26. The Contract
~ GRACE ~
Breckon was forced to release me when we were presented to the queen. My hand was so numb, I was glad there were no skirts to grasp. My fingers felt thick and unwieldy. My grip shaky.
Diaan ‘en del Rea, the Queen and Protector of Vosgaarde, was a handsome woman. Brunette, but scattered with gray. She would have been beautiful in her youth. What age had stolen was replaced with a refined strength and a confidence that couldn’t be faked.
Dressed for formal audience, yet, she sat in a gilded chair, rather than a throne, because she had received us in the parlor of her personal chambers—an intimacy that shocked me.
But Bren and Donavyn seemed unperturbed.
Regardless of the chamber, she was an impressive woman.
Bren had told me she’d taken an interest in the women arriving in a steady trickle to the Keep, in the hope of working with dragons, and I prayed she was as invested in my success as Bren believed.
I needed her to keep me here. She was the only one with the power to do so.
We’d been announced formally as we were ushered into the room, so, in a panic, I’d followed the forms I knew, though my queen would never have received me in the residential wing, let alone her personal chambers. Even if it was a parlor.
I straightened from my curtsey, keeping my eyes on the ground, but raising my posture to the place of dignity, praying that the etiquette here in Vosgaarde mirrored ours in Fyrehold.
“The Lady Grace Barnslow, I have been following your progress. I’ve heard much of you,” the queen said casually. Because she had addressed me directly, I was permitted to meet her eyes.
“Only good things, I pray,” I said sincerely.
“Of course, and I must say I am pleased to meet a Furyknight who knows the correct forms—at last,” she added dryly.
“I thank you, Your Majesty, but I am not yet a Furyknight.”
To my surprise, she laughed. “Yet. Oh, very good. I’ll enjoy watching this one,” she said to Donavyn, who nodded, but maintained his stern countenance. “Grace, how have you found your weeks in Vosgaarde?”
“Very enlightening and… fulfilling, Your Majesty.” My heart pounded.
“Excellent. And is your squad sister assisting you in finding your feet?”
“Brennan has been my dearest friend and help,” I said honestly. “And the General, as well. My brothers have also—”
“Your Majesty, the girl seeks to impress you, which speaks well of her family’s training, however we have an issue of greatest urgency, and I must ask you to address it with haste,” Breckon said, offering a sweeping bow and returning to stand with an arrogant smile.
Oh dear.
The queen’s smile froze, then faded as she slowly turned to look at Breckon like an insect she wished to squish.
I prayed she would.
“You’ll forgive me, of course,” she said dryly, “But I seem to have forgotten your name?”
I sucked in. For her to have addressed me by name, then forgotten his would raise Breckon’s ire. But I’d forgotten what a fawn he was to power. He hurried to reassure the queen and offer his name, along with half his family tree.
“…my family hailed from high ranking Vosgaardians, many generations ago. Perhaps we share a blood relative!”
“Perhaps,” Diaan sniffed. She didn’t appear to like the idea. “Tell me, Lord Breckon, what issue of such urgency brings you to my kingdom without an invitation or announcement?”
I dropped my chin and pressed my lips together to suppress a nervous laugh.
While Fyrehold and Vosgaarde both allowed free travel, a noble of Breckon’s standing should have notified the castle of his presence.
As one of the Fyrehold court he could be viewed as a political threat if he was discovered unexpectedly.
“You have my sincerest apologies that I was remiss, but our travels have been extensive, in pursuit of our prey. Only late last night did I uncover her presence here.”
“Her?”
“The Lady Grace Barnslow. She disappeared from Fyrehold weeks ago. From the castle, as it happens.”
Diaan’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes flicked to Donavyn, then to me. I let my eyes plead my case. Please, see deeper. Please.
Breckon continued, unaware of the byplay.
“She has ingratiated herself here and your… men, were hesitant to let her go without your oversight. However, I knew you would understand what is proper. Lady Grace is my betrothed. The king will, of course, be ecstatic to learn that I have found her, but she has evaded her duties, and so I beg you to order your servants aside, so we might return to Fyrehold forthwith.”
Diaan stared at me for a beat. My heart, already racing, sped faster. But now that he’d spoken to her directly, I couldn’t speak unless she invited me to.
“General,” Diaan said after a moment. “Is Lord Breckon’s summary accurate?”
“To a point, Your Majesty,” Donavyn said, his voice low and gruff.
