Page 94 of The Dragon Queen

You touched his mind.Glimmer looked back over her shoulder and stared into my eyes.You found Jade.

Yes, but where?

“Where are we off to?” Soren asked, all business. “And get up, you idiots! We’ve got half the noblewomen of Harlston to free.”

“But I don’t know where,” I said, shooting them all an embarrassed look. “I saw a forest and some tents and?—”

There.Glimmer’s tone held all the confidence I lacked.We know where to go.

“You heard our queens,” Brom snapped. “We can come back and recover our bedrolls later. The dragons know where to go, so give them their heads.”

They did.Minutes, hours later, I couldn’t tell how much time passed because I was on high alert, scanning the treetops as we passed, looking for a familiar sign. My heart leapt when I saw a clearing, but it was just a village, then just a woodcutter’s hut, another lake and some kind of crater, a ruin contained within. I sank back into the saddle with a sigh.

“How on earth will we find them?” I said. “They could be any…” Then I stiffened. Darkspire grunted, instantly shifting sideways, Glimmer leading the way. “There!”

I knew Jade, even though I had seen everything from his perspective. Those bright green scales, the way he was now hunched around the tents of women, tail lashing, as he confronted the soldiers. A few women were being used to keep him back, but not for long.

“Those fucking bastards…”

That was the only warning I got. Draven’s arm went around me, holding me tight as Darkspire swooped down. In some ways, it was just like the first time he took me flying on a mission. It felt like the world was rushing up to meet us, but this time it was to help others, not test me. ‘Spire’s, the other dragons’ roars cut through the air, right as their claws snapped out.

Part of me was aware I should’ve felt some small shred of pity for the soldiers plucked from the ground. They were carried forth at awkward angles because they weren’t prey, weren’t enemies to be treated with some kind of honour. Their screams echoed through the forest as they were tossed away across the treetops, the dragons wheeling around to confront the rest of them. We landed heavily,shaking the earth, and so I was somewhat impressed that the remaining soldiers held their ground. The dragons stalked closer, and that’s when I felt Jade’s mind touch mine again.

You came?He seemed surprised by this.They are hurting the females and… My queen?

You did well, Jade, Glimmer said, right as she threw herself off Darkspire’s neck. A scream built in my chest as I saw her sail forward, landing in the space between the soldiers and us, marching forward like she was ten times the size she was.

“That’s the little queen the duke told us about.” An avaricious gleam in the soldier’s eye had me about to launch myself off Darkspire, but Draven held me still. The woman he was holding was thrust at one of his fellows as he drew his sword. “If we end her, we’ll?—”

He didn’t get to say another thing. Glimmer watched impassively as Jade surged forward and so did her mates, each intent on the same thing. Dragons were the final justice in Nevermere, and they meted it now in a swift but bloody action. Cloudy’s jaws opened and he engulfed the man easily. What was left of him was crunched rather disturbingly, right before this was swallowed down.

“Anyone else mad enough to launch an attack on a queen dragon?” Draven jumped down and then stalked forward. He had us at his back, all of us moving to face these idiots down. “Anyone else think it wise to lay hands on women of gentle birth?” He turned and then performed a very precise bow to the closest women. “Lady Ravenna, Lady Josephine.”

“My king, “ Lady Ravenna said. “I’d curtsey but I think you can see that I am otherwise engaged currently.”

“Let. The women. Go.”

Brom looked like he was barely holding on, and Soren was just as disturbed. His hand was on his sword hilt, itching to draw it. They took a moment, these soldiers, their eyes flicking everywhere at once before they turned and ran towards the trees. Draven clicked his fingers, and the dragons were off after them, like hounds on the hunt.

“Ladies…” The king approached them with arms stretched out wide. “We’ve come to take you home, back to your families.” I swallowed hard, remembering that the wife and daughters of Lord Fast didn’t have a father to return to, nor a home. “We know you’ve been mistreated.”

“Mistreated?” Lady Ravenna drew herself up tall, her haughty expression at odds with her torn and soiled gown. “Mistreated? You’ll need a better word than that to describe this outrage, Draven.”

“His Majesty, surely.” Lady Josephine looked at the king, then her companion in alarm.

“It’s alright, milady,” Draven replied, watching as the other women slowly emerged from the tents. “Ravenna, or just Raven, as she was known then, was a wonderful playmate when we were children. My father would come and stay at Castle Fast when he visited Harlston. While our fathers drank and talked of nonsense, we had adventures.”

“We can run through the hidden passages of the castle for old times sake,” Ravenna said, “in payment for this rescue. You’re a sight for sore eyes, friend.”

She held out a hand, but her smile faded as Draven bowed over it formally, staying bent over as he spoke.

“Unfortunately, that will no longer be possible.”

“What?” Ravenna had beautiful waist-length dark hair, and it provided a stark contrast now to her milk-pale skin. “No. No, Draven, he didn’t.”

“I regret to inform you that your father died in battle.” Brom was all formality, his hands tucked behind his back. “He fought bravely?—”

“What did that idiot do?” The woman who exited the tent had all of Ravenna’s hauteur, plus something else that came from age and experience. “What did my husband do?”

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