Page 17 of The Dragon Queen Complete Series Collection
Chapter 17
“Milady, we need to do something about the staff that were hired by your step…”
My gaze jerked up from my father’s dressing table as I tried to repair the damage I’d done to my face. I’d scrubbed it clean, but that still left me with a red nose and swollen eyes. Nadia stood there, wringing her apron in her hands.
“By Cecily,” she corrected herself. I’d made it known that I no longer wished to have the connection between my family and theirs acknowledged. “Some of them are causing trouble. Valuables have gone missing.”
“Have all of them brought to the great hall,” I said, getting up to change my shirt. I had to remove Glimmer first, setting her down on the bed as I jerked the top out of my pants, then replaced it with a new clean one. The fresh linen felt crisp and well starched. “I’ll decide there who to keep and who to let go.”
I held out my hand to the dragon and she clawed her way up to my shoulder as that seemed to be her preferred position. Nadia bobbed a quick curtsey in response, then turned to go.
“Make sure you’re present as well,” I said, watching her pause, “and anyone else you trust. I have to rely on your judgements in this. I’ve had little to do with any of the people they brought in.”
“Of course, milady.”
Nadia’s reply was all very correct, but as she turned around, the flush of pleasure in her cheeks wasn’t. I returned her smile, then was about to follow her down the hall when Soren appeared with a bowl in hand.
“Feeding time again?” I asked. Sure enough, Glimmer began to squawk and creel in response to what she saw. “We’re just about to go through the new staff that were brought to the estate in my absence, see who can stay and who will go.”
“Your first time sitting in judgement?” he asked me, his dark eyes flashing. I nodded. A small smile formed on his lips, partially hidden in his dark beard. “I was assigned to teach you more about dragon care, but this…” He nodded slowly. “This is likely to be more useful. As queen-in-waiting, you’ll be required to listen to important matters and make judgements, along with your prince. If you will permit me, I could assist you in this process?”
“By the gods, yes…” I sighed. Soren wasn’t as old as my father, but he had some of the same gravitas. I knew something needed to be done about the vipers who Cecily had clasped to her bosom, but I didn’t quite know how. Riders often acted as magistrates, so having him by my side would make the process much easier. As lady of the house, I should’ve learned this at my father’s hand once I was grown, but instead… I shook my head slowly and then forced myself to smile at the rider. “Thank you, Soren. I would appreciate that in more ways than I can say.”
“And we can feed this noisy little madam at the same time,” he said with a chuckle, holding out a hand, and I gasped as she threw herself off my shoulder and onto him.
“Should she…? Is that…? She’s not learning how to fly already, is she?”
“Not yet. Not for some time,” Soren said, giving her a scrap of meat to scoff down. “But young animals usually spend their time practising the movements they’ll need in adulthood.”
Her claws pricked his armour, holding on for dear life as those needle-like teeth scissored the meat into smaller chunks.
“She’ll flutter these wings instinctively.” He ran the back of his finger down her spine and she did just that. “And make more and more precarious leaps.” When his eyes met mine, they were full of amusement. “Resulting in you running around like a panicky nursemaid, sure she’s going to brain herself falling. She’s strong, something we weren’t sure we could expect.”
“You didn’t?”
Bonding with Glimmer had up till this moment been this life-changing experience filled only with happiness, but now, I experienced an unwanted flash of fear.
“We haven’t had to range so wide for a bondmate in hundreds of years,” he explained gently. “People sensed Glimmer was alive, but not much beyond that. Usually a baby dragon will start reaching out to various people, testing them, working out who is the best candidate. Girls felt her presence but not much more.”
She looked up at us now, warbling for more food, sending persistent waves of hunger my way when we weren’t quick enough about it. The dragon seemed plenty strong to my mind, but I admittedly had little experience.
“Milady?” One of the maids appeared in the hallway. “Nadia asked me to let you know that everyone has gathered in the hall.”
“Now you’ll learn some of the less glamourous aspects of being a royal rider,” Soren said, gesturing for me to precede him.