“To which point? And where do points diverge?”
“Lord Breckon claims the Lady Grace as his betrothed. And we are sympathetic, if that proves true. However, her disappearance was a direct result of a dragon’s Choosing.
Her dragon is mated to one of my men’s—which, as you understand, means she has bonded with that dragon’s rider, in the same manner Bren and I are bonded.
To take her away now, not only interferes with her very crucial training, it will cause distress among the dragons, and between Grace and her mate. ”
Diaan’s brows arched. “Oh dear. Lord Breckon. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the dragon bonds, but our General is a man of much esteem—he recently visited Fyrehold and was received by the king, with honor.
He has explained the bonds to me. I don’t believe this is something with which we can interfere. ”
Breckon’s smile grew tight. “I appreciate Your Majesty’s thought for her servants’ comfort.
The Crown of Vosgaarde is a compassionate one.
However, I fear the beasts must be asked to endure their discomfort.
Lady Grace was betrothed to me months before she met the dragons, or arrived here.
Her disappearance has caused great distress in the castle, and to her parents.
Her father and I are dear friends—and trade partners.
Our agreement precedes events that brought about the Lady Grace’s disappearance.
And I have been tasked by the king himself with returning her home for our imminent wedding. ”
“The king tasked you with returning your betrothed… for your own wedding?”
“By personal instruction,” Breckon returned, his eyes bright with triumph. “He understands the value of our union, and celebrates what it will bring to Fyrehold. He is personally vested in seeing our families united.” His eyes glittered on that last line.
I looked at the queen, pleading, my heart sinking.
No doubt, she understood the subtext even better than I did. He was politely telling her that his interests were the king’s interests, and if she were to interfere with them, she’d be standing against the throne of Fyrehold.
“If it is a matter of appeasing the Fyrehold King, I will send a messenger—my men would be faster than yours, given your weariness from traveling, I’m sure. A single noblewoman, taken by a dragon, and a mate, cannot cost him too greatly. He has been a great friend of Vosgaarde.”
Breckon’s smile disappeared, and his jaw tightened.
“Your Majesty,” he bowed again and my blood ran cold.
“I do not wish to offend, but perhaps, before you would be seen to interfere, you should know that the king is aware of the changes to the Vosgaardian throne. And while he continues peace, I must emphasize that he is quite vested in our union. I am certain that you would not want to see relations with Fyrehold impacted for the sake of that single noblewoman, as you put it?”
Diaan tilted her head slightly and stared at him.
I couldn’t tell if she was stunned by his audacity to warn her—subtext or not, I doubted anyone in the room had missed the implied threat—or if she was measuring him for a noose.
Her eyes glittered in a way the Courtiers’ did when they planned an assassination.
“And yet,” she said finally, slowly, “It seems you would allow the alliance of our nations to be impacted for the sake of the very same noblewoman?”
His expression flattened. “She is my betrothed. She is of the blood. And a great deal has been sacrificed to procure her. Yes, Your Majesty, a humble man like myself, without a throne, must make the best of this harsh world.” The queen looked as if she wanted to roll her eyes.
“Her presence at home is of utmost importance. To me, and to the throne.
“I am pleased to enjoy my king’s personal friendship, so, I fear I could not return empty handed, with your name on my lips, without the king being urged to step in on my behalf. I’m certain you, too, have those among your Court for whom you hold a special affection?”
“I do,” Diaan replied. “Some of them in this room.” Breckon frowned, glancing at Donavyn with confusion on his face, but Diaan continued.
“But let us put aside the forms,” she said firmly, her gaze icy.
“Let me be certain that I do not misunderstand before we go further: Your implication, Lord Breckon, is that you believe if I keep the Lady Grace here in Vosgaarde with her dragon and mate, the Fyrehold King will be offended, and choose to move against me.”
He fought a smile. “Not on my advice, of course,” he said with a falsely modest bow of his head. “But he has rushed to my aid for much lesser offenses.”
Diaan’s brows shot up. “Offenses, you say?”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” he returned, without an ounce of remorse. “I should have chosen my words more carefully.”
“Oh, I believe you chose them very carefully indeed,” the queen said.
Breckon stiffened. Like me, he was unaccustomed to anyone of power who spoke plainly. Unlike me, he did not appreciate it.
Diaan sat back in her chair, regarding him thoughtfully.
And, to my horror, Breckon doubled his assault.