Page 17 of Dragon Fight (The Dragon Queen #2)

17

I t wasn’t the original dragon we were thinking about the next morning, but Glimmer.

As we had our breakfast, Kay tried to draw me into the plans for the party, with the news that the event would be taking place tonight. Brom cut her off while she was starting to suggest the ways I could be involved.

“We need to continue Glimmer’s training,” he explained. “She needs to be developing her wing muscles now, before she gets too heavy.”

“ If she gets too heavy.” Draven walked into the room, greeting Brom’s parents warmly before continuing with his negative commentary. “She’s still woefully undersized for a dragon her age.”

“Then we’ll need to work hard to strengthen her and prepare her for a healthy adulthood,” Brom replied, and there was an edge to his voice.

Draven frowned, although as that was one of his habitual expressions when around me, it was hard to know what exactly had raised his displeasure. He sat down opposite Brom, fixing his eye on him as though about to address him further, but Kay interrupted.

“Ah well, it's probably for the best that Ada and Heather are coming over early. They can help with the preparations.” Kay said with a sigh. “You remember Ada, don’t you, Highness?” She peered at Draven. “She was quite the little hoyden, trailing after you two boys when you were young.”

“Oh yes, I remember Ada well,” Draven said, with a sly smile.

“She’s married to my cousin now,” Brom added. I wondered if there was a warning there. Draven’s eyes glinted dangerously, as though he heard the words as a challenge.

“And I’m sure she’d make any man lucky enough to possess her very happy. She was always so accommodating,” Draven replied.

“And she’s been beyond helpful with events like this,” Kay said with a smile, seeming not to sense the undercurrents at her table. “She comes over regularly to learn from me how to run the estate.” She nodded decisively. “She’ll be a brilliant Lady Emberly when the time comes.”

“Then we’ll be able to leave things in your more than capable hands,” Brom said, leaning back in his chair. Getting to his feet, he continued setting out our plans. “We’ll be down at the beach for the morning, training Glimmer.”

“Oh, this should be good,” Draven snickered. He made himself a hasty to-go breakfast, slapping some bacon and eggs inside a pillow-soft bread roll and then wrapping a napkin around it before rising as well.

“But your breakfast…?” Kay said to the prince.

“I’ll eat this delicious food on the sands,” he replied with a warm smile for Brom’s mother. “But the sight of a royal dragon struggling to find her wings? It’s something that definitely needs my attention.”

“Let the boy go,” Bernard said, from the end of the table, looking at his wife over the top of his correspondence. “Draven will be running the whole country in a few years. I’m certain he can ensure he’s got enough sustenance for the day. He’s not the same young lad who was dropped off here by his father all those years ago.”

I had to wonder what he had been like back then, because as the crown prince bowed to Bernard in acknowledgement of his words, it seemed to be done with a mocking air.

I need to strengthen my muscles now so I will be strong enough to fly? Glimmer asked me as we went to collect her. She had been sleeping on Obsidian’s shoulder when we approached, but both dragons had woken as we drew near.

It seems so.

It must be so I will be as strong as possible as I put on weight, my muscles keeping pace with that , she said with more confidence, making me wonder where that came from. I must be fast, lean, and light if I am to outfly the males when I rise to mate.

I stifled my internal thoughts ruthlessly. We hadn’t spoken of it, what would happen to Glimmer when she reached maturity. She would go into heat, like all other animals that experienced oestrus did, and her call would be irresistible to the male dragons. Zafira’s male dragons. I realised now that the bond Glimmer shared with my men’s dragons was the same as Zafira’s with all other dragons in the keep. They felt an undying loyalty towards her, something the king and queen used ruthlessly to protect Nevermere.

So what would happen if another female dragon challenged that monopoly? I found Draven staring at me, as if he was coming to the same conclusion, but I shoved this line of thought away and focussed on something else.

You seem to know these things already , I said to Glimmer. Where does this knowledge come from?

I just know it , she replied snippily .

And that’s the only answer I got. Obsidian roused himself when Brom communicated where we were going, while Glacier let out a noisy bugle.

“Any excuse to get your scales wet,” Flynn said with a chuckle, wrapping his arms as far around Glacier’s head as he could and the dragon bunted his rider. But the other dragons rose as well, including Darkspire.

“I guess we’re all going to enjoy a day at the beach,” Draven said with a shake of his head.

The distance to the top of the cliffs above the beach was so short that it wasn’t worth getting on dragonback to travel there, so we were escorted to our destination by the entire wing of dragons. The cliffs were steep so Brom, Soren, Ged and Draven seated themselves bareback on their dragons who leapt off the cliff edge and then landed on the sand below with a flap. Flynn and Glacier remained at the top of the cliff with me and Glimmer.