I felt like I didn’t need to hear evidence, to listen to their stories. There was something about the vast majority of the staff gathered before me that set my teeth on edge. And not just mine, it appeared. Nadia, Cook, Gerald and some of the other staff I knew well clustered around my end of the hall, glaring at the newcomers.
“You must hear their testimony,” Soren told me in a whisper. “No matter what you might think or feel. People need to have the opportunity to speak their truth.” His lips twisted then. “Or their lies. We don’t need it. I’ll have Wraith scour their minds, tell us all their secrets. But they must have their chance. It’s human nature to want – to need – to tell your story.”
I nodded, then took my father’s seat and indicated to Nadia that they should begin.
Glimmer was sitting across my lap now, already feeling bigger, heavier. And her head rose up, elegant as you please, when the first person edged forward.
“If it pleases you, Milady.” The man wrung his cap in his hand, his voice the very definition of servility. “My name is Caleb. I work with your cows.”
Glimmer stared, her gaze unending as the man spoke. He seemed to realise that, flushing, his eyes darting around the room. No doubt remembering the stories he would have already heard about his former mistresses’ demise. He spoke of what he did on the farm, how he’d helped streamline some processes, that he worked hard and worked well for Cecily and he would do the same for me.
“And does anyone else have anything to say about Caleb?” I asked.
I could feel Glimmer’s connection to me, like someone was pressing their body against mine. She didn’t seem to have any opinions yet, nor judgement, but she was focussed, so very focussed.
“He speaks the truth, milady,” Gerald said, stepping forward. “He comes from one of those bigger farms near the capital and brought with him a lot of new-fangled ideas. We were resistant to them at first, but at her…” His lips flattened and then he corrected himself. “At that woman’s insistence, we adopted some of them. We’ve had fewer calf deaths and the herd has grown exponentially while Caleb has worked for us.”
The man let out an almost imperceptible sigh, obviously thinking the noose was off his neck.
“But you’ll not notice much of an increase in herd numbers. He’s been selling the excess calves off on the sly, then skiting about the money he’s making down the pub when he’s drunk.” Several men grumbled their agreement at this. “Her ladyship didn’t seem to care, because she had a… special interest in the man.”
By all the gods… I looked him up and down now, seeing him in a whole other light. Cecily desecrated her marital bed with this? He was a big man, strong, but other than that, perfectly unremarkable. But having bad taste in bed partners was hardly a crime, so I found myself looking away from him and back at my dragon.
“That’s it, lass,” Soren said, dropping down beside us. “She knows what needs to be done, even though she’s so young. Dragons always do. Let her communicate what she thinks to you before you make your judgement.”
He stood up, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder, but it felt different to the almost rough, brotherly clasp of Flynn’s. It was heavy, warm, and it was almost as if the strength I could feel in his grip was radiating down and into me, filling me up. I seemed to need that so much, something hollow having formed inside me with everything I’d experienced. My eyes fell closed and I released a breath, letting go for just this moment.
“Open your mind to her,” Soren prompted, his deep voice containing a command that wouldn’t be denied. So my connection with Glimmer tightened and then…
He’d left his wife for this? Bessie was a lovely girl, but not a patch on Cecily. He’d pined for her his whole boyhood, as they grew up in the same town. So when she returned as a grand lady, covered in silks and satins and extended a hand to him, he’d taken it, let her drag him away from his home, from his children. He’d told Bessie he’d make more money and send it back, but he hadn’t, had he? The minute gold crossed his palm as a result of the illicitly sold cattle, he’d think of it, of what it would mean for his family if he sent it home, then the flush of guilt at leaving them in this situation would turn his feet towards the inn. All of his ill-gotten gains would be passed over the counter to the innkeeper, leaving him with a sore head, a sour gut and broke again the next day, forcing him to start the process of funnelling cattle away again.
Not for the first time did I wonder what Cecily was. Like the unseelie of old, she had preyed on others, forcing what was bad inside people to swell up, suppressing the good. But I wasn’t prepared to let Caleb off the hook, not for this.
