Page 126 of The Dragon Queen Complete Series Collection

Chapter 125

“Prince Draven notified me that the two of you are ill?” the general asked Brom and I, his eyes narrowing at Flynn’s snort. “I apologise, but I must insist on using all of you today.”

“To find Marcus Lighthands,” Ged volunteered.

“To bring the cadets back here and restore morale and cohesion,” Soren added.

“To stop fucking civil war breaking out.” Flynn raked his hands through his hair. “Thank the gods the hatching won’t happen for some time, because we need to settle things before then.”

“To determine what Pippin and Glimmer can do.” Brom took my hand and held it in his. “To understand the extent of their capabilities.”

“Yes.” The general’s reply was short as he sank down into a chair, indicating to the rest of us to follow suit. “Gods, and I don’t know which to start with first.”

“We can work together at any point on the abilities we demonstrated,” I replied warily, not sure of my status here. I was a cadet and yet… “There’s a link between dragonstone and those people with the psychic capability to bond with a dragon. We know it amplifies things. Neither Glimmer nor I could find the boys before this. I don’t know why we could as soon as you sent the dragons down to the garrison.” I touched my nose and Brom’s grip on my other hand tightened. “It seemed to take a lot out of us to do that.”

“So there are limits to your abilities.” The general looked across at Glimmer. “Abilities we don’t understand at all.” He looked at the rest of the table. “Has there been any record of similar capabilities before?”

I hadn’t read the literature, but I was willing to bet they wouldn’t find mention of anything like us, something my dragon confirmed as she looked across at me.

“No, sir, but we can put Christian on the task and start a series of experiments, try to get to the bottom of this situation,” Soren said, then nodded to me. “We can then devise a training regime.”

Ged groaned, sliding down in his seat, but the general nodded.

“You have my trust on this, Drill Sergeant. I look forward to the reports on your progress.”

“I better volunteer to go looking for Marcus.” Ged scratched at his scalp. “With all due respect, you lot wouldn’t know your way around the docklands with a map and a compass and you won’t get anyone to talk to you. They won’t tell me nothing useful either, though maybe for the right coin…?” He shook his head, rejecting that idea. “Nah, not even then. Marcus has deeper pockets than any of us and ensures loyalty, in whatever way works, but I can try.”

“That’s all we can ask,” the general replied. “But more than that, we need to ascertain what Marcus wants the lads for.” He turned to me. “They’re well cared for, though?”

“I think so. That's what we saw, him sending healers to the boys, but I can go down to the mews and see if we can connect with the cadets’ dragons again.”

“You can do that?” As the general frowned, I looked around the table, tempted to ask if anyone else could, but then I got my answer. “There are men who can mentally connect with dragons other than their own, but not many, and not over any kind of distance.” He focussed back on Soren. “I’ll need a report of what progress you make today, no matter how slight. Also consider that information on need to know basis only.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Get what you can done this morning, because I fear I’m going to have to send the lot of you out on patrol this afternoon. The prince has requested only his wing goes to observe any movement on the borders. Again, need to know.”

“That goes without saying, sir,” Brom said. “Will His Highness join us?”

“He will,” the general replied somewhat stiffly, “and with the late launch date, you will need to bring supplies for an overnight stay. He tells me that there’s a ruin out on the Harlstonian border between the king’s lands and the duke’s. You may have to stop there.”

The air in the room seemed to thicken, but was that with anticipation or hostility? A night away from the eyes of the keep and the capital. Draven had offered us a gift while inserting himself into the middle of it and I wasn’t sure how my husbands were feeling about that. My thumb rolled my wedding band around my finger.

“You can stay here, Pippin, if you don’t wish to rough it in the wilds. I can assign men I trust to care for you.”

A quick intake of breath all around the table, that’s all it took to betray ourselves. The general was a man trained to be able to take the temperature of the room, to gauge subtle shifts in his men, and I watched apprehensively as he did that now. A small frown formed between his brows but before he could say anything, I replied.

“I’ll stay with Brom. That’s the life of a rider’s wife, isn’t it, to brave the wilds? I’ll always be by his side when events permit it.”

His frown deepened but he nodded slowly.

“You have your orders.” He got to his feet and moved towards the door. Halfway there, he stopped and turned around, eyes narrowed, and took a long look at each one of us. “I hope you know what you’re doing, whatever that is. The future of this country depends on it.” He slapped his gloves into his palm. “Have that report to me before you leave, Drill Sergeant.”

“So the general knows,” Ged said in a dark voice. “Or he at least suspects.”

“But there’s not much he can do about it, is there?” Flynn’s voice had an edge to it. “Not when he needs us more than ever. Draven’s wing is all he has to stand between Nevermere and war and he must be aware of what a meagre barrier that is.”

We all did, that was the bloody problem.