Page 18 of The Dragon Queen Complete Series Collection

Chapter 18

After that, I had two days where I learned more about dragons while restoring myself to my rightful place as lady of my family’s estates. I spent time in the stables, learning how to oil and polish a dragon-riding saddle and some basic means to repair any tears or damage it might incur when I was eventually flying. I discovered the different parasites that could plague a dragon and how to treat them. I was made to oil Glimmer up, something she took to with great enthusiasm, perhaps because her scales gleamed all the brighter for it, Cook and her staff looking on with awe as I used some of the good cooking oil on my dragon. Apparently, this kept Glimmer’s scales from drying out. But they also needed to be cleaned periodically as well.

“We need a lake or a cove of sorts,” Brom announced as we sat down to breakfast. “A body of water with sandy soil, not mud at its base. The dragons need washing and it’d be a good opportunity for you to learn how to do that as well.”

“You could go to the old quarry,” Cook said as she set a platter brimming with food down on the table. Everyone leaned forward, catching the salty, meaty scent of cooked bacon, sausages, eggs, and baked beans. “Little mud there and plenty of rocks and sand.”

“And how far away is it?”

Brom and Cook discussed the journey, both of them creating a simple mud map to get us there after breakfast.

“But you said Glimmer isn’t ready to fly,” I said, holding her protectively against my chest. She’d grown quite a lot and was now a heavy weight in my arms.

“It won’t be proper flying,” Flynn explained as he strapped Glacier’s saddle on, but not much else. He was looking remarkably stripped down as well, with no armour, only a linen shirt and some pants.

“We’ll stay at a low altitude,” Soren said. “Just skim over the treetops. We won’t go too high, so the air won't get too thin for the little queen.”

“It’ll be good practice.” Brom said. “Settle down, Obsidian.” He patted the black dragon’s neck then held out a hand. I looked around me, not sure what he was looking for when Ged gave my shoulder a nudge.

“You ride with the wing commander today,” he said. “Put yon beastie down your shirt. That should keep her nice and warm, and safe.”

But as we walked over, Glimmer was not inclined to follow those instructions at all, shifting restlessly on my shoulders as we got closer, at least until Obsidian’s massive head swung our way. He let out a low rumble that seemed to settle Glimmer, then several chuffs of breath. Slowly, almost regretfully she pushed her head under my collar and settled on the inside of my shirt.

“You’ve ridden a horse before?” Brom asked as I stared at Obsidian. He seemed so much bigger now I was standing by his side. My head didn’t even come up to his shoulder. Far from it. I was dwarfed by the massive beast, blasts of air hitting me as he shifted his wings. I nodded to the rider, belatedly. He dropped down beside me and then pointed out where the stirrups were. “Grab the horn, put your left foot in the stirrup and then give yourself a little jump as you swing the right foot over the saddle.”

He watched me eye the distance, the height so much greater than my placid mount, Blossom.

“I’ll help you.” I looked back at him to see those steady hazel eyes staring into mine, full of a confidence I didn’t feel. “You’ll be fine. You’ll practise mounting Glimmer as soon as she’s big enough to tolerate it, getting used to doing so as she grows and grows. Obsidian wasn’t much bigger than a hardy pony when I first learned how to sit atop his back.” The dragon snorted at that. “Now he’s a massive beast. I’ll just put my hands on your waist now, to help boost you up.”

Part of me was glad for the assistance, the other was terribly conscious of the kind of imposition this was. An unmarried man did not touch a lady’s waist unless he was dancing with her or prepared to make her an offer of marriage.

Just imagine that you’re waltzing in the ballroom , I told myself furiously, hearing Glimmer’s restless cheep. I did exactly as he said, Brom talking me through the process again as I did so.

“Good lass.”

His voice was so deep and warm and full of congratulation, I couldn’t help but deploy every muscle I had, clawing my way up, even as he lifted me without even straining until finally, I was in position, sitting atop the dragon.

“Well done, lassie,” Ged said, coming forward, the others doing the same, my actions earning me a round of applause and encouraging nods all round. That was ridiculous, but I couldn’t help but flush with a sense of achievement. Then I flushed for an entirely different reason.

I couldn’t ride Obsidian or any of the other dragons on my own, and I knew Brom would haul himself up into the saddle behind me, because he could. Which necessitated me sitting between his very muscular thighs.

Had I ever been more aware of a man? Perhaps on the night those three boys tried to rape me, but that had been for quite a different reason. Brom didn’t mean me harm, his grip was gentle but sure as he settled down behind me, his hands unable to avoid gripping my waist as he moved into place.

“My apologies, milady…” His voice was a low rumble now, one his dragon seemed to mimic. “I’ll just need to position the two of us so we can both grip the horn.” He took one of my hands in his, then set it against the long horn that ran horizontally, both to stop a rider from sliding down the neck of their dragon, as well as giving them something to hold onto. I placed my other hand there without prompting. “Just so, Lady Pippin. Just so.”

I could feel his body shift forward, slotting against mine in a way I wasn’t sure I’d ever experienced before, a warm heavy weight that helped me feel anchored to the saddle. And something more. I tried to smother my response, reasoning that it was just that same thing, of being touched with some kind of gentleness for the first time. Well, that and the fact that I was still a blushing virgin. Glimmer’s head popped out of my shirt, peering at my face inquisitively. My cheeks burned as I resolutely gripped the horn, my eyes kept down as the other riders climbed into their saddles, the dragons roaring as they did so.

