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Chapter 78
Last Updated:
2023-02-17 00:59:01
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My little Dragon Queen Chapter 79
The next time Brendan wakes, that instinctive pull of his shadows subsides much, much faster - if only because of the grounding weight of the body curled up tightly beside his, clutching at his hand with a painful desperation, even in sleep. He glances first at Alcina, who remains fast asleep, dead to the world. And then, he looks up at the two uninvited guests. Darla grins back at him from where she’s draped over Percy’s lap in the armchair. Brendan raises a brow. “Highly inappropriate behavior at an injured person’s bedside, I rather think,” he says. Percy snorts. “Says the man who has his little duckling practically on top of him despite being in recovery,” Darla snips back, nestling closer to Percy. Brendan chooses not to respond, instead combing back the hair out of Alcina’s forehead. “She will likely not wake for some time yet,” Percy says. “I’m rather sure she did not sleep for even a single hour in all the time she waited for you to regain consciousness,” Darla says.
Last Updated : 2023-03-23My little Dragon Queen Chapter 80
When dawn breaks, Brendan is wide awake.Sleep doesn’t come as easily, apparently, after forty-eight hours of continued torture at the edge of a blade. He has already slept far more than enough. Besides.Glancing down at the girl sleeping beside him curled half into his lap, one hand tangled tightly together with one of Brendan’s with her cheek resting atop their joined hands, Brendan supposes that sleep is a needless concept when he has this particular vision spread in front of him.Of Alcina, lashes fanned across her delicate cheeks, her skin aglow in the light of the breaking day.Brendan’s thumb shifts and counts the beats of Alcina’s pulse on the inside of her wrist.Wonders, when that rhythm had become the singular center around which the rest of the world revolves.Wonders when and how he had managed the inconceivable: to gain the love of a creature as unsullied as Alcina.It is this thought, then, that begins to spread outwards and consume his thoughts, such that it’s still
Last Updated : 2023-03-23My little Dragon Queen Chapter 81
When they enter the room, they find the remaining royals already waiting.Nordin looks up, and surprise colors his gaze when he finds Alcina present, but it isn’t an unpleasant one. Rather, he and Alfred both give Alcina a warm, approving smile, one that makes her tuck ever so slightly closer to Brendan, abashed. From across the table, Percy wears a small, knowing smile, one that makes the Duke look as though he were enjoying a private joke to which no one else besides Darla is privy.Darla, on the other hand, gives Alcina a devious little grin, eyes sparkling. Alcina realizes, then, that Darla must have heard the entirety of the exchange outside as the lady Darla’s eyes settle pointedly on her and Brendan’s joined hands.It makes Alcina flush red.Brendan, oblivious or uncaring of the surreptitious glances shared between the others at the table, simply leads Alcina to take their seats.The Duchess, as per usual, has neither the time nor the patience for pleasantries.It comes as a s
Last Updated : 2023-03-23My little Dragon Queen Chapter 82
Back in their room, Brendan allows Alcina to fuss over him with minimal protest. Alcina first pushes the windows wide open, and Perseus’s head nudges in first, followed closely by Orion’s.Brendan eyes the two beasts, their heads fitted tightly through the window, an almost ludicrous sight when one considers their venerated status throughout the world, and snorts quietly.The fact that the two dragons continue to cling to his wife as they did when they were, but small hatchlings makes amusement flicker in Brendan’s eyes.He watches, from his position tucked into the covers where Alcina had forced him into, as the dragons rumble softly at Alcina, nosing at her with their massive snouts.Alcina giggles, laughing aloud when a forked tongue flicks playfully at her button nose.Perhaps, Brendan supposes, bedrest is not the worst thing in the world.Alcina glances back at Brendan, then, plaintive want clear in her features as she peeks, not at all discreetly, as Alcina mistakenly believes,
Last Updated : 2023-03-23My little Dragon Queen Chapter 83
For the next few days, Alcina’s mother is wholly preoccupied with the rebuilding of the North wing and the preparations for the ball. Nordin, in particular, has been commissioned to help in the planning, and there has never been a sight more terrifying than the unstoppable force that is Duchess Clair and Nordin working together. At some point, Percy mutters under his breath that the war might even be fought and won in a single day if helmed by those two terrifying creatures, and, well. No one had fought it. Alfred, too, is busy with the rebuilding efforts, often called away for large chunks of the day to deliberate with advisors and nobles, and other politically prominent figures from the Heartlands. Most importantly for Alcina: Brendan continues to regain his strength with each passing day. Brendan hardly fatigues now, the way he had so easily done the first day after waking. At the least, he now has the strength to resist completely, without budging when Alcina tries to manha
Last Updated : 2023-03-23My little Dragon Queen Chapter 84
Luckily, surface-level burns such as this one, apparently, are an easy fix for the Gifted healer under House Clair’s employ. Healers are some of the more common Gifts, and when found, they are almost always invariably recruited into the ruling House’s employment. Given the hefty pay and abundant benefits that come with being associated with the royal house, no one declines, not without any particular reason to.The one employed by House Clair is a deftly skilled medic, having trained both with and without their Gifts, and Brendan’s cheek is healed of the burn within an hour.When he returns to the room, he finds the bathroom door still closed.He walks over to it, knocking sharply on the wood. “Alcina,” he says. “My cheek has been completely healed, with no lasting damage. It’s perfectly fine.”He hears shuffling inside.“Open the door, Alcina.”And after a few tense, still moments, Brendan hears the lock click.He opens it immediately and finds Alcina, a sight for sore eyes, indeed,
