Page 4 of Lady Dragon
After receiving no response, the princess continued, “So you must have sisters, then?”
Kirek briefly tipped her head back to look longingly at the sky. The princess was going tolovethis. “No, I don’t. My mother, the Queen Mother, didn’t want any competition for her chosen heir—not even other daughters to weaken each other in vyingfor power and position. So she picked the strongest egg, the one whose heartbeat called to her the loudest”—she smirked at the princess—“which was mine, obviously. And then she smashed the other eggs. It’s called culling.”
Samansa stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide and mouth agape. “She killed your sisters?”
Kirek turned on her abruptly. “They weren’t my sisters. They were eggs. Eggs are not yet hatchlings. They are a promise, and hatchlings are the prize. Obviously, most dragons go to great lengths to protectalltheir eggs—it’s why pair-bonds exist—but queen mothers, or would-be queens, do things differently.”
The princess looked paler than usual, and she said with faint levity, “All your eggs in one basket, so to speak?”
Kirek felt her brow furrow. “Basket—? Ah. All of your hopes in one place, at risk. That’s a terrible comparison, since there’s onlyoneegg, but yes. It’s a lot of weight to put on one egg, but it hardens the shell, and that’s the greatest protection one can give. The queen picks the most promising, guards it with her life, and then, once it has hatched, she trains her daughter with everything she has in her, giving her heir ample time and safety to grow to full strength.”
“So that her daughter can eventually… kill her?” The princess looked as though she was merely trying to politely understand, but also like she might fall over in a stiff breeze.
Kirek smirked again. “Dragons prefer to die well, with honor. How better than at the claw of the daughter you’ve shaped into something stronger than yourself?”
“Or a queen could wait until she’s past her prime, has had a long rule, and make it easier for her daughter.” The princess pursed her lips, still seeming to treat this as a light mentalexercise instead of Kirek’s reality. “More like a mercy killing, I suppose?”
“But then you risk others growing bold enough to challenge the queen in the favored heir’s stead. Which is why having sisters is a bad idea—even if you arealreadyqueen.” Kirek paused. “My mother wasn’t raised as heir. She overthrew the old queen, whose heir had died. She has a sister.”
“I… see. And this sister is dangerous?”
Kirek scoffed. “Of course she is. But my mother is strong. And she will stay strong, untilIam strong enough.” She began walking again.
The princess followed in silence, which Kirek didn’t mind. But Samansa must have been groping for something to talk about, because she finally said, “I take it you need to eat more than once a week like this, if you’re willing to come to the luncheon?”
Perhaps she’d noted—correctly—that Kirek wasn’t particularly eager.
“Yes. In this form, I’ll need to eat more often, in smaller quantities, like a human would. So I will join you for your luncheon, even if it’s unfamiliar territory for me.”
The princess snorted softly. “You say that as if it’s a battleground.”
Not far from it, thought Kirek. Even if any battle would be decidedly in the dragons’ favor.
The princess cleared her throat and asked more clearly, “You haven’t been in human form for long, then?”
Kirek shook her head, tapping her chest. “The Heartstone is what permits it, and its use is only granted at very specific times.” The princess looked over at her curiously, but Kirek hadno intention of showing her the Heartstone nestled under her armor. “This is one of those times. Theonlytime I’ve encountered. Dragons generally don’t condone becoming like this.” She didn’t bother trying to conceal her distaste. “It’s considered degrading, and so only the strongest of us—queens or their heirs—are required to undertake it. Our pride can withstand it.”
She hoped.
“Well,” the princess said in a pleasant tone, for reasons unknown to Kirek, “you look quite nice for someone so new to this.”
“Nice?” Kirek’s distaste only grew with the supposed compliment. “It is not my intention to benice.”
The princess winced, seeming to realize she had misstepped somehow. “I mean you look handsome.”
“Handsome?” Kirek was more baffled than anything. What in the sky’s name didthathave to do with anything? And she didn’t look handsome. She looked hideous.
“I mean you move quite well,” the princess clarified hurriedly. “Powerfully.”
Kirek nodded, slightly mollified. She hadn’t come to Andrath entirely unprepared. She’d first used the Heartstone to change into human form several weeks before her arrival here, during which time she’d practiced human gestures and studied how to wield both sword and pen. She found writing tedious, swordplay less so, even if she disdained human flourishes in either. She’d rather spell out her meaning in blood.
While mastering such a body had been a challenge, she could already tell she carried herself better than half the queendom. Better even than many men, who prided themselves on their physical strength and prowess, from what she understood.
Kirek was eager to see what they could offer in the tourney.
Or, rather, what they couldn’t.
Samansa glanced at her sideways, a flash of mischief in her eyes. “Though you move a little stiffly.”
