Page 41 of The Dragon Queen

My children. The last of my line.

I wanted to protest, but up close, I could see this was true. She was an ancient queen, still alive when human queens sat on the throne. Age was like a swarm of carrion birds, each one taking a tiny bite out of her until finally she couldn’t fight them off anymore.

Cynane—

I am Cynane, last queen of the wild dragons. My kind has lived free from the moment the first humans landed in Nevermere.I am a warrior.Some of her former strength seemed to return, her words forcing my heart tobeat faster.I have fought fiercely to maintain my freedom and that of my kind.Her claw rose slowly, tapping her cheek.I wear the scars with pride, but this… This is a fight I cannot win, and so I must ask you to act in my stead.

What she wanted from me would cost me dearly, somehow I knew, and yet I hung on her every word. Glimmer and I drifted closer to each other, two queens standing side by side.

I need a promise from you.She cut through my protest mercilessly.Both of you.Promise you will not allow my young to fall into the same servitude the dragons born here are forced into.I swallowed, looking across at Glimmer, who nodded.Promise me they will be free to choose their own path.That massive head swung back and forth.Some may choose bondmates.Hadrian snorted, then glared down at us, as if we were the ones that had caused his mate’s decline. Some may not. Promise me they will have the freedom to choose. Promise me.

I thought of the general and what he wanted, what the whole of the city would expect at the news of a clutch of dragon eggs born in Wyrmpeak. Lads would start to talk about putting themselves forward, hoping that this time they would be chosen to join the ranks of the corp. All these dreams, expectations, wants and needs, heaped on a clutch of defenceless dragon eggs. I felt it then, that same fierce need to protect when I first saw Glimmer’s egg get tossed through the air by my step-sister, then again when what Raina had tried to achieve was made clear. It was my dragon’s eyes I stared into, because there was a question there I needed to answer.

What would I do when Glimmer was grown and rose to mate? What would happen after, when it was her nesting down in the hatching sands, the heat easing the aches in her muscles? When she birthed her clutch? Would I allow the bureaucracy of the dragon corp to swarm over the clutch, to push noble born lads towards the eggs, then others of decreasing social rank if the eggs were not receptive?

Would I force her to become a broodmare for the king?

I promise, I replied, not entirely sure where this came from.

Draven would curse me for undermining one of the fundamental elements of his power base, but… He should never have said he wanted me for his queen. I was not moved by golden dresses or jewelled crowns, or even the awe and respect of the people. My experience living as a pig herder had taught me just how pointless all of that was, and even though I’d washed the dirt and shit off me, somehow I was still stained by it.

We promise, Glimmer added.

Cynane nodded and then started to draw back to the shelter of her mates. She couldn’t expend any more energy on this, not when she was growing dragonlings within her.

That didn’t stop me from asking one last question.

Why did the humans destroy the hatching sands? That seems counterintuitive. They rely on dragons for defence of the country, for transport, to keep the king on the throne. His dragon and the princes that come after him get their dragons from Dragon Home, so why would they destroy the one thing they need?

You have the means to find all the answers you need…

I felt like Cynane was about to say more, but she disappeared from sight, her sigh echoing through the entire cavern.

You have your answers.Hadrian stepped forward, making clear we would get no further here.You have the dragon seer at your side. Do the work. Find the information that you need and then when you are armed with the truth, make the right decision.

“Don’t do that again.” Brom’s hands clapped down on my arms the minute I got close. “Promise me you won’t go blundering into a pack of wild dragons ever again.”

Everyone seemed intent on extracting promises from me, but only one remained important. I blinked, staring up into each one of their eyes in turn, those beloved faces taking on another turn. What Cynane wanted from me, wanted for dragon kind going forward, would mean the relationship each one of them enjoyed with their dragons would change. Some riders… I swallowed. Some riders might lose their dragons if the idea of choice became a widespread one. I knew what Draven would say if I told him about this conversation. He was king first, man second, but I…

I’d told Glimmer over and over I was no queen, because I didn’t care a jot for the throne everyone seemed to want me to claim. Perhaps that’s why I said this.

“We’ve fulfilled the orders we’ve been given today,” I said.

“Thinking of skiving off for the day?” Ged grinned at the idea. “What did you have in mind?”

“I… We.” I looked down at Glimmer. “We need to go to Finder’s Dell.”

Chapter 21

It was different flying to Finder’s Dell this time. The sun was up for one, and I was leaning over in the saddle, scouring the landscape with my eyes, looking for signs, something to clue me in on what happened and why. I didn’t get it on the journey over there, nor when I slipped from the saddle. I moved without thought, my eyes flicking across the grassy knoll, over the few sheep that grazed here, only to be scared away by the wings of a dragon’s landing, until I found the large flat rock Draven and I had sat upon.

It was hotter now, being baked by the sun. Glimmer made a small sound of pleasure as she joined me, her eyes whirling as she investigated right along me, pausing when we stumbled across a smooth piece of stone.

Too smooth to be natural, I squatted down to dig at it, encountering tough grass and roots almost as soon as I tried. My belt knife was out and I was stabbing at the earth as the others joined me.

“Pippin…”

Soren dropped down in front of me, but I remained focussed. I needed to know. What had happened? How did we find ourselves in the situation we were in right now? I was sure I’d find out if I could just… unearth history, then pore over its artefacts. Wraith seemed of the same mind as he nudged his rider out of the way and then extended a massive claw.

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