Linden was horrified. “Why would she do such a thing to an amethyst dragon?”
“I think because she’d promised my mother that she would make sure I stayed with Pa. I couldn’t have survived without Helio, but she needed to keep us…unnoticeable.”
He brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “There is nothing unnoticeable about you.”
She reached for him, of her own accord. This time they were not reacting to the dragons’ lovemaking. She saw him for a young man who had lost much and grown up noble and brave despite his father. He had promised to keep her safe from the cloud of dragons as they descended. She had insisted that her father and Grimmie be kept safe. He was bonded to a dragon that Heliotrope had fallen in love with. He was more than worthy.
“Regardless of Rout and Heliotrope, I want you, Linden.”
He looked deep into her eyes, “Just for me?”
“No just about it. I am lucky to be your wife.”
“I’m sorry the king humiliated us at our own feast.”
“Not your fault.” She took his hand and held it over her beating heart. The kiss they shared caused Astra to see stars. Reaching for him, she was surprised, when he stopped her.
“Are you sore? I don't want to hurt you.”
She was a little sore, but that did nothing to reduce her desire for her husband.
Astra arched her back and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I will endeavor to be a good husband to you,” he whispered.
“I know you will,” she whispered back.
Without the passion of the dragons carrying them along, they took their time, shyly exploring each other’s bodies, whispering sweet words, falling in love. Astra remembered how delightful it had been when Linden had kissed her all over her body, and she began by laying sweet kisses down his chest.
He gave a jagged breath as she kissed his belly and his fingers twined deep in her hair. Shyly at first, she ran her tongue along the length of him. As she became braver, she took all of him in her mouth. Slowly at first, she moved her mouth over him. Sensing his pleasure, she was urged on. She grew bolder and sucked him vigorously.
Linden drew her up, and with strong arms, rolled her over. Tenderly, he entered her, and she whispered his name. This time there was no pain, only bliss, and the promise of a long lasting love. She pressed her hands into his back and quietly urged him on. This time their climax cocooned them in a world made just of the two of them.
Linden slowly rolled onto his side, gently tracing a finger up her belly and over her heart. Cradled in his arms, Astra watched the embers in the fireplace. She wondered if Helio was watching the dancing flames on the wall of the cavern. Burying themselves beneath the warm blankets, the overwhelmed young lovers drifted to sleep in each other’s arms.
Astra was deeply asleep when the ladybug lit upon her hair and crawled towards her ear. “Your Grimmie is in grave danger.”
Astra sat up, suddenly understanding that the voice she had heard, telling her to trust Linden, was the ladybug that had landed on her lap at the feast and that Grimmie had sent her.
She shook her husband awake. “Can you help me? Grimmie is in danger.”
Linden sleepily shook his head, “I’ve got spies in the army. If they were moving her, I would know.”
The tiny little voice said, “Not the army, the mage.”
Astra leapt from the bed, very aware of what Permian, the mage, had done to Queen Delphine. “It’s not the army. It's the mage.”
Linden reacted immediately, yanking on his breeches and a pair of boots. Astra yanked a dress over her head, grateful that the king had ordered clothes for her. She ran to the door, and Linden was behind her, pausing only to grab his sword.
The prince led the way, taking them down into the cellars, where they were less likely to be seen, and across the castle. Astra barely keep up with him, her bare feet slapping on the stone floor. They ran up a staircase. Before opening the door, Linden held a finger to his lips. He looked out, and seeing no one gestured his bride to follow him. He had brought them up close to the cell Astra had shared with Grimmie.
While Linden listened at Grimmie's door, Astra looked through the window in the door of her father’s cell. Whoever had taken him...he must have returned, since from the door, she could see his narrow bed, and the still form snuggly wrapped in blankets.
Sparks flew through the cracks around the door. “You stay here, “Linden commanded and used his shoulder to force the door open. Astra had zero intention of staying in the hall and was fast on his heels as they entered the room. The sparks whizzing by made it difficult for her to focus her eyes. There were black sparks circling Grimmie and trying to touch her head. Grimmie was fending them off with bursts of lavender sparks. She also had a battalion of ladybugs standing on her coils of hair fending off the sparks.
