Page 1 of The Dragon Queen #3

“That’s the other thing, Majesty. There are dragons here and they…” The courtier frowned then, obviously unused to being spoken to mind-to-mind, in the way that riders were. “They say they are Hadrian and Cynane of Dragon Home and they are here to fulfil the requirements of the treaty of Two Queens.”

“I’ll go,” I told Draven. “I’ll go, because you’ll have to convene a council.” My brain raced, wondering who the hell would make up that council when so many of the power brokers of Nevermere were now dead. I frowned and shook my head. “I’ll go?—”

“I need you upstairs, Pippin.” Draven drew closer, and I’m not sure if anyone else saw how tightly he clutched at my hands.

“But the dragons are in the—” I started to say.

“To the dressmaker.” I blinked, tried to pull back, and failed as I stared at Draven, unable to decipher what he meant by his expression. Sad, desperate, but also with great love, which is what kept me pinned to the spot. “You are my queen.”

This assertion should’ve filled my heart, and in some ways it did, just that wonderful warmth was now tainted by fear, confusion. What the hell did a dressmaker have to do with leading the country through this insanity ?

“We must proceed with the divorce swiftly.” My focus shifted to where Brom stood, staring at the two of us, his skin milk pale. “A royal marriage will be just the thing before we must strike back against my uncle. The queen of Nevermere has always been a symbol of the country’s strength, grace. We will get the people to rally behind you…”

By becoming a decorative figurehead. I’d studied my history, knew enough about the way the country was run to recognise what he was asking. Draven married to the only viable queen rider in the country, now that Zafira was lost to the wilds, and as the baby queen dragon had not even been born, I could see the sense of it.

So why did I hate the idea so very much?

“Sire, the general is waiting,” the courtier at our door said, and I barely repressed the need to curse him out.

“I must go,” Draven said. “Brom, you’re with me. Flynn and Soren, you as well. Ged?—”

“Stay here and protect your queen?” He made the suggestion lightly, but only a fool would miss the tension in Ged’s body.

“Can you?” Draven took a step towards Ged, his gaze never wavering. “There’s a war coming and the coronation to organise, and I have no one I can trust with this.”

Ged’s eyes found mine and his cheeks flushed red when he caught me staring.

“It was what I intended to do, irrespective of your orders.” Ged’s now treasonous tone had both men smiling, even if it was just a second. “You might be prince… king now, but she’s my queen.”

I wanted to take glory in that, in this frank admission, to just lose myself in Ged’s long look, but that would never happen. The Duke of Harlston, Beatrice, the queen, had robbed us of that opportunity. We hadn’t even had one night before…

“So, I need to be fitted with gowns.” My voice was just as tight with controlled emotion. “Start looking like an actual queen rather than a rather inadequate soldier. I understand.”

But I hated it, hated this entire situation. I thought we had won and our enemies were laid waste, that we would be the ones in charge now .

Trouble is, we were.

That meant being constrained by duty and responsibility, old feelings I’d been able to discard while I was just Cadet Pippin, and right now I longed to be that again. If wishes were horses, we’d all ride, Cook used to say, and never was that truer than now. When I nodded, Draven rushed forward, his hand going to the back of my head to press his forehead to mine.

“Do this for me and I’ll give you anything, an entire kingdom if you wish it.” That was a joke but our smiles were weak in response to it. “Please, Pippin. I can’t do this without you.”

Those were the words he needed to use to ensure my compliance. I shouldered them like an ox might its yoke, ready to pull the heavy load, but right as my heart sank, he did the most perfect thing. Just one kiss, soft and close mouthed, and that’s when I knew Draven would make a great king. In that moment, he reminded me of what was at stake.

Us.

“Gather your council,” I said, my voice shaking just a little as I pulled back. “Find a way forward. The tyranny of the Harlstonians…” I looked past him to Brom. “Some Harlstonians, must come to an end. Nevermere will not be torn apart by this treachery.”

“Practising your speeches for the people already?” Draven smiled. “You’ll be a perfect queen.”

But I admit, it was the queens of old I thought about as he pulled away. The four men got dressed hurriedly, leaving the royal chambers and running down the stairs to the war room they were no doubt about to set up. If I was queen hundreds of years ago, I would be the one leading it. That treasonous thought apparently summoned my dragon, because a huffing guard came rushing up the stairs, hot on the heels of Glimmer. I pulled my dressing gown sash tighter as she appeared.

Blood , she said, mind to mind. Queen. Stolen dragons.

I know. The guard sucked in breaths as I bent down to her level because she was too big to carry now. I know, my love .

