Page 56 of The Dragon Queen Complete Series Collection

Chapter 56

I woke up the next morning in some kind of haze. My eyes felt swollen, my head two times too big. Glimmer let out a musical little hum as I got up and off the bed, then staggered out into the suite.

“Is it hot?” When I swiped my hand across my scalp, it came away slick with sweat. “Do I have heatstroke?” My head swung around, feeling too loose on my shoulders. “Soren…”

“You might,” he said, coming closer and when he pressed the back of his hand to my forehead, it felt like my body went limp against it. “No fever, but…hmm. Perhaps you should spend the day in bed today. Keeping a low profile after… It might be for the best.”

He directed the last comment at Ged.

“A day in bed?” The man ambled over with a grin, then took my hand and placed a kiss on the knuckles. “I did have something much grander planned, but I could get behind and in front and over this change in plans.”

“You won’t be able to.”

Brom’s voice was grim as he walked into the suite, but then he paused when he saw the state of me, those cool hazel eyes seeming to take in every inch with one long look. My bare legs, my hand pushing down my shirt when I realised what a disgraceful picture I was making right now.

But what if I didn’t worry about modesty?

The thought was slow, sinuous as a vine, working its way into my consciousness and loosening my hold on my shirt. What if I let the fabric fall free, fluttering around my hips…? My eyes slid around the room and each man took a step forward, as if summoned by that thought.

“Get dressed.” Brom’s direction to me was gentle but firm. “We’re due in the general’s office this morning.”

“You’re not?—”

Ged stiffened the minute Brom issued the order, but his wing commander silenced him with a look.

“Pippin has to face the music over the prank. You know that. Especially as we’ll all be attending the ball tonight.”

“The ball?” It felt like the thin layer of sweat coating my body suddenly cooled, and that left me shivering.

“A ball is being held to celebrate the king’s birthday,” Brom told me. “I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone as it’s usually officers only.” Then he said the words that truly left me cold. “But the queen has requested that, as we are the prince’s wing, all of us should attend.”

My focus shifted then, finding Flynn’s eyes across the room and seeing the same alarm there.

“You’ll have the day with Pippin, as you planned,” Brom continued, “but you’ll need to spend a large chunk of that time ensuring she has a suitable dress.” He produced a small business card and then handed it to me. “The dressmaker has been made aware of the situation and will take care of your needs, and then send me the bill.”

“I can pay for her dress—” Ged started to say.

“With what the hoity toity dressmakers charge, you might not want to volunteer to pay for this one, lad,” Soren told him, patting him on the shoulder.

“I’ll go with them, make sure Pippin isn’t forced into some overdone flurry of flounces and bows,” Flynn said.

“Now hang on—” Ged replied.

“I need to see my own tailor if I’m to attend a ball at short notice. Then there’s that flower ‘arrangement’ you created, Ged. You’re a good man, but taste…” Flynn smirked at the other man.

Their bickering became a low hum in the back of my head, one that Glimmer seemed to sing in counterpoint to.

“Get dressed,” Brom prompted. “We don’t dare keep the general waiting.”

I’m not sure that the man in question was aware that he was supposed to be waiting, as when we arrived at his office, the general’s head was bent over the paperwork spread across his desk, taking the time to finish what he was reading before looking up at us.

“Ah, Brom, the Lady Pippa and Glimmer.” He gave us a tight smile. “Have a seat.” We did as we were told and the man leaned back in his chair, studying the two of us. “I hear an engagement will be announced sometime soon?”

When I looked up at Brom, I’m sure the general saw that as maidenly modesty. I touched my still swollen lips to remember just how unmaidenly I’d been the day before. He caught that gesture and what it entailed when he returned my gaze, staring intently for a moment until my hand fell away, then taking hold of it in his own.

“I believe so,” he replied.

“Good, good. Well, in light of what happened the other day…” The general shot me a dark look. “I was surprised to receive news that the queen is requesting her son’s entire wing be present at the ball tonight, including you, Lady Pippa. Which means we must have a frank discussion.”

I felt like I was sitting before my father’s desk, about to face a lecture with a very detailed and intense list of my failings, all over again. I straightened up in my chair and Brom’s fingers tightened around mine. Whether it was a warning to sit still and stay quiet or whether it was for comfort, I didn’t know. All I did know was how my body perceived it. That tightening grip, those strong fingers? It wasn’t hard to imagine them sliding elsewhere. My spine lengthened slowly but surely and as it did so, Glimmer’s did too. We stared this man down as queens, but the general did not seem at all fazed by this.

“There is an obvious enmity between you and the prince. This is understandable, after being rejected.”

Oh no , I thought. Not this.

“Any young woman given the chance to become queen-in-waiting would be devastated to have that honour taken away from them.”

No, no, no.

