Page 9 of Curse of the Midnight Dragon (The Moonlight Dragon #2)

Celestina

All the large cities on the Jayden Continent had built sturdy walls around them during the War of the Magics. I’d heard about them from storytellers and travel books. Some of the cities had let their walls crumble in the centuries that followed the war. Other cities had knocked the walls down as their settlements expanded beyond their ancient borders. In Earst, the castle was a veritable fortress. The village surrounding it was too small to be considered a city. And their only protection from invading forces—as recently experienced when the Tiburnian’s had attacked—was to bring the citizens into the castle before the castle warden closed and sealed the portcullis. Anyone left outside the castle walls had to fend for themselves. There was no protection for the villagers’ livestock, houses, businesses, or deeply loved belongings.

In Fein’s capital city of Sukoon, the city walls were meticulously maintained as if the kingdom expected invaders to try and breach the thick, tall walls at any moment. And perhaps they did expect that. I didn’t exactly know since Soren never talked about such things with me. And yeah, even though we’d had an important conversation last night (among doing other things), I still couldn’t shake the feeling of doom that was hanging over me, making me think there might be something big I was missing, something Soren wasn’t telling me that could destroy our relationship.

I stood on the deck of the ship shortly after we’d docked on the outskirts of Tiburnian’s capital city. I kept trying to swallow down the dread that refused to go away. Don’t borrow tomorrow’s troubles , I scolded myself. If everything in my relationship with Soren came tumbling down tomorrow, I wouldn’t regret a moment of our time together.

The rising sun glinted off the pair of golden raven statues perched on the tops of the plinths that flanked two massive iron gates. The gates were open, letting people pass in and out of the City of Ganfrid. Not freely, though. Just like in Sukoon, guards manned the gates, taking the time to speak with everyone entering or leaving.

I frowned at that. How are we going to get inside the city without alerting the entire army that we’ve arrived?

Gracious, the walls and the gates surrounding the city seemed to soar up into the sky. Palm trees that were as tall as the walls lined the perimeter. The palms were so tall and skinny, they provided little shade from the southern coast’s punishing-hot sun. The spiky green fronds made loud shush-shush sounds whenever the humid breeze stirred.

A man with medium-length dark hair that had been slicked back with some kind of oil waved as he approached the ship. I glanced around me. Besides the little green lizards, which had traveled with us from Earst and then from Fein, I was the only one on the ship’s deck. The man wore lightweight silks that flowed as he walked quickly toward the gangplank that the crewmembers had lowered not long after securing the ship to the dock with several thick ropes.

“Hello!” he called out, smiling broadly. Too broadly ?

“Soren!” I called. I wasn’t armed. And even if I were, I wasn’t planning on taking unnecessary risks. “Anyone?” I whistled. “We have company!”

Soren popped his head out of the doorway that led to a nearby storeroom. “Be right there!”

Driscoll sauntered on to the deck. He wore no swords or any visible weapons. He’d changed out of the Fein’s military uniform of a black tunic and leggings and into a lightweight white sleeveless shirt and tan linen pants that had a loose fit. On his feet he wore sandals.

I’d never seen sandals in person before, but I’d read about them in books. And those strappy things tied to his feet had to be sandals…not that I was going to ask Driscoll.

The spy nodded at me as he made his way to the gangplank.

“Oy!” he called to the man approaching our ship. “You’re early.”

A lizard leaped from the side of the ship onto the dock. Another followed. The man heading our way didn’t seem to notice them, I was glad to see. I didn’t want to be blamed for causing yet another outbreak of lizards in yet another kingdom. Not that it was my fault that the lizards had followed the Fein’s army out of Earst. But knowing that didn’t stop me from feeling guilty.

“If we’re going to sneak inside, we need to get moving,” said the man as he jogged up the gangplank. He was wearing a curved sword at his hip and had a purple paper-wrapped package tucked under his arm.

He bumped elbows with Driscoll, a form of greeting I’d never seen before. “Well met, old friend,” the stranger said to the spy. “I hope the waters were good to you.”

“We had a little run-in with some dragons.” He gestured toward the damaged hull. “The ship is singed but otherwise unscathed.”

“That must have been terrifying.” As the man said this, his gaze darted in my direction. His lips formed the shape of a smile, although there was nothing friendly about the expression as he inched toward me. It was much too predatory. Too much like Krisp’s. Never again would I let anyone get close enough to treat me that way.

So, when he moved even closer, I backed up. Quickly.

And hit a wall. Wait. There shouldn’t be a wall in the middle of the deck. I pressed my palm to the wall I was leaning against and discovered that it was not a wall, but a chest.

“I’ve got you, Princess,” Soren whispered against my hair, igniting memories of the things we had done last night. My cheeks suddenly felt like they’d been blasted by dragon fire. Just thinking of the way he’d made my body burn had my body craving more.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a gentle squeeze.

