Page 76 of The Dragoneers of Longbourn and Pemberley
He gave her a sad smile, as if he was disappointed she had pulled away. “No, our staff here is truly extraordinary. The housekeeper, Mrs. Gandy, has an eye for perfect events.”
“That must be nice for you.”
“You should stay — you and your sisters and parents I mean — a few days. I can introduce you to Mrs. Gandy.”
“Oh, I don’t know if Lelantos will be happy staying in the field so long.” Valeraine demurred.
“We can put him in one of our nest’s outbuildings. It really isn’t any trouble. I can show you around the nest, our techniques here.”
Valeraine wanted to return home, to have her nest back, to have Lelantos settled again. She wanted to be away from Pemberley and his confusing kindness. He couldn’t still want her, after she had rejected him?
“Here,” Pemberley said, “could you please bring your mother and father over to me, and I will extend the invitation to them. I would go to them, but,” a rueful smile at his propped-up leg.
She nodded, and left him. She went to where Mamma had been, but now the spot held only Merna. She sat in the chair next to her sister, out of strength. “Where are Mamma and Papa?”
“Dancing.”
Valeraine watched the dancers for a minute before she saw them, not dancing with each other but with other partners.
“Why do you want to find Mamma?” Merna asked. “So she can congratulate you for talking with the rich Mr. Pemberley?”
“Pemberley is inviting us to stay at his manor for a few days — all of us. Well, except Kesley, I suppose.”
“I wish to go home. I didn’t bring enough books for a longer stay.”
“I wish to go home, too,” Valeraine said. “If I look in Pemberley’s eyes once more, I may regret what I do next.”
“What will you do, Val? Challenge him to a duel?”
“Something like that.” Or, maybe, something very different.
Chapter fifty-one
The Dragon Bond of Lies
by our trusted correspondent, Scaleheart
Last year, Mr. I— announced he had formed a bond with his dragon, X—. This was met with great fanfare; only the third pair actively bonded in Kinella. (That number has now climbed to four, as Mr. N— and his dragon A— moved to the kingdom.)
At the recent derby at P— nest, I witnessed something that piqued my suspicions. Before the race, Mr. I— was crossing the field. He passed too close to a dragon, who was nest-tetchy and bucking,and a loose tether whipped through the air and hit his arm. He let out a cry, and favored that arm for the rest of the night.
However, X— never reacted to any of it. Mr. I— is not bonded to X—. It has always been a lie, and I have proven it.
You might protest, “X— must not have heard the cry of Mr. I—!” But a true bonded pair feels one another’s pains, and so X— would have reacted. He did not. The dragon was entirely oblivious.
I, being someone who strictly prints only the truth, knew that I needed more than a single suspicious incident. So, I manufactured another. I casually strolled to X—, and while his back was turned I stepped on his tail.
The dragon, quite predictably, jumped and snarled at me. I, as quickly as I could, retreated out of the snapping range of his jaws.
Mr. I— did not notice. He did not react to his dragon’s pain, shock, or anger.
So, I will say it boldly and plainly: Mr. I— has been lying to us for the whole year. There is no bond between him and X—.
People are curious about the bond, and so attention has come to the house, leading to two breeding contracts in the last year. Would the house be so fortunate without this ruse?
Perhaps that didn’t motivate Mr. I—. Many houses try to instill a bond, but few succeed. Mr. I— was one of those attempts, where as a boy he was assigned to be the primary dragoneer for X—. He was unable to give routine tasks to servants, taking it all on himself. Perhaps Mr. I— was so desperate for his years of sacrifice to mean something that he decided to pretend they did.
Chapter fifty-two
