Chapter 57 Blue Dragon
~ brEN ~
I went to lunch without Donavyn. Our first agreed separation since the night Hanson propositioned me.
I left him pacing the bedchamber, his face a mask of aggression.
I hated how this affected him, but I was so grateful he didn’t fight me on it.
I was determined to get to the bottom of Hanson’s claim about the dragon, and hoped he’d be there for the meal so I could lay the trail for tonight’s conversation.
But the dark-haired Lord didn’t attend, so I was left sharing lunch with Faye.
Lady Faye had offered to make a maid available to me to assist with dressing for tonight’s event, which I gathered was more formal than the previous ball, though I wasn’t sure how that could be true.
I was still in my leathers from the trip to the dragon stables.
I’d hoped I might run into Hanson who had implied he’d enjoy seeing me in trousers.
Instead, when Faye saw me, she clucked at me and shook her head.
“I hope you have a glorious gown for tonight’s ball,” she said, pointing at me with her butter knife as she spread her toast.
I let my chin fall. “I have the rose gown. My Queen was very kind—"
“The rose? From the welcome banquet? No, no, no, Brennan. This won’t do!
That gown was lovely on you, but you must be much grander than ever before.
Tonight, the dignitaries attend from three Districts!
The queen is quite willing to accept simplicity in style—especially when it’s so fetching on you.
But with so many high-ranking attendees, you need to show appropriate respect for the event. ”
I looked at her helplessly. “I don’t have a choice. I don’t have many gowns. I’ve already worn the ones that were sent with me, and that is the nicest of what I own—which was a kindness of my queen’s. The ball is only a few hours away—”
“I’ll help,” Faye said, nodding to herself and smiling.
“Help how? No one can make a gown that quickly!”
“Never you mind, never you mind. You just come with me when we’ve finished the meal. Are you wearing a corset? No mind. We’ll fix this.”
Despite myself, I smiled. Faye could be annoying, and she was definitely ambitious. She’d also been kinder to me than any of the other women. And even if that was motivated by her desire to impress and be aligned with Vosgaarde’s Queen, it was still a kindness.
“Thank you, Faye. I appreciate you,” I said, laying a hand on her arm.
She stopped buttering her toast to look down at her arm. “Oh! You’re very welcome, Brennan. Of course.”
She brushed me off and I let her babble of gossip and rumor wash over me for the remainder of the meal, then followed her out of the dining hall, reaching for Donavyn in my mind.
‘No sign of Hanson. But Faye is determined to get me a new gown for tonight. She says I can’t wear the Rose again, even if I’m common. ’
‘Lucky you.’
‘You know, even if she’s annoying, she can be kind. She doesn’t want me embarrassed. It’s sweet.’
‘Then tell her that I’m grateful too—but return to the rooms when you’re done so we can arrive together. Men like Hanson need to see you as something they can’t have. We need him determined to entice you.’
‘I know. I will.’
“Do you have a favorite color, Bren?” Faye asked as we hurried through the halls of the Palace’s other wing, where she was housed.
“I like blue. And silver?” I said.
“Excellent. No, not that way, we’re going to the royal modiste.”
“Where?”
“The modiste—they make gowns to order.”
“But, there’s no time!”
“They’ll have other dresses they can alter. I assure you, you aren’t the first woman to need a magnificent dress in a short period of time. Our challenge is only to make certain that they are willing to give one to you.”
“And how will we do that?”
Faye winked at me. “I have powerful friends.”
Then she took my elbow and pulled me down a quiet side-hall to a set of doors that looked very similar to those leading into Donavyn’s quarters.
She rapped the door once, then stood aside, smiling smugly.
When the door opened, it was a young woman in a pinafore with a thick, puffy bracelet at her wrist stuck full of pins. She took one look at my leathers, gaping as if they were an offense, then beckoned me inside as Faye pushed me from the back.
“Please, please, quickly,” the woman said in a strange accent. “I will need you to remove your clothing down to your undergarments—”
“I can help.”
I turned, yanking my elbow out of the woman’s grip, to find Hanson ambling into the room from an adjoining door.
I gasped and instinctively covered my chest, though I hadn’t taken anything off yet. But he only nodded to Faye.
“Well done. I should have listened to you.”
“It was simple. Her General wasn’t at the meal.
She’s far easier to influence without him,” Faye said.
When I gaped at her, she turned to look at me and waved me off.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. You really are getting a new gown—and you’re entirely safe.
Hanson isn’t one of those bastards. He just wanted a chance to speak with you alone, so I arranged it. Everybody wins!”
“But—”
“You get your gown and have a chat, then come to the ball tonight with Donavyn. Everything will be fine. Now, I must go get ready myself. I’ll see you this evening!”
And she was out the door faster than a mouse with a cat on its tail. I darted after her, but quick as a flash, Hanson slipped between me and the door, leaning back against it to close it, and giving me that sly smile.
I stood there, unmoving, beginning to sweat, mind spinning as I tried to assess how much danger I was in.
The seamstress was still here. There were bolts of cloth on the walls, and countless shelves of ribbon, thread, and other sewing supplies. This clearly was a modiste, or whatever Faye had called it. Yet, Hanson was here, shutting me in and…
He’d shut me in.
“Open that door,” I said calmly, though my heart pounded so hard my head hurt.
He raised his hands like I had him at knifepoint.
I wish I did. We’d chosen not to wear our blades this morning so we wouldn’t be viewed as a threat if we met other dragon riders at the stables. A mistake I wouldn’t make again.
“I know you’re nervous, Brennan. But you have no need—I won’t harm you. I give you my word.”
“If you wouldn’t harm me, why trick me here? Why not just offer to help?”
