Page 132 of The Dragon Queen

She was a great queen, Glimmer said in a sober voice. For the firsttime, I heard a little doubt in her tone.I must become the same in her absence.

You will, my love. You will.

The crowd dispersed, and we walked back to the keep in a far more sober mood.

“We need to get Zafira’s clutch down to the hatching sands,” Draven said.

“Oh, so we’re going to pretend that Marcus wasn’t just grandstanding in front of everyone down there?” Ged said. “And what the hell is a prime minister, anyway?”

“The head of a government under a constitutional monarchy, idiot.” Soren clipped him on the back of his head. “Did you not listen at all during your lesson?”

“Mine were mostly on what kind of animal brains works best to tan leather,” Ged replied. “Never expected to be in the middle of some power struggle between the king and the king of thieves.”

“Let's see if the wild dragons will allow Zafira’s clutch to be placed in the same nest.” Draven sounded so very tired, the lines in his face plain. “Then, after a very long sleep, we can talk about the government.”

Of coursewe will care for the young ones.Hadrian seemed almost offended we would even ask as he settled back into the nest.But know this, little king. These stones.He pushed one with his claw.They contain the collective wisdom of dragon kind. The hatchlings that leave these shells.He pointed to the open box of eggs, the rest of us inspecting each one carefully, feeling for heartbeats and searching for cracks.They will not be the biddable creatures you are used to.

“Perhaps not.” Draven nodded. “That may be a good thing. Things are changing, faster than I anticipated. We may need a very different kind of dragon capable of meeting that challenge.”

We left them to it. All of us were dead on our feet, but it was more than that. We weren’t needed here, and so we were free to plod upstairs, scrub ourselves properly clean for the first time in weeks, and then fall into bed in the room we shared in the keep. Icould barely lift my head to even kiss them, but when I nestled down into the bed, it was in their arms. My consciousness clung to that, even after sleep started to steal me away, because who knew how long I had with those I loved. I saw Cynane burn inside my mind’s eye, felt Hadrian’s pain as my own, and then was gone to sleep.

Chapter 63

A week later, at Pippin and Draven’s coronation

“You look a picture, Majesty,” one of my ladies in waiting said.

I hoped so. I had asked if Eloise, the seamstress who made my other dresses, could create my wedding dress, but apparently that wasn’t done. Instead, the royal seamstress had taken one look at me, shook her head, and told me I was no Queen Raina. She didn’t realise that was a point of pride for me and I didn’t dare tell her. Instead, I was trussed up in a corset so tight I could barely take a breath, in an attempt to create curves where there were none. I’d drawn the line at padding, the seamstress wanting to insert pads of fabric to supplement my bosom and ‘fill out the dress.’

It was a beautiful thing. I turned around and stared at the full length mirror, plucking the white satin folds, my fingers scudding over the queen’s fortune of pearls sewn onto the gown. If I was a bridesmaids at anyone else’s wedding, I would’ve gushed over the lines, the details of the dress.

So why didn’t I care for it when it was my own?

Perhaps it was because I had been given yet another wig to wear. My own hair was to my shoulders now, but apparently that wasn’tlong enough. A blonde wig had been produced, and each long strand was combed and coiffured into an elaborate concoction, held together by pearl headed pins. It itched my scalp and felt too heavy, throwing off every head movement, forcing me to stand too tall, lest I dislodge it. That brought me to my shoes.

If you wanted to wear heels, Glimmer said from where she lay on a nearby table. Maids worked to oil her every scale, making sure she gleamed from head to toe.You should’ve worn heels.

Draven is merely a full head taller than me, I replied.Apparently that is the bare minimum for a queen. He can’t have a bride that stands eye to eye beside him.

She sniffed.

Humans are ridiculous.

They were, but I couldn’t agree with her, not even down our link. I had yet another duty to perform, and surely it was easier than what had happened at Blackreach.

“Take Her Majesty’s train and straighten it,” the Duchess of Skane ordered. “Don’t tread on it, you silly girl! Take each corner… Yes, like that.”

I turned around and watched the ladies arrange metres of beautiful fabric just so on the carpet behind me, despite the fact no one would see us here. My attendants, my dragon, and I were cloistered in here until we were called.

“Who can that be?”

A knock on the door had us all turning around, Duchess Skane marching forward and opening it, only to step back to allow the general inside.

“General!” the duchess dropped down into a curtsey belatedly. “What are you doing here? It’s most irregular, a man visiting the bride before the wedding.”

“Is it not customary for a father to speak to his daughter before her big day?” Was anyone fooled by his avuncular smile? I wasn’t. Rex never came to see me, not unless he wanted something. “In the absence of a suitable male family member…” I had some distant family members that were attending the wedding, but apparently they did not fit the bill. “I thought I’d have a chat with Her Highness. If I could have the room for a moment?”

All the women looked at each other, their confusion almost comical.

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