Page 31 of Lady Dragon
Kirek’s pride wouldn’t survivethat—her mother’s downfall. Her own disgrace.
She herself wouldn’t survive for long, either, because soon she would be dead, killed by one of her own kind for being a failed contender for the draconic queenship. The strong weeding out the weak.
“Pavak,” Kirek growled, salivating at her aunt’s name.
She seeks to overthrow me, and position her own daughter as the favored contender for the queenship.
Valraka.Kirek didn’t dislike her cousin; rather, she respected her, for the most part.
Her aunt, on the other claw… Pavak was a fanatic, always carrying on about the old days, back when they were the dominant species, and idolizing old dragons, like Nakor and especially Raka, who’d ruled during the war with humans. Who’d died then: Nakor, to kill the human king, and Raka when their pair-bond had broken. Death was preferable to any treaty, in Pavak’s eyes—to breaking the bond between dragons in order to allow a different one with humans. Kirek thoughtheroverlycold, calculating, and brutal, whenever she wasn’t burning with a crazed sort of zealous fire that made her decisions passionately erratic.
By herself, her aunt could be ignored. The problem was, she’d gained more and more followers over time, trying to make the Queen Mother—and perhaps the queen’s intended heir—look soft in comparison.
A dragon could never look soft. And Valraka could never appear the stronger between herself and Kirek.
“Then you intend to invade?” Kirek asked bluntly. “Branon’s uprising would give us the excuseweneed to launch our own assault, under the guise of upholding the terms of the Treaty.”
But neither do we want to save the human queen too soon and end up back to where we started, nor to reveal that the only cause in this fight that we support is our own, and encourage the humans to unite against us.
“So we let the humans exhaust themselves first, at war with each other.”
For a time. We don’t want a man to thoroughly install himself on the throne, either, harkening back to the kings of old to become a symbol for humans to rally around.
“So, before any pretender such as Branon can get too far, you’llthenclaim the Treaty has been violated, since under its terms only queens are allowed to rule. And then you’ll attack him in retribution—leaving neither side the winner, and no one left who is strong enough to resist us.”
Indeed. We don’t wantanyonewho is a worthy contender on the throne, after this.
Her mother wanted a hunting ground. Nothing to stopthem from taking whatever they willed from the fertile lands of Andrath.
It would make her the most fearsome dragon queen in centuries. As far from weak as she could get.
You must let these events play out, she continued.But, first, my daughter…
Kirek was almost afraid to ask. “Yes?”
You need to meet with Branon in secret. Tell him that when he makes his move for the throne, the dragons will stand down. And tell him that if he reveals this information to anyone, our deal will be off.
There truly was no deal. He just wouldn’t find out until it was too late to fight back.
“Why would he trust me?” Kirek asked, but she had a horrible, gnawing suspicion that she might already know the answer.
Now that you’ve foiled my attempt to dispose of the daughter heir, not to mention what may have been Branon’s on several occasions, you’ve given yourself the task. Promise him you will do this, and he will trust you.There was a pause.And then youwill, of course, do it. Kill the princess.
“What?” Kirek couldn’t help gasping.No, no, no.She was glad her mother couldn’t hear that last, silent attempt at refusal, at least. Questioning her was bad enough.
Do not speak soft words to me. Prove yourself, my daughter. Redeem yourself in my eyes, and in the piercing gaze of those who doubt my confidence in you. Who doubtme.
“But how can I do it in a way that won’t point directly at us?” Kirek strained to keep the desperation out of her voice. To cast the shadow of her worry overdragonkind, not the princess.
Precisely because you’vesavedher so many times. No one would suspect you now, not even if you did it in your own quarters. As to the particulars, I’ll leave that up to you. But, Kirek?
Kirek’s tongue felt made of stone. “Yes?”
Do not disappoint me.
Kirek slipped inside Branon’s quarters just as she had the princess’s—through the window, avoiding all patrolling guards. It was even easier for her, this time, because his rooms weren’t as high up in the keep, or as well protected. It became clear that no assassination plot had been linked to him yet, as he wasn’t under heavy watch. The walls and furniture were sparse and utilitarian, nothing to catch her unawares.
Except for him.
