Page 95 of Dragon Fight

Another ‘accidental death’ of a prince, the line of succession reverting to one of Draven’s paternal cousins, I was sure, and who was to know what sway Raina held over them.

“Lance, we’ll be back tonight,” I promised, as the sound of boot steps became louder and louder. “We’ll go directly to the general and get the rider corps mobilised to rescue you. Half will come, no matter what he has to say. The keep is on edge already.”

“Promise, Pippin?”

The plaintive note in his voice broke my bloody heart, and tears pricked my eyes as I nodded definitely.

“The minute we’re out of here,” I replied. “The very minute.”

“C’mon…”

Ged grabbed my hand and dragged me down the hall into a small alcove, where he pressed me against the wall, slamming his mouth down on mine the minute the soldiers appeared.

“Rider…”

The soldiers looked at us as we jerked apart, the picture of guilty lovers.

“Hello, lads,” Ged said, with a wink. “You can keep your mouths shut for a coin or two, can’t you? Buy yourselves a beer on me.” He flicked a few coins their way and they scrambled to catch them. “I’ve got a bit of a thing for the commander’s wife and I don’t want him finding out about it.”

“Right you are, Rider,” the leader said. “But you’ll need to come this way. The prince is asking for you.”

“What the bloodyhell were you two playing at?” Draven hissed, the minute we got outside of the garrison. “Remind me when we decided you two would slope off to conduct a clandestine investigation?”

“We found Lance and the other cadets. Jenkins is breathing but not much more.” My eyes shot to Brom. “We need to go to the general now, bring the corps down in force. Rip the bloody bars from the windows with our dragons and free those cadets.” I turned to Draven. “And you can’t be anywhere near the rescue mission when it happens. Plausible deniability.”

Draven went rigid, his eyes filling with blue fire the moment he understood my meaning. Surprisingly he nodded, albeit stiffly.

“I’ll fly back to the keep now.”

“Take me with you.”

There was so much more in those words than I’d intended. My mind was full of the desperate need to get to the keep as quickly as possible, but as I gave voice to that idea, it came out echoing my need for him. The emotion behind my words softened Draven’s terrible gaze, and he took a step closer to me.

“Take both of us,” Brom said. “We need to get back to the keep as quickly as possible. Getting a carriage down to these streets in the dark will be a nightmare. I need to speak to the general.”

“Of course,” Draven said, then turned to the others. “Can you find your way back? You don’t want to be here when the general returns, not without his order.”

“I’ll make sure the riders get back to the keep,” Marcus said, stepping forward from out of the darkness and, with a click of his fingers, a carriage rolled closer, the driver tugging the brim of his cap.

“This is going to be awkward, uncomfortable,” Draven warned me as I lifted my skirts and we ran over to Darkspire. He turned to Brom. “We’ll need to wedge Pippin between us to keep her on ‘Spire’s back.”

“Why do I feel like that was your plan all along?” Brom replied in a very different tone. There was amusement and affability and need all rolled up into one, something that had the prince smiling.

“Just don’t ruin my bloody dress this time,” I snapped, hauling myself up into the saddle as Glimmer clambered onto ‘Spire’s neck. “I like this one.”

“I do too.”

Draven settled into the saddle in front of me, then reached back to wrap my arms around him, and Brom pushed himself in behind me. A traitorous throb started up between my legs at the feel of the two men pressed into me, but it only took the echoing of Lance’s pleas in my ears to push that aside. Darkspire lumbered forward, throwing himself off the edge of the road, and it felt like he skimmed the tops of the roofs below before he flapped hard and we went circling back, towards the keep.

“Cometo me in my room at the keep,” Draven said, the moment we landed, not bothering to clarify who he meant because there was no need. It was both of us, we all knew that. “Don’t go down to that garrison. Don’t put yourselves anywhere near the place. Don’t draw attention to yourselves. Tell the general you got reliable intel from Marcus Lighthands, that eye witness accounts have confirmed it. And if you have to…” Draven shook his head. “Mention to code word: Felix. It’ll tell Rex that I can confirm the veracity of the information.”

“Will do,” Brom said, though I wasn’t sure exactly what he was agreeing to. I didn’t get a chance to ask because he grabbed my hand and dragged me down the stairs and through the halls until we were rapping on the general’s door.

“What’s this about?” the general asked, looking somewhat dishevelled, his jacket partially unbuttoned, his hair ruffled.

“We’ve found the cadets, sir, in a garrison in the city,” Brom told him in a great rush.

“In a garrison? Well, where are the boys? The king’s soldiers must’ve taken custody of the lads by mistake. Soldiers don’t keep riders in custody, not even cadets.”

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