Chapter Five Too Much Information #2
I threw myself at Ironclaw, attempting to wrestle the paper from his hand. He held it over my head, trying to read it as I jostled him, batting at the letter to grab it.
“Give it back,” I grunted. My hand made contact with his jaw.
He shrugged me off and stepped back, putting his hand on the hilt of one dagger. I forced myself to look him directly in the eye. It’s not as if I meant to punch him.
The truth was though, if Ironclaw wanted to do me harm, there was no stopping him. The only redeeming fact of the current situation was that his eyes were no longer on the paper but on me.
“What’s going on here?” Draw materialized at Ironclaw’s side, looking fierce.
He was back in his gray robes with a stack of bound papers under one arm.
I knew he had gone to collect signatures, a quick switch back to business after our afternoon date.
Now his face looked sharp, his eyes narrowed at his cousin.
The letter was well within his reach. He plucked the parchment out of Ironclaw’s hand, took one glance at it to check the addressee, and thrust it at me. “Dottie, are you okay?”
“Yeah—”
“This witch of yours is proving to be as wily as you, Draw.”
“You’ll address her as Lady Dottie and do well to remember she’s under the queen’s own protection. Get your hand off that knife.” He hissed, “This isn’t a tavern brawl.”
Other members of the camp had been going about their business, but now with Draw’s and Ironclaw’s raised voices, it was inevitable they’d take interest. A serving boy elbowed his friend, and two women seated on a bench outside the saddle tent paused in their conversation to watch us.
I stepped between Draw and Ironclaw, the men towering over me on either side.
I needed to diffuse this as quickly as possible.
“Sir Ironclaw, I just wanted to let you know you’d find your sister by the end of this war with the Dark Mage.
That’s all I had to say. I thought you’d appreciate the reassurance. ”
He looked slightly mollified, but his voice was still needlessly rough. “Then why not say it that day by the stream? Why play these games?”
“I thought you’d rather hear it in private—”
Ironclaw turned to his cousin. “Lady Dottie outright propositioned me. She’s loose. But perhaps you already knew that about your fling, Draw?”
Draw’s jaw flexed. The unfortunate thing was there was no way to refute what Ironclaw said because I had drawn myself into a mess of a situation. In this instance though, Draw didn’t seem to care if Ironclaw was being logical or not.
His response came swift and easy. “Jealous she chose me?”
Ironclaw made a noise akin to what you might hear from a bear.
“Dottie,” Draw continued in a decisively unruffled voice, “do me a favor and go to my tent.”
“But—”
“Please, Dottie.”
I looked between the two cousins, both faces firm with anger.
One white-knuckling a sheath of documents, the other the hilt of his knife.
The crowd had grown around us as soldiers gathered to watch completely unabashed.
Perhaps my leaving was the only way to diffuse the situation.
I didn’t think it would come to blows and Ironclaw couldn’t kidnap Draw in front of all these people.
“Fine. I’ll see you there in five minutes.” That was all I was giving him out of my sight.
I glanced back only once before turning into the rows of tents. Draw’s face was rigid, his hands in the air in front of him as he snarled at his cousin. Ironclaw was shaking his head in frustration and snapped something back. The crowd seemed to lean forward as Draw dropped his voice.
I knew Draw’s tent was one row over from the queen’s.
I could tell when I came to it because our picnic bag sat outside the canvas door.
When I ducked inside, it smelled of ink and parchment.
Of Draw, in short. I took a deep breath.
The scent calmed me a little, my heart still beating fast. His blankets were neatly folded, also on a straw mat on the ground—there had to be a mattress somewhere in this camp—and a sitting desk to one side was littered with quills and books.
I paced for a moment before taking up one of the utensils and uncorking the ink. With the state I was in, I had to do something productive.
Sorrel was right about one thing in her letter. It was up to me.
What else do I need to change?
Meg + man
Issa – bring to forefront, POV chapters
Queen Elthra + Ironclaw (but does he deserve her!?)
After his outburst, I was less inclined to help him repair his relationship.
Maybe that headstrongness was what drew them together though.
Both the queen and Ironclaw were judicious-minded and quick to anger.
Passionate, Sherry Whitehorse would have said.
The question was whether they were as quick to cool and forgive.
If not, that would be a real wedge in their relationship.
I continued jotting notes.
Show more Amelia
Jerrald’s wish for Omar to learn to control his magic
Ariana – offended? Repairable?
Save Draw
Sorrel wanted more romance, but when it came down to it, my number one need one-upped hers.
I had to keep Draw out of the Dark Mage’s hands.
And to do that, I needed to find a way to control Ironclaw.
Today was another false start on that road.
