dragon archives 04 - dance with a dragon (11 page)

Bronwyn and Will continued with their morning lessons, but instead of doing needlework with her grandmother, Bronwyn now spent the afternoons with her father, working on controlling her transformations and strengthening her wings. Anna spent most afternoons with Cathryn or Margaret, but when Cathryn pulled out her needlework, Anna excused herself. She had never had the patience to master the small, intricate stitches. Instead, she wandered around the gardens, collecting herbs and blossoms that Margaret used in her different brews and elixirs. She was out one afternoon, collecting green sage and thyme, when Bronwyn caught up with her.

“How are the lessons going?” Anna asked. Bronwyn smiled shyly.

“Fine,” she said. She met Anna’s gaze. “I can control my transformations now. Do you want to see?”

“Well…” Anna said, but Bronwyn was already tugging the laces of her kirtle free. “Should I turn around?” Anna asked.

“If you want,” Bronwyn said, with a mischievous smile. “I’ve had to transform so many times with Father and Grandfather that it doesn’t matter if you see me too. But you must cover your eyes when I change, because of the light.” She was shrugging her shoulders to loosen the chemise, and Anna quickly turned around. A bright flash filled the air, and Anna turned back, lifting her gaze to look at the dragon towering over her. She sparkled in the sunshine, her coppery-rose color catching the light. Anna stumbled backwards, then stopped when she saw the dragon looking at her intently.

“I won’t hurt you,” Bronwyn said, her voice surprisingly small for a creature so large. Anna drew in a deep breath.

“I know,” Anna said. She closed her eyes for a moment, then took a step towards her. “You are so beautiful,” she said. The dragon smiled, and lifted huge wings into the air. She was not as large as either Favian or Will, and lacked the broad frame typical of the other dragons Anna had seen. Instead, her lines were longer, more graceful and feminine. Her shorter horns curved more over her head, and her tail, though still armed with sharp spikes, was not as thick and heavy.

“Come for a ride with me,” Bronwyn said.

Anna looked at her with surprise and took a step backwards. “No, no, I couldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”             

“Because …” Anna searched for a suitable answer. “Because I don’t like flying. And besides, your father might not like it.”

“Oh,” she said, “he already knows I’m asking you.”

“But you’re just a girl!”

The dragon laughed, a few sparks escaping her mouth until she lowered her head to Anna’s eye level. “I’m not a girl, Aunty Anna. I’m a dragon. Look at me. Do I look like other girls my age?”

“No, but –”

“Please, Anna,” she said, widening her huge yellow eyes beseechingly, in a very human-like manner.

“Well…” Anna started, and Bronwyn, sensing her wavering will, smiled.

“I’m not as good as lifting someone onto my back as Father, but keep very still and I’ll try.”

Anna closed her eyes and held her breath as Bronwyn’s tail snaked around her, closing around her waist. “Not so tight,” she gasped, and the tail fell away.

“I’m sorry,” Bronwyn said.

“It’s all right. Try again.”

Once more, Bronwyn wrapped her tail around Anna, inch by inch, until it was coiled securely around her middle. “Are you all right?” Bronwyn asked. Anna nodded. Carefully she lifted her tail into the air and Anna felt her feet leave the ground. Bronwyn wasn’t as steady as her father, and the ground rocked and swayed below Anna, but then she was being dropped down onto Bronwyn’s broad back, where she landed with a thump. “Sorry,” Bronwyn said again, and Anna gave her a weak wave.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“Next time will be better,” Bronwyn assured her. She stretched out rose-bronze wings, and launched herself into the air. The ground grew distant as the dragon pushed her way higher, turning in a huge circle. Anna wrapped her arms around the long neck, and looked down at the ground flashing below them. Although Anna lived with dragons, there were only a few times she had actually ridden a dragon. She had done so once with Max, when he had taken her to a snow-covered peak near Storbrook. It was the first time she became aware of Max as someone – or something – other than the man who annoyed and irritated her, and it had left her confused. The other time had been in the dark, when Favian fetched her from the rocky island where Jack was keeping Keira and her prisoner. All she remembered of that ride was shame and regret.

Bronwyn did not fly evenly as Favian did, but swooped and swerved with childish enthusiasm. She turned when she saw the river snaking through the woods below, following the silver ribbon as it rushed its way between the mountains and the forest. Anna gasped when Bronwyn’s belly skimmed the tops of the trees, snapping huge branches like kindling, but Bronwyn just laughed. “It tickles,” she said.

