was the dragon’s many wounds that led to so many injuries and deaths. I fear it took fright at the crowds, and that was … very unfortunate.’
‘Yet it did not die,’ the Earl persisted. ‘Why did the arrows not kill it? It had the physical strength of a predator even though it had no armoured hide.’
‘Ah,’ the Grand Master smiled as if delighted to reveal a secret. ‘I am discovered! I thought to use my knowledge and experience to breed domestic dragons that were tougher, more aggressive; that could be used by your SDS. I was hoping to have five hundred bred and trained and in the field for next year’s Spring campaign; a New Year’s gift to you. The Winter Joust seemed such a perfect place to show off the dragon’s qualities.’
‘Might you have unwittingly drawn upon the Maelstrom?’ The Earl held up a hand to forestall the angry protest forming on his friend’s face. ‘Hugo, you know you have always pushed the boundaries of learning; you ever seek after knowledge and sorcery that would be beyond the power of most to master. You delve more deeply in the ancient chronicles and scrolls … Think carefully. Have you unwittingly drawn upon the Maelstrom?’
The Grand Master vehemently shook his head. ‘No! Not knowingly!’
‘Hugo, will you then subject your findings to Inner Council, your dragons to the Breeders Guild, before we breed any more for the SDS?’
‘Of course,’ the lie came easily, as did the false smile.
The Earl nodded, satisfied. His daughter must be mistaken, but no wonder. Having to witness the slaughter in the Cauldron, being threatened by a rogue dragon which nearly took her life and his … She was still a young inexperienced child, and her imagination had run away with her. Mutually satisfied, they turned to the Inner Council tomorrow and the Earl revealed the astonishingly good news that Galtekerion was dead.
C HAPTER T WELVE
Duchess-in-Waiting
‘Ohhhh … are those real dragon opals?’
‘My! What a large diamond!’
‘Yes, isn’t it …?’ Armelia purred as she tilted her hand just so in the sun, the huge diamond engagement ring sparkling. ‘It is but one of the Dragonsdome jewels, and is quite priceless. And now that I am Darcy’s fiancée’ – she spread out her skirts and pirouetted so that the layers of silk stitched with thousands of jade beads could be seen – ‘I have been to Foresight and Hindsight’s Emporium for a fitting. I am to have whatever I wish for my wardrobe!’
‘Ooohhh!’
Armelia contemplated the gaggle of envious young ladies-in-waiting who surrounded her. Duchess-in-waiting! She could barely contain her glee! Tradition now entitled her and her parents to their own rooms in Dragonsdome and at the palace, and a larger retinue of servants and men-at-arms.
And yet it had all promised to be a total disaster when Darcy had arrived unannounced at the nursery roosts. Armelia had done what all ladies were taught to do in tricky situations: she had fainted. After all, her dress was already ruined, and if she were not careful, her reputation would follow. Good thing she had already laid the little dragon – little hatchling , she corrected herself – down beside its mother to suckle. Darcy had had no option but to lift her up and take her outside – to do less would not have been chivalrous. The pleasure of being swept up off her feet, eyelids a-flutter, was somewhat ruined when he unceremoniously dumped her on the nearest haystack. Muttering loudly about his clothes and the stench, Darcy had then headed for the palace and a fresh doublet, leaving Armelia and her ladies to await a carriage. It had not been an auspicious beginning.
But by the time she had soaked in the delicious warmth of a copper bath tub in front of a roaring fire, Armelia was feeling quite restored and had decided upon a new strategy. In the unused wing of Dragonsdome where she had now been given rooms, she had noticed several portraits of Darcy’s young mother,
Luann McLane
Thomas Sanchez
J.M. Madden
David L. Major
Eric Zawadzki
Adam Pepper
Ann Lawrence
Dennis Wheatley, Tony Morris
Sophie Stern
Esther Friesner