Page 26 of The Dragon Queen Complete Series Collection
Chapter 26
“Ahh…” My eyes grew wide, my mouth opening, but I had no words to offer her, not as she moved forward in a series of slow hip swivels, her eyes burning. “Mistress Maggie?—”
“Just Maggie. No mistress needed here.”
“I just need somewhere I can clean up. We were in the air for much of the day, having come all the way from Deepacre.”
“Well, that’s something I can help you with. I’ve been told I’m very good at washing someone’s back.”
“A valuable skill to have, indeed, but I admit, I prefer to wash alone.”
I dared to meet her eyes and therefore caught the moment the heat left them. She put her hands on her hips and shot me a much more platonic smile.
“Not a fan of rutting with your own sex? No matter, I’ll show you where you can get clean. I’m thinking you’d like some privacy?” Her eyes raked down my body, but with a much more evaluative air.
“Please, if possible.”
“The separate shower cubicles are through here.” She showed me where I’d stumbled upon her and the dragon rider, pointing out the line of little walled over areas, each one with its own showerhead. “They fill up fast in the morning, so you’ll need to get up before the cock crows if you want to shower on your own.”
She demonstrated how to use the shower, turning the water on and off, and adjusting the temperature, something that we did not have yet out on my estate.
“Well, I’m off to bed, or off to find someone to warm my bed. If you change your mind, just ask for Maggie.”
“Thank you for your help,” I replied, but I’ll admit, I waited until I heard her steps fade away before I dared pull the curtain across and strip down.
The water was heavenly. Just the right heat and pouring from the wall like a waterfall. I just stood within its stream for a few minutes, revelling in the sensation. I’d put Glimmer on the shelf with my clothing, but she squawked and squawked until I picked her up and put her on the floor between my feet, her small wings spreading wide to capture the water. I chuckled, then set to work, rubbing the lavender scented soap over my skin until I had a good lather going. Glimmer snorted, sending wet sneezes out onto the tiles as she was hit by splashes of water. But then I remembered Ged was waiting for us. I finished cleaning myself off, then dried the both of us off with the soft towel before getting dressed.
I caught sight of Cadet Pippin in the mirrors as I went to leave, her reflection drawing me closer.
The uniform fit her well, the quartermaster who’d given me my clothes having gauged my size with one long look. The shoulder seams matched the points of my own shoulders, the fabric just loose enough to fit well, but not so loose as to be sloppy. But if I hoped to hide my femininity behind the fact I had no hair, well, that wouldn’t work. I might not have the busty proportions of some of the serving women, but my breasts pushed at the cotton in a way no man’s chest would. But it was my face that caught my attention most.
Somehow even more tanned, a smattering of freckles across my nose having bloomed from all of the additional sun. My eyes were keen, the slopes of my cheekbones looking razor sharp due to the lack of hair to soften my face. Glimmer peered at the glass too, looking at our reflection, then me, then back again, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Everything alright in there, lass?”
Ged. I blinked and jerked away from the mirrors and collected up my burdens, emerging out moments later.
“How’d you go?” There was an edge to his question, one that hadn’t been there on my estate. “I saw Hallin?—”
“I saw Hallin too, rutting Maggie against the wall,” I said.
“Ah, lass, I should’ve warned you,” he said, instantly looking contrite.
“About what? This is a place for men, fighting men.” I looked around me at the stone walls, hearing the dim sounds of masculine voices and dragon rumblings. “And the women who serve them. Maggie assured me all such… engagements are consensual.”
“No one lays a finger on a woman without her permission,” he assured me.
“I forgot that. When I heard them…” My eyes went hazy and unfocussed, not seeing him, not seeing anything that existed in this place right now. “I thought I was walking in on an assault. What the hell I would’ve done if there was one, I don’t know.”
“I do.” He reached out a finger and tipped my chin upwards, until I met his grey eyes, until I saw the warmth that burned there. A warmth I wanted to bask in the longer he stared. “You’ll come to me, to Soren, to Brom or even bloody Flynn. You’re part of our wing and we protect what’s ours.”
Ah, so that’s what this was. Ged was nothing but attentive, which had made me wonder several times whether there was something more to that, even if I’d squashed those thoughts almost immediately with the remembrance of what I’d assumed would be my fate as queen-in-waiting.
“Thank you,” I said, jerking my chin free, but trying to soften that with a smile. “I appreciate that a burden has been placed upon you.”
