Page 105 of The Dragon Queen

“Your Majesty.”A big, bluff man stumped forward as we were escorted into a far grander room within the earl’s residence. It had floor-to-ceiling windows along one side, providing a panoramic view of the now empty bay.

“Draven, please, Carl,” my king said as he held out his hand.

“Never one to stand on ceremony, were you?” Carl seemed to approve of that, nodding for us to sit around his table. “So, you’ve brought war to our shores, and now you’re snooping around in the stews by the docks?” He nodded to Brom. “You’ve come a long way from the lad who scampered along the moorings with this one in tow. Should I be offended that you didn’t come to me directly for information?”

“I’m not sure. Should you?” Draven accepted the wine that was poured for him, waiting until everyone had one before he lifted his glass. “The last time I was here, you were firm friends with my uncle.”

“Is anyone friends with the duke?” Carl sipped his wine meditatively. “I’m not sure the bastard is capable of such fine feelings. He was my duke. It made good sense to court his favour.”

“Was?” Brom asked mildly.

“Well, no liege lord who wanted my support would strip every single ship from my bay. He wouldn’t cut off trade routes and all money flowing into Holdfast, then press gang the best and strongest young men into service, hauling them on board to do gods knows what.” The glass was set down firmly. “That’s what your uncle has done. What I want to know, Your Majesty, is what you intend to do.”

“Why would he fall back to his ducal seat?” It felt like Draven was asking the universe that, not the earl. “Does he have the support of any of the lords of Harlston?”

“Father would never have been seduced by this nonsense,” Brom replied gruffly.

“When you make hostages of your own womenfolk, I would assume you would have little local support,” Soren added.

“Taking ships, sailors, women…” Draven’s fingers traced the delicate embroidery of the tablecloth. “What on earth is he playing at? I know he thought I would be his little puppet, but was he really so stupid he didn’t prepare for any other eventualities?”

“Perhaps he banked on having time to sort things in his favour,” Flynn said. “He certainly created chaos with his little coup. If the rest of Nevermere was in uproar or worse, being led by other dukes who were in Harlston’s pocket, he’d have time…”

“For the dragon eggs to hatch.” My hand was shoved into my pocket, closing around one of the crystal eggs. “Time to build himself a rider army.”

“He’s preparing for a siege.” Draven shoved himself away from the table. “My lord, I trust I will cause no offence by withdrawing?”

“Not if you’re going to hand that bastard his arse,” the earl growled. “That uncle of yours, he’s a bad one, not content to be the duke of one of the largest duchies in the country, with a nephew on the throne. He wants it all for himself…”

“Or no one will have anything.”

I barely whispered that, able to see the future then without my dragon’s help. War, destruction, chaos.

Death.

Dragons and humans would have to find a way to live together in peace, I had been told, or Nevermere would go forth with only humans or only dragons. Right now I couldn’t be sure which would succeed. We were all too busy fighting each other to work out a way to peacefully resolve things.

The earl’smen saw us out of the town, backing up as soon as they caught sight of the dragons. Draven barely noticed, pacing back and forth as he stared at the ground.

“So we’ll head for the duke’s castle?” Soren ventured. “If His Grace wants to hole up in that castle of his?—”

“We’ll blast him out of it.” There was none of Ged’s customary lightness in him now. The muscle ticked in his jaw as he looked at each one of us. “This needs to end. Two male dragons fighting for dominance?” He glanced at our beasts, still reclining on the ground, enjoying the early afternoon sun. “They fight it out, get their issues sorted, and then move on. They don’t drag everyone else into that fight, using them as pawns or worse to give them an advantage.”

“No, they don’t.” Draven dragged his hand through his hair. “On this we agree, the situation must end. All the other assassins have faced justice, and now it’s my uncle’s turn. We’ll return to Castle Fast. Our land troops should be arriving about now. They can follow us to the ducal seat, ensure that the rest of Harlston is protected as we resolve this conflict.” He gloves slapped against his thigh. “I will bring my uncle down one way or the other and bring this bloody moment of Nevermere’s history to an end.”

“So we’ll throweverything we’ve got at Blackreach,” the general said with a fierce smile, tracing the shape of the peninsula at Harlston’s eastern most point with his finger. This was where all of the dukes of Harlston had made their homes.

“Our dragons outnumber theirs three to one,” a rider said, the excitement clear in his voice. “Even without dragonfire, he hasn’t got a chance in hell in keeping those eggs until the hatchlings are grown.”

“It’s time to bring this conflict to an end.” Draven rose to his feet, the red light of the fire reflected in the dark depths of his hair. “We came to Harlston expecting to fight a war, but what we’ve found is a people being held hostage by a greedy and murderous leader. We will fight to free the good people of Harlston as well as to rid ourselves of this insidious threat.”

“To victory!” someone shouted, and that got everyone jumping to their feet.

I should’ve done the same. He was my king, my partner, so Ishould’ve cheered as well, my eyes bright in the firelight with fantasies of sweeping in and righting all the wrongs. So why did my eyes find the one other person around the fire unmoved by Draven’s speech, following him with my eyes as he slipped away?

I went after Brom, something that wasn’t wise, but I couldn’t seem to stay still. They all saw how glorious war could be, whereas I… I was reminded of how horrific it had been in the past. I stumbled out in the darkness, the cool night air a welcome change from the overheated atmosphere of the tent. A bird fluttered, drawing my attention as I swooped across the ruins, following him into the shadows.

“Brom…?”

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