Page 111 of The Dragon Queen

“A bruise?” My fingers touched the tender flesh and I barely resisted a shiver. Brom was like a demon last night. It was as if my reckless disregard for my fertility spurred something in him and I loved that I could still feel the aftermath of it. “Must’ve walked into something. I am terribly clumsy, after all.”

“Something we’ll need to work on when we return to the capital,” he said, moving closer. If he was a lover, this would be a welcome intimacy. Instead, my whole body stiffened as I calculated the distance between us and the camp. “Things will change when we return. The coronation and your royal marriage will ensure that you are under even greater scrutiny than before.”

I caught the sour smell of wine on his breath as it fanned across my face.

“The queen is the pinnacle of feminine perfection,” he continued. “A role model for all of her sex, one beyond all reproach as she bears the next heir to the Nithian throne. Without her, without her dragon, the king’s power would falter. Any mistake she makes diminishes the regard people have for His Majesty.”

My snort of laughter escaped me without thought. I hadn’t meant to snicker and yet I did, pulling away and staring at the general, seeing things I hadn’t before. His leather armour wasn’t so glossy, no longer polished, and the lines around his eyes, the grey in his hair, they marked the march of time. He was just a man, an ageing man, and I was a queen.

“Like fuck his best friend?” I didn’t use such foul words usually, but I’d learned them well enough tending to swine. “Or all of his wing?” The general staggered back as if slapped, though he wasn’t caught off guard for long. Glimmer came strolling through the trees, her golden eyes locking with mine. She sat down and watched everything silently. “Is that what you’re trying to infer? Because it occurs to me that my title is conferred on me by my bond with Glimmer, Darkspire’s mate.”

I nodded to my dragon and Rex spun around, obviously disconcerted by her sudden presence.

“I know you hold out hope for the other queen dragon egg.” I didn’t know this, but my suspicion was confirmed by his frown. “That someone eminently more… suitable can be found and bonded to the hatchling queen, that girl becoming the kind of queen-in-waiting you want. But…” I stepped in close now, my mouth almost to his ear. “If you do, if Glimmer and I leave, I think you’ll find some of your best riders will go with me. Hell, they might be the ones to get me clear of Wyrmpeak, Darkspire included.”

The general’s face went a dangerous shade of red, his eyes bugging, but as he sucked in a breath, another joined us. Brom, I thought for a moment before I realised it was Draven. They were like twins of the other, one dark, one darker.

“There you are.” He strode across the leaf litter, the rustling sound setting my teeth on edge until his arm went around my waist. “What have I told you about sloping off without me?”

“That you’re fine with it as long as I am in the company of one of the wing.”

I stared into Draven’s eyes, unsure of his reaction, but trying desperately to get a read on him.

“Majesty—”

“Leave us,” Draven barked, every inch the king.

“My king, we fly out within the hour.”

Rex’s tight formality was back.

“Pippin and I will be on Darkspire’s back, ready to lead everyone forward, but right now we need a moment.”

Disgust I expected to see in Rex’s parting look, but pity? That was a surprise, but I didn’t get a chance to dwell on his reaction. Draven demanded all the attention in a room and he did that right now.

“Where did you go? What did the two of you get up to? No, don’t answer that.” He shoved his hand down the front of my pants, forcing me to gasp as he parted my folds, slipping his fingers through the mess Brom had left before pulling them free and licking them clean. “I know that taste anywhere.” Those blue eyes burnedwith a hectic light. “I’m not sure if I’m jealous of him or you or just wishing I was there, sharing the experience.”

“You can’t insert yourself into every dalliance,” I told him. “If this it to work, sometimes Brom and I will have moments, just as you have with him.”

“Have with him?” His smile was so bitter my mouth went dry. “What do I have with him?” His expression softened. “With you? He’s your husband, and I’m just?—”

“My king!”

A rider hovered at the edge of the forest, obviously needing Draven’s attention.

“I don’t know what the hell I am.” That came out in a low mutter, but before I could tell him, he silenced me with a kiss. I knew a sad one when I felt it, having had so many of them last night. “Get ready to ride out. Say your goodbyes, because we won’t be back here until I’ve lopped my uncle’s head from his shoulders.”

“Do I have time to clean up?” I asked awkwardly, and that had his eyes sliding down.

“No.” That devilish smirk was back as he leant in closer. “You can spend the ride to Blackreach sitting in my wing commander’s seed, then you can tell me about every single thing the two of you got up to.”

He turned and then walked off to talk to the rider waiting.

Males are stupid, Glimmer informed me as we approached camp.

You’ll get no argument from me. Now, have you eaten? We’re in for a long ride today.

“So,where did you get to last night?” I was busy shoving the last of my possessions into Draven’s saddlebags when Ged appeared by my side. He leaned against Darkspire, the big green dragon grumbling in response. “Whatever you did, you put the spring back into the commander’s step.”

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