Page 102 of The Dragon Queen

Glimmer looked up from where she was sleeping on Wraith’s shoulder.

Males protect and queens let them, she reminded me.

And this queen needs to see for herself what’s going on. You’ll be all right here?I heard her snort and then smiled.Of course you will be. Your mates will lay down their lives for you.

As will yours, if you let them.

I guess I better give them the opportunity to, I replied, then searched through Draven’s saddlebags for my possessions.

The flat cap I’d been given some time before was still there, rolled up tight. I jammed it down on my head and wrenched off my jacket, walking towards them in what I hoped was a masculine strut.

“I might not pass as a guard,” I told them, “but perhaps as a servant?”

“No one is ever going to mistake you for a man.” Flynn moved in closer, running a finger down my chest, my breath catching when he got to my breast. “A very pretty boy, perhaps. Gods…” He scrubbed his face. “People are going to assume I’m some sort of paederast, aren’t they?”

Brom stepped forward.

“Lean into that,” he told Flynn. “Highborn lads at play on the docks.” His eyes found Draven’s and I wondered at what passed there. History, I thought, a shared history he never spoke about. “Enjoying a golden summer before you are forced to face your responsibilities. You can be looking for a pleasure barge to take you out on the water.”

“We went on them often enough,” Draven replied, before the two of them seemed to remember the rest of us. “And we were just as eager to escape our duties.” He shook his head as if that’s what it took to come back to the here and now. “Ged, you’re a much put upon guard who’s trying to find a barge to shove us on.”

“Irritated with you lot?” Ged’s grin spread wide. “That won’t even require acting.”

“We are your comrades in arms,” Flynn shot back.

“Well, comrade, remember when you ‘forgot’ to clean up your food scraps and our campsite was plagued by ants?” He slung an arm around Flynn’s shoulders. “Those big bitey ones too.”

“That one time—” Flynn spluttered.

“Three times,” Soren corrected in a tone that would brook no argument. “Once when you were still cadets. Twice on that first mission out on the south coast.”

“And what role do you see me playing?” Brom asked Draven.

No one standing there could mistake the challenge in my husband’s voice.

“His lover.” Flynn answered Brom, not Draven. “The best disguises are the ones that are at least half true.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me closer. “If I’m to pass myself off as a lover of men, you can do the same.”

“Can you?” Draven demanded an answer from Brom. “Walking out in the open, acknowledging what we are to each other. Can you do that?”

“Can you?” Brom shot back, striding forward. “Though I guess it will be no stretch for you, pretending for strangers. In the end, what people see is what really matters, isn’t it?”

All the good humour was gone. No one spoke, because I think everyone knew that the house of cards we had created was starting to get shaky and no one wanted to be the one to bring it crashing down.

“Everyone knows what they must do,” Draven said finally. “We’ll head straight towards the docks. Sailors are a garrulous sort. Someone will be willing to share information with us for some coin.”

Glimmer shook her head slightly, then sighed, before settling back against Wraith.

Good luck, she said,and watch your backs.

I had no idea what that meant, but with our mission decided upon, everyone moved out, walking towards the town.

The stinkof rotting seaweed was what registered first, then the raucous cry of seagulls. I looked up, watching them soar overhead, and wondered at Glimmer’s comment as we reached the gates of the town.

“State your business,” a guard said in a bored voice, looking us over with a slight frown.

“My friends and I.” Flynn staggered forward, a sloppy grin on his face. “We were hoping to do a spot of boating.” He looked around him. “It’s a lovely day for drinking out on the water.”

“You can try your luck down at the docks,” the guard said, taking in the way Flynn’s arm was wrapped around my shoulders. His lip curled just slightly as I tugged my cap down. “But I’m not sure you’ll get far.”

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