I smiled up at him, and my smile froze. “What are you wearing?” He was dressed nearly identically to Driscoll, with a sleeveless white tunic and loose-fitting tan linen pants. Only, on Soren, with his corded arm muscles on display like that, the outfit looked yummy. My heart beat double time. “You look—”

“Ridiculous,” Soren said. “I know.” He tugged at the tunic as if it were strangling him despite the loose fit.

“I don’t know. I like it nearly enough to rip it off you,” I said, my mouth starting to water at the sight of all that skin.

“Really?” Soren sounded honestly surprised. The corner of his mouth tilted up like it did when he was truly pleased by something I said or did. “Really?” he repeated.

I swallowed over a lump of lust and nodded. With the memories of last night’s passion still so freshly marked on my skin, I found myself wanting to pull him back to our cabin and spend the day there with him instead of undertaking this risky trip into an enemy city to talk to my traitor parents.

“Well then,” he said, standing even straighter. “I suppose the Tiburnian fashions do serve a purpose.” He waggled his eyebrows.

“We’re wearing these clothes,” Gray said as he emerged from that little storeroom dressed identically to Soren, “because we need to blend in with the locals.”

The man who’d come aboard the ship cleared his throat. “General Kitmun,” he said and thrust out his hand to Soren. “I’m so pleased to finally meet a warrior as accomplished as you are. Your brother has spoken about you. I’m Captain Proctor.”

Soren glanced at the man’s outstretched hand but didn’t take it. I almost kicked Soren in the shin for insulting the captain by refusing to shake his hand. I would have kicked him if I didn’t think doing so would make Soren look weak in front of our enemy. Soren often lamented how he never knew how to handle situations that required any sort of diplomacy. He’d much rather swing his sword than chit-chat with politicians. And this man, despite his status as “captain” held himself with an arrogant cock of his head and overly decorated clothing, reminding me of the arrogant courtiers that filled Queen Beatrice’s court—the ones who would sell their own children if it meant gaining more influence.

I started to speak up for Soren—I’d had enough experience as a Queen’s Lady to know how to play the political game of words—but Captain Proctor spoke before I could.

“My goodness,” he said as he lowered his outstretched hand and closed it into a fist at his side. His gaze had returned to stare at me as if I were a treat for his taking. “Your dragon is as tame as a kitten, isn’t she? She lets you touch her and…more, I see.” I blushed as I felt his gaze zero in on the bruises and bites lining my neck. “I envy you of that.”

Soren’s fingers tightened where they gripped my shoulder, but he didn’t rebuke the man. I supposed he had to hold back because Captain Proctor was the one tasked with getting Soren, Gray, Raya, and me past the guards, into the city, and to where my parents now lived.

Patty had fumed earlier, but both Gray and Soren had insisted the teen stay onboard the ship with Cullen’s spooky—and quite probably deadly—spy crewmen.

The captain licked his lips. “Here.” He handed Soren the package that had been tucked under his arm. “Have the dragon put this on. It’s standard wear for a woman of high status. And you said another woman is accompanying us?” He looked around as if he might find Raya lurking behind one of the singed masts. “I included a second dress for your other companion.”

Soren’s eyes narrowed. “Where’s my brother? He was supposed to meet us here at the docks.”

The captain tilted his head to one side. “Was he?” He shook his head. “He got tied up with that side project he’s doing for me in exchange for my help here. It’s been a real challenge. He said he’d try to meet up with you at the Vacker’s home.” He attempted again to hand Soren the package. “We need to get through the gates before the guards’ shift changes. Which means we need to hurry.”

This time Soren accepted the paper-wrapped package. “We’ll be ready in ten minutes.”

Soren accompanied me to the small storeroom, with Gray covering our flank. “I don’t like him,” I said. “How can we trust him? He’ll sell us to the first royal he finds.”

I wanted to stop this mad scheme. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that this was a terrible idea. The risk was simply too great.

“Both Cullen and Driscoll have used Captain Proctor for this purpose several times before,” Soren said. “And Cullen is doing the captain a huge favor right now, which means the captain owes us.”

“Is that what Cullen wrote about in his letter?” I asked. The letter that was probably in the belly of a large fish.

“Partly,” he answered. “You know Cullen. He goes on and on about so many things.”

Raya was waiting for us in the storeroom. Soren handed her the package.

“Your clothes,” he said as he stopped before stepping through the doorway. “Gray and I will be waiting outside the door. Don’t take too long. The Tiburnian man says we have a schedule to keep.”

“We’ll try our best,” Raya said. “But, sometimes, beauty can’t be rushed.” She flicked her long braid over her shoulder.

“Rush it today,” Soren snapped and closed the door.

