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What I did to Sophie is unforgivable, but it’s too late to change things. I made my choice—an ugly, necessary one—and now I have to live with the consequences. My sorrow is nothing compared to what Sophie must feel.
If tonight goes as planned, I’ll be one step closer to becoming Vivien Featherswallow, Draconic Translator.
Every act of translation requires sacrifice—it is this harsh truth that made me fall in love. There exists no direct correlation between the words of one language and another, and no translation can be entirely faithful to its original. So, while a person can more or less bridge the gap between languages using words, there is always some deeper meaning left unsaid, a secret invisible to those who only have one language with which to navigate the world. A translator, on the other hand, is a creature that flies with several pairs of wings.
Would she have done so if she knew Sophie was missing because of me? If she knew how I tore her family apart?
The silver box is no bigger than my hand, but packed with—if I remember correctly—mercury fulminate crystals.
“For fifty-seven years, the Peace Agreement has kept us safe,”
“So . . . this is a civil war?” I say. “With the government and the Dragon Queen on one side, and the rebels on the other?”
“Welcome, all of you, to the Department for the Defense Against Dragons.”
“In any case, you’re not Third. Otherwise, you’d understand why I don’t trust him.”
“Dragons also communicate via sonar. It’s a form of echolocation, the same used by whales and bats.”
“Dragons communicate via echolocation when separated by long distances, or are underwater. Have any of you ever heard about echolocation and how it works?”
“I’m saying,” Atlas says pointedly, “that when you oppress a community for centuries you can’t exactly be surprised when it rises up against you.”
“To control languages, to control words, is to control what people know.”
“Nullam dominum nisi arenam et mare. No master but sand and sea.”
“I have no interest in political debates—” “Only because you are privileged enough not to be concerned by them.”
“Every time we shed, we leave an old self behind. Every time we shed, it is a chance to be someone new. A chance to change our minds.”
He called it reading the dragons’ thoughts. The Bulgarian humans forced dragons into fighting rings, kidnapped their young, and used echolocation to experiment on them. They did terrible things.”
“You’re right that what the rebels are trying to achieve will take years, because inequality is so deeply entrenched in the foundations of our society that it’s going to need to be dug out, rock by prejudiced rock.”
“Peace isn’t peace if it’s only given to some,” Marquis says. “And I know you know it.”
“Oh, Vivien,” says Wyvernmire with a sigh. “You are trying to be honorable. I admire that, truly I do. But the truth is you’re like me. You do what’s best for you.”
“Remissio dolor redemptus est,” Chumana says. “Forgiveness is suffering redeemed.”
“I was nothing but a pretty plaything to my father and his friends,” Gideon says, eyes unblinking.
