Page 38 of The Dragon Queen

Glimmer followed me over, nodding to the people we passed, as if their enthusiasm was her due.

“You need me to be a figurehead again?” I muttered as I drew close.

“I just need you,” came Draven’s reply.

He drew me in close, stirring up memories, so many memories of last night, but while we shared a moment of connection, we had work to do. He turned to the crowd, his dragon at his back, Glimmer before us, and then addressed them.

“Some of you will be informants for my uncle.” His voice carried across the crowd, creating an uneasy silence. “I invite you to sell your recount of what happened today to him and include this. The Nithian dynasty has wielded dragonfire in the past for the queens of Nevermere. When Gloriana proved unfit to reign, we used that power to create stability in the realm.” He stepped forward, one hand on the hilt of his sword, the other wrapped around mine. “We are not afraid to do so again. Tell my uncle that he can return my dragons, my dragon eggs and my riders, and I will punish only him for his sins, or…”

Darkspire rose up, his wings flaring wide, the shadow felt on my skin. Somehow this felt like a foreshadowing of something ominous.

“Or he and the people of Harlston will be forced to pay for the error of their ways. Nevermere united!”

He jerked our hands up and gods, everyone else’s went with it. They shouted his last two words over and over. Why? I wanted to ask, and yet I knew. My history tutor had made sure I understood how these sorts of things eventuated at my father’s insistence.

“In times of great uncertainty, the person offering the opposite of that becomes very appealing,” the old man had said, sitting on the window seat of my schoolroom. “He takes away the need to find solutions ourselves. We can rely on faith rather than good sense.” He tapped his temple. “Now, tell me, how did the first Nithian king utilise this at the beginning of his reign..?”

I was taught that the Nithians were in the right, that they provided strong leadership while Gloriana was preoccupied with herown pleasures. The history books said they were canny leaders, ones who created a stronger economy, helping ward off increasing interest from the continent. The Nithian military prowess against even dragons was a further point in their favour, though how they fought against aerial strikes was not.

Was it with dragonfire?

I saw then the vision I’d gotten from the cracked egg we’d found in the dirt, of dragon riders flying forward, toting similar ceramic pots. I stared at Draven, catching the small look of triumph on his face, right before he turned my way.

“You won’t really use weapons like this against the Harlstonians?” I asked. He frowned. “Draven, you?—”

“I don’t want to. My family has kept the substance closely guarded for centuries. Honestly, whatever was left of my father’s mind, I think it was focussed on protecting the knowledge of dragonfire from my mother,” he replied. “But I must use whatever means possible to protect my country. Those dragonlings in the stolen eggs, Beatrice, my uncle, all of them will be using the tricks my mother discovered to enslave them in the egg.”

Glimmer shifted restively, then glanced back over her shoulder, and I knew what she was thinking without needing to touch minds with her. That claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in an egg shell with no means to escape as minds pummelled yours over and over, trying to break your will. I sucked in a shaky breath, trying to shove that feeling away.

“My uncle will have an army when they’re grown, one that rivals ours.” Those blue eyes bore into mine, pleading for understanding. “Because those dragons will never be allowed free will.” Darkspire let out a low rattle in response. “They will be mindless slaves. Extremely powerful, mindless slaves.”

He wasn’t the only one waiting for me to understand. Darkspire’s deep emerald eyes and Glimmer’s watched me closely with all the focus of a snake on the hunt.

“Drills, Your Majesty,” the general said, returning to our side. “We’ll need to start the dragons practising with ceramic pots of different sizes.”

“Each one can be packed with blasting powder at first to get them accustomed to the delivery and blast range,” Stefan said, looking like a little boy about to have cake for dinner. “You want to save the good stuff for the real battles.”

“I think we’re going to need to trial actual dragonfire—” the general started to splutter.

“No, we don’t want to do that.” Everyone turned to stare at me and I blinked, realising I’d spoken. Now I had everyone’s attention, I needed to continue. “Imagine that…” I turned to look back at the sea, watching the bits of flotsam wash up against the docks, the waves still choppy. My eyes flicked back to meet their collective gaze. “Imagine that destruction in a field, a farm, a forest.”

Imagine the people affected by it, I wanted to say.

“Yes, well…” The general’s brows drew down into a severe frown.

“Dragonfire is too volatile, too explosive, to be deployed willy nilly,” Stefan said, waving his hand vaguely at the ocean. “And it’s a finite resource.”

“So we must use it wisely.” Draven silenced us all with his confident reply. “Train our dragons as best we can to deliver explosives and…” He let out a sigh, watching some of the crowd disperse, others to cluster closer around each dragon, not daring to get too close. “Hope to all the gods we don’t need to use them.”

That was our aim. My mind grabbed onto that idea like I was one of the hapless fishermen out there on the sea the moment the explosive was dropped and someone had tossed me a rope.

“I hope that too.”

General Rex nodded, his eyes narrowing as he stared at me.

“Well, Majesty, while we do our best to prepare to quell a civil war, I must bring another issue to your attention.” He glanced at Draven then. “Obviously you are aware that the wild queen rose to mate last night.”

“I am aware.”

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