Anna saw the spot on the ridge where Bronwyn had changed, but Bronwyn cruised right past it, pushing onwards towards the mountains where the river started its journey. The land below changed to rolling hills then grew steeper as Bronwyn pushed higher and higher. Tall peaks rose directly ahead of them, and the river tumbled from its mountain height and down a rocky face. As Bronwyn drew closer, the cold spray from the waterfall covered Anna in a fine mist. She gasped when Bronwyn directed her body at a sharp angle, and when Anna felt her body slipping backwards she wrapped her arms even tighter around Bronwyn’s neck.

The dragon flew up the length of the waterfall, her wings laboring through the air as she lifted her huge body. A moment later she leveled out once more as she gained the height and swept over the small stream that flowed to the precipitous fall. Bronwyn made a huge circle above the stream then plunged down the cliff, angling her body downward. A thin scream escaped Anna’s mouth.

She closed her eyes, grasping Bronwyn’s neck in a death grip, and didn’t open them until she felt Bronwyn level herself out again. They were downstream from the waterfall and following the river’s course once more.

When Bronwyn finally landed on the ground outside the manor house, Anna’s legs were shaking. She had to keep her hand on Bronwyn’s back to prevent herself from falling.

“That,” she said, “was terrifying.”

“I wouldn’t have let you fall,” Bronwyn assured her.

“You wouldn’t have been able to do much if you had crashed into the ground,” Anna retorted, but she smiled when she saw Bronwyn’s stricken look. “I know you wouldn’t have crashed,” she said, “but I’m just human, after all. You cannot expect me to be fearless like a dragon.”

“I’m sorry,” Bronwyn said, turning away. “I thought you would enjoy it.”

“I did,” Anna said, “just warn me next time you plunge your nose straight to the earth.”

Bronwyn turned back with a slight smile. “Next time?” she said.

Anna groaned. “Well, we’ll see.”

When Anna walked through the door, her legs still a little shaky, she heard Cathryn calling her from the parlor.

“Anna, is that you?” She looked up as Anna walked into the room. “A letter arrived for you today.”

“From Keira?” Anna asked as she smoothed down her hair, disheveled after her ride.

“It came from the city,” Cathryn said. She held out the missive to Anna. “Were you flying with Bronwyn?”

“I was,” Anna said, taking the letter.

“And …?”

“I was terrified,” Anna said with a wry laugh.

“Oh dear,” Cathryn said, but Anna waved the concern away.

“She’s young, and giddy with her new abilities. But she’ll soon learn.”

Cathryn nodded. “She’s been nagging me to go with her, but she’s my daughter. How can I let my daughter fly me around?”

Anna smiled her understanding. “I know, but this is not a temporary thing. Eventually you will have to go with her.”

“I know,” Cathryn said with a groan. She glanced at the letter. “Who is it from?”

Anna slid her finger beneath the seal, lifting it, and opened the sheet of paper. “It’s from Kathleen,” she said, running her eyes to the bottom of the sheet. Returning to the top, she started reading, first to herself, then a second time out loud for Cathryn’s benefit.

“To Mistress Anna Carver of Drake Manor,” she read. “Warmest greetings. I trust you are in the best of health. I’m afraid I have some terrible tidings to impart. Please do not fear – I am quite well, and am trying my best for Father’s sake to put on a very brave face, but my dear Anna, you will understand the dread I feel when I tell you that Father has arranged a position for me at court, where I will serve Her Majesty the queen as one of her ladies. Lady Joan is leaving in a month when she marries Lord Lamont, but I must present myself two days hence! I cannot bear the thought of going without seeing you again, but since Father says that is quite impossible, I am sending you this notice in my stead. I can only hope you will still be able to visit me while I am at court, although, I must confess, I don’t see how that will be possible. I must go, for I hear Father calling, but I remain forever your friend, Lady Kathleen Hobart.

“Poor Kathleen,” Anna said, sitting down on a chair. “How can her father do that to her?”

“We have to trust that Lord Hobart is doing what he believes is the best thing for his daughter,” Cathryn said gently. “Perhaps he thinks this will help her become more confident and advance her in society.”

“Or advance himself in society,” Anna said bitterly.

“Perhaps. But we cannot judge a man we do not know. And I think Kathleen will be fine.”

