Page 50 of The Dragon Queen

“Like a gimbal?”

It took everything in me not to rush towards Ged when he spoke up. I knew what it would feel like if he wrapped his arms around me. The persistent cold, colder than Aisenbran’s blood, would be dispelled and I could finally take a full breath. Instead, Cloudy appeared beside him, turning his flank towards his rider so Ged could paw through his saddlebags. He pulled out a small leather pouch and then produced a strange piece of equipment.

I knew what a compass was, having been taught how to use one by my father, but this… He wrapped his hand around some kind of handle and then demonstrated what he meant.

“Ohh, that’s a nice bit of kit,” Stefan said, moving towards Ged. The rider handed it over and Stefan experimented. No matter how he moved the handle, the compass remained flat. I now understood its purpose. A dragon rider needed to know where north was just as much as anyone, but on dragon back as the beast banked and veered to one side, that could throw out the compass’ accuracy, making it useless. It needed to stay true no matter what angle you were at. “Cousin?—”

“Already seeing it.”

Draven took the compass from Stefan and held it out as if taking a measurement from the horizon. I knew what he was thinking. A mechanism to carry the pots of dragonfire that would adjust for velocity, angle, any kind of movement, keeping it stable as the dragon moved.

“We could weight the pots at the bottom, making it harder for them to move.” Rex’s words came out faster and faster. “Like a plumb line, gravity would keep it stable, the gimbal would help counteract the natural movement of the dragon.”

“It’d need to have some sort of hook attached to it,” Stefan said. “Something that could be released by the rider.”

It felt like everyone started talking at once. Voices, so many masculine voices, competed for attention and that had me stepping back. Males protect. I could almost hear Glimmer’s voice inside my head as I turned to look at her, still sleeping on Darkspire’s shoulder.One golden eye opened for a second in acknowledgement. Queens let them.

“Where the hell can we get gimbals made en masse at short notice?” someone asked. “My man took months to complete my compass.”

“Mine didn’t take months, but it was definitely weeks,” another rider said.

“Months? Weeks?” Ged snorted. “My dad made me mine in a day. It’s not as fancy as some of those ones, but it does the job.”

“‘Does the job’ is exactly what we need right now.” Everyone went quiet as Draven spoke. “Ged, can you take Cloudy and talk to your father about a royal contract? I’ll agree to whatever terms he sets if he can start manufacturing these for the war effort. Men, gold, whatever he needs.”

“Of course, Majesty.”

Ged remembered to tack Draven’s title on at the last minute, nodding before turning towards his dragon.

But I didn’t want him to leave, not without me.

I felt hollow and lightheaded, my gut turning. This wasn’t what normally happened when I touched a crystal egg, but that one… It was as if it was cracked for a reason. The poison within it had to leach out and I needed to get it off me.

“I’ll go with Rider Ged,” I said in a decisive tone. Draven’s eyebrow jerked up as if he knew exactly what I was doing. “The sun, the vision, they’ve left me feeling out of sorts.” Draven’s eyes started to shine with a dangerous light, the warning clear. “He can drop me off at the palace so that I might rest.”

“Of course.” Rex was all business now. “The training field is no place for a woman. Straight to the palace, Ged. Ensure Her Highness gets to her chambers and don’t let yourself get distracted by the maids this time.”

A little snicker from the crowd made clear this was a customary complaint of Ged, but that was before. I hadn’t seen him notice another woman, not since the moment I made him mine.

“Yes, sir.”

Ged held out a hand for me, ready to help me climb on Cloudy’s back, when Draven appeared by our side.

“Look after my queen.” He said that between gritted teeth. “As if she was your own.”

A meaningful look, there and gone again, made clear what he meant. He was stuck here, training the dragon riders for war, but Ged… He could delay speaking to his father and take the king’s place, if that’s what I needed. I thought about that as I climbed into the saddle. Glimmer had already scrambled up and onto Cloudy’s neck. I reached out, trying to smile, as I scratched the spot at the base of her skull that she struggled to reach. Reassuring myself that these dragons, our dragons, were fine helped dispel some of that godsawful cold.

Ged settling in behind me got rid of the rest.

I felt hot, not cold as he leaned forward, gripping the horn of the saddle, his body pressed into mine, but if he feared someone would make comment about manhandling his queen, that was quickly dispelled by Cloudy launching himself into a run, then up and into the sky.

Cloud Raker’s rider is worried about you,Glimmer informed me.He doesn’t like to see you in pain, and it was clear you were suffering as you revisited that vision.

Up in the sky, there was no one to watch and tut-tut as my hand pulled away from the horn and covered Ged’s. They couldn’t hear the sigh of pleasure I felt as I leaned back into his chest. We rode Cloudy like Royal Riders, keeping our seat through the strength of our thighs, not gripping on like limpets to a rock.

“Pippin…”

I felt my name rumble in his chest rather than hear it, the whistle of the wind too intense. His arms went around me and he cradled me close, making me feel like nothing bad could ever touch me.

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