“Return to your family,” I told him, hearing Glimmer’s little hum. “Beg your wife for forgiveness, but accept that she probably won’t. Make yourself useful to her doing whatever she asks, no matter how shameful, as penance for your crimes. But before you leave, you’ll sit down with Gerald and outline all of the techniques you’ve learned in any aspect of farming. This is my judgement.”
Soren’s hand squeezed my shoulder and for a moment I felt a flash of memory, of my father doing just the same thing. I chanced a look up at the big rider, and was rewarded instantly by a smile that felt like it warmed me all the way through. Glimmer’s croon grew louder, sweeter at that, as if she was singing us a song.
By the fourth or fifth case, I wasn’t sure if Soren regretted joining me for this. I knew I regretted having to be there. I sat on that damn chair, listening to the tales of the newcomers with growing irritation. I knew what their stories were, the true ones, and now had a much greater understanding of the incredible patience of dragon riders.
A patience I was yet to develop.
I knew why we needed to follow this process, why it had to be this way. If I just pronounced judgement based on the privileged information I got from my dragon without sharing it, then I would be no more than any other dictator making arbitrary determinations, leading to discontent in the others. Because that was the purpose of today. Rewarding those who had remained loyal to my family, to my estate, and punishing those who hadn’t, so that the next time they were put in a position to consider whether or not to do the right thing, they’d be encouraged to follow the correct course of action.
So I listened and made decisions, removing most of the new staff from their positions. I only retained those that Glimmer deemed acceptable from the feelings I got down the link, the small remaining group eyed suspiciously by my longer-serving staff. They’d remain under a form of surveillance for some time until they’d proved their worth, which I wasn’t upset by.
“Well done, lass,” Soren said when the last person had left the hall. He moved to stare down at me as I stood up slowly, my body feeling achy and stiff from sitting for so long. “Now, let's get the both of you fed. It’s long past lunchtime.”
We walked into the kitchens, the bustle and the noise falling away as we appeared.
“Milady.” Cook dropped a deep curtsey, hissing at the others to do the same and down they went.
“None of that, Cookie,” I said, using the pet name I’d given her when I was a child.
“Cookie…” She shook her head, her plump cheeks flushing bright red before she bustled over and wrapped her solid arms around me, grabbing me in just the same crushing hug she’d begun to use when Mother died. “I’m glad you’re back where you belong, Pippin. That witch… Her wretch of a daughter…”
“Are dead and we live,” I said, rubbing a hand across her broad back. “And are hungry, though I’m not sure if that’s me or Glimmer.”
“Is that the name of your wee beastie?” she asked, looking up at the dragon who was perched on my shoulder, eyeing the cook with golden eyes. She’d already decided Cook was worth knowing but when the woman produced some more meat scraps… She launched herself forward, dropping down onto the floury bench top and then scrabbling over to the bowl.
“Slowly, young queen,” Soren said, picking her up and holding her in his arms as she began to hiss and spit in protest. “Cook, do you have some fresh fish perchance?”
“That we do, Rider.” She swept into the cold safe, bringing out a fresh, pink fillet and slapping it down on the chopping board. Glimmer stopped her carry-on at that, peering over Soren’s arms at the sight of the fish.
Curiosity, that’s what I got from her as her nostrils sucked in the scent, then hunger, new hunger. This was different meat, new meat, and she was anxious to try it. I cut off a strip and then brought it over to her, her claws snatching it from me, and then down her gullet it went. She blinked, probably not even tasting the fish for a moment. She stared at me, golden eyes wide and hypnotic, drawing me down, down, down into their depths while I reached for more.
More fish, that pulsed inside me, shoving aside my own tiredness and hunger, forcing me to attend to her right bloody now.
“I’ll feed the queen,” he told me before turning to Cook. “You feed the queen-in-waiting.”
“Queen-in-waiting…” Cook used the title with such reverence before mobilising, barking orders at her staff until they were all swarming around, bringing her ingredients as she made me a sandwich from the cloud soft bread she’d baked, brimming with cured meats, cheeses and pickled vegetables. I took a bite, feeling Glimmer’s satisfaction and my own as I swallowed it down.