“Halt, Permian. Or I will kill you where you stand.”
With a startled cry, the mage partially turned towards them and directed back sparks their way.
Astra smelled sulfur, and the sparks burned tiny holes in her frock.
That tiny crack in his attentiveness was all that Grimmie needed. She threw back both hands and a shower of silvery purple sparks flew out of her palms, engulfing Permian and causing him to drop to the ground, tangled in coils of her magic.
A faint buzzing sound caught her attention, and Astra realized that it was the cheering of the ladybugs. There was a ferocious sizzling sound, and the mage became a mass of black sparks that collapsed in on itself.
“Permian always was an evil fool. It’s a suicide spell. They say you do not want to know what waits for you on the other side if you use memory spells on people. Guess, he’s finding out now.”
Grimmie had changed her clothes, instead of the falling apart dress she had been wearing, she was now in breeches, knee high boots and a tunic. Shushing the cheering ladybugs, she moved one finger in a twisting motion, and her hair was suddenly in a neat braid down her back. “I will need my sabers,” she said to Linden. “One question, does your mother share a room with your father?”
Linden shook his head, “No, never. His bed is shared by another.”
“Then let’s get her out of this forsaken place, because it’s all about to get very dangerous.”
Chapter 10
The Delphine Declaration
“Follow me.” Linden turned and ran. As she followed him, Astra was relieved to see sturdy shoes appear on her feet. Linden led them up a lofty series of staircases, and then once in the attic of the castle, they ran the length of it. “Take my hand,” he ordered Astra. “Are your wings working?”
“Silly boy, I’ve never been better,” laughed Grimmie. Five more running steps and they dropped down a vent. Linden grabbed a rope that hung within it and expertly began to rappel down it. They suddenly emerged in a simple room. Delphine, queen in name only, lay asleep in a single bed, with the sickly smell of sleeping draught coming from a flagon on the table beside her bed.
“Mother,” Linden gently shook her shoulder.
Grimelda gestured him to stand back. She laid a hand on either side of Delphine’s head and began to murmur a spell. Linden winced as Grimelda began to pull out handful after handful of black sparks from the air around his mothers head.
Glancing around, Astra saw a large silver-lidded urn, the kind used to carry hot water. She ran to the bedside with it.
“Good girl,” Grimelda said and began to shake the foul smelling sparks into it. Slamming the lid down, Astra was amazed to see Delphine suddenly sit up. Her hands flew to her mouth, “Is it you? Are you my Linden? When did you grow up, and where was I?”
Grimelda interrupted. “You will have time for this later, now we need to get out of here.” The prince threw open the shutters of the window, and Astra saw that hidden in the flower box was a rope. “I used to sneak in here a lot,” he admitted. “I will take Astra down, and then come back for mother.”
The door was being battered down when Grimelda, firm
ly said. “Astra can climb down by herself. I will help you with the queen.”
As the door began to quiver in its hinges, Astra took a deep breath and began to climb down. Having spent a lifetime among the clouds, working riggings climbing from caravan to caravan, it wasn’t physically difficult. But being able to see the ground, that would only too willingly meet you if you fell, made it much more frightening.
They got to the ground in a sort of small back garden. Linden led the way with Astra right behind him. The queen after her and the faerie bringing up the rear with her cloud of ladybugs that had gratefully found her. Linden came to a sudden stop, and Astra crashed into him.
“The cavern is sealed,” he whispered.
“It’s all right,” Grimmie said. “He wants to make sure that the dragons can’t get out to help whoever just killed his mage. He won’t hurt them.”
“Did you kill that nasty little man?” The queen asked Grimelda.
Astra whispered, “Linden did.”
“Thank you, Son. I really did not like that man.”
Grimmie asked, “What’s down that way?” pointing to a turn in the path.
