Page 14 of The Last Dragon King
Now it was my turn for my cheeks to go red. She meantbedhim.
Kendal had told meallabout that. She’d learned everything from her aunt who worked in Gypsy Rock, was only two winters older than us and… uninhibited.
“Oh. Okay,” I muttered with embarrassment.
Marry him?Was she serious?
“If it comes down to it, you be the strong queen he wants and give him many heirs, but make sure he adores you so that when you’re done having children for him he doesn’t kill you.”
My mother’s counsel was harsh. He wouldn’t do that, would he? What decent man would?
All I’d heard of King Valdren was of how kind he was to his people, how much he cared for his late wife, Queen Amelia. He saw her through every loss of child—everyone loved him. He was kind… right?
Kind enough to wait outside the gates of Cinder Village? Kind enough to call his guard on me and pull his blade? Kind enough to remarry quickly simply for an heir?
These thoughts scared me, so I shook my head to dislodge them.
Tears welled in my eyes. “Adaline… should I go and say goodbye?”
But my mother shook her head. “She’ll be too distraught and make a scene. Leave her a note and send her a gift with the first food shipment.”
I nodded, walking to our shared nightstand, and pulled out a torn scrap of paper and a pen. I’d taught Adaline and my mother to read and write during my two-year apprenticeship with the scribe.
Dearest Adaline,
I love you more than all of the jade stone in Jade Mountain. Take care of Mother. I’ll send a gift from Jade City.
P.S. Don’t be a brat.
Love,Arwen
I hated leavingher like this, especially after our tiff this morning, but Mother was right. She would throw a huge fit and I didn’t want to leave the village crying.
“Ma’am…” The guard’s voice carried into the house and my mother groaned.
“You come in and take our daughters and give us five minutes to pack them up and see them off!” she yelled back at him. He said nothing in response.
“Mother, be kind,” I told her.
I knew she was flustered, but now I worried if she’d made trouble for me in Jade City. If Regina and now Nox thought my mother unkind, they might make life hard for me.
My mother and I grabbed the trunk at the end of my bed which held the winter furs and started to pull them out and put in more practical items. Jade City was near the ocean; it didn’t snow there. I started to pack my things and my mother slipped out of the room. “Be right back.”
When she returned, she was holding the most magnificent leather armor I’d ever seen.
“Mother!”
She grinned. “Kendal and I have been working on it all year. It was supposed to be for your birthday. These are all of the pelts you’ve killed. Each one put food on our table.”
She laid it on the bed and I sat there, stunned. It was shiny, well-oiled bronze leather that had been stitched together piece by piece. Each piece from a different animal. I recognized the darker muskrat hide. Mother and Kendal had placed it in the center of the corseted chest, and then Kendal had carved swirls and flowers into it, which she was known for. The shoulder spaulders were such a delicate filigree that I couldn’t help but reach out and touch it.
“I… can’t accept this. It will get stolen or I’ll ruin it. It’s too nice.” It was nicer than the Royal Guard uniforms. More detailed in artwork and embellishments.
“Hogwash, you’re in the running to be queen. You’ll wear it well,” my mother said.
I grinned. “You’re right. Should I wear it now?”
My mother nodded and I slipped out of my tunic and trousers and she helped me into the skintight hunting suit. There were leather cuffs that buttoned on, and a matching waistbelt with a purse for jade coins. The left armpit pinched a little but I said nothing because Mother was staring at me with tears of happiness in her eyes. Kendal could help me loosen that left seam a little in Jade City.