“Now, we both need to lean forward, mil?—”

“We could probably dispense with the titles,” I said, my voice wavering, but the fact I managed to get the words out at all amazed me. I leaned forward obediently, only to be rewarded by the feel of Brom’s body holding mine in place. “I’m not sure where this fits within the rules of propriety.”

He let out a low chuckle before barking an order to Obsidian, the beast stumbling forward along the track that was kept clear on every noble estate for just this purpose.

“I don’t think you’re so much hampered by propriety, rather being a woman that observes it when it suits you,” he shot back, his voice rising in tone as the wind whipped at our faces. “Now, a little jump.”

Little? Little! I felt the muscles of the dragon bunch, right before it flung itself in the air, those massive wings whipping out, capturing the weight of the wind, then flapping hard to generate more lift for Obsidian’s massive bulk. Up, up, we went into the air, right until I was sure we were going to crash into the forest.

“Not too high, you lunk!” he shouted at his dragon. “We have precious cargo aboard.”

And as if summoned, Glimmer poked her head out, the view she caught of the forests below us forcing her to perfect stillness.

I felt her joy, but that tiny word was no fit descriptor for that which raged in the heart of a dragon, I was about to discover. Pleasure, so bright, so sweet, rushed into me, obliterating any fears I might have had and replaced it with something so much more. A hunger for the wind in my face, in my wings, to feel my body sinuously winding its way through the clouds as we?—

“Glimmer!”

I was forced to stuff the dragonling back down my shirt because she was clawing at the cotton, wanting to get out, wanting to?—

“They get sky-drunk.” Brom’s voice was a low buzz in my ear. “It's half the reason why we don’t take young dragons up.” I stared down at the trees, felt my dragon shift restlessly inside my shirt, felt her wings flutter. “They don’t, won’t acknowledge their limitations, thinking they can throw themselves off a cliff and into the air while the shards of their eggs still cling to their scales. But we’re almost there.”

He pointed to the old quarry, a place that took half a day to reach on horseback, and yet here we were, minutes later. Brom patted Obsidian’s neck and the beast obediently began to spiral down.

“How was your first ride?” Soren asked me as I clambered out of the saddle. His hand shot out as I staggered but, as I looked up at him, a giddy smile formed on my face. He grinned in response, something that broke the man’s often dour facade, which only had me smiling more. “It’s a miraculous thing, isn’t it?”

“Miraculous.” I nodded, my head feeling too loose on my neck, which had me staggering again.

“Miraculous will be getting in that water, getting Glacier scrubbed up and gleaming.”

Flynn appeared by our sides, tugging off his boots and tossing them to the ground, then unbuttoning his shirt, something I belatedly looked away from. I still managed to catch sight of a lot of pale, muscular flesh before I did, though, noting that his skin was criss-crossed with a small array of scars. Then his hands went to his trousers, stripping them off, leaving him just in a pair of undershorts. He ran towards the water, whistling for his dragon as Brom shouted at him.

“Check the water’s depth first!”

“Bloody fool,” Soren said with a shake of his head. “He’ll rip that beast from neck to gizzard, diving in the places he does. Water dragons have no bloody sense when it comes to swimming.”

“Glacier is a water dragon?” I knew dimly that there were different kinds of dragons with different offensive capabilities, but not much more than that.

Soren nodded to the water-filled quarry in time to see the blue dragon sucking in water in a way that made it look like a waterspout was rushing into his mouth. Then he sprayed it all out, battering a spluttering, protesting Flynn.

“Looks like his beast is able to take care of his own safety,” Brom said, then moved to yank his own shirt up and over his head.

I walked over to a cluster of boulders by the water’s edge, unable to just stand there as men, grown men, disrobed in front of me. Father would’ve had a fit, though perhaps not given that they were dragon riders. They were known to be the most trustworthy in the entire kingdom, but still…

“Come in,” Ged told me as he walked past, Cloud Raker at his heels. “Cloudy and I will show you how to clean a dragon properly.”

He watched me look down at my masculine clothes with a slight smile, his eyes squinted against the warm summer sun, only taking pity on me when he could see the internal battle I was fighting.

“You’re a dragon rider now, not a lady, not unless you want to be. Leave your shirt and your underwear on. That’ll cover enough to preserve your modesty, not that you’ll be worrying about that when you’re washing one of these big bastards.” Cloudy rumbled, then shoved at Ged with his muzzle. “He won’t let you worry about anything but scrubbing his scales.”

As if to underscore the point, the big red dragon turned his head my way, golden eyes staring at me.

“Fine,” I said, reaching down to unlace my boots.

“That’s a girl,” he said as I waded deeper into the water, realising belatedly that all of the skin I feared revealing was well and truly covered by the water. Glimmer was perched on my shoulder, watching everything while emitting a chorus of chirps, a sharp one alerting Cloud Raker to her intentions. His wing snapped out, ready to catch her as soon as she launched herself at him, but while she scaled his neck with a self-congratulatory trill, we spluttered. “Gods above, Cloudy, a little warning next time?”

If I was worried about the thin cotton of the fabric getting wet and plastering itself against my maidenly body, well, that was done with. I looked more like a drowned rat than any kind of nubile naiad haunting the quarry lake.

“Grab yourself a handful of sand,” Ged ordered, then ducked under the water, coming back with a big clump of it cradled in his palms. “And let's wash this big bastard.”