Page 19 of Dragon Fight (The Dragon Queen #2)

19

“I ’m not sure I’ll be able to attend the party,” I told Kay when we had returned to the estate and she joined us outside where the dragons were nestled together.

Each one of them was curled around Glimmer. Well, all except for Darkspire. The other four shot the dragon dark looks as they wriggled closer, creating the perfect nest for my dragon to rest within.

“Oh, but you must!” she exclaimed, a note of horror in her voice. “You’re the guest of honour.”

“Glimmer is sick,” I explained. “Darkspire took her out into the water and she got dragged under.”

The dragons all let out a rumble at that, but it wasn’t entirely accusatory. They’d been in the water too. We all had, and there appeared to have been some kind of collective assumption that we were all looking after my dragon when none of us were doing so diligently. My riders and I had all been caught up in our own pleasures. I flushed as I shot Flynn a sidelong look.

“I should sit out here with her,” I said to Kay, who was looking deflated.

Go. Glimmer’s voice inside my head wasn’t necessarily harsh, but it didn’t quite have the same degree of warmth that I was used to. I will be fine. My mates will ensure I’m looked after. Though if someone could bring me some of those crunchy strips from the oinky things?

Bacon? I can bring you bacon , I replied hurriedly. I’ll cook it myself, nice and crunchy, the way you like it.

Just raw will do. Cloud Raker will burn it for me, she replied, then set her head back down on her feet and closed her eyes.

Oh. Alright then. I turned to Kay and forced a smile. “Apparently, I won’t be needed after all. Could I trouble you for some raw bacon rashers? Glimmer loves them.”

“Of course!” Kay’s face shone with pleasure. “Come with me to the kitchens and I’ll show you where the bacon is hung. It’ll be bedlam in the main kitchen, with the preparations for tonight, but you’ll be able to help yourself. Just let us know if supplies you or your little queen need are getting low.”

Bedlam was right. When we entered the crowded, hot, steamy kitchen, a stout older woman was barking orders left and right, with kitchen lads and maids leaping to obey. All that activity gradually ground to a halt as the staff noticed that the lady of the house had walked in, with her son’s new bride. The noise of chaotic activity died down, till all that could be heard was the skillets sizzling and the great fire crackling. The cook turned around to determine the reason her staff were stalling in their duties, and her eyes widened when she saw us.

“Milady,” she said, dropping a deep curtsey, her deference mirrored by all the other staff.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Cook.” Kay waved a hand. “I’ve been trying to tell her not to stand on ceremony with me since I came here as a girl,” she told me.

“As you say, Milady. The roast beef is coming along nicely,” the cook said. “The vegetables are all prepped and ready for when your guests arrive and all the breads have been baked. We have a lovely trifle for dessert and—”

“Cook.” Kay took the other woman’s hands in hers and gave them a squeeze. “You have everything under control, as you always have, as your mother did before you. I trust in your abilities completely.” The woman’s already florid face reddened further. “We’re not here to check your progress, but to raid the larder for some bacon. We have a small dragon with a taste for smallgoods.”

“Bacon.” The cook clicked her fingers and pointed at the nearest boy. “There’s some already sliced—”

“On the bottom shelf to the right,” the lad said, nodding before haring off to retrieve it.

“Cheeky sod,” Cook said with a shake of her head, then smiled at her mistress. “Takes after his father.”

“Cook, how is the…?” An unfamiliar noblewoman, who appeared to be a few years older than me, marched into the kitchen looking down at a list in her hand but she halted when she saw Kay. She wore a fine dress of deep emerald, over which was tied a snowy white apron. “Oh, milady, you’ve checked on Cook’s progress already?”

“No, just procuring vittles for yon dragons,” Kay replied with a warm smile. “Now, Lady Pippa, allow me to introduce you to Brom’s cousin’s wife, Ada. Ada, this is Lady Pippa Wentworth, Brom’s new bride.”

