He turned his head, dark eyes studying hers, before a slow grin crept into being. “I was hoping you would. Do you really want to know?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“All right.”
He turned forward once more and then leaned closer to the hippogriff’s neck. She stayed sitting upright although she clasped her wrists to feel a little more secure. The hippogriff’s head came up and then his wings went straight up before coming down with a rush. A fresh blast of wind caught her by surprise, biting at her even as it stole her breath. She still laughed even as her cheeks grew numb, and the wind’s roaring filled her ears. It was . . . exhilarating.
She leaned forward slightly and shouted, “Can we go any faster?”
His body shook. He was laughing. She could only grin as she watched the clouds pass beneath them along with pockets of space where she could see down the mountainside to deep ravines. It was wild and strange, and so very beautiful.
* * *
By the time they landed in the inner bailey of the Marquise of Carabas’ keep, Tancred didn’t know why he had attempted to push Damaris away. Her laughter and eagerness to fly faster had warmed his heart faster than any fire. He wished he could take her flying properly although he would miss the feel of her arms around his waist.
He jumped to the ground and then reached up to swing Damaris down. The question, no, invitation to go flying again in his proper form was on the tip of his tongue. “My lord Silvermere, this is an unexpected surprise.”
He looked up to see the Marquise of Carabas walking up from the gates, a crook balanced against her shoulder. He glanced back at Damaris and reluctantly stepped away from her, letting go of her waist, before he turned back to the marquise. “My lady Carabas, I found there was an urgent matter I needed to discuss with you. And, it could not wait for you to be willing to leave your ewes.” He gestured to the crook. “The lambing season has already begun has it not?”
She nodded, looking more peasant shepherdess than noblewoman in her tan kirtle. The sleeves of her linen underdress tied up with ribbons to leave her lean but muscular forearms exposed. He could smell the sheep on her, including lambs. “It has, and I’ve been delivering them since last eve.” She glanced down at herself and then nodded toward the keep. “If you’ll forgive me, I am not ready to receive visitors as I am. However, you’ll find Reed inside. He is entertaining Sir George. The stable lads can tether your beast with his. Now, I must return to my sheep. I wish to check one ewe that is in her first lambing. I will be in afterwards.”
Tancred offered a slight bow, and then gestured for Damaris to follow as he allowed one of the stable lads to approach. The lad wasted no time in plucking a mouse from his pail and tossing it to the hippogriff. Soon he was leading the stallion away, feeding it mice all the while.
Damaris remained silent and a step behind as they entered the keep. He didn’t like it, but he wasn’t going to argue with it now. As they entered the great hall, however, he instinctively reached back to pull her even with him as the faded scent of dragon and magic flooded his nostrils. The rogue had been in residence for so long that his scent still permeated the stones of the keep even though he could smell the scent of other dragons as well. He knew the family of Alastair, although he’d never reached out to them in his ten years of living in Silvermere. Their connection to the Marquise and her husband was interesting. Yet, he’d never approached it or the full truth behind her rise in rank. It was too risky to expose himself as a dragon, not only for himself, but also for them in light of King Stephen’s unpredictable and growing paranoia.
“Ah, my favorite neighbor has come calling.” The words were customary for Reed, yet their lightness seemed forced. “Have you seen my wife?”
“Only long enough for her to remind me that I am not as important as her sheep,” he responded. His gaze strayed to Sir George. The man whose golden hair and classic features were exactly as human bards liked to describe fair knights looked surprisingly somber. Although Tancred had not seen him in person since he’d become heir apparent after the death of his young cousin in a tragic encounter with a pair of drakes while riding. Perhaps, the weight of being the heir was heavier than the knight had expected.
They exchanged polite pleasantries until Reed went to fetch his wife. After a meal, they moved to the marquise’s private sitting room. She played a few songs on her lyre until the servants brought wine and small cakes before leaving once more. It was only then that she set her lyre aside and nodded to her husband, who immediately locked the door. She glanced once at Damaris who still remained by his side, but said nothing about her presence. A good thing since he did not intend to let her leave the room.
Helena reached up to cover Reed’s hand where it rested on her shoulder as she broke the silence. “Sir George. You said you have news to share with us.”
His expression grew all the more grave and his broad shoulders caved as though someone had dropped the weight of a mountain on them. “Yes. It is my uncle. The inquisitors he sends out have been more successful at gathering rumors than confessions. Yet, he is giving orders that they will bring confessions from all future interrogations. He does not care how they achieve those confessions.”
“He means to torture false confessions out of them,” Tancred murmured.
“Yes.” Sir George spread his hands wide, looking as though he were the one being tortured, as he continued, “I fear it has already begun. Two days ago my uncle issued orders that two families who have always been loyal supporters of his rule are to be turned out of their ancestral lands. The crown has seized the lands, and at least one member of each family has been arrested with an eye toward execution.”
“On what charges?” Reed demanded.
