Page 14 of Dragon Fight

“That’s her primal instinct kicking in. Helluva lot scarier in a full-grown dragon, so we need to teach her otherwise,” Soren said. “Touch her mind. Praise her skills and reassure her that you don’t want to take her kill.”

You were perfect, I told my dragon, trying to convey all the pride that beat hard in my chest.Soren said Wraith didn’t even catch his first chicken, but you did.She watched me closely as I approached, her growl growing louder.I don’t want your prey. It’s your food. You caught it fair and square. I’m so proud of you, Glimmer.

My use of her name seemed to bring her back to herself. She blinked once at me, before loosening her death grip on the chicken and straightening up to lick the blood from her jaws.

I did do well, didn’t I?I nodded in response.Of course, I did. I’m a queen.

That you are, I told her.That you are.

“Well,now that the little queen has shown her prowess at hunting, we should let the chickens settle or there’ll be no eggs for tomorrow’s breakfast. Let’s go around to the stables, saddle up and head out for a ride,” Brom suggested.

“To see your estate?” I asked.

“That, and for Glimmer to start practising flying.”

“What?”

“Much better on the ground than up in the air, Pip,” Ged said. “We’ll set up a platform on your saddle and when you’re at a canter she can try gliding, start building up those muscles.”

“If she can,” Draven observed. “Queens are often weaker, saving all their energy for mating flights and bearing clutches of eggs.”

“Glimmer will,” I told him firmly.

They keep them weak and compliant,Glimmer told me.A queen rules through her strength and connections. I will fly.

“They don’t do a lot of flight training with queens,” Ged admitted, “But if you’re to be a royal rider, you’ll be expected to fly like any other dragon.”

“But Pippa is a lady,” Kay said with a frown. “I thought she would keep house for Brom, raise his children.”

“Perhaps,” Brom replied. “This is unknown territory for the entire fleet, but as long as Pippin wishes to ride?”

“I do,” I said.

“Then we’ll train her like any other.”

“That explains the haircut, then.” Kay smiled, though not unkindly. If anything she looked slightly cheered by this. “You’re a soldier, just like Brom and the others.”

“I’m a cadet, still,” I corrected her. “I’m terrible with a sword—” Draven snorted rudely. “But I’m told I might become proficient with a knife if I’m sufficiently trained.”

I shot him a sidelong look and the prince looked every inch the arrogant bastard that he was, as a small cat-like smile formed on his lips.

“Something we will need to begin again, once we are back at the keep,” Draven promised.

“Well, keep an eye on the weather,” Kay said, eyeing the grey skies. “It shifts and changes at the drop of a hat. Remember that, son.”

“Maybe the rest of you can do the training on your own,” Ged said with a wrinkle of his nose, but Cloudy quickly made clear that wasn’t going to happen. “Alright, you big lunk, I’ll endure cold sea winds and rains just so you can watch a baby dragon find her wings.”

And so we did.

I was given a horse called Whiskey, probably for her fine chestnut coat. I smoothed my hand down the broad expanse between her eyes when she nudged at me, then ruffled her forelock and with that, we were friends. I was about to lift Glimmer up to the front of the special saddle, when Draven came over.

“Did you check the girth?” he asked me with a frown. “Make sure the horse isn’t blowing out its lungs when it's tightened?”

“No, I assumed the people who know and look after this horse on a daily basis know what they’re doing,” I told him.

“That kind of cavalier attitude might be permissible when you are the only one riding. If you break your own neck, then more fool you. But Glimmer is a royal dragon.”

“One you didn’t care for at all, last time we met with your mother,” I shot back.

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