“The pier, where the boats are.”
Grimmie threw purple sparks over her shoulder, and hurried them down the path.
“What’s a boat? Astra asked as the forest behind them began to close in on itself and shimmer.
“Just run,” said Grimmie.
They exited the woods and began to run down the dock.
“I don’t know how to sail,” Linden protested as the barrier behind them weakened, and they could hear the coming of the army.
Astra took one look at the gorgeous vessel in the water, at its lofty sails and firm riggings and shouted with joy. “I do!” The four of them threw themselves into the boat, and Astra immediately began to give her bridegroom orders. “Haul anchor!”
Linden looked around utterly confused. “What is an anchor?”
Astra pointed at the shaft that held the anchor to the boat. “Pull that chain as hard as you can.”
While Linden yanked with all of his might, Grimmie flew to the topmast to attach the rigging. As soon as the sail furled open, Astra expertly turned the boat in the direction of the anchor, glad that doing so moved them out to open ocean.
The wind was at their backs and Astra was astonished at how similar sailing a caravan through the clouds was to sailing a boat. They were about to clear the bay, and make it to the open ocean when they saw the navy bearing down on them.
A cannon ball split the water near them, and Astra jumped in fear.
“Are they crazy? If they kill us, they will lose the dragons too.”
Grimmie eyed the catapult on the lead ship draped with nets. “They won’t kill you two. They want to sink the boat and take you alive.”
Linden turned to Grimmie, and with resolve said, “I will surrender. You get my mother and my bride out of here.”
Over the refusals of Astra and Delphine, shrieks of terror began to be audible. A sharp glance upwards explained why. The cloud of dragons was descending with Guthrie Drakesalve riding the queen and Firth riding the king. The navy tried to turn, but with the dragon’s wings churning the waves, they couldn’t get any distance behind them. Guthrie waved at his comrade, “You go. I will see Astra is safe.”
The dragon king gave a sharp turn, and on powerful wings, thundered towards the shore. As her eyes followed the magnificent dragon, Astra realized that the king had come out, and having seen the trouncing of his navy by the dragons, was running away.
A smaller boat, rowed by warriors came powering off the shore. Linden laughed, “It’s my crew. They are here to help!”
Some of the flying dragons flew low enough to tip over the naval ships. The frantic screams of the sailors hurt Astra’s conscience. She couldn’t stand by and watch them drown.
Grimelda gave the young bride an understanding smile and wiggled her fingers. The lifeboats tethered to the side of the ships popped off like a cork from a wine bottle. The sailors swam to them and clamored aboard looking like pink toddlers emerging from a too hot bath.
The golden king of the dragons circled overhead carrying the furious king in his claws. “I will have you skewered and roasted for my dinner, you flying lizard!” The dragon queen banked downwards until she was eye to eye with the king.
King Lathyrus went white at the sight of her. He began frantic bargaining with the golden dragon. “All right, all right. You can have anything. Just don’t give me to her.”
Queen Delphine said in a clear loud voice, “You should be afraid of her, killing all of her babies but one. Does Guthrie know it was your fault his wife died?”
The dangling king frantically yelled at his wife to shut up. “You all know she is crazy, barmy, moonstruck, demented. You can’t believe a word she says.”
The purple dragon circled her husband intermittently roaring fire.
“Your Majesty?” Guthrie began from his perch on the dragon queen.
“What the bloody hell do you want?” screamed the terrified king.
“Not you. Her.” Guthrie nodded his head respectfully towards Queen Delphine. “My wife died in an earthquake, not in the cave.”
“No, she didn’t. After Heliotrope bonded with your baby, you were all walking back to the cottage.”
Grimmie and Guthrie nodded, urging her to continue.
“Hyacinth went back to check on Violet.”
“Yes, she did, but she didn’t make it there. The earthquake took her before she reached her dragon.”
The dragon queen began to make a low keening sound of mourning that broke the heart of all who heard it.
