Page 136 of The Dragon Queen

“And he wanted at least one version of them signed.” Brom’s jaw worked, and I knew why. He was fighting the urge to curse, to shout, and yet we both knew we couldn’t in the grand abbey.

“I thought you had that handled, Draven.”

Flynn was harder, more brittle, when we got back to the capital. He’d never liked being the son of a duke, and I knew why. Court was like quicksand. It sucked you in whether you wanted to engage with it or not.

“I did handle it,” Draven snapped, then rubbed his brow. “I’m sorry, but I’ve had many conversations with Rex about all aspects of the marriage, and I’ve made my position clear each time.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Ged shook his head sharply. “You think because you’re king that you can just say it will be so and that’s the way it will be.”

“This is not the time for another recitation of the contents of Marcus Lighthands’ frankly seditious pamphlets!” Draven snapped. We all went perfectly still, but I pulled my hands from his grip. That seemed to concern him, because he reached to take possession of them again. “I am king. Today I will receive my crown before all of the people. Rex fears change, but I welcome it. While I don’t think I can create the working class paradise Marcus proposes, I do believe there is some room for adjustment.”

He spoke too smoothly, so confidently, and I wondered how long he had practised this speech. Often, I feared.

“We have learned much about our past and we need to learnfrom the mistakes, but also the successes. We have had queens with multiple consorts before.”

“No.” Flynn shook his head sharply. “No, you never mentioned this before. I am not onboard with that idea at all.”

“What does he mean?” Ged asked Soren.

“To remove us as riders,” he replied grimly, staring at Draven as if he’d never seen him before. “Then turn each one of us into his consorts.”

“You want…?” Ged pointed to Draven. “Me and?—”

“Of course, not.” Draven shook his head sharply. “As I told you in great detail when you first joined the corp, just because I have an interest in men and women, it does not mean I am dying to bed every man and woman.” He looked Ged up and down. “You are far too hairy for my tastes, and you snore like a sawn log.”

Ged blinked.

“But the world doesn’t need to know what goes on in our bedroom. Just that we are all committed to each other before the gods. That we share a bond of real love, be it romantic.” He met my eyes, then Brom’s. “Or platonic. That’s what matters.”

“When.” Brom was outraged, I could see that. If they were capable, he’d have burned lines into Draven’s flesh with his eyes. “When, Draven. What’s the timeline for this complete shift away from tradition?”

“We are going back to an older tradition—” Draven said in a be-reasonable tone.

“One that was thrown out with the queens.” Soren shook his head. “You know your history, lad. You know it to be true. What makes you think society will accept a slide back to the ways of Gloriana?”

“I don’t want to be a bloody consort,” Flynn snapped. “Are we ignoring reality? I won’t be able to show affection to the one person I’ve shared my heart with, but I will with you? With all due respect, you’re not my type, Draven.”

“Nor you mine.” Draven tried to chuckle, but we all stared. “I like my women fair and my men dark and brooding. Come, everyone will be waiting and?—”

“Let them wait.” He stared at me and finally seemed to see it. There was no smiling, no joking, no assuring me out of this. “I won’t leave this room. I will not walk down that aisle, not until it's all out in the open. You’ve been a highhanded bastard since the moment I met you, always concocting schemes behind our backs. You did it at Blackreach!”

“For you!” All good humour was gone, and instead there was a passion that nearly made the air crackle. I heard the far off roar of one dragon, followed by many, and it felt like a perfect counterpoint to this. The moment when the last mask was put aside. “I don’t want any of this either!” He turned away, wrenching at his collar and loosening his cravat with an ease I frankly envied. “This was never supposed to be me. Felix was supposed to be the one marrying the queen, and I…”

He sucked in a breath and that gave me hope. All he could see was the crown and its responsibilities, but what if…? What if he set it aside? The papers reported increasing dissatisfaction with the throne due to the fact we weren’t there when the duke’s men attacked. The civil war was seen to be a mistake, as if we didn’t know that. They weren’t in our position. They didn’t have to find a solution with the knowledge we had at the time. If we knew… If we’d anticipated…

“So don’t.” I said that in the softest tone I could, but the bluntness of my words had him turning around. “Don’t be king.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Am I? What did we get for all of our struggles? The threat of a revolution. If you take that crown, you’ll be fighting to keep it because you know Marcus isn’t going to stop. He’s been infected with the ideas of the continent.”

“Gods be damned, letting that seditious material into Nevermere,” Draven grumbled.

“He said he wanted to be prime minister?” I forged on. “Let him. Let him be the one to disappoint the people over and over. Don’t take the throne and…”

I stepped closer, the small measured steps I’d been coached totake up the aisle, but it wasn’t towards my king, but the man I wanted to make my husband.

All of them.

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