Queen. Her golden eyes came to rest on mine. You are the queen now.

And apparently that means going to the dressmakers to find clothing rich and sumptuous to make the people believe that I am fit for the role, I replied.

You do not need fancy fabrics. She stared up at me quizzically, and not for the first time was I struck by the beauty of her gilt scales. You have the crystal eggs.

My hand plunged into my pockets, which should’ve been fruitless. This was Draven’s dressing gown and as far as I knew, he did not possess a single egg, yet my hands closed around something cool and hard. I pulled one out and stared at its faintly iridescent sheen in confusion.

The people are not swayed by crystal , I told her. Gold, diamonds, furs are the trappings of royalty. This is why I must see the dressmaker.

“Is that what you really want?” Ged asked the question as if he’d heard everything we’d said to each other, and that had both of us turning to stare. “To be trussed into a corset? To have pretty fabrics pinned to your body?”

“What choice?—?”

“He didn’t say when.” Some of Ged’s customary mischief was back in his smile then. “Draven, he didn’t say when you need to see the seamstress, did he? I imagine she’ll just be sitting around all day, working on fancy clothes for toffs. Probably has more than enough work to keep her busy right now.”

Whereas I could spend my morning doing something far more worthwhile.

Cynane has requested an audience , Glimmer told me. She cannot understand why she has not been greeted, nor been given food and drink, as the rules of hospitality dictate. She and Hadrian grow weary of waiting. They have gleaned from the minds of those hurrying about the palace that Zafira is gone, that this territory is now mine. Glimmer paused, her wings fluttering. That dragon eggs have been stolen for the purpose of war. All of this contravenes the conditions of the treaty.

“Then we must do something about that.” My heart lightened the moment I spoke those words. “Fresh meat and water straight from the spring. Do dragons like beer, wine, or fine spirits?”

“Cloudy certainly doesn’t mind a barrel of beer sometimes,” Ged replied. “And as for meat, there’s no place better stocked than the castle larder. I’ve hoisted a side of beef onto my shoulder a time or two. I’ll be able to carry out a couple of snacks for our visitors.”

“Ged has been assigned my guard for the day,” I told the man at the door in my best imperious tone. “I would ask that you keep an eye on the castle dragons. We are only just discovering the depths of treachery people are willing to sink to.”

“Of course, mil…” The guard’s voice trailed away. “Of course, Highness.”

That’s what I would’ve been as Draven’s intended, the title that would’ve been bestowed upon me if I had been accepted as queen-in-waiting. I blinked then, trying to process the strange set of events that had me taking on that role now. Introspection was a luxury I could not afford, so I shut the door and pulled on my armour, taking care to look the part of soldier if not queen. Ged was similarly dressed, the two of us official looking enough that none questioned us as we walked downstairs.

And Glimmer flew.

“I can carry the little queen if she…” Ged started to say.

A scream lodged itself in my throat as she shot him a scathing look, then threw herself off the top step. I watched her wings flap out, seeing the blood, the carnage of my dream replaying itself before my eyes, but this time it was my beloved who died. A dragon was meant to fly, and that’s what she did. Well, glide. She wasn’t really gaining altitude, despite her flapping wings, but she did manage to coast all the way down the stairs before landing neatly at the bottom.

Well, are you coming or not?

Her aristocratic voice had me moving forward, taking two steps at a time, Ged hot on my heels.

“She flew,” I hissed at my lover. “Glimmer flew! She could’ve died, but she just flapped her wings and…”

Ged stopped at the bottom of the multi flight of steps and took my hands .

“Dragons do that. It’s what they are born to do, queens being the worst of all. They’re notorious for not listening to anyone.”

Because we know what must be done , Glimmer told him, and I knew Ged heard that by his smile. We must meet with Cynane. Wasting all this time, not granting her audience immediately, is a great insult.

Perhaps she’ll forgive us , I suggested. More than just the laws of courtesy have been flouted.

“I’ll go get the beef,” Ged said as we stepped outside the castle doors, a phalanx of guards standing in an uneasy circle around the two dragons, as far back as they dared. Cynane rose to her feet gracefully at her approach.

Cynane, queen , I said, bowing my head as I drew closer. Forgive me for this lapse, but the castle is in an uproar.

So I have surmised. Her voice was rich and melodious inside my head. Glimmer, queen. My dragon inclined a head gracefully in the adult queen’s direction, as if they were equals rather than adult and juvenile. And Pippin. You are to become queen of all of Nevermere, so what is to be done about this outrage?