Page 56 of The Dragon Queen

The other Harlstonian dragon fought the pull of the dragonstone amulet. I could see it in the way his head jerked, like a horse fighting the bit. But much like a horse, his resistance was futile. Both of these envoys shouted at the beast and it moved sluggishly, stumbling forward, then beginning to flap its wings.

Run home, little riders. Hadrian’s voice boomed inside my head, so I couldn’t imagine what it would be like for Royce and his companion.Tell your silly little lord that he does not make war with just the Nithian throne, but…One of his claws slapped down on the edge of the keep and bricks sheered off and went tumbling down as a result.With Hadrian as well.

That was enough to make the Harlstonian dragon move. Not due to compliance, but fear. It scrambled towards the edge of the keep and then threw itself off, dropping alarmingly before gaining altitude. Dragons landed around us, people threw themselves out of saddles, everyone shouting at once as others gave pursuit, chasing the poor beleaguered creature across the skies.

“Pippin!” Draven appeared by my side, wrenching me around to face him and then Flynn, Soren and Brom appeared at his shoulder. “What happened? You were supposed to be at the palace.”

Your enemies entered your territory, Hadrian said in my stead.They delivered the shell of a dead dragonling and made clear they intend to kill more to meet their goal. I care nothing for human squabbles and everything for my queen. She is about to bear her last clutch…There was a pause there, but not for long.In the last hatching sands available on this island. You’ve allowed one clutch of eggs to be stolen out from under your nose. Ensure no more dragonlings are treated so poorly, or I’ll be forced to step in myself.

Hadrian turned tail then, swooping back down to return to Cynane in the depths of Wyrmpeak, but whatever business Glimmer had with the wild dragons, that was now done. She threw herself off Hadrian’s back and it felt like my heart leapt with her, but her wings worked and she climbed in altitude, hovering there for just a second, before descending in a leisurely spiral.

Glimmer!I ran forward and wrapped my arms around her the moment she landed.Glimmer, I… You…

Must save my brothers and sisters from this terrible fate.She pulled back to stare into my eyes.Whatever must be done, whatever preparations we must make, then make them. They cannot coerce my sister in the way they tried to do me. They can’t.

They can’t, I agreed, closing my eyes and pressing my face into her shoulder, but what I saw in the darkness wasn’t us riding to victory. It was the screams of dragons, of humans, the moment the dragon town was blown to smithereens.

Chapter 27

“They’re killing unborn dragons?”

Draven’s stricken expression was a mirror of our own. Now that the Harlstonians were gone, the horror of what they’d done seemed to sink in. Glimmer crept closer as did the surrounding dragons, Vigilance included. He seemed a little abashed, but the dragons made no move to exclude him. A low hum started up, forcing me to look for its source, but it was everywhere. Each dragon sang in that moment.

They didn’t kill my brother.Glimmer was at the forefront, her claw reaching out to tap the eggshell before her claw jerked backwards, only an act of will keeping her where she was.Well, not deliberately. She looked across the crowd, finding my eyes, and I knew what she was thinking. Of her own close call with death at Arabella’s hands.Moving the eggs from the hatching sands, transporting them all that way.They tried to ensure they all survived for what the thieves have planned, but…

Some didn’t survive, I finished for her.Sacrificed for Harlstonian greed.His death was accidental?Glimmer nodded slowly.But it won’t be in vain. We took down Raina, ended her rule. We’ll do the same for the duke.

Draven was of the same mind.

“Wing commanders, officers, my wing, in the war room, now.”There was nothing gentle, nothing tentative, in his manner. “Pippin…”

This was when he turned to me and pulled me close, led me into the war room to stand by his side. I was no use to him having been taught nothing about military strategy other than that which you read about in a history book, but I…. I needed to feel like I was a part of this. Those eggs, that little queen, they were more than just pawns, but innocent little creatures who had no understanding of what was going on around them. Instead, my king’s hand landed on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“Go back to the palace where my guards can protect you.”

“No—”

“Or stay here in the keep,” he amended. “We will be some time. Perhaps you should retire to the wing’s chambers?”

To wait for them, that went unsaid. My spine snapped straight in response.

“I…”

What was I going to do, insist I be a part of the planning? That’s not what queens did. The trouble was I knew intimately all the things we weren’t supposed to do.

And none of what we were supposed to.

“Go, my king,” I said, putting on a smile like I might a dress. “Find us a way out of this mess.” He nodded, ready to pull away, but I moved to hold his gaze. “One that doesn’t end up with any more innocents being sacrificed.”

“I’ll try.”

A gentle kiss was pressed to my forehead, but it was the lack of confidence in his tone that caught my attention. Draven seemed to think he could do anything at all if he put his mind to it, so seeing doubt of any kind just exacerbated my own anxieties. We couldn’t give voice to them, not when everyone else looked on, and that’s when I realised what my role was. To create an aura of certainty, because while skill and logic and clever tactics could win the day, belief was just as potent a weapon. As a result, I smiled as they all filed past, the general barking orders at any other rider who wasn’t otherwise occupied.

Which just left Glimmer, myself and the dragons standing on the roof with a couple of riders assigned to be our protection.

“Highness, did you wish to return to the palace?” one of them asked me almost hopefully.

Where does this sense of being a queen come from?I asked my dragon, ignoring the man’s request.How do you know what to do, how to act?

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