Page 17 of Dance with the Dragon Duke

“Problem?” Dark’s voice was husky.

“Your Grace.” The Lunar guard gave a tiny bow, clicking his heels together. “Your presence is requested by the Queen of Night.”

“I wasn’t aware she was home this morning.” Dark rested an arm possessively across Tomorrow’s shoulders. “Lead the way and we’ll follow.”

The guard shook his head. “Respectfully, Your Grace, only you were requested by Her Majesty.”

Knowing how nervous Tomorrow was, he didn’t want to leave her.

Her expression betrayed the tiniest insecurity and then her face smoothed. “I doubt anything will happen to me, not here of all places,” she said with confidence. “I’ll sit with Margot and Susan. Come and find us when you’re through.”

Chapter 5

Dark

Dark followed the guard to a small library that smelled of vellum and wax paper, lit with gaslights and full of soft, well-used furniture. The walls were decorated in Lunar magic charts, drawings of hands in different positions for calling moon magic to the caster.

Queen Rain balanced on a chair, reaching for a higher shelf. On the side table behind her, she’d piled stacks of books as tall as she was short. Most of them were written in an archaic script he recognized as elven.

It was always a pleasant surprise to share a space with the infamous Bloody Queen of Night. She was Seelie small, white-haired, and unexpected in every way. She had the sculpted limbs of a practiced warrior and the scars to match. A slash of puckered skin marred her throat. Discolored gashes lined the knuckles of her fingers—injuries common in dagger fighting. She did not have the boisterous nature of the other warriors Dark had come to know. Instead, she possessed a quiet and reserved spirit.

She was not a court beauty but was undoubtably striking in untraditional ways, wearing well the long woolen tunic of a soldier instead of petticoats and pearls. Her familiar, a demon trickster who took the form of a black cat, leapt onto the tablebeside her books, studying the duke with watchful yellow eyes. Sulfur, the scent of Hell, followed him.

“You may go, Arne,” the queen said. Her voice was raspy through her scarred throat.

The mage guard hovered by the entryway for a moment before granting them privacy.

A casual onlooker might see the great duke looming over the small queen and think she was outmatched. But they’d be wrong. A trickster like Dark could transform into a dragon so large it would crush the manor flat, and there still wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the queen could best him in any fight.

Rain was ancient, and she was a witch—an immortal who’d traded a piece of her soul to another with blood magic, bonding them. She and her demon had bested bigger dragons than him with those scarred hands of hers.

“Your Majesty,” Dark greeted reverently, bowing low.

Rain reached over her head, retrieving a slender book from the shelf before acknowledging his words. “Darko.” Her lilting accent of the north was more antiquated than Tomorrow’s. “You are well, I hope?”

“I am.” He came forward to brace the chair, stopping it from wobbling beneath her. “Will I get to enjoy your company this morning?”

“Crowded ballrooms aren’t for me, I’m afraid. I prefer my company at a more intimate size.” After a quick inspection, she shook her head at the volume in her hands and stretched to put it back.

Dark wasn’t certain crowded ballrooms were for him either, but they had their purpose from time to time. In this case, he found it very convenient that he got to dress up Tomorrow in fine fabrics fit for royalty. “How can I be of service, Your Majesty?”

“First, if you would please.” She jumped down lithely from her chair, pointing at the next book she wanted, a large leather-bound tome.

Dark reached it easily, standing flat-footed, and handed it down to her.

The queen accepted it in both hands. She blew dust off the cover. “You know, you may call me Rain, if you wish,” she said, dropping the new book beside her familiar. The cat lurched out of the way, hissing at her. Rain’s lips twitched. “Your sister called me Rain even before she was queen.”

Dark chortled. “My sister does as she pleases.”

Rain nodded knowingly. “Sora’s good at that. She’s the reason I asked for you, actually. She sent me a letter with a request in exchange for the information I required.”

“A boon for a boon,” Dark grunted.

It was the way between dragons. The Seelie prized family and blood ties above all else, and the Lunar fae valued academia and magic, but the Unseelie saw favor only in what another could accomplish for them. Sora Yaga was on the very short list of people Dark trusted, but only most of the time.

“She’s worried for you and hoped I could help you make new acquaintances here amongst the Lunar Court. I don’t know your preferences, but there are a few lovely men and women I could introduce you to if you find yourself in need of company.”

Dark’s chin dropped, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “My sister isn’t worried about my wellbeing. She’s worried I’m not being useful. I’d be more helpful if I was married to a titled person who brought the Yaga name more power instead of hiding out in a brothel away from all the political gaming and backstabbing that is her life.”

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