“That’s what you’re going to do, my queen,” Flynn told Glimmer in a warm, comforting voice. “You won’t fall.”

Of course I won’t , she sniped inside my head, but I could hear the nervous edge to her voice. The distance between the cliff edge and the sand was somewhat dizzying.

“Perhaps we should find a small cliff. Somewhere that isn’t quite so high above the ground?” I said.

“This is perfect,” Flynn told me, holding my eyes. “It’ll be terrifying the first time, I am not going to lie. I had to do it with Glacier on the top of the cliff and me in a rocking boat below to entice him forward. He hung back for a good few minutes, didn’t you, lad?”

Glacier’s answered was a low grunt, and he turned to Glimmer, eyeing her steadily which made me think they were communicating.

Glacier says I am ready , Glimmer told me stiffly. He says I will be strong, stronger than any queen that lived. He knows it in his bones.

Well, he is your mate. Perhaps we need to trust his judgement?

It was now that I realised the terrible burden of being a dragon rider. You bonded heart, mind and soul to a dragon, only to have to force it to put itself in danger, to fight battles and suppress its natural self-preservation instincts for the good of the country.

Just as I was going to have to do, now.

I’ll be below on the sand , I told her. I caught you once . You know I’ll catch you again.

You always will, she told me with a nod of her head. She moved her claws experimentally, picking her way towards the edge of the cliff, pausing when pebbles went rolling over the side, then continuing until she stood at the very edge.

“Looks like she’s ready,” Flynn said, catching me by surprise by sweeping me up into his arms and hoisting us both onto his dragon’s bare back. Glacier leapt over the edge of the cliff, only Flynn’s grip keeping me in my seat. When we reached the sand and dismounted, I looked back up the cliff face.

You can do this , I told Glimmer, even though she was only a small golden shape, far above us. I’ll catch you. I’ll—

Our bond always made us perfectly attuned. That meant that I felt the moment Glimmer threw herself off the cliff, as if it was me doing it. I was absently aware of the men below shouting something, but they weren’t my focus: she was. I watched her wings flap open, the resulting updraft of wind pushing her up for a moment, which had her heart soaring, but then it dropped away. She began to flap her wings wildly, to try to regain some of the altitude she’d lost, but she kept dropping anyway.

That’s it , I told her. Hold steady. You’re just coasting down, not flying right now. Her wings seemed to settle then, held out firmly so they slowed her descent, but the weather here seemed to help and hinder her. The gusts of wind gave her a brief burst of uplift, but those hitting her from the sides threatened to snap her wings backwards against her body. I could feel the tension thrumming inside my body as she floated closer and closer.

“She needs to be flapping her wings.” A sharp voice had me turning to see who could be speaking with such a dismissive tone. I should have known who it would be. Draven. “She needs to be flying, not floating. She’s a dragon, not an ocean buoy.”

“Shut. Up.” I growled as I dived closer to the cliff face because, although Glimmer was flapping her wings, she had lost control and was falling faster and faster.

Thud. As soon as she landed in my arms, I wrapped her tight in my embrace, hearing the frantic skitter of her heart beating in time with mine. However, I didn’t get to hold her long.

Again , she announced. I could feel the adrenalin rush through our bond.

Her claws dug into my shoulders as she used them to haul herself up and out of my grip, before throwing herself at the nearest dragon. Wraith jerked his head forward just in time to catch her. She scrambled up onto his back, clinging tight as he launched himself upwards and back to the top of the cliff so she could fling herself off again.

This time, she seemed to understand the movement of the wind. She hovered with greater confidence until she found an updraft, then beat her wings to work with the momentum, letting it boost her higher.

“Well, she’s certainly determined,” Draven said, from where he stood with his arms folded across his chest, watching her. For once, that sardonic mask was set aside. “And she’s got good instincts. Some young dragons drop like stones and have no idea how to ride the winds until we show them.” I turned my head to look at him, and he spared me a sidelong glance. When our eyes met, his held mine with a purposeful look. “But she’ll need to be strong. Stronger, better, faster than all the other dragons.”

“Faster than Zafira,” I said, grimly. “Faster than her mother, or your father’s dragon. Fast enough to outstrip anyone who might want to hurt her.”

“Zafira will have laid a clutch by the time you get back to Wyrmpeak,” he told me. “And there will be a queen egg. So—”

“Glimmer needs to be able to fly.”

I looked back up just in time to see my dragon flapping her wings, spiralling with the wind to aim herself more or less directly at me. As soon as she was near, she tucked her wings behind her. This time I reached out and she landed in my arms, and I shared the feeling of relief that I sensed from her. She didn’t rest on her laurels, though, immediately launching herself at another of her mates.

Again? I asked.

Again , she agreed, determination throbbing in her voice.