Page 75 of The Dragon Queen

“Could you imagine?” someone sighed. “I’ve tried and tried to get the tall dark one with the beard to look my way.”

“The wing commander?” the older woman said. “From what I heard, you don’t have the right equipment, if you catch my meaning.”

“Ugh, a boy lover?”

“Man lover,” the older woman corrected. “The stories about the king and his ‘boyhood friend’ have been circulating for a long time. Seen that Brom coming out of the king’s suite years ago, I did, when he was still the prince.”

“How sad for the queen,” someone said. Flynn mimed a sad face, then winked when I threatened to start giggling. “Though I guess if the wing commander and the king are caught up in each other, that’ll leave the queen to find her pleasures elsewhere.”

Flynn leaned in, ready to show me exactly what pleasures they meant, when we caught the tail end of the conversation.

“With that Ged? He’s a big, strapping man if ever there was one. Huge hands and you know what they say…”

“Soren would be my choice,” the older woman said. “A solid man, an honourable one, and therefore smart enough to keep his mouth shut about what they were doing. The dark hair would make it easy to pass off any child of theirs as the king’s.”

Flynn’s smile faded, and so did mine.

“Not that Flynn then. Everyone knows two fair heads like that will produce children with blond hair. The Nithians are all a dark sort. The queen’s infidelity would be clear to anyone who cared to notice.”

“But would they care?” someone else asked. “Seems to me the rich and powerful do as they please, while we clean up after them. Speaking of which, do we tidy the royal suite? The queen is usually gone by now, working in Cheapside of all places.”

“Perhaps we should knock?”

I stiffened, but Flynn dragged me across the suite and out onto the balcony. Glimmer was already there, perched on the balustrade, when Glacier swept closer. She let out a delighted chirrup, then launched herself at his back. My heart went to mythroat, but she landed as neat as a cat, making clear she expected us to join them.

“You’ve been flying all night,” I whispered fiercely. “You must be exhausted!”

“Never when I’m with you.” Another kiss, burning my lips even with its brevity. “We flew without stopping and made good time, ensuring we arrived earlier than expected. The general won’t look for me until the afternoon, so…”

I was scooped up into his arms as he climbed the railing and then threw both of us onto Glacier’s back. My hands slapped down on the dragon’s spine, sure I’d slip, but the dragon would never allow that to happen. He let out a roar and then was off. Away from the city, that much was clear, but I couldn’t take in much more than that. Emboldened, I turned gingerly around in the saddle to stare at him.

“Flynn…”

I touched his cheek and noticed his face was thinner, the stubble far longer than he usually let it grow. The gold and bronze shone in the sunlight, but that didn’t dispel the shadows in his eyes. He smiled, but there was pain there, as evidenced by the way his eyes closed and he pressed his face into my palm.

“Gods, if I thought walking around pretending you aren’t mine was enough to kill me, I learned a lesson about real pain. I can’t, won’t, let myself be parted from you for such a long time again.”

“Never,” I agreed. When his head dropped closer, mine followed suit, until our mouths hovered over the other’s. “Was it terrible? Did you have support? Tell me your family was there for you and helped you through the process?”

I was asking too many questions all at once, but I couldn’t seem to hold them back. I needed to know, feel, see everything, right now. Restraint was like a muscle and I’d exhausted mine utterly.

“There was plenty of family around and everyone was suitably supportive, though people gave me a wide berth. While no one disputed that justice needed to be done about the murders, the fact I was judge, jury, and executioner seemed to make people… wary.”

“Oh, Flynn.”

I wrapped my arms around him, hearing the rapid skitter of his heart over the roar of the wind. He held me right back, not letting go even when Glacier began to circle down.

“But I knew you were there, at the palace, waiting for me, and that got me through the whole ghastly thing. My brothers died with their loved ones, and I…” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “I couldn’t help but be glad you escaped any potential attempt on your life.” His grip tightened. “I can bear anything, as long as nothing happens to you, Pippin.”

I barely looked around me when Glacier landed. I was sliding out of the saddle, but as soon as my feet hit the ground, I was turning to him. Flynn spun me around, pinning me to his dragon’s side as he kissed me harder, deeper, as if he’d crawl inside me. When we pulled back, our lips were swollen, our breath coming in fast, declaring to any passers-by what we had been doing.

But there were no witnesses to be found here. At least not breathing ones.

“Flynn…” I couldn’t seem to go far from his side, but as our hands linked, we walked forward, towards tall statues carved from stone. Smashed in places, missing wings or a head, but I knew what this was. “These are like the gates of Dragon Home?”

“Being an amateur archeologist means I know where all the out of the way places are,” he said, drawing me into the space. Though the stone was broken up and missing in places, I knew what this was. The same landing pad like arrangement that they had at Dragon Home, it made clear this was once a major settlement.

“One of the big battles in the War of the Two Queens took place here,” he said, reaching down and scratching the dirt away to reveal an archaic looking Royal Rider insignia. He looked at it, then flicked it away to land back on the dirt. “Queen Inara, on the back of Kaida, fought Hadrian himself here. Barely made it out with her life.”

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