“Conspiring with dragons to harm the king and his household.” Sir George rubbed his temples before adding, “My uncle has apparently become convinced dragons were responsible for his son’s death. Not the drakes I hunted and killed that same day. Even my aunt cannot make him see reason on the matter.”
“If the king turns against his own proven allies without evidence of dragons, what little hope remains for preserving our alliances will go up in flames,” the marquise interjected quietly. “And, giving his inquisitors commands to force confessions . . . He will drive his own people out of the kingdom.”
“There are now guards stationed along the borders and in the cities to prevent such measures,” Sir George responded wearily. “It is only a matter of time before those measures will be applied beyond the southern reaches of the kingdom.”
“This is how civil wars are begun,” Reed murmured. “He’s gone truly mad to think any of this is a good idea.”
Tancred shifted uneasily in his seat. Yet he couldn’t keep from pointing out bluntly, “Allowing your uncle to continue on this path will lead the entire kingdom to disaster and ruin.”
“I know, believe me.” Sir George abruptly stood, running a hand through his hair, before he added, “As I said, he listens to no one now. Not the queen, not the priest of Shaddai, and certainly not myself. He sees dragons everywhere, and no one is able to stop it.”
He hesitated only a moment before he leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees as he spoke in a low tone just above a whisper. “Then perhaps, Sir George, you should be looking more closely at what will be best for your people.”
* * *
“He trusts you deeply.”
Damaris glanced up sharply from the little lamb she’d been petting. The Marquise of Carabas was leaning on her crook, watching her, as she continued, “He wouldn’t allow you to be present for our discussions if he didn’t. However, I can see more than trust in his gaze when he looks at you.”
“I am only his maid,” she protested although her voice sounded weak even to her own ears.
The marquise tugged at the edge of the kerchief covering her thick dark hair, a contemplative look in her eyes. “There was a time when I quite firmly believed that the line between noble and other low
er classes should never be crossed. That it begged too much abuse from the nobles to ignore the boundaries between classes.” She paused and then her tone turned dry as she stated, “However, if a mere shepherdess may become a marquise, despite my best protests, who is to say a maid may not become a countess?”
“My lady, I cannot pretend.”
“Good. It will make it all the easier on the both of you and, perhaps, keep you from gazing after each other with the longing of a weary traveler for water.” The marquise came closer and scratched one of the ewes behind its ear before adding, “Though I would appreciate it greatly if you did not share what I said here with my husband. It would only encourage him to continue in his nonsense.”
Damaris could only nod, uncertain of what to actually say. The marquise gave her a knowing look and then clicked her tongue. “He was preparing to leave. You should find him in the bailey before he decides to terrorize my sheep by landing here.”
After finding Tancred in the bailey as predicted, Damaris could only dwell on the marquise’s words. Was there any chance that they could have something more than mere companionship? She tightened her grip around his waist as they ascended into the louds, her thoughts more chaotic than the winds buffeting them.
“Do you no longer enjoy flying?”
“I can’t imagine anything more thrilling,” she replied honestly.
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “You haven’t flown with me yet.”
She started to protest that was exactly what she was doing when the realization of his meaning struck. She frowned at him. “Don’t even consider it, Tancred. It’s too dangerous, and you’ll be seen!”
“I’ve never been seen before.”
She opened her mouth to argue further and then shook her head. As soon as she felt him laugh, however, she pinched his side. The act earned her hand a light smack, and she swallowed her own laughter. All humor died away as she recalled the sobering conversation from the night before and she leaned more firmly against his back to ask, “Are you going to participate in a coup?”
He glanced back at her briefly and shook his head. “Only if I wish to anger my own king beyond repair. He forbade my direct interference in human politics when I was appointed the old earl’s heir.”
“And, your words last night?”
“Was in the smoke on that order.”
Damaris frowned. He’d been toeing the line rather perilously, and she could already imagine the dragon king reacting with displeasure at his comments. The matter of the inquisitors and their instruction to extract confession by any means necessary worried her more, especially given his interference in her interrogation.
“Are you going to leave if the king sends more inquisitors to Silvermere?”
She didn’t want him to leave, but she didn’t want him to stay within Stephen’s reach either.
“I’m a dragon, and we don’t run from snapping drakes with delusions of grandeur.”
The hippogriff dove through the clouds before she could respond, stealing her breath, and causing her eyes to water. She’d not paid much attention to their surroundings this time, her mind too full with everything else, so it caught her by surprise when she didn’t see Silvermere’s keep and walls rising to greet them. Instead, they were in a small valley separated by a low foothill from a village.
Her heart stuttered as she gazed at the familiar façade of the manor. Roseshire spread out beneath them, and then they landed in the clearing before the manor. She slid to the ground before Tancred could help her, taking a few faltering steps toward the manor. Its windows were layered in dust and covered with boards. The front doors were secured with a heavy chain.
She walked around the house, past the equally empty barn and stable yard, to the gardens at the back. She stumbled at the sight. The roses had been cut back a good three yards from the well. Large swathes of the silver roses had been completely cut back as well, the sight carving a furrow through her heart. She kept moving, however, finding the path to the grotto where she used to sit and watch Baba tend the roses. Roses grew thick and wild here, climbing over the stone edifice of the grotto and forcing her to duck as she approached. A few thorns still tugged at her cloak.
