Page 40 of Dragon Fight

Some of the heat went out of my men when they saw me trying to clamber to my feet and fail. Glimmer finally jumped off my lap and Brom stabbed his sword into the ground, rushing forward to grab me.

“Pippin…”

I blinked, unable to bear the raw throbbing emotion in his voice, nor the feel of all four of them as they grabbed me in their arms and held me tight. I didn’t need to put all of my energy into trying to stand up anymore because they did it for me. And when I was relieved of that burden everything else came out.

I wasn’t vomiting up any more moss or water, so all the fear and the anger and confusion that had been kept at bay rushed up. I bit back a sob. I didn’t want to cry, I really didn’t, but I just couldn’t seem to keep any of it back now that I was near them. I burrowed my face in blindly, breathing in their scents, feeling the hard press of their bodies, hearing each man call my name over and over as their hands began to move. They stroked their hands across my scalp or down my back, lifted my face to place kisses on my cheeks until finally I was forced to pull back and suck in a breath.

“Ada poisoned me.” My voice was flat and even. “The queen directed her to. She thought she was doing it for Draven, but he… He brought me here, gave me some absolutely disgusting moss to eat and I vomited it all up. He…” I looked back where the man himself still sat on that log with a mulish expression. “He knew what to do and he saved me.”

“Then you have my thanks,” Brom said, offering the prince his hand. Draven’s eyes rolled upwards, his lips twisting at the stiff gesture but he took it anyway. They clasped hands in the way that seemed so important to men, each staring at the other for a second before Draven focussed on the rest of us.

“I knew how insufferable you’d all be if something happened to your girl.” Draven’s voice was completely different now. He was the prince again, not the man. “Not good for team morale, losing a member.”

I watched him closely, still able to hear his hoarse words of encouragement in my ears, even as Draven spoke so glibly now.

“So we ride back to Emberly and this Ada will feel the full force of rider justice,” Soren growled but Draven just snorted in response.

“You’re a member of the Royal Riders, not the riders of Nevermere. You are extensions of the king’s will, and therefore the queen’s. She sent Ada to do this.”

“But the queen can’t be seen to be taking direct action to rid herself of Pippin and Glimmer,” Brom observed. “It’d destabilise the control the throne has over the riders.”

“Indeed.” Draven nodded slowly. “And if she’s reluctant to show her hand, we can take just as indirect a response to the issue.”

25

"You’re leaving?”

Kay sounded distraught as the five of us all worked to pack our bags in Brom’s room, no longer even trying to hide the nature of our relationship.

“With two attempts against my wife’s life, I think it's for the best, don’t you, Mother?” Brom replied.

“But we didn’t… It wasn’t—”

He stopped what he was doing and clasped her hands tight and Kay seemed to settle as a result.

“Of course, none of it was your fault.” he rubbed her hands between his. “None of us blame you.”

“But we will need you to pretend that we are still here, Lady Emberly,” Soren said. “Tell your guests that we’re out on a task for the crown when they wake in the morning, then invite no one else around until the end of the week.”

“People need to think we’re still here, Mother. That’s crucially important.”

“And what do you want done with Ada?” Bernard entered the room with a frown, none of his usual warm demeanour present. He frowned slightly, as if frustrated to find himself in this position, but it didn’t make him any less decisive. “Charles has kept her locked up in their room since you sent word. She’s protesting her innocence.”

“Is she?” Draven appeared with his bag slung over his shoulder and then smiled bitterly. “Well, I had better deal with that, hadn’t I?”

I left off my own packing as he strode out the door. Ignoring my name being called by my men, I followed the prince. The sound of a multitude of footfalls behind me announced that my riders, as well as Brom’s parents, were following us.

“Are you here to see the prince’s justice done?” Draven asked me when he stopped out front of Charles and Ada’s room.

“I’m here to find out what’s going on,” I replied, “because I think you know a lot more than you are letting on.”

He held my gaze for several heartbeats, his smile softening slightly before he turned and knocked on the door.

“Your Highness…” Charles was in total disarray and so was the room. Ada’s shrieks could be heard muffled from behind the bedroom door and the children wandered around the room wailing for her. “I apologise for the mess… Bugger, that hardly matters in light of what Ada… If I had any idea—”

“Darkspire would’ve reported it to me and it would’ve been dealt with promptly,” Draven replied, stepping inside. “As it was, someone schooled Ada in the arts of deceiving dragons. It’s quite the skill to learn, to hide your conscious thoughts from another or to suppress them violently. Now, let's deal with the woman in question.”

“But not the babes.” Kay dashed in, picking up Ada’s youngest and putting her on her hip, jiggling the small child in the universal way all mothers seemed to know. She leant down and took one of the boys’ hands and then directed the other to take that of his brother. “They’re innocent in all of this.”

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