Page 21 of The Dragon Queen Complete Series Collection

Chapter 21

I was out of Darkspire’s saddle and down on the ground as soon as was humanly possible, something that had the prince laughing.

“See how my future wife runs from my embrace!” he announced, the other riders all looking terribly uncomfortable as they removed the saddles from their animals. “That bodes well for our marriage.”

“My prince, there are some matters I need to discuss with you,” Brom said crisply, approaching us. “Lady Pippin needs to see to Glimmer and will get the house ready for your arrival.”

“What trouble could you have possibly run into out in this rural backwater?” the prince asked, but he removed his gloves and focussed on his wing commander.

“I’ll go with her ladyship,” Ged said, but the others paid him little attention. He shook his head, then tipped it towards the back door that led into the kitchen, past the garden beds. “There’s some background information we should’ve made you aware of. I brought it up with Brom, but he was determined to allow the two of you to make your own introductions, unbiased by our opinions.”

“And what would you have me know about him?” I snapped, immediately regretting it when I saw the rider flush. “I apologise, Rider.”

“Ged. For fuck’s sake, don’t start in with the titles, not for me.” He looked around us, at the garden beds laden with vegetables that would make it onto our table at some point. “Being here…” He let out a sigh. “Well, it was almost like being back at home. Less stink though.”

I smiled beside myself, and he grinned as a result.

“But the prince?—”

“But the prince is an over-privileged bastard, here to make my life a damn misery, after only four days of peace and quiet?” I shot back.

The smile faded somewhat, but not entirely.

“It’s been a good couple of days, hasn’t it?”

I looked down at Glimmer, who pricked at my shirt, making plaintive little noises of hunger. She tried to follow what we were talking about, right up until the needs of her still-growing body shoved any concerns about our conversation to one side, and my focus followed hers.

“I need to feed Glimmer.”

“We’ll feed her together, then,” he said, following me into the bustling kitchen, unaware of the chaos I was about to unleash. Cook came over with a smile on her face and a bowl of meat scraps, making Glimmer start to warble at the sight, her sounds growing more and more piercing.

“Cook, I do apologise, but we have an impromptu visitor,” I said as I picked up a piece of meat and shoved it into Glimmer’s mouth. Ged was there with the next piece at the ready.

“Oh? Have some friends come to visit unannounced?” she said. “We have a lovely side of lamb in the larder we could do?—”

“No. I mean, yes to the lamb, but not a friend. It’s the crown prince.”

“Prince Draven!”

Her hand went to her capacious bosom, and she went so pale that I stepped toward her, fearing I’d need to put my strength to the test and catch her as her eyelids fluttered.

“Everyone stop what you’re doing right now!”

Her voice echoed throughout the kitchen, even Glimmer’s head jerking up in response as everyone froze. She started barking out a blizzard of orders that I couldn’t follow them, there were so many. But the staff seemed to know what was what, pivoting and rushing to do exactly as she said.

“I’ll have a dinner on the table fit for a king, don’t you worry,” she told me earnestly.

“Thank you, Cook,” I said, clutching at her hands. “Now, I’m going to have to trouble you for something for lunch. I promised the prince a meal.”

Cook deserved a pay rise, I vowed, as we all sat down at the table.

I’d rushed upstairs to find a frantic Nadia ready for me, with fresh clothes waiting. A bird had come in announcing the prince’s arrival just before we’d landed and she’d intercepted it, wanting to bring the message to me, but of course, I couldn’t be found. So Glimmer was dumped with a squawk onto the bed, her wings fluttering and her mouth open as she watched us move like lightning across the room, her head bobbing with excitement. I’d stripped off the sandy and damp clothes I was wearing, given myself a cursory wipe over with the water and cloth on the washstand, while Nadia dithered about in indecision.

“We haven’t had time to get a dress made. And the prince?—”

“The prince saw me in a shirt and trousers. Actually he saw me in just a shirt.”

“He never…” She froze on the spot, her mouth hanging open. “Oh milady… Oh… Oh!”

“It’s alright. He thought I was a stable lad.”

“He didn’t!”

Nadia was always willing to lend a friendly ear, but right now I had her whole focus.

