Chapter Seventeen, Part I

                                    

                                              
"That was it?" Tesa hissed to Neela as they were led out of the Mage Council's building. "They went to all that trouble to drag us in there and that was all they said?"
                          
"Shh," Neela said with a finger to her lips. "Not here."
                          
Glenna glanced over her shoulder at them and gave Tesa a grim smile. Good. At least somebody agreed with her.

                          
When they returned to their courtyard, the sun was above the buildings and the air hot around them. The dragons drifted down into the courtyard and landed on their tree perches. 
                          
The Yennar-Leian sensers—mages who could sense magic and use spellstones, but not craft them—who had been sent to escort them disappeared after leaving them in the courtyard, but Tesa had no doubt, now, that somebody would still be watching them.
                          
The group of Arethians stood loosely together in the courtyard, as though waiting for something. Malía supplied it.
                          
"I guess we get a bit of a rest, then," she said in a resigned voice. "We may as well use it, after all the excitement we've had."
                          
"A rest?" Tesa squeaked. "How can we rest when we know the dragons are up there, Arethia's been taken over, and nobody's going to help us?"
                          
"I didn't hear anybody say that," Malía said evenly. 
                          
"No, but it's obvious they're not going to," Tesa said, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
                          
"I wouldn't be so sure," Kiana said. "I got the impression that their decision-making process is somewhat collaborative. We don't know how many of them agree with the two hotheads at the end."
                          
"Being the one to shout the loudest doesn't make one right," Renna said. As he said it, he directed a pointed stare at Tesa. She frowned.
                          
"What if they decide not to help us get to the spires and they decide that we're no longer welcome here? I'm not going to lay around and do nothing when we should be preparing," Tesa said. She felt like now might be a good time to stomp to her room, but Malía held up a hand.
                          
"Let's not be so hasty," she said. She looked to Tesa as if she were resisting rolling her eyes. "I didn't get much of a chance to say more before you started up an argument again. Be careful, or you will be confined to your room for a rest."
                          
Tesa blushed and sat on the edge of the fountain near Orrie, who had climbed down for a drink. Impulsively, Tesa looked around to see if Mr. Mao had reappeared, as if he knew she were planning something, but she didn't see him. She seemed to have lost him after the banquet.
                          
"Since we've arrived," Malía continued, "we've been busy with meetings, tests, or dinners for the majority of the time. Hardly space to breathe. Hardly time to mount a search for the dragons. Despite all that, we've found where the dragons are. We just need to get to them. It will be best if we get the help of the mages of Yennar Lei. I have high hopes of that." She glanced around the courtyard before she spoke again, this time in a lower voice.
                          
"If they decide not to help us, we don't know enough about this place to make another plan. We don't even know how to get out of this temple." She'd been leaning forward as she spoke, and now sat back and straightened her back. "So, let's take this opportunity to rest from our duties as honored guests. It's up to you to decide which activities seem most restful," Malía finished.
                          
Tesa's forehead wrinkled. Was Malía saying what she thought she was saying? Renna and Kiana were nodding knowingly, and Neela had her arms crossed in front of her and a determined, but faraway look. She was already talking with Aerix. Only Glenna appeared to be as unsure as Tesa was, and she caught Tesa's glance.