Fifteen minutes later, Petra reached the training field perimeter.
She was intercepted by Captain Halvek before she made it past the equipment racks. The interception was efficient, direct, and carried the energy of a man who had been expecting a second incursion and had positioned himself accordingly.
"Can I help you?" Halvek asked, and the question was polite in the way that military questions are polite, which was to say, the politeness was structural rather than sincere.
"My apologies, Captain." Petra clasped her hands in front of her with the composed deference of a woman who had been delivering unwelcome messages on behalf of Bellatrix Drakenfell for long enough to develop a professional immunity to the reactions they generated. "The queen has sent me for the blue dragon, Avalon. For Onyx. She believes they are companions and would benefit from—"
"What do you mean?"
