Page 14 of Dragon Fight (The Dragon Queen #2)

14

“H ere she is!”

Kay’s voice was bright as I walked into the dining room on Brom’s arm at the end of the day, having gingerly negotiated my way down the stairs, with the others acting as our entourage.

“Lady Pippa! Should you be up and about?” Bernard asked.

“I’m fine, my lord, but thank you for your concern.” Brom’s father looked me over as I walked to the table and sank gratefully into the chair my husband held out for me, my other men arranging themselves either side of their wing commander and me. “Apparently dragon riders are made of sterner stuff.”

“Indeed,” he said with a smile, though I could see his concern.

“A good meal is what you need,” Kay said, nodding decisively. “We have a lovely big joint of lamb, with all the trimmings. Though I could send to the kitchen for some broth if you prefer?”

“Broth?” Soren frowned. “She needs meat, to give her strength.” And without so much as a by-your-leave, he grabbed my plate and started piling slices of the tender lamb onto it, even though protocol dictated that Prince Draven serve himself first.

However, that protocol did not need to be followed, because he was conspicuously absent.

Ged and Flynn assisted Soren in his endeavours, pointing out various dishes and discussing their potential benefits for healing. Ged picked up a bread and butter plate and started a separate collection of appropriate invalid delicacies when he felt Soren wasn’t moving fast enough.

“Ahh…” I said, looking at the mounds in alarm. “Riders…? Riders!” The three of them looked at me blankly. “I would need to be thrown from several horses to fit all of that in and I don’t have Glimmer to feed the scraps to. I thank you for your concern, but…” Soren and Ged sheepishly put the food before me and then sat down to their own repasts.

“Well, if you’ve got your appetite back, perhaps we should talk about the party?” Kay asked brightly.

“Wife…” Bernard growled.

“No, it’s fine.” I picked up my cutlery and cut into the lamb, feeling a little strange in doing so, because no-one else had moved. Instead, they all watched me as if to see whether I was capable of eating unassisted. Once I had taken a bite, however, everyone else set to their own meals. “What is it that you wish to talk about?”

“Are there any family members on your side who we should invite?” Kay asked. “I know it’s a long way from Skane to Harlston, but perhaps—”

“No family to speak of,” I said with a shake of my head. “We were always a very minor branch of the Aster family, and not one blessed with many children, unfortunately. It’s my belief that is why my step-mother set her sights on my father: there was no distant male cousin to inherit the property out from under her.”

“A terrible business,” Bernard said with a shake of his head. “Wouldn’t happen here in Harlston.”

I somehow doubted that but, rather than making that point, I focussed on eating my dinner.

“Well then, my dear, you’ll find you have an extensive one to call your own now,” Kay said kindly, before turning to Bernard. “We must invite your brothers and sisters.”

“All of them?” Bernard sighed. “That’ll put a kink in your plans, because the maids must have time to air out and prepare each room for your guests. You’ll need to set the date sometime later than you were hoping for.” As he turned away from his wife, he winked at me.

“Oh, well—”

“And Cook needs time to prepare a feast of that size. She’ll have to send some of the lads to the village to pick up supplies.”

“Well, then—”

“And then there’s travelling time. Even the dragons can’t possibly bring everyone and their luggage. Each of my siblings has their spouses and children. Venisha always wants to bring that damnable lap dog of hers.”

“Yes, well, perhaps we need a more intimate party for Pippa’s introduction to the family,” Kay amended. I felt bad at the sight of her visibly deflating, disappointment writ large on her face at not having the chance to show off her only child’s spouse, complete with golden dragon. Bernard’s eyes sparkled, though, as he provided the option of a future celebration.

“And we can do a proper introduction with the whole family at some point when Brom and Pippa are on leave. We’ll have plenty of time for preparations and, with sufficient notice, all of the family can make it to the estate under their own steam without having to bother the Royal Riders. Imagine what a grand affair you could plan with sufficient time.”

I felt I was catching a glimpse of what the marriage between Brom and I might be, some time in the future. Bernard had gently pointed out some of the flaws in Kay’s impulsive decision, without her losing face. Then, just as she was feeling downhearted at not being able to have what she had wished for, he had provided her with another opportunity to get exactly what she wanted, but in a way that would be more easily managed. I watched Kay’s eyes shine at the prospect of the future festivities, before I looked to my left at Brom.

He was watching me, not his parents, and he smiled slightly when he saw he had my attention. But this was more than a mild exchange of glances between a husband and wife. His hazel eyes burned with an intensity that was almost flammable. Daringly, I reached towards him to squeeze his hand. He didn’t let it go, even though it meant he was then reduced to eating his dinner by spiking morsels with his fork. His thumb swept a gentle path back and forth across my knuckles, raising little sparks of sensation in its path.

