Page 41 of Dragon Fight (The Dragon Queen #2)

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“Y ou have to let us go,” I told Cynane, and all the dragons of the enclave gathered. I’d already said this to the golden dragon and when Glimmer and I had insisted, she’d gathered all of the other dragons together to hear us.

We didn’t want you here in the first place , the red dragon I now knew was called Agnath. He turned to Cynane. Let them go and keep the seer here.

This is a good plan , the burnt orange dragon said with a nod of his head, and it fits the terms of the treaty. The prince brought the seer to us for training and so the riders—

“No,” I said, which resulted in all those massive dragon heads swinging my way. I fought the urge to take a step backwards in the face of so many massive apex predators. Who the hell was I to tell them anything? I thought. Then my eyes dropped down to Glimmer. She watched me carefully, golden eyes gleaming as she waited for me to continue. “I mean, I understand that Glimmer is your seer but she’s my bondmate first.”

Which was never supposed to happen , Hadrian replied in an even but forbidding tone. Any queen dragon that resisted the bonding process was supposed to be brought straight to us. It’s written explicitly into the treaty.

Is that why you were able to resist Raina? I asked Glimmer.

It appears so , she replied, but her voice was wracked with uncertainty.

Dragon seers belong to us , Cynane said. Humans have been allowed to build their petty armies of tamed dragons as long as potential seers were brought to us. Other dragon queens have been delivered to Dragon Home in the past.

Which made me wonder what had happened to them.

Tanis foresaw the breakdown in human/dragon relations, the rise of human greed, she continued. The only hope she could offer was you, Glimmer. Cynane’s voice had become as rich and sweet as any mother’s just then. That one would come to right the wrongs, to bring back the balance and—

Where Pippin goes, I go. Glimmer’s flat voice cut brutally through the other queen’s speech.

Then the answer is to lock away this Pippin, to ensure the seer’s compliance! a dark blue dragon snapped and both queens reared their heads back in shock.

You dare . Hadrian’s voice was deep and forbidding, venom dripping from his tone.

This seer is little more than a hatchling with shards still clinging to her scales , the blue dragon spluttered. We can undo any damage the humans have created.

Damage? Glimmer and I both had the same response and it came out at the same time, making me feel like the two of us were one as we scanned the group, twin flames of indignation burning inside us. What damage?

You have been enslaved , the dragon continued, as he stood his ground. Apparently oblivious to the extent of the outrage being expressed by his leaders he seemed content to metaphorically walk himself right up to the scaffold and stretch his neck out so the noose could be tied around it. Your will subsumed by a human’s.

And it should be ruled by yours instead? Glimmer’s reply was so apt, I mentally punched my fist in the air.

I am a queen.

Yes, she bloody well was.

I am a seer.

I drew in a deep breath, feeling a violent mixture of pride and awe in my chest as my dragon stepped forward, her spine straight.

And as such I owe none of you my time, my energy or my presence. Glimmer turned abruptly then, coming to face me. Let us go, Pippin.

Our dragons began to shift restlessly, inching forward, muscles tensing as they readied themselves for a fight, but Glimmer showed no sign of any such concerns. Cloudy was closest to her, so she scaled his shoulder and then stood proudly on his neck.

If one of these enslaved dragons moves a wing— the blue dragon growled.

Attor, enough! Cynane’s voice brooked no argument, bringing silence to the enclave before she looked up at my dragon. Glimmer, you must understand. No matter what bond you must feel to this human, you have a duty—

I know , was all Glimmer would say in return, making me wonder what burdens she’d been carrying.

For the balance to be restored , Cynane started to say in her best ‘be reasonable’ tone.

The queen must rise , Glimmer finished for her. I am that queen. Her eyes dropped to me. We are that queen and it is towards that destiny I fly now, but you can help ensure that success.

The male dragons in the enclave all started to argue, all except for Hadrian, who watched us thoughtfully before turning to address Cynane.

My queen?

No matter how young she is, Glimmer is every inch a queen. She is correct. She does not owe anything to Dragon Home. If any other queen chose to seek her own territory, we would not think of saying no to her.

But she is the seer! Agnath cried. How are we to ever restore the balance when…

It was the way his voice trailed away alerted me to what was happening. Glimmer let out a crooning sound, and her song was quickly picked up by the rest of our dragons. This time the hum dragged us under and into another vision.

Everything seemed to be swirling around violently as I came to full awareness within the vision. I realised I was on dragonback, airborne, which was potentially the reason for the swirling sensation. As I looked around, however, I realised we weren’t on a pleasure jaunt. I clung to Glimmer’s back as she swerved away from the claws of some other queen dragon. We twisted suddenly to turn back around, our bodies completely in sync as Glimmer’s claws raked across the other queen’s side, blood spilling free.

The vision shattered and was replaced with a series of vignettes.

Draven striding into the dungeons, a bloodied sword in his hand.

No… I hissed.

An older woman speaking earnestly to a much younger Raina, showing her a very familiar crystal egg. The young queen’s eyes were entirely trained on the crystal, not her teacher.

No.

A more contemporary Raina sweeping into court, appearing to be the woman I knew and hated. And with her? A cat-eyed Beatrice was on her arm. The two of them surveyed the entire court with twin smirks on their faces. Everybody’s focus was on the two of them, including Draven’s. He stepped clear of the throng, a smile on his face which was met by heat in her eyes as he—

No!

A memory of the previous night, of me riding Draven, my hips thrusting spasmodically, but then I faded away and Beatrice took my place, smiling right at me as she drove the prince wild.

No!

Me, with Brom’s knives out in the open court, slicing through the air, going for Raina’s throat, as Brom bled out on the floor.

NO!