“I am so sorry, Your Majesty,” Queen Delphine said to the mother amethyst.
She turned back towards her audience.
“Shut up, shut up, shut up! For the love of the creator, shut your stupid face, woman! I will lock you up!”
Delphine gave a bitter laugh, “What do you think you’ve done for the last 20 years?”
“Guthrie, Grimelda, I am sorry I couldn’t tell you this before. I wasn’t able to. Hyacinth did make it back to the cavern. She wanted to see how the rest of the hatching was going. While she was inside, my husband’s army arrived and trapped them.
The plan was to drill a shaft just large enough for my unworthy and perpetually disappointing husband to climb in, and force one of the amethysts to bond with him. But the side of the mountain collapsed. This was almost certainly because he had all of his actual engineers either mindwiped or killed after the catastrophe that was Eirian the silver’s, hatching. This time the idiots smashed all the hatching eggs, and left Violet injured.
She managed to get out carrying her beloved Hyacinth but was too weak to carry her all the way to you. She was so weak she had to set her down along one of the mountain ridges. Violet threw herself to the ground, and her grief shook the mountains.”
Astra could barely breathe. “So heliotrope was the last amethyst, and you couldn’t let her fall into his hands.”
Grimmie nodded, “That is true, but it is also true that I would never have let them take you from your father, even if he is stubborn, cranky, and impossible.”
“Pa, were you flogged 1000 times?”
“Tell her the truth, Guthrie, enough lies,” sighed Grimelda.
Her father took a deep breath, and then said, “Yes. I was. I knew going back to the cloudtreaders would be costly, but I had to keep you safe.”
“How did that not kill you?”
Tears spilled from Grimelda’s eyes. “It was 100 lashes once a year for 10 years.”
“Ha! They must be namby-pamby weaklings up there. I would have you beaten to death.”
They had almost forgotten about the king still in the grasp of the dragoness.
Linden bowed low to the dragon queen. “Your loss is deep and irreparable. I swear to you that the now deposed King of Terran will not go unpunished. He will never leave the dungeon.”
“Who do you t
hink you are, my sapling of a perfidious spawn?”
The golden dragon gave the dangling king a ferocious shake, and let out a roar that blew the ship Astra was sailing further out to sea.
“I am the man who will devote his life to proving to this commonwealth that a monarchy can be noble and self-sacrificing.” Astra took his hand.
“He will need a mage,” Delphine said to Grimelda,” and a drakesalve. It will take you and Firth to heal our dragons.”
Grimmie walked around Astra moving her hands around, and Astra responded, “I like this color. No, wait, it’s too dark… Tighter in the waist… Can we do a really long train? Oh, wait, I can’t walk in it…”
In the end, the coronation gown was shades of lilac with a moderate train and a cape of silver. The ceremony was held on a high dias, so that the people and the dragons they would serve could see them. The royal dragons stood behind the bishop.
Prior to the coronation, the bishop had met with Queen Delphine and Guthrie Drakesalve to make sure the ceremony went without a hitch while Rout and Heliotrope flew in gentle circles around the new king and queen.
Concord, who they had discovered tied up in a broom closet, held Linden’s crown while a bishop intoned a blessing. Linden and Astra both took the oath of office on their knees and pledged their lives to repairing the kingdom.
When the bishop consecrated Linden’s crown, Heliotrope gave one of her delighted trills. The dragon’s laughter took shape in the air and drifted into a crown of amethysts that gently alighted onto her bondmates head.
Astra could feel her father’s hand on her shoulder, and she reached back and gave it a grateful squeeze. Grimmie was harshly shushing the ladybugs that swirled around her in a joyous maelstrom.
“Stand, King Linden Cedar of the House of Terran. Your mother chose your name,” the Bishop made a wise decision in not bringing up the now widely hated former king, “because she prayed you would grow to be as spiritual as the linden tree and as sturdy as a cedar tree. She chose well, and your people will benefit from your attributes.”
Queens of Wings & Storms Page 82