Page 93 of Dragon Fight

“Highness, I’ll get the garrison commander,” the man babbled.

“No, that won’t be—” Before Draven could stop him, the soldier ran off to do just that. The muscle in his jaw tightened but he ushered us all inside the gates. Several men hurriedly appeared, their leader a tall, solid man with the bearing of a warrior and the insignia of a commander. They all bowed low to the prince as Draven watched impassively.

“My prince,” the commander said. “To what do we owe this honour at this hour?”

The wing and I all drew in a breath, preparing to deliver the various excuses we’d concocted, but Draven cut through all of it.

“I don’t need to explain my reasoning to you. My riders and I need access to the garrison.”

“And you shall have it,” the commander stammered out. “But I must warn you, Highness, the place is in disarray. We’ve had a complete turnover of personnel.”

“Really?” Draven walked up the gravel path to a square building: the garrison itself. “That is passing strange. It’s army policy to only rotate units of men from one garrison to the next, not move all of them at once.”

“Ahh…” I could see the commander quickly looking at the rest of us, looking slightly relieved that at least one Harlstonian was present when he noted Brom. However, any peace of mind he may have gained was lost when he saw Flynn. He had to know that he was the son of the Duke of Skane. “We had some morale issues and high command ordered a complete shake up—”

“I’ve not heard word of that,” Draven continued.

“Perhaps the queen wanted to spare you the boring details of such a small decision.”

“The queen?” Draven paused where he was, turning to stare the man down and catching the moment the commander realised his mistake. “Surely you mean my father, the king. I love my mother dearly,”—Did he though?— “but a military commander she is not.”

“Of course, of course,” the commander babbled. “I misspoke.”

Draven continued his interrogation of the man as we continued, right up to the doorway of the garrison proper. I halted, in order to fall back with the others, but he reached out and took my arm in his under the guise of helping me over the small step at the doorway.

I was about to snap something about being perfectly capable of traversing such an obstacle myself, but the feel of the prince’s body against mine stopped me. I paused mid-step, giving credence to his offer of help. The others with us were left to look on as I looked up into his eyes.

I wish I could read his mind.What was supposed to be my private thought was broadcast to my dragon and Glimmer chuckled.

You don’t need to. You know.

That certainty in her voice, the way Draven’s eyes dropped down to my lips and stayed there, added together to ensure that the atmosphere like it could be cut with a knife.

And I would be the one to wield it.

I pulled my eyes away from the prince’s and met the commander’s confused gaze.

“I’m sorry, but could you point me to the privy?” My hand slid down to my stomach and the eyes of every man there followed it. “I’ve had too much wine to drink tonight.”

“Of course,” the commander said, obviously feeling like he was on more solid ground with more mundane and practical matters. “I’ll have someone—”

“I know where to go,” Ged said, stepping forward. “I’ll show Pippin.”

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"Iassume you don’t actually need to go to the loo,” Ged muttered out of the side of his mouth. “The moment we walked into this place, you broke the rules we set out.”

“The others can be the diversion,” I hissed back, as we walked down the hall of the garrison. “And while the commander is distracted, we can do a search of our own.”

“Cunning,” Ged admitted, “but a plan I’d much rather enact with one of the boys, not you.”

“Consider me ‘one of the boys’ then,” I shot back, darting my eyes around us for clues.Glimmer, can you feel the cadets anywhere?

This way, she said, veering off to the left.

“I’d never do that.” Ged grabbed my hand. “You’re not a boy. Pippin, you’re not a facsimile of a man and you don’t need to be.” He stopped me for a few precious seconds, smoothing his hand down the bodice of my dress. “That remains true no matter what you wear.” His eyes flicked up to meet mine. “You are Pippin, first and foremost, a beautiful woman second and the one I…” He swallowed. “The one I love, most of all. We only want to protect you because you are so bloody precious to us.”

And how could I stand firm against that? I reached up and touched his cheek before I heard the sounds of footsteps, hating that I had to pull it away as several soldiers passed, shooting us curious looks.

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