Gren wrapped her front legs and wings around her trembling granddaughter. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the exit of the palace, towards the region where black smoke was filling the air. If it weren’t for Lulu’s constant fanning with her wings, the smoke would’ve poured inside of the building. “How audacious,” Gren said through gritted teeth. “To think the humans I so graciously pardoned because of Gloria would harm her like so.”

Behind the two cursed dragons, Kondra cleared her throat and shuffled backwards on her hindlegs. She was sitting on her haunches, her neck partially retracted into her shoulders as her head hung towards the ground. No one knew she was the one that had asked the humans outside to shoot at the first cursed dragon they saw exiting the palace. Her brows furrowed, and her eyes narrowed. If Gloria ever found out she was shot full of holes because of Grandma Kondra, would the little cursed dragon speak to her again? Likely not. Only the humans Kondra had spoken with knew it was her idea. Kondra’s eyes narrowed even further, and she climbed to her feet.

“Where are you going?” Gren asked upon seeing Kondra head towards the exit. “Can’t you see Gloria is distressed? How can you leave at a time like this?”

Kondra snorted. “I’m going to make things right,” she said. “Those humans will never hurt another dragon ever again.” She patted Gloria’s tail. “You won’t have to worry about them hurting you when you go outside. There won’t be anything to be afraid of.”

Gloria’s head poked out of Gren’s wings. She stared at Kondra with her big, round eyes, and a wave of guilt washed over the holy dragon. From how Gloria was looking at her, it was almost as if the little dragon knew her injury was Kondra’s fault, but that shouldn’t be possible unless she had spoken to the humans. Kondra turned her head away, unable to meet her granddaughter’s gaze.

Ramon exchanged a glance with Kozabokget as Kondra left the palace. “Didn’t those humans say a holy dragon told them to attack us outside our home?” Ramon whispered.

“Yes,” Kozabokget said, whispering back. “It could be your Grandma Kondra is feuding with Grimmoldesser and wanted to hurt him. It could also be because humans are sneaky; they’ll say and do anything to survive. Rather than admit they wanted to hunt you two, since they failed, they threw the blame onto your grandmother to take pressure off of themselves.”

Ramon tilted his head. “How do we know which one it is?”

“You can read their expressions,” Kozabokget whispered. “However, it’s difficult to do that because every human is unique. One human’s lying expression can be another human’s constipated face. Another”—

“What’s a constipated face?”

“It’s the face you make when you’re having trouble getting your poop to come out.”

Ramon tilted his head to the other side. “How do I know what that looks like? I’m not supposed to watch people when they poop. Wait. Am I supposed to look in a mirror when I poop?”

Kozabokget stared at Ramon. There was something wrong with the young holy dragon’s head. Before she could think up a reply to his question, a voice interrupted her.

“What are you two whispering about over there?” Leila asked, raising an eyebrow at Ramon and Kozabokget.

“We’re talking about the face someone makes when they poop,” Ramon said. He blinked at his mom. “Do you know what you look like when you poop?”

Leila shifted her gaze onto Kozabokget, and the pink-eyed goat hung its head. After staring at the goat for a bit longer, considering whether or not to stuff it back into the evil-sealing tower, Leila turned her head back towards Ramon. “No,” she said. “I’ve never really thought about it. By the way, did you finish all the work Grandma Gren wanted you to do?”

Ramon’s face fell. “Gloria didn’t finish her work either. How come she doesn’t have to do it?”

“She was attacked by humans,” Leila said. “She needs some time to recover.”

When I was attacked by Grandma Kondra and Grandma Gren, why wasn’t I given time to recover? Ramon thought. However, he knew better than to voice his thoughts out loud. A sigh escaped from his mouth as he picked Kozabokget up and placed her on his head. Then, he shuffled to his room. Once he closed the door behind himself, he glanced at Kozabokget. “Okay, going back to what we were saying, how do you know if a human is lying or not?”

Kozabokget hopped off of Ramon’s paw and looked up at him. “The easiest way is to capture a fairy that knows a truth curse,” the pink-eyed goat said. “You can make it cast the truth curse on the human and interrogate them. The fairy that lives inside of Vur should be capable of using the truth curse.”

Ramon’s eyes lit up before dimming. “It sounded like Grandma Kondra was going to get rid of all the humans,” he said. “By the time Vur comes back to visit, all the humans will already be gone. We won’t be able to tell if they were lying or not.”

Kozabokget raised an eyebrow. “Even if the humans are gone, isn’t there still someone we can ask? Place the truth curse on your grandmother and ask if she was the one that encouraged the humans to ambush dragons outside the palace.”

“But Grandma Kondra is going to leave too,” Ramon said. “She said she was going back to check on our uncles.”

Kozabokget shrugged. “It isn’t like you have to know right away,” she said. “In the future, when the time is right and both Vur and your grandmother are present, you can find out what you want then. Patience is a virtue. It’s how I managed to survive all that time in the tower.”

Ramon wrinkled his snout. “If patience is so good, then why were you trapped in the tower in the first place?”