“Not a burden at all.” He took a step closer, both his hands rising but then falling again. “Now, we need to get to bed. Soren is a hard taskmaster if ever there was one and we’ll be up before the cockerels start crowing.”
“Apparently, that’s a good thing. The bathhouse gets congested in the morning.”
“I can unfortunately confirm that.” His arm was a heavy weight when he slung it around my shoulders, Glimmer squawking in protest, then shifting to grip his solid forearm. “I may or may not have had a dalliance with one of the girls that took longer than we expected. All the other women started streaming in and I…”
He shot me a sidelong grin, then seemed to realise he was talking to a woman, not one of his brothers-in-arms.
“Well, let's just say it felt too good to bring things to a hasty end. Got me a lot of attention from the other women for a good few weeks.”
I snorted and shook my head, but pulled away from him as soon as I could without appearing rude, because that seemed to be the key here. Follow the rules, keep my head down, find my place, whatever that might be. I knew it wouldn’t be with a lot of the men. They were far taller, far stronger and much more formidable than I would ever be, so there was no point trying to be their match. Perhaps I could find a position in one of the kitchens? I was a reasonable cook. The king could hardly complain at that. I’d be making myself useful and Glimmer would be ensconced in the keep, neither of us available to be used by some rebellious lord. I considered all of the possible options for my future as Ged recounted some of his and his friends’ exploits, right up until we got to the door of their suite.
“You got her back in one piece,” Soren snapped, taking one look at me to check if that was true, then a much more censorious one at Ged. “Good.” He ushered us in, then directed me over to the table in the centre of the room.
It’d been cleared since I’d been there last, but by the mess on the bedside tables, it looked like the contents had just been picked up and dumped there instead.
“This is for you.” Soren slapped down a very fine knife, complete with a black stained bone handle that had been carved to approximate dragon scales.
“ That knife?” Flynn said, sitting up on his bed, craning his neck. “But that’s?—”
“Hush you.” Soren turned back to me, his dark eyes glittering with some urgency in the low light. “You’ve used a knife before?”
“To kill pigs,” I admitted.
“Killing a man isn’t that different. They squeal the same and thrash about. You’ll be with me and the other cadets in the morning. The uniform was a smart choice. You need to fit in, to not look like you’re wanting allowances made for your gender, for your station. We don’t stand on ceremony, not in the keep.”
But then his eyes dropped down, as if he couldn’t seem to stop himself and there they stayed, studying my shirt with undue interest.
“Though perhaps a bigger shirt might be in order.”
I snorted and then shook my head.
“There’s no disguising what I am, and what is that? If my noble birth is of no consequence, then what am I?” My hand passed over my head. “A bald woman. A bald woman who’s too tall, with hands too big.” I thrust them up into his face. “With features that make me look like a boy, when the men here have free access to more pretty girls than anyone could dream of.”
“Lass…” He drew himself up, the other men doing the same, but I wasn’t going to hear it, the excuses, the soft-soaping, not when I needed to face reality.
Because I had been rejected. As queen-in-waiting; as Draven’s fiancée. He’d known all along, hence his rude treatment of me, but hadn’t bothered to share the knowledge with me. Gods, maybe every single person in the room thought the same… I shook off that thought, not able to bear the shame of it, not when Glimmer started creeling piteously.
“No, Soren. I might be as tall as some of the boys you train, or even as strong, but don’t make the mistake in thinking I am the same as them. I’ll bleed once a month, be ready to kill the lot of you for a slice of good chocolate cake the week before that. I’ll cry when I get hurt, and like the smell of pretty flowers, and books with overly muscular heroes who sweep the heroines off their feet.” I was using all of the gross stereotypes about my sex, because I couldn’t explain what it was to be a woman to them, not really. “All we can do is work with the strengths I do have, not try and turn me into yet another boy cadet.”
“Heard loud and clear, lass,” he said with a nod of his head.
“I quite like flowers,” Flynn said, shooting me a cheeky grin.
“Oh? And what are your favourites?” I said with a sigh.
“I’m partial to daisies, and gerberas. They always look so cheerful.”
“I’ll bring you back a bouquet next market day,” I replied with a slow smile.
“See, having a girl bunking in with us won’t be so bad. It already smells better.”
“On that note, let me show you to your room, Pippin,” Brom told me.