So my familiar is a tasty morsel for the very Emperor himself? How does he want to take the dragon and the Gift of Darkness? And did anyone ask my opinion? I’m not going to play to someone else’s tune, even if it’s our Lord!
But I must appear at the Rite… where two people watch every move I make. One might save me from being turned into a puppet in someone else’s hands, but the price is high. The other will break me for pleasure, taking the Darkness that was promised to the ruling family four generations ago.
Will I manage to slip away from both of them, keeping both the Protector and the magic to myself?