chuan Ren seethed, positively seethed with fury.

“I’m surprised she’s not exploding all over him,” I murmured in Gabriel’s ear.

“She has been wyvern for more than a millennium,” he answered in an equally low tone. “You do not remain in power that long without having the ability to control your emotions.”