“I hope you are right,” Anna said.

Chapter 15

“I need to go into Civitas again,” Cathryn said to Anna one morning a few days later as they sat at the dinner table. Anna looked up at her with a smile.

“You don’t need to make a trip for my sake.”

“Well …” Cathryn started. “I don’t want you to be worrying about Kathleen. We will just go for the day and return in the evening. I will use the time to visit my father, and Favian has agreed to escort you to the palace.”

Anna glanced at him. “Thank you, Favian. That is very kind of you.”

“I am happy to be of service, Anna. Like Cathryn, I don’t want you to be worrying about your friend.” He looked at Cathryn. “We will leave at first light tomorrow.”

The next morning Anna left the house to find Cathryn and three dragons on the grass outside.

“I insisted the children come visit their grandfather,” Cathryn said by way of explanation. “So you have your choice of mounts.”

“Hey,” Will protested. “I’m not a ‘mount’, like a stupid horse.”

“Of course not, dear.”

“I’ll carry you,” Bronwyn said. “I promise to try and fly more steadily.” Suppressing a slight shudder, Anna nodded, and allowed Bronwyn to curl her tail around her waist while Favian lifted Cathryn onto his back.

“You’ve been practicing,” Anna said with a smile as she was gently lowered onto the dragon’s back.

“I used a log,” Bronwyn said, looking down at the ground as she spoke. She glanced back at Anna with an appealing look, and Anna patted her neck.

“That was excellent,” she said. “I hardly felt you lifting me at all.” Bronwyn’s smile broadened, and she spread out her rosy bronze wings.

“Thank you.”

They landed in an open field near the city gates, and were soon walking across the bridge and into the capital. As always, Anna paused to take in the tantalizing sights and smells that were peculiar to Civitas. She smiled to herself, and quickened her pace to catch up to the others who had not slowed down.

At the river, Favian waved over a ferry to take him and Anna to the palace, while the others continued on their way to the home of Master Forrester, Cathryn’s father, a few blocks away. It didn’t take long for a ferry to reach them, and taking a seat on one of the benches, Anna lifted her face to the sun shining in the clear sky.

“I love days like this,” she said to Favian. “Clear blue skies where you can see for miles. Difficult for a falcon or hawk to come unawares on his prey when the sky is this clear,” she added with a mischievous grin.

“Hmm,” Favian said, glancing at her. “But sometimes a predator can find unwary prey sitting right in front him.”

Anna laughed. “When the wolf is dressed in sheep’s clothing, you mean.”

“Exactly!” Favian grinned, and turned to look at the palace. “There’s no guarantee we will be able to see Kathleen. She may be running errands for the queen or otherwise occupied.”

“I know,” Anna said. “But I’m hopeful I can snatch a few minutes.”

Favian nodded. “We will see what we can do.”

They arrived at the palace steps a short while later, and made their way across the courtyard. They were nearing the doors when a voice called out her name. Anna turned to see Prince Rupert coming towards her. She dropped a shallow curtsey as he approached. “Your Highness. I did not expect to see you here.”

“Nor I you,” he said.

Next to her, Favian turned towards the prince. “Your Highness,” he said.

Rupert glanced at him. “Favian Drake. What brings you here?”

“I’m serving as escort to Mistress Anna.”

“Indeed?”

“Yes,” Anna said. “I came in the hopes of seeing my friend, the Lady Kathleen.”

“Lady Kathleen?” The prince looked perplexed for a moment. “You mean that mousy little thing Matilda has taken on?”

A spark of annoyance made Anna lift her chin slightly. “Lady Kathleen is a very dear friend of mind,” she said. She could feel Favian’s look of amusement as he glanced down at her, while the prince’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“Well, there is no accounting for some friendships,” he said. Anna glanced down at the ground to hide her mounting irritation.

“If you’ll excuse us,” Favian said, taking Anna by the arm and turning her away.

“Stop.” Favian paused, then slowly turned to face the prince once more. “The queen and her ladies are in the garden.” The prince’s eyes narrowed as his gaze met Favian’s. “You wait here. I will escort Mistress Anna.”

“Your Highness is very kind,” Favian said, “but I cannot do that.” He was taller than the prince by half a foot, and although the prince was broad and stocky, compared to Favian he appeared quite slight. “Anna is under my protection, as both my guest and a member of my family, and it is my duty to ensure her safety.”