Chapter 36
Fern
This general summons you like a human might a dog? Auren’s outrage was palpable. Get on my back. I’ll fly over to the keep and show this… male exactly who he’s dealing with. We came back here not at his behest, but to find the information we need. We—
Will let me handle this, I had insisted.
Auren and I, we each had our roles to play. She could break into the keep, hauling the man out by her claw, whereas I… I stood outside the general’s office, ready to make clear what we intended to do in a far less destructive way.
I’d walked back to the keep with Lance by my side, each step more determined than the last. In my mind, I rehearsed what I would say, countering the general’s every reply. Using Auren’s strength, I’d tell him of our plan and insist that he release the silver dragons to us as escorts.
So why was I just standing here, staring at the door?
The sight of all that heavy dark wood, the brass doorknob, it had my heart rate picking up, beating noisily in my ears.
My fingers flexed, forming fists, then releasing again.
I’d stood just outside a similar door only weeks before, when Father asked to speak to me about my upcoming courtship.
Warmly, firmly, he’d told me about the young men who were coming to meet me and look how that turned out.
My throat convulsed, suddenly dry.
I’d run out of my father’s house, away from men who would tolerate me just so they could get my father’s coin.
If I could survive idiots calling me a pig, then there was nothing the general could throw at me that would knock me off balance.
With a nod, I raised my hand, ready to knock on the door, only for it to be pulled open.
“Lady Fern!” I was prepared for a lot of things, but the general’s warm tone, his smile, was not one of them. “You’re back. It’s such a pleasure to see you again. Come in, come in.”
With a slow whistle of breath out, I did just that, stepping into the lion’s den.
Why were men’s spaces always so intimidating? The general ushered me into a space that was all wood panelling and intricately printed wallpaper in muted brown tones. A massive bookshelf spanned the whole back wall, but even the books lined up neatly on the shelves weren’t enough to set me at ease.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” I asked, and my hand rose. Was I supposed to salute him, curtsey or—? He noted that and then smiled.
“No need for formality here. Take a seat.” I plopped down into the chair opposite his desk as he brought a tray over.
“Now, can I get you a coffee? Tea?” He started placing cups on saucers, then held out a plate brimming with biscuits.
“Hazel tells me these coconut biscuits are without compare in all of Nevermere. Would you like one?”
Sitting here and sipping tea as if we were old friends? Gods, no, that was not going to happen.
“Thank you, but no. I think I’d rather talk about why I’m here.”
“Straight to the point, eh?” He poured his own tea and then grabbed a biscuit, taking a bite as he settled back into his chair. Sitting back, he gazed at me as he chewed. “That’s very sensible, and you strike me as a sensible girl.”
He’s trying to appeal to your vanity. Auren’s tone was taut. Though why is being sensible is a compliment?
My lips twitched. I wanted to smile, but instead forged on.
“That’s not what my mother says,” I replied, wishing I had said yes to tea.
It’d give my hands something to do other than worry the folds of my skirts.
The general noted the movement as he took a sip of his drink.
“Flighty, impractical, always got my head in the clouds.” I did smile then.
“Little did she know that would be my reality, flying on Auren’s back. ”
“About Auren—”
So he was cutting to the chase too? Good, because I knew what to do now.
“Is only back at the keep to gather knowledge about the ancient queens.”
Interrupting a man, let alone one of the power and stature of the general, was terribly rude, but I didn’t care. I sat taller in my seat, waiting for his reply.
“Ancient queens?”
By his splutter, I’d managed to surprise him. Good, I could use that to my advantage.
“Yes, we have discovered that the ancient queens lived quite different lives to the queens of today,” I replied. “Auren wishes to know why things changed. I’ve been in the keep library today researching the topic, which had led us to the discovery of Drathnor.”
“The old dragon buried outside Blackreach?”
The general seemed to be struggling to keep up.
“Yes,” I replied. “Tomorrow morning we are flying out, hoping to get to Blackreach in three days. Auren will inspect the burial site herself.”
“Will she?” His cup was set down with a clatter. The way his bushy brows drew down, that severe expression, it was enough to force my heart to beat even faster. “Keep dragons don’t just fly about the country willy nilly,” he said finally.