“So, for the immediate family, that’ll be your nephew, Charles, and his family. My cousin, Randall, and his wife might possibly be able to come as well.” Kay nodded decisively. “That will be more than enough.”

“I bow to your wisdom in these things, m’dear,” Bernard said before adding gravy to his plate.

The food was delicious. After having been healed by Glimmer, my body seemed to be more receptive to the different flavours in each dish, with the different herbs or spices exploding on my tongue. More than that, it was as though I heard, sensed, smelled, felt, everything so much more intensely. Was this how Glimmer had felt, emerging from a shell of pain out into a world that dizzied her with all of this array of stimulation?

Somewhat , she told me sleepily. But no pain now.

No pain , I agreed, feeling like a flirtatious maid as I glanced through my lashes at my husband and then, more surreptitiously, my lovers.

We hadn’t been able to explore things much further between us physically, for obvious reasons, and considering a sexual romp after an attempted assassination seemed insane. Yet, as I stared at each of them in turn, I began to feel warmth rising from deep in my core. As my eyes slid across Flynn’s forearms, watching the muscles flex as he cut into his lamb, he paused for just a moment, as if feeling my eyes on him, and looked up, to stare back at me with blue eyes that glittered then darkened in response. I watched Soren wipe his fingers with a cloth napkin and remembered just how his fingertips had felt on my skin, plucking, stroking. I took a deep breath as the memory stirred in me. He glanced my way, at first seemingly to monitor what I was doing, then when he noted my attention, his gaze filled with increasing heat. Ged seemed to anticipate the shift of my attention to him, lifting his fork and chewing his food with undue care then licking his lips sensually, before shooting me a wink. And then there was Brom.

He had laid his fork down, not bothering to even pretend to eat, and when I looked at him, he turned my hand over so he could trace his fingers across the sensitive palm. He smiled wickedly when I shivered in response. I darted a glance down the table but saw Bernard and Kay were caught up in conversation, though when Kay’s attention turned to us for a moment, her face took on a thoughtful expression. Whatever idea had crossed her mind was pushed to the side, however, as the butler, Jonathon, then appeared.

“Milord.” Jonathon’s voice was rich and resonant and, although he addressed his master with correct courtesy, there was an inexplicable dimension to his tone. “I have decanted the port.”

“But, Bernard, we were going to plan the party,” Kay said and her words struck me as odd. She was mistress of the house and Jonathon was one of her staff, so why would her wishes be overturned by his announcement?

“The twenty-year-old one?” Bernard’s face lit up in a way I hadn’t seen at any point when he’d been speaking with his wife. “Gods, was it corked? I was sure that cork would have fallen to bits.”

“It was a close call, milord. But, no, I managed to open the bottle without incident.”

Port, corking, the age of the bottle; none of this was of any interest to me. But I was struck by the way in which Jonathon spoke of the process, the reverent tone in his voice, and how Bernard’s enthusiasm had a similar sense of veneration.

“Well, come on, lads,” Lord Emberly told the other men. “Eat up. Roasted lamb is a pleasure, but nothing matches a well-aged port and some sharp cheese.”

“I’ll have to decline,” Brom said and I saw a strange expression flicker across Kay’s face, a sort of hopeful yearning. “While Pippin seems much recovered—”

“You’d only be gone for an hour or two,” Bernard said, before looking at me. “Pippa can hardly take a turn for the worse in that time and Kay can sit with her.”

“If she did and I wasn’t in the room, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself,” Brom replied quietly but firmly. “It’s been a long, draining day for both of us and right now I think all we want is to retire to bed and sleep.”

Well, he was half right. I wanted the bed part, very much.

“We’ll have to decline as well,” Soren said, with the brisk manner of a drill sergeant. “These lazy bones might think they can use this time to sleep off a hangover, but we’ve got a young dragon to train.” He turned to Brom. “You’ve got a beach within walking distance?” Brom nodded. “Then we’ll get young Glimmer strengthening those pectoralis muscles by leaping off the cliffs onto the soft sand. That way we’ll have no need for horses.”

“Well, if you’re sure…” Bernard looked slightly affronted, not so much because he was offended, but because it appeared he couldn’t think of any reason why any man wouldn’t want to take the opportunity to sample his port. He looked up at Jonathon, again, with a smile on his face. “I guess it’s just the two of us.”

Bernard treated Kay with warmth, affection and respect, as far as I could see. He seemed content to let her have her way, except when her ideas got a little too outlandish. But I wondered at the nature of their physical relationship as I watched the way Bernard stared up at Jonathon and the butler stared back.

