Page 24 of The Dragon Queen

“I do.” Draven shook his head and then handed the parchment over. The others clustered closer to take a look, Flynn moving slower than the others, and for good reason.

“Julius…” Flynn sounded broken as he recited the names, because he knew each of the Skanian suspects. “Alliana? Gregor?” His focus shifted rapidly to Draven. “Gods above, Kade? We grew up together, climbed trees and skinned our knees?—”

“Suspects until proven otherwise,” Draven replied in a far softer tone.

“I’ll go straight to the keep,” Brom said, handing the piece of paper back to Draven. “Work with General Rex to ensure everything moves smoothly.” He moved towards me, pulling me in for a kiss, but not for long. “Stay here, stay safe, and don’t let the little queen sleep outside with the adult dragons.”

My mates are perfectly capable of keeping me safe,Glimmer said, something I forwarded onto them.

“For me.” Brom spoke to my dragon, not me, and the fact he acknowledged her as a complete, sentient being apart from me warmed my heart. “Just until we have the monsters locked up in jail cells.”

“Or snapped up by a dragon’s jaws.”

Flynn said that in more growl than voice, his hands becoming fists.

“We’ll find out tomorrow.” Brom pulled away and I barely stopped myself from clawing him back. “I’ll sleep at the keep tonight to oversee the preparations.”

“Brom—” I said.

“I won’t catch a wink unless I can see for myself everything has been done right,” he told me, then glanced over my head at the others.

Well, most of them.

I think we all saw that Brom scrupulously avoided meeting Draven’s gaze.

“Keep Pippin and Glimmer safe.” I could hear the emotionthrobbing in Brom’s voice. “Trust no one. If that list has taught us anything, it’s that we have enemies everywhere.” That’s when he finally looked at the prince. “Even where you’d least expect them. We all must remain vigilant.”

And for him that entailed walking out of the door. Obsidian’s deep roar let us know he had arrived, ready to ferry his bondmate back to the keep.

“Well, my bed has been terribly empty since you lot left,” Draven said in a tight voice. “I’m not sure if I can sleep without Ged’s sonorous snores in my ears.”

“I snore!” Ged shot back. “What about the old man here?”

He tried to shove Soren, but the drill sergeant planted his feet, ensuring his stance was strong and didn’t move an inch.

“You do remember that I’m only five years older than you.”

“You do snore, Ged,” Flynn said. His smile was a fragile thing, but sincere. “Terribly when you’ve had a beer or two.”

“At least I don’t roll around in bed, moaning my own name…”

I listened to them banter, feeling a moment of solidarity with Brom. There was nothing in me that wanted to take this moment of levity from them, but… Tomorrow we would bury a king and a queen and, in doing so, would claim those titles for ourselves. No gold crowns would be bestowed upon our heads, not yet, but the responsibilities. Yes, they would be ours from the moment we woke up, and I couldn’t help but wonder if we were up to fulfilling them.

Chapter 13

It seemed obscene that a funeral would require so much scurrying around, but the death of not one monarch, but two, was such a grand affair, it made sense. I woke early to find Draven already washed and standing by the bed. He didn’t realise I saw him at first, my eyes barely opening a crack. I caught the way the grey morning light bathed his face, turning the hollows to shadow, making him look gaunt, almost fragile. The bruised purple skin around his eyes only accentuated that. When I stretched and yawned, he smiled, quickly dispelling that moment of vulnerability.

“I’d like to apologise for what is about to happen today,” he told me when he crouched down beside the bed.

“That sounds ominous,” I croaked.

“Today will be ghastly.” My hand found his, clinging on tight. “For everyone, but… I want you to know that I tried.”

“Tried what?” I sat up abruptly, something that had Ged groaning. His hand flopped around the bed, blindly seeking me, then he tried to tug me back down beside him.

“This is your first public engagement as my queen,” he whispered. “Today has nothing to do with the people my father andmother were and everything to do with the pomp and circumstance that my throne is built upon.”

“You need me to become queen for a day.”

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