“He did,” I shot back. “Then Brom, the wing commander had to introduce us.” I peered into Father’s mirror and saw my skin was that reddish brown that came from catching yet more sun. I was far from the blushing maid with milky skin that men seemed to prize and that’s what decided what came next. “He didn’t seem pleased to see me or Glimmer.”

“Oh milady… Surely, he was just tired from the journey. He must?—”

“Be an arrogant fool like Arabella and Cecily were?” I finished for her with a grim smile. “Be focussed on the look of things, not what actually is? All surface, no substance, that’s what Father used to say.”

I walked over to his wardrobe then, opening the doors and breathing in the scent of teak and pine, before drawing out one of his better suits and a very fine linen shirt. I dressed carefully, quickly, Nadia stepping in to help me set the shoulder seams to rights, then flicking her fingers across the jacket, removing every tiny bit of lint.

“Buttoned or unbuttoned?” I asked, as my hands hovered over the jacket.

“Buttoned when you’re walking around, unbuttoned when you sit down,” she said with a nod.

Glimmer made a small sound that was almost like a croon and when I collected her up into my arms, she sent waves of comfort, of pleasure, washing through me. I could almost read her mind. Her belly was full and she’d had a tremendous adventure with the other dragons today. She was warm, comfortable and apparently I smelled a little of the lemon soap I’d used and she liked that. I smiled then, unable to nurse a dark mood when she was with me.

Which didn’t leave me well prepared for lunch.

All of the riders got to their feet when I arrived, all but Draven. He looked up at the sound of so many chairs being pushed back, then treated me to a thorough inspection, his lips curling when I reached down and flicked open the buttons to my jacket. I nodded to the others, then took the seat Ged pulled out for me.

“So the dressing like a boy wasn’t something you indulged in for a sunny day at the swamp?” he asked, frowning slightly. “And the hair?—”

“I was forced to shave it, Your Highness. Brom, you’ve informed the prince of the situation I was in when you arrived?” I replied, my voice all of the icy hauteur. I might have dispensed with ringlets and frocks, but I could still affect the manner of a lady when needed.

“I have, milady.”

“So you were aware I was left to care for the estate’s swine. My hair was filthy, hadn’t seen soap for near on a year and it was lousy.” The prince jerked back instinctively. “Exactly that. It was either try and save the wretched locks I had left, washing them in kerosene perhaps? Which would put me in danger any time I got within a foot of a lamp. Or I could shave it.” I shrugged. “I chose the latter.”

“You could wear a wig.” Draven straightened up with a frown. “Many women at court do. And a dress.”

“I was banished from the estate with only a set of my father’s clothes on my back. I was restored back to my place only days ago and…” I reached for my wine glass, nodding to one of the footmen to come forward and fill it. “I find after a year of dressing as a boy, being forced to scrub around for a living in the mud, I prefer the freedom of male dress.”

I took a long sip from the glass, then set it down, nodding to the footman to serve the wine to everyone.

“You won’t be able to go around like this at court.” My eyebrows shot up at the sound of the prince’s voice. Not so much a command by the royal heir to one of his subjects. There was plenty of authority in his voice, but there was something else, an aspect it took me some time to identify.

Fear? Caution? For some reason, what I was, the way I looked, had the prince alarmed.

“Highness—” Brom started to say.

“Brom, brother, you know this to be true. You might have experienced a nice little holiday out here, surrounded by rural splendour, but you and I both know what court is like.”

“I do, Highness, but?—”

“Something will need to be done before we leave. Do you have seamstresses out here? Surely you must?!”

Why did my heart sink at that? I’d worn dresses most of my life, but now? My fingers moved of their own accord, tracing the fine flowers embroidered on the tablecloth. Embroidery the like of which I would have to wear, all over cotton lawn, silk, or heavy velvets. It wasn’t unexpected, even unwanted, a scant year ago, but as my fingers plucked at the stitching of one of the flowers, Glimmer skittered down my sleeve and then came to rest on the table, tipping her head to one side, then the other. I smiled at her and was rewarded by a flush of love washing over me. I held onto that as I looked back at the prince.

“Of course, Your Highness,” I said, because I could hardly argue with the crown prince, could I?