My book crush had been snuffed out horribly and pretending I was ensnared by Ironclaw in hopes of directing his movements had only resulted in an ugly confrontation.
Which brought me back to Ironclaw and Queen Elthra.
Ironclaw wouldn’t go against her direct orders. I’d seen little of the queen on the road save the Sage Ravine magic show. Honestly, she scared me. Any day I could keep out of her way was a successful one in my book.
But she was a main character. This was her war campaign. Draw was her court solicitor.
Maybe saving Draw was easier than I thought. I just needed to engender myself to the scariest woman in Landsome.
The tent flaps ruffled.
“Dottie,” Draw said.
I looked up, surprised, and hastily folded my paper. It was his tent and I was fully expecting him, but I hadn’t meant to write about his mortal peril.
“Are you all right?” he asked, kneeling in front of me and running his hands over my hair as if to reassure himself I wasn’t injured or crying.
“Yes, what happened?” I lightly folded the scribbled notes in half, the ink too wet.
Draw sat and waved his hand as if the shouting match of minutes ago was forgotten. “He gets like that. I’m sorry his ire came upon you.”
“Well...” I hesitated, “it was my fault.”
Draw shook his head as if even something utterly my fault shouldn’t worry me.
“It was an unfortunate mix-up. You shouldn’t suffer from his jealousy.
” Draw saw my surprise and smiled. “Ironclaw usually gets what he wants. Perhaps it wasn’t until he couldn’t have you that he realized he did, in fact, have an interest in you. As if anyone could not.”
Despite the situation, I liked the way Draw said that.
“Has he yelled at you that way before?”
Draw shrugged and took one of my hands in his. “He’s never liked me,” Draw murmured. “I don’t let it bother me anymore.”
“The books always made it sound like the two of you were partners. He often needed your help solving a mystery or drafting agreements between warring clans.”
“Only as much as is required. Otherwise, we tend to stay out of each other’s way.
” Draw paused, seeming to assess how much he should say.
“My family is noble because of my mother. It’s her familial estate we live on.
Though Ironclaw and Bianca are higher born, Bianca was called a lady out of endearment.
She was young. Everyone loved her. But she and Ironclaw don’t have noble standing.
I’ve felt,” he said, frustrated, “that there was always this force between us. That the only way Ironclaw and I could prove ourselves was against each other.”
So that’s why Draw was a minor side character despite his close relation to Ironclaw and the necessity of his position.
If the cousins didn’t get along, that minimized Draw’s likelihood of appearing in the story more than necessary.
But his role in court was an important one.
Of course he and Ironclaw would have to cross paths.
“You don’t think the queen will be upset with you, do you?”
“No,” he said confidently. “Queen Elthra likes people who get things done. That’s all that matters to her at the end of the day.” He didn’t say it outright, but it was clear he was one such person. “Don’t think about any of this another moment.”
I wish I could have told him that that would be impossible, but he kissed me on the cheek and asked, “What were you writing?”
I definitely didn’t want Draw to see the notes I’d written about him so the subject change wasn’t entirely welcome.
Draw was a difficult man to keep secrets around. Uncovering schemes, analyzing people, it was how he was wired. Even as he breathed me in, obviously happy to be with me, he was looking at the half-smashed piece of parchment in my other hand, curious.
“You said you’d help with my plot issues, right?”
“If a literary goddess has sent you to foster peace in Landsome, count me an ally.” He shifted on his bedroll, still holding one of my hands.
I settled beside him. I was glad to see how easily he shrugged off the confrontation with Ironclaw, but I didn’t want to pursue this line of thought. I had to distract him.
“I’m just building some notes, but I have something else to show you.” I stowed my scribbles in my dress pocket and withdrew the letter from Sorrel.
Draw was a fast reader. I saw his brows lift and then he turned to me for questions. Even with the unfamiliar terms, he didn’t need to reread Sorrel’s swooping cursive twice.
“I’m the book boyfriend, I hope.”
I pulled my hair over my shoulder so I could fret with it.
“You have to admit, we’re the most interesting thing that could happen to the series,” I joked.
“If by series you mean my life, I’d tend to agree. What is this phone call though? I remember you describing phones, but who is Sara?”
I sighed. “Just remember, I’m adorable, okay?” Then I haltingly described watching Landsome Roads while my parents were out, and pretending to be one of Ironclaw’s flings in book one. It was made even sillier after the very recent shouting match with the very same man.
As I told the story, Draw’s hands flew to cover his mouth as if he were witnessing a royal carriage crash. I was sweating my humiliation, but it was a good trade-off—his laughter to hide my scribbled doubt in his vitality.
Perhaps Lord Draw could be distracted.