I could tell that Ada was trying very hard to be polite but, as she extended a hand, a perfect social smile affixed, her eyes widened slightly as she took me in. I’m sure I looked a right mess; not someone who could call herself a lady at all. I was still roughly dressed in my armour, having thrown it back on willy-nilly before we rushed Glimmer up to the house. Sand and salt clung to the leather and my still-damp shirt peeked out from beneath my jacket. Then there was my damned hair. I rubbed my hand on my thigh, hoping that would remove all the grit, and then took Ada’s, giving it a polite shake.

“Lovely to meet you, Ada,” I said.

“So it’s true. You’re a Royal Rider?” She looked me up and down much more openly. “I apologise, I just didn’t think it was possible for a woman to serve.”

“I’m not sure how much military service I’ll see.” I smiled ruefully. “My ‘service’ will probably entail bringing Brom pots of tea and cucumber sandwiches when he’s stuck in his office.”

“Egg and lettuce,” Kay suggested. “Those are his favourites.”

“I’m sorry for my rudeness,” Ada said, her hand going to her breast. “It’s just all a little unexpected. We never thought Brom would marry and…to another rider—”

“We had better get on with the preparations and leave Cook to it, otherwise we’ll be all eating at midnight,” Kay said, steering us towards the door as the lad returned with several rashers of bacon.

“Well, I guess we’ll talk more tonight then,” Ada said as we emerged into the hallway. “I had better keep moving. There’s still so much to do.”

“I should pitch in and help, then,” I said, as I hefted the bacon wrapped in paper. “I’ll give this to Glimmer and then I’ll come back and give you a hand.”

“Oh, you needn’t,” Kay started to say.

“Well, if you could spare the time…”

Ada and Kay looked at each other then laughed as they essentially contradicted each other.

“Of course, if you feel the need–” Kay started to say.

“I’m sure I’m a little rusty on my napkin folding,” I replied, “but hopefully I can be a help, not a hindrance.”

I returned after giving Glimmer her bacon. Cloudy cooked it to crispy perfection with a delicate curl of flame that he breathed out and my dragon fell on the meat before it was even cooked, tearing each strip apart and crunching it with gusto, which was enough to reassure me she would be fine. She told me she was, too, just to make sure I understood this. Duly dismissed, I walked back to the house to find the two women busy in the dining room.

“You said you knew how to fold napkins?” Ada asked, adjusting a floral centrepiece at one of the side tables as several maids skirted the dining table, flicking out a beautiful jacquard tablecloth between them. “I know it's a tedious job but—”

“Say no more,” I said. “Though, I beg of you, please don’t ask me to fold them into swans. Mine always ended up looking like sad ducks rather than graceful swans.”

Ada laughed at that.

“How about a simple crown fold, yes? That will be the most appropriate with Prince Draven attending.”

I nodded. “Let me go and wash my hands first, and then I’ll begin.”

The monotonous work did exactly what I’d hoped it would, settling me after the tumult of the morning. One of the things that was never really mentioned was the fact that so much of a lady’s life was focussed on tasks of mindless tedium, but sometimes there was a benefit to it. Once the tablecloth was laid out, the maids worked in tandem to add all of the requisite crockery, cutlery and glassware. Ada oversaw each step, sending some flatware back in preference for a different design, and then supervising the careful addition of the centrepiece to the table. Once that was done, she sat down beside me to help work through the pile of napkins, creating perfect crowns with expert precision.

“Lady Pippa, may I ask you what’s it like being married to Brom?” she asked, once the maids had bustled out in response to a request from Kay to help her elsewhere in the house. “I’ll admit we never expected him to return home with a wife.”

“Why not? Because he’s a Royal Rider?” I asked.

“Ah… yes.”

My fingers fell still for a moment as I considered her question, then I sighed. “It’s glorious actually.” I almost felt some guilt in making that statement, as if I was snatching at a pleasure I didn’t deserve, but I didn’t regret what had happened. I was living every woman’s dream, having four men dedicated to her every pleasure. I just needed to make sure to stop it from going to my head. So when I smiled at Ada, it was genuine. “I don’t think I could’ve dreamed of a better marriage.”