Nevertheless, her attention remained fixed on the roses. They’d bloomed early. Silver blossoms framed against green and grey. She sank onto the stone bench of the grotto and brushed a finger over the silver petals as she leaned in to inhale their heady perfume.
“You look beautiful.”
She opened her eyes to find Tancred only a few paces away. He was watching her with the same heat that had burned in his eyes when they’d kissed. Clearing her throat, she shifted on the bench and tucked her skirts closer so he could sit next to her. “You are trying to distract me.”
“More likely myself,” he murmured as he sat next to her.
She started to lean closer to him when he turned away. “Did you leave a dragoness behind when you came here?”
His head whipped around, and he stared at her with a bewildered expression before he suddenly chuckled. “No, so cease your jealousies.”
“I am not jealous,” she retorted. “Merely attempting to understand why you are so . . . confusing.”
“Confusing?” He tilted his head back and then squinted at her with one eye closed. “I had a companion before you. Her name was Tara, and she was a wyvern. I was young and foolish enough to mistake the feelings of companionship for something deeper.”
“She didn’t return your feelings.”
“I am not certain she knew of them,” he mused. “Even if she did, it did not matter since her heart had already been captured by another wyvern. When she approached me for permission to marry, I decided to release her from our bond instead. I told her I was going to leave the dragon king’s court on a mission. Fortunately, for my pride, the dragon king needed a volunteer to go to the Five Kingdoms for an indeterminate amount of time.”
“Did you love her?”
“No.” He opened both eyes and then surprised her by leaning in close, the tip of his nose brushing against her cheek as he murmured, “Did you know there is a grotto in the gardens at home? It doesn’t have any roses, though. Perhaps, you could change that and maybe . . . if you wish it, I could take you flying again. Only it would be much faster than any hippogriff.”
She hesitated, half wondering and half hoping that there was more to his offer. “I want to fly with you, Tancred.” Her words came a little faster as she reached up to touch his cheek, his sparse beard prickling her hand. “I read something a few weeks ago. One of your books said dragons used to intermarry with others of the great races, including humans.”
“It’s been over two centuries since the last mating between a dragon and a pure human.” He reached up, tracing his fingertips along her fingers to the back of her hand. His voice grew warmer as he murmured, “I thought you said this was impossible.”
“I don’t want to miss my chance for happiness, for love, for something as small as fear,” she whispered. Emotion clogged her throat, threatening to choke her words as she continued, “I have lost everything I could already. What I want is love and to be happy. You make me happy even when you’re being confusing and insufferable and impossible.”
“Please don’t flatter my ego.”
She laughed softly. “My stepsister, Ella, once asked me how a man could win my heart. I said all he needed to do was give me a rose. And I said that if he gave me a garden of them, he’d win me forever. You found roses for me, silver roses, and I want to keep flying with you. I don’t want to wake up one day in an inquisitor’s interrogation feeling that I have only regrets because I was too afraid to try. We can’t predict what will happen with King Stephen or his inquisitors. We cannot say that we will have a year or five from now. So, I don’t want to wait. I want to try. I want to live my life with you. Even if it means leaving Silvermere.”
“Mmm, is this your idea of a proposal?”
She smiled even as her cheeks grew w
arm. “Don’t be so insufferable. I’m not going to propose to you now. You have to return interest first. That was the rule about dragons and their companions.”
Tancred pulled back and chuckled. “You also know that a companion is supposed to be the one to propose any sort of change in the relationship. To prevent his or her master from manipulating the bond in their favor.” He grinned as he added, “And I believe it is a human custom for proposals to be made on bended knee.”
“You’re not allowed to dictate those terms, you ridiculous creature,” she retorted. “And, I am not bending my knees for anyone.”
“Except your roses. You’re always on bended knee around your roses.”
She laughed softly. “I do love them.” She glanced at him and then added sweetly, “Though I am not certain you are pretty enough to counter all the trouble you cause me.”
* * *
Chapter Ten
“What are you doing to my grotto?”
“I’m using it to brew my potions by which I’m controlling you,” came the dry reply.
Tancred smothered a grin as he made a show of looking around the empty gardens. “You should be more careful of what you say. What if someone heard you?”
She still didn’t look away from where she was digging in the ground. “You mean to say that you did not ensure the garden was clear of eavesdroppers before you came to find me. You’ve grown careless in only a day.”
He couldn’t contain his grin this time as he came closer to where she knelt. She was planting the roses around the grotto. “I’m never careless. You’re planting the roses.”
Now she looked over her shoulder at him. “Has it occurred to you that perhaps I was attempting to surprise you?”
“I don’t like surprises,” he deadpanned. “The last time I was surprised, I ended up being obliged to take on this very stubborn woman as a maid. Not to mention, my nose was bruised for a sennight.”
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