Love, need, desire: I knew what they looked like now. But seeing them sweep across the faces of the two men as they looked at each other sent a cold wave of shock washing over me. And when I shifted my attention to Kay, I saw that all of her irrepressible warmth had leached away, leaving her face quite naked with pain.

Love between two men was neither approved nor disapproved of in Nevermere. Some of the more radical branches of the church tried to say that it was a sin against the gods, but as they did not direct the same ire against two women who were lovers, the reasoning became apparent. Men were to impregnate women, providing us with the next generation of citizens. My mind turned over the fact that Brom had no siblings. My mother had died trying to provide my father with another child. But, perhaps Kay…? I set my fork down, my appetite having deserted me.

“Finished, my love?” Brom asked me and I nodded.

“Thank you so much for dinner,” I said, but my voice was a little wavery. “It was delicious.”

Kay recovered immediately, beaming up at the two of us as we got to our feet.

“I’m glad. Sleep well, all of you, and hopefully tomorrow will be far less adventurous.”

The five of us climbed the stairs, and, with a quick glance down the hallway to make sure we were unobserved, we all slipped into the room I shared with Brom.

“Gods, Pippin…” Ged groaned, tugging me closer and claiming my mouth, kissing me until I pulled away. “Tell me we can all be together tonight. After watching you—”

“Yes.” I said, then kissed him back, because once one hunger had been satisfied, another had risen in its place, stoked by Brom’s hand on my skin, and my close contemplation of all my men. But as Ged started to pull my shirt free of my pants, I turned around to face Brom. I had held my question until we were away from any listening ears, but I wanted to pursue my earlier line of thought.

He was watching Ged’s hands with an intent gaze, his eyes tracking each inch of skin as it was revealed. I really didn’t want to change the mood, but I had to know. Ged finished unbuttoning my shirt, bared my breasts to the room as he pressed his mouth to the back of my neck, the prickle of his beard making me shiver.

“Brom…” My attempt to frame my question was curtailed into a gasp as Ged’s clever fingers found my nipples and tugged at them, creating a very distracting sensation between my legs. I put my hands over his and captured his fingers, so that I could focus. “Brom, what is the nature of your father’s relationship with his butler?”

It was a rude thing to just blurt out, or to even ask at all, but something about the situation meant that I couldn’t just let it be. The whole room went quiet, Ged’s hands grasping mine. As I waited for an answer, I watched the looks that they all exchanged, as though a form of permission was being sought and granted.

“Do you know anything about the love that can occur between men?” Brom asked me, in a very careful tone of voice.

“A little,” I replied. “There were two men in our village who were a couple. Most people thought they were two bachelors who’d decided to live together, but they had confessed the nature of their relationship to my father, as their landlord, and he gave them his blessing.”

“Then my father and Jonathon have a very similar relationship to that couple,” he replied, with a small sigh. “One that preceded my mother. Arranged marriages are as common a thing in Harlston as I imagine they are in Skane.” I nodded slowly. “My grandfather married my father off to my mother because of her dowry and because he thought her beautiful enough to turn my father’s head away from Jonathon, who was just a footman then.” His lips thinned. “She wasn’t. Father did his duty and impregnated her with me.”

I winced at the word, for it sounded as clinical as when the stable men discussed about which stallion to put with which mare.

“But once he had provided the estate with an heir, he was done with that. Father cares for my mother on some level, but…” he shrugged.

“That must’ve put the cat among the pigeons when you bonded with Obsidian, then,” Flynn remarked.

“My cousin Charles is quite insufferable now,” Brom said, turning to Flynn and shaking his head. “You’ll see him in action when he comes to visit with his family, acting like he’s already Lord Emberly.” He returned his attention to me, moving closer, though he didn’t pull me away from Ged. Instead, he reached out to trace his fingers along my jaw as his wing mate held me, hands still on my breasts. “But my father’s relationship has little to do with what goes on in here. You could’ve died today or been permanently injured. You endured more pain than I can ever be comfortable with.”

His hand moved more slowly, heading towards my lips, fingertips just brushing against my skin and bringing my nerve endings alive.

“It’s a primitive human instinct, to want to take, to want to stake your claim on that which you love when you’ve survived a great catastrophe unharmed, but while your body might be whole…” His fingers outlined the shape of my lips, following them even as I parted them to take a panted breath. “You may need more rest, more time—”

I pulled my hands from Ged’s grasp and gripped Brom’s wrist as though the action would stop him from saying anything more in that vein. The desire to reach out and take was building a fire in me, and it burned hotter as I bent forward and sucked the tip of his finger into my mouth, flicking my tongue around it in the way Soren had taught me back on the beach that day.

“I just need more of my men,” I told him, hearing an echo of my dragon’s imperious tone in my voice. “Give me that.”