“Really?” I saw nothing cruel or mean in Ada’s tone or face, just naked surprise. She smiled, belatedly, as though trying to cover her amazement, and I wondered a little at her reaction. “Well, that is a good thing to hear. So many of us women are married off to whoever is convenient.” She let out a little huff of air. “I’ve come to appreciate my Charles, but it took some time.”

“Oh! Well, I’m glad you’ve been able to reconcile yourselves to each other,” I said, feeling a little bad for having waxed so lyrical about married bliss in front of her.

“Being next in line to inherit all of this definitely helps that process.” She shot me a cheeky wink and I couldn’t help but laugh in response. “But, I have wondered, is Brom still very…close with His Highness? We three were as thick as thieves when we were young. Couldn’t tell any of us one from the other—we were all usually covered in mud, grime and leaves. Drove my mother mad, but I would refuse to stop at home, not when the boys were off adventuring.”

“So what scrapes did you get up to?” I asked, looking up from my folding. “Did you climb all over the ruins not far from here, alongside the boys?”

“Brom took you to our castle?” she asked and I nodded. “We used to love that place. Draven stole Lady Kay’s velvet cloak one time.”

“The one that belonged to a former queen?”

“The very one. Her ladyship’s aunt many times removed, but she was so damnably proud of that thing and Draven…” She smiled guiltily. “Well, he wanted to be king, in this little corner of the world anyway, even though he knew that his brother, Felix, would rule the country in actuality.” She placed her crown folded napkin on her head with a giggle. “I was his queen, of course.”

I grinned at that.

“And what was Brom?”

I expected her to say his sworn knight or sergeant-at-arms, or some such arcane courtly position, as Brom’s role in Draven’s court.

“Brom was Draven’s too.” She said the words carefully, meeting my gaze hesitantly. “That’s the way he is. Well… was. It’s been a long time since the three of us were able to ramble around the moors with stolen cloaks, but back then…” She paused, then began again, “He might be Crown Prince Draven now, destined to marry whichever noblewoman his mother handpicks, but then? Then he was just the fostered spare heir, growing from a boy into a man. And as he grew into a man, Draven discovered he had appetites, ferocious ones, that neither Brom nor I could satisfy on our own, so…”

Ada paused for a moment, a small crease forming between her brows, her beautiful brown eyes flashing as if she was revisiting the past, the first time I’d seen real passion in her expression since we’d started talking.

“Ada? Ada, are you there?” Kay came bustling in and paused when she saw the two of us. “There you are.” She beamed as she looked the table over. “Oh, this looks beautiful. Thank you, both of you. But Ada, darling, I’m going to have to prevail upon you again.”

“Of course, Lady Emberly.”

Ada was a perfect picture of good manners as she set the last napkin crown on its plate and then rose to her feet.

“You’re such a good girl.” Kay patted Ada’s hand. “The daughter I never had. It’s the flower arrangements for the bedrooms, dear. The maids have aired them out and set the fires to ward off the chill, but the flowers. I don’t trust the maids—”

“I’ll see to it, milady,” Ada said, squeezing her hand and then turning to me. “It was lovely meeting you, Lady Pippa. Perhaps we’ll chat more about old times later tonight.”

“I look forward to it,” I said reflexively, searching the other woman’s face as she smiled then went on her way. Almost in a daze, I turned my attention to Kay, as if somehow I’d be able to pick up hints of the rest of Ada’s story from her.

Appetites… Ones neither Brom nor I could… Ada’s words echoed in my ears, almost blocking out what Kay was saying to me.

“Pippa darling, I know this is beneath you, both as a lady and a Royal Rider, but…” Kay bit her bottom lip. “Could I ask you to stuff these lavender sachets for me? It’s just a matter of pouring the lavender in and…”

I watched her mouth move, her hands as she explained the task, but she needn’t have. When I was a small girl, Mother had taught me to make lavender sachets to place under pillows to keep a bed smelling sweet. She’d been adept at that sort of household economy, turning old tablecloths and pretty pieces of lacework on otherwise worn dresses into such useful things.

“Of course, Lady Emberly,” I replied and reached for the small pile of fabric and a bag of dried lavender heads.