My grip on Brom’s hand tightened, my knuckles going white with the effort.

“We were told to expect a degree of petulance, but what happened yesterday went beyond that. Far beyond that. If you go to this ball?—”

If? There was a chance I wouldn’t have to go?

“Then there is an expectation that you will behave in a manner appropriate to your station and your family name. Am I clear?”

“Crystal.”

One word but it felt just as hard and transparent as glass, and the general’s small sigh made me think he recognised that too.

“She’ll be your responsibility tonight, you and your wing’s.” The man had given up trying to talk to me, redirecting his attention back to the apparently much more sensible Brom. “Ensure she behaves.”

What the hell is this? I hissed at Glimmer inside my head.

Queen dragons in the wild tend not to live too close to each other, she informed me. Those whose territories that are too close will often engage in many skirmishes, trying to test the other, to draw males away from the queen they see as their competitor.

What has that to do with a ball? I replied. And how do you know that?

Something had happened to my dragon when Flynn took us to see the ruin, all her baby animal nature had been roughly shoved aside and replaced by…? My eyes dropped down and met hers and for the first time, I wondered what the hell I was bonded to.

What happened that day? I asked her, not specifying when or where. What happened to you?

I found myself, finally , she replied. And if we’re to make it through this, you need to do the same. This human queen is no different to a dragon one. This is her territory. They are her males and you’ve been thrust in amongst them, so that makes you a threat.

I wanted to dismiss this, dismiss her, but I couldn’t. Some instinct wrapped its hand around my throat and squeezed, making it hard to take a breath.

Can you see what she has planned? I asked, grasping desperately for something, anything. I’m doing what she asked and marrying Brom.

I would be sitting in her mind like a tick in a dog’s ear if I could , she replied. Bleeding all of her poison away. She means us harm though. I watched her gaze falter then. A queen doesn’t tolerate competitors in her territory.

“So you’re off to get a nice frock made?” My attention was jerked back to the here and now by the general’s voice. “That will make for a pleasant change. There’s no reason why you should have to wear a cadet’s uniform. You won’t be attending classes with the lads any longer. I’m sure Brom would be delighted to see you in something a little more fetching.”

“We shouldn’t take up any more of your time, sir,” Brom said, getting to his feet and pulling me along after him. “Tonight will go smoothly, I promise you. Won’t it, Pippin?”

“Of course.”

I said the lie without thinking, the expectations of my gender, of my class, feeling like they weighed heavily on me now. I nodded, smiled and then bobbed a damn curtsey before walking out with Brom.

“You know this is a bloody trap!” I hissed at Brom once we were a fair way down the hallway, Glimmer trotting by my heels.

“Of course I do.” His voice was a low growl, but at the sight of several incoming riders, he pulled me into what must’ve passed for a passionate embrace. Trouble was, even if it was just a means to mask our conversation, it didn’t feel like nothing. It felt real.

Suddenly I was small, fragile and cradled against his chest, his hand sliding down to wedge our hips together before his mouth dropped down to my ear. I found myself shivering in response.

“She won’t hurt you. I won’t allow it, queen be damned. It’s why I directed Draven to ask for the entire wing to attend if we two were going to be forced to.”

“And he agreed ?”

I looked around furtively, hoping that hoarse whisper didn’t travel far.

“He agreed.”

“That’s all part of it. He’s going to use your trust in him to lure me out and?—”

“He knows exactly what the queen is capable of.” The words felt like stones dropping down into my gut, each one heavier than the next. “More than any other person in the entirety of Nevermere. I spoke to him last night, about our situation. He has a plan…”

“Oh gods…” I abandoned all pretence of maintaining a facade, grabbing up Glimmer and jerking myself away from him. “You think he…?”

Brom went to reply, to argue against what I was thinking, but the presence of people moving up and down the hallway stifled him. I used that as an opportunity. Let them think it was a lover’s tiff, as I turned on my heel and strode away. Let them think I was upset that Brom didn’t have the coin for the fancy silks I had in mind. But something much more murderous burned in my heart as I made my way back to the suite.

Ged and Flynn looked up as I stormed in, then got to their feet as I slammed the door.

“How quickly can you get a bird to your father?” I asked Flynn, knowing what I was proposing was desperate and stupid, but unable to stop myself.

“Very swiftly,” he replied with a small frown, “seeing as he’s currently in the city.” I stared at him then. “All of the dukes and their retinues are, as are the rest of the upper echelons of the aristocracy. I’ve known about the ball for some time, because I’ll be attending as my father’s son.”

“So the tailor comment?”

“A ruse.”

“What the…? What’s going on?” Ged said. “I thought we were going to enjoy a night of drinking and dancing on the king’s coin.”

“It’s far more than that,” I said. “Let's take a carriage down to the dressmaker’s. I’ll fill you in on the way.”