The horror of more death. Ged, open-eyed and staring, his skin blue, his throat a ruin of blood and muscle. Soren with his hands bound before him, being marched up to a scaffold, the crowds jeering at him. Flynn standing before a firing squad, each man with his musket trained on my love, his eyes glittering with rebellion, even as they pulled the trigger. And me, always me, dying over and over and over until…

There’s more than one way to skin a cat , Glimmer told me. That’s what humans say, don’t they? So many paths, so much pain. We must find the stone eggs, seek Tanis’ wisdom, to avoid all of this. And then she showed me one more vision.

It was not so personal this time. We flew across what remained of Nevermere, but there wasn’t much to see. It was a wasteland of burned, screaming death, the only signs of life we saw were of creatures that weren’t long for this world, thrashing and crying out in all the ash, our eyes unable to determine if they were dragon, human or animal. Then, as my heart felt like it would burst from all the pain, she showed me one last vision.

The setting was the royal court, the Nithian throne before us, but no one sat on that gilded chair, not yet. I walked forward, head held high, and my dragon, full-sized now, walked in step with me. I took my seat on that throne like it had always been mine. And, what was the cautionary measure, if anyone should have anything to say about that? Glimmer curled around it, like a dragon on a mound of gold, settling down on the cold tiles, but eyeing each and every person there, as if looking for signs of dissent.

But you can help me, she told me, told the enclave. You can help me learn how to be the seer I must be. I don’t have to be within Dragon Home to do that.

No, Cynane agreed, lifting off the golden necklace she had worn around her neck when we first met her and holding it out to Glimmer. Some of the enclave dragons complained about that, but Hadrian quickly silenced them. Take this.

Cloudy ambled forward, reaching out with his claws to receive the necklace and bring the jewel closer to Glimmer. She wasn’t interested in the golden setting, but the glowing dragonstone within it.

This is the first of Tanis’ stones , Cynane said. Take it and learn her lessons well, young seer. Then use it to communicate with me if you have a need to.

You can’t mean—

Enough , Hadrian growled at the other male dragons of the enclave. Your queen has spoken.

As had mine. Cloudy passed the stone up to Glimmer who grasped the setting between her paws and stared deep into the swirling dragonstone continuing to do so as we took our leave of the council, and had walked back to that massive flat rock that marked the entrance and exit to Dragon Home.

“So, we will return to the keep,” Brom said, before everyone swung up into their saddles. “We will need to be vigilant. Beyond vigilant. Any hint of our relationship, any mention of what has happened to Glimmer and Pippin, will result in our downfall, quite possibly our deaths. We’ll need to be careful about even thinking about any of this, in case someone else’s dragon detects our thoughts. I’ll make clear that we are prepared to go on as many patrols as are needed, to get us out of the keep as much as possible, but—”

Not with this stone. I heard Glimmer, as always. but when I saw that the men had all stiffened, I realised that they did too. That so-called ‘queen’ Raina has her stolen stone, but we have this. The golden setting fell to the ground as Glimmer clasped the freed dragonstone within her claw, the milky iridescence growing brighter with each moment. I will not be able to stop people from hearing you talk or noticing the bond between you, but Raina will not be able to use her stolen power to mind rape us again.

“Still gonna need those patrols, Commander,” Ged said, shooting me a heated look. “I can keep my hands to myself for a while, but…”

He shot me a rakish grin, and my heart warmed. I wanted to absorb every moment of connection with my riders. I wanted to feel that certainty. I felt like what I’d done last night hung between us. It was what was stopping me from taking a step closer towards any of them. I’d made a promise to each one of them, in different ways. And then I’d broken that trust, the moment the prince crooked his finger at me.

“About that…” My throat tightened, but I pushed on, not willing to let this fester. “About last night…” They stepped closer, each one of them taking in my downcast expression. “I didn’t mean… It just…” I sighed and then forced myself to look up, ready to meet their censorious looks.

“You found yourself stepping closer, right when you knew you should be stepping back,” Brom said. “Your lips met his and you found yourself craving that taste, even if you’d had no idea what it even was a moment earlier. And he pulled you closer, seeming to know exactly what kind of spell he cast over you. And right as your head spun, he provided a kind of clarity you didn’t know you needed.”

When my husband reached out to stroke my cheek, I leaned into it, both for the comfort of his touch and the certainty in his words.

“This was always gonna happen, Pippin,” Ged said. “I’m just surprised it took till now. The sexual tension between the two of you?”

“Could cut it with a knife,” Soren finished, with a smirk.

“It wasn’t wise.” Flynn looked pale, and his blue eyes glittered, in a way that reminded me so much of another man. I stared at him, feeling sick that he might not be able to move past this. Then he raised an eyebrow and laughed wryly, shaking his head to defuse tension. “But then, I guess fucking the Duke of Skane’s third son isn’t wise either.”

“Is that what we’re doing?” I asked him, hesitantly. “Fucking?”

“It’s more than that.” He walked up to me and pulled me close, plastering me against his body. “You know that. That’s why I’m so bloody worried. But no one else, Pippin. Promise me that. If you start making moony eyes at one of the other riders or, worse, one of the cadets, so help me....”

“I’d have them running laps until they collapsed, if they made eyes at Pippin,” Soren growled. All of them clustered in close and I took in a deep breath. I’d not been able to relax until I’d cleared the air, nor till I’d been able to feel the reassurance of their physical touch.

“You’re ours,” Brom promised, “and you’re Draven’s too. And now that it’s finally been acknowledged, we need to do what we must to ensure the six of us can spend the rest of our lives together, showing each other just how we feel.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Ged croaked out.

“Not saying much,” Soren shot back. “You’d drink to bloody anything.”