He arched one brow. “You believe your General would simply step aside and allow you to spend the afternoon with me?”
“No. He’ll be furious when he finds out—”
“If he finds out.”
“He’ll find out because I’ll tell him.” Tell the truth… until you can’t.
Hanson didn’t respond immediately, his dark eyes locked on mine with that strange intensity, then he spoke quietly, but not to me.
“Chardin, please select the dresses you believe we can alter in time for tonight’s ball, and set each up on a bust in the other room. Lady Brennan and I will join you shortly.”
Chardin bobbed a curtsey and left, shutting the door behind her and leaving me utterly alone with Hanson.
My heart still raced, and if I wasn’t gripping my sleeves I knew my hands would shake. But I didn’t panic. I raised my chin and stared him down.
He smiled wider.
“You have nothing to fear from me, Brennan. I am not a man who takes what is not offered—what challenge is there in that? No. I far prefer to tempt. Entice. Seduce.” He stood just arm’s reach from me, his broad body blocking the door.
At the word seduce his posture shifted and the hair on my arms stood up when he scanned down my body.
But he didn’t touch me.
“Remember that,” he said quietly, then scanned me again, and licked his lips once.
I swallowed hard. “Remember what?”
“Remember that I never take what isn’t mine.
” Then he leaned forward and his breath fluttered in my hair when he whispered, “But when the prey offers itself?” He lifted a finger to run the tip along the shell of my ear, so gently I barely felt it.
“That I will take with every ounce of skill available to me. And in my experience, once a frightened horse has drawn close and learned how safe it is in my hands… it rarely wishes to be anywhere else.”
He straightened to stare down at me from a height that almost matched Donavyn’s.
“You’re safe, Brennan. I gave my word.” Then, with a final heated look, he slipped aside leaving the door unattended, and marching towards the other room where Chardin had disappeared, clapping his hands.
“Gowns! At least four, please. My Lady Brennan will need choices. Prepare the appropriate undergarments for each, and have them ready…”
Two hours later, I stood in front of a large mirror, turning every which way to see the incredible gown.
The design wasn’t much different from the rose gown the queen had arranged for me, though the square neckline plunged lower and the sleeves were little more than drapes of a sheer, featherlight silver that fluttered when I moved.
The dress itself was a pale blue, trimmed in silver and cream. It hugged every curve of my body to my hips, then flared dramatically and fell to the floor in great swathes of fabric that spilled over each other, down the back of the skirt to slide on the floor for a couple of feet behind me.
I shook my head. “It’s stunning.”
“You’re stunning,” Hanson said quietly.
I met his eyes in the mirror and the hair on my nape stood up, but when I averted my eyes, I tried to pretend I was conflicted.
“A man of true power can provide this, and more. Whatever you need, Bren. Even without warning. Your General is strong, and trustworthy, I have no doubt. But so am I. And I can have anything you could ever need or want available in a moment’s notice. That is the joy of wealth.”
“Anything?” I looked at him in the mirror again and let my tongue slip out to quickly trace my lower lip.
“Anything,” he said, and he meant it.
I glanced at Chardin, who stood with her hands clasped, admiring the dress on me. He caught my unease, and snapped a low command to her to leave, which she did with alacrity.
Then we were alone. I swallowed. “Why?” I asked, without preamble. But he took my meaning.
“I told you. I want you, and I want your skill.”
I inhaled sharply and turned around to face him. “You prefer to tempt? Entice? Tempt me: Tell me how you can possibly get me a dragon of my own in a land where the stables are empty and there’s no Primarch present.”
“I can’t tell you—but I can show you the dragons to prove I do not lie.”
“Dragons? Plural?”
He smiled. “Many, many plural.”
I hesitated. What was going on here?
I tried to reach Donavyn, but he was too far away. I could feel him, simmering, but couldn’t reach him with words.
I looked down at the gown and made a decision. “Take me.”
It was the first time I saw him hesitate. He tilted his head and folded his arms. “I can’t take you. I need you to take me.”
I frowned. “Take you where?”
“On your dragon.”
“What? Why?”
“Because they are too far away to reach quickly any other way. I keep my estate remote from the city on purpose. But if you want to meet my dragons and return in time for the ball—which I’m certain you do—flight would be our only option.”
I frowned. “If you can’t reach them without a dragon, how do you know you can—”
“Trust me, Bren. I’m not lying to you. You take me on that dragon that you ride. You’ll be in complete control. I’m sure she won’t let me direct her.”
I let my lips twist like I was thinking about it. “How far away is it?”
“We could fly there, see the dragons and return before the ball, though you would need help with your hair and dressing when we return—but of course, I can provide that, as well.”
I stared straight into his eye as if I were measuring him, but actually stretched for Donavyn in my mind, cursing. Where was he that I couldn’t reach him? I should have been able to speak to him anywhere in the castle. He and Kgosi could follow us if I could tell him.
Hanson stepped over to a chest at the side of the room and squatted in front of it, opening the rounded top and leaning into it, before straightening again.
“Look in the mirror again,” he said.
Warily, I did as he asked, watching him in the shining surface over my shoulder. He walked slowly to stand behind me, close enough that I could feel the warmth of him on the bare skin at the back of my neck.
Then he lifted something in both hands over my head and draped it across my collarbones, drawing the lengths together behind my neck.
I felt his fingers brush my nape as he closed the clasp, then straightened it.
I gasped.
It was a perfect miniature dragon, with wings and a tail and four legs, even tiny horns and ears, carved out of a shimmering sapphire.
“It matches your eyes,” he murmured, then drew away, stopping two steps back, folding his arms, but never dropping eye-contact when I looked up from the necklace.
“Let me show you, Bren. Let me show you my dragons, and let me show you the world that only I can open for you.”