“Testy.” Raya tsked. “You’d think he’d be in a better mood after the workout the two of you had last night.”

My face heated. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Raya nudged my shoulder with hers and laughed. “Liar. You know exactly what I mean. The two of you weren’t even trying to be quiet. Even with the noise of the wind and the sea, I could hear you…um…enjoying yourselves.”

I buried my face in my hands and groaned. “Goddess. Your cabin isn’t anywhere near ours. Everyone must have heard. Including that awful Driscoll.”

“Even him.” Raya laughed again. “Don’t worry about it. You’re with the prince. No one will dare question your unbridled lust for him.”

“You’re not helping!”

“I know.” She gave me a smile that showed off her vampire fangs before ripping open the paper package. “Now, let’s see what we have to wear.”

The fabric that slithered out of the package couldn’t be right. For one thing, there wasn’t enough of it to make one dress, much less two. And for another, the pale pink fabric was so thin, it looked like it would tear in a stiff breeze.

“Oh no,” Raya said, pushing the fabric at me. “I’m not wearing that.”

“But the captain said this was what women in Tiburnia wear,” I countered, not yet able to figure out how the slippery fabric bundle formed a full dress. I held one of the pieces of fabric up and gave it a little shake. “This can’t be right. It’s not long enough to cover…anything.”

“Luckily, I came prepared.” Raya grabbed her leather travel bag and dug around in it until she pulled out a silky, light blue dress with a swirling design in various shades of blue. “This came from a trader who said he picked up the dress in a port near here. It’ll be close enough.”

I peered into her leather bag. “You don’t happen to have another one of those dresses in there, do you?” While the fabric was the same lightweight quality and lacked any covering for the arms, at least hers covered her legs.

“Sorry, Sky Girl. I just have the one dress. You’re going to have to wear one of those.”

“Maybe I can wear both at the same time?” I held the two flimsy dresses up against my body as if they were patches from a patchwork quilt. “One to cover my legs and another for my torso?”

There was a sharp knock on the door. “Are you almost done in there?” Gray shouted. “You’ve been taking forever.”

“We’ve only been but a minute!” Raya shouted back. She then lowered her voice. “We do need to blend in with the locals if we’re going to get in and out of Ganfrid unnoticed. Here, let me help you with the dress. I’ve seen women wearing clothing cut like this before. And it can be a lovely look…even if there’s not nearly enough of it.”

Raya and I both managed to get dressed and braid our hair in the style Raya said she’d seen Tiburnian women wearing. The braids circled around into a pair of big hoops that ultimately formed crowns on the tops of our heads. It felt odd but wasn’t unattractive when I peered into the mirror Raya had found in that leather travel bag of hers.

The dress, on the other hand, was another story. It was too sheer! And too short! I kept tugging on the hem to make certain my bottom wasn’t on display for anyone walking behind me.

When we exited the storeroom, Soren took a hasty step toward me. He stopped himself and swallowed hard.

“Sky Girl…that dress…” His voice sounded rough.

“It’s ridiculous,” I finished for him, echoing what he’d said earlier about his outfit. “And indecent.” Certainly, he wouldn’t want his bonded partner walking through a city dressed this way. Surely, he’d help me find something better to wear.

“It’s…” He shook his head. His eyes darkened. “Goddess, that dress makes me want to toss you over my shoulder and take you back to our cabin.”

“Not again.” Gray groaned. “We already lost a night of sleep because you can’t keep your hands off our princess.”

“What can I say?” Soren didn’t sound or look the least bit embarrassed. “She’s addictive.”

Gray tossed his arm around Soren’s shoulder. “Never thought I’d see the day you’d fall so hard for someone.” He slapped Soren’s chest and backed off. “It’s disgusting.”

Soren chuckled. “We can’t wear swords when walking through the streets. But are we adequately armed?”

Raya tapped her thigh. “That’s why I had to bring my own summer dress.”

“I have a short sword and a couple of daggers,” Gray said.

“Really? Where?” Raya eyed Gray up and down.

“A guy’s gotta keep his secrets.” Gray winked at Raya. She punched his arm. And the two of them headed over to where Captain Proctor was chatting with Driscoll while waiting for us.

When Gray walked away, I squinted at him. As a human in a vampire army, he tended to carry more weapons than his preternaturally stronger counterparts. But I couldn’t discern an outline of a dagger or a sword anywhere beneath his lightweight clothes.

Soren hooked his arm with mine. “His sword collapses into the size of a dagger,” he said, answering my unasked question.

“Are you sure you can’t read minds?” I asked, not for the first time.

“Wouldn’t that be useful?” he said. “Now, let’s get this reunion with your parents over with, so I can enjoy that dress of yours in private.”

I shivered at the thought. “Quietly, though.”

“But I like it when you scream for me, Sky Girl.”