“But Auren doesn’t belong to the keep.” At his slow blink, I smiled and forged on. “She is a free dragon, and that means she goes where she wills. I am here because the law dictates I must be, but where she goes, so do I.”
“Really?” He sat back in his chair. “And is Auren familiar with the duchy of Harlston? How are the two of you getting to Blackreach?”
“Lorien and his dragon have kindly offered to be our escorts.”
My voice wavered just a little, because that frown grew all the more fierce. The general’s elbows hit the desk, his fingers laced in front of him as he stared at me. That display of displeasure was just like Auren’s throat rattle and I was meant to be cowed by it.
“Interesting,” he said finally. “Because you are correct. Auren is a wild dragon and therefore free to do as she wills, but you.” That look up and down was anything but complimentary.
“And Lorien are subject to the king’s law for as long as you remain citizens of Nevermere.
You are to spend a year here proving that you are worthy of being confirmed as riders—”
“I didn’t have to come back.” When my back straightened, I felt some of my dragon’s strength in my spine. “Auren and I, we could’ve stayed out in the ruin, moving from place to place and finding what we needed far from the keep. You wouldn’t have found us.”
That was guess, but by his stony expression, I was fairly sure I had it right.
“Hunting down a wild queen and her rider? You wouldn’t have been able to get any of your keep dragons to go along with that.” My back settled into the plush velvet of the chair. “I’m doing you the courtesy of informing you of our plans.”
“Informing. Me.”
“I have no interest in joining the corp,” I said.
Nor I, Auren replied.
“Auren has no intention of doing so either,” I continued.
“So in the interest of corp cohesion, I can tell you what we intend to do, making it appear like we are doing so with your permission.” My voice deepened slightly as I felt Auren’s mind mesh with mine.
“Preserving your position of authority.”
“Or?” the general snapped.
“Or we can do what we planned anyway, without any prior knowledge, leaving you to answer uncomfortable questions about where we are and what we are doing.”
He sucked in a breath, ready to reply, but a muffled roar made clear Auren’s position.
That seemed to give the man pause. The tea cup was snatched up from the desk, a noisy slurp breaking the quiet before he set it back down again.
Just a tiny twitch of his lips, that signalled that I wasn’t going to like what came next.
“Auren is a wild dragon queen and as her rider, that does grant you more freedoms than most cadets,” he replied.
“But the same could not be said for Lorien and his dragon. He and his comrades have shown themselves to be undisciplined, drunken dissolutes, and allowing unmarried young ladies to travel in their company would be ill advised.” That smile, it finally appeared.
“I have plenty of riders, good riders, who have shown themselves worthy of my trust, that can escort you and Auren to Blackreach.”
Dragons he wishes for me to consider as mates, Auren growled.
“I will assign several of them—”
“Riders that have entered the Tomb of Terror?” I asked.
“Who know their way through the cave complex?” The general fell silent.
“We don’t need an escort to Blackreach. If we must, we can stop at towns on the way and get directions, or buy a map.
What we do need is people with an intimate knowledge of those caves, and that’s what Lorien…
” I swallowed. “And the other silver dragon riders possess.”
For a moment, I thought the issue was resolved, but then the general leaned closer.
“Well, if this is the way it must be, then I need to take what steps I can to protect you, Fern. The corp is like a family.” My mother had spent many hours teaching me proper etiquette and I was glad for that now.
It kept my face perfectly smooth as I fought back the urge to let out a rude snort.
“And as general, I am its father. Just as your father would never allow you to spend time with rakes or cads, it’s expected that I keep you safe from…
unfortunate influences. You’ll take Lieutenant Axton with you on this trip. ”
Just as Lance had suggested.
“That’s why I asked to speak with you, Fern,” the general said.
“Your father has to have warned you about the kinds of men that prey on the hearts of young women. Seeking access to your fortune, your position, even your body, that kind of man will say and do anything to get what he wants. Well, as the bondmate of a queen dragon, you have an asset—”
Asset?
The general was damn lucky we hadn’t had this conversation in Auren’s den, as I could just imagine her head rising, her jaws opening, ready to strike.
“While your queen may not mate with the beast of any rider you favour, every man in the keep knows he will increase the odds of his dragon finding a mate if he gets close to you.”