Last Updated : 2023-05-09My little Dragon Queen Chapter 85
For a while, Alcina’s attention is captured entirely by Brendan, spinning her in dizzying exhilarating circles around the dance floor.She has only ever spent nights, hidden away in the most unobtrusive corners she could find, in this very ballroom in the Heartlands palace.Alcina had never had the occasion nor the desire, to step out into where others could judge and whisper about her. But Brendan holds her hand as though she were the most precious jewel to have been ever discovered, and gazes down at her as though she were something immeasurably cherished.Treats her, as though she were not something to be hidden away, in the unseen corners of the room; but rather, something that belonged in the center of the universe, around which the rest of the world gravitates. A hand taps Brendan on the shoulder. “May I cut in for this lovely lady’s hand for a dance?”Alcina startles.She stares, wide-eyed, at Darla, who stands beside them, a wicked smile on her lips.Brendan eyes her as thou
Last Updated : 2023-05-11My little Dragon Queen Chapter 86
Later that night, Brendan embarks on a search for his own wife.As per usual, Alcina had left to go for her routine visit to the dragons, just before bed. But where she usually returned within an hour, this time, nearly two had passed when Alcina still had yet to return; another thirty minutes later, Brendan had decided to set out and search for Alcina himself.When he glances outside in the courtyard where she usually remains with the dragons and finds Orion and Perseus, alone, he knows where his wife might be.The only other place, that would call her attention so late at night.* * * * * * * * * * *Alcina gazes down at her father’s face, smoothed by sleep, unconsciousness, rather, in a way that she has never seen it, before.She tries to think of the last time she had ever seen her father’s features, without the lines that seemed to have permanently etched themselves into something disapproving, and she cannot remember.Her earliest memory, after all, is of her father, gazing down
Last Updated : 2023-05-13
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My little Dragon Queen Chapter 96
When Alcina manages to trudge her way to her room in the palace, she has hardly made it past the doorway when Brandon is instantly at her side.Brandon grips her by the shoulders, expression blank but eyes almost frantic in the way they run over her frame from head to toe, as though cataloging any possible injuries. And then, at last, Brandon lifts a hand to rest gently along Alcina’s cheek.Alcina shudders and sinks into it, sighing. “I half feared the Duchess may have buried you somewhere in the courtyard, and I would have to go digging for my wife,” Brandon drawls, teasing and insouciant but with genuine worry in his eyes when Alcina peers up at him.Alcina manages to muster a scowl, though she loses the energy for it right after.Drained, Alcina allows Brandon to help her change into her silken pajamas and guide her right to bed, where Alcina sinks gratefully into the pillows. “I really ought to shower,” Alcina murmurs uselessly, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “I’m quite disgust
My little Dragon Queen Chapter 95
The courtyard is a ruined wasteland.Everywhere the eye can see, the ground is shattered into nothing more than rubble, uneven and dusty and jagged with uneven footing.But there is one woman who maintains perfect balance, even as the ground shakes violently underneath her precarious red heels: the Duchess, hair flawlessly coifed with not a single strand out of place, even four hours into their training session.She lifts her chin, and a massive, tapered boulder, narrowed to a lethal point, separates itself from the ground.And then, it goes shooting forward, soaring through the air to hurtle towards the two figures hovering in the sky. Alcina sees it coming and grits her teeth as Orion dives sideways in a spinning tumble to avoid it.The Duchess straightens up.All of a sudden, the ground falls still.The silence that follows feels oddly deafening in Alcina’s ringing ears, after hours of its cacophonous din. She, too, straightens up, peering down at her mother in confusion. The Duc
My little Dragon Queen Chapter 94
“Survive.”It is all the warning Alcina gets before the ground erupts.That is the only word that can be used to describe the way the earth shifts and jagged little spears come hurtling upwards, all around her, tall enough to pierce Orion’s underbelly should she be standing over one.With an enraged shriek, Orion hurries to take to the air, and Alcina has to scramble to hold on as she frantically takes off.When she is airborne, and Orion has steadied herself with measured, powerful flaps of her great wings, the ground finally stops shaking.Again, she finds her mother standing effortlessly even amid the ruins she had created. “You were lucky, before.” When Alcina had recklessly charged into Elton’s stronghold alone, with nothing but an untrained dragon and a flimsy sword. “The soldiers then had been wholly unprepared for the sight of a dragon, and had been too stricken to react.”She lifts her hand once more. “But you will not be so lucky the next time. And you must be prepared, to f
My little Dragon Queen Chapter 93
Somewhere far, far below the grounds of the Western Plains, is an elaborate passageway of holding cells, built of heavy metal bars and lit only by the sparse torches.The dungeons, though no one quite likes to use the word.The dungeons have long been empty for years, having only been used once in recent times. And only briefly, too, given that the inhabitant had been quickly disposed of, once all the information had been extracted from his mind with Lord Alfred’s Gift.Today, the unused torches in the dungeons have been lit once more, for a new guest.It is a young woman, hardly older than twenty, her features lovely and delicate in violent contrast to the grimy holding cell she has been chained to. Everything about her seems like a sacrilege, here, in the dank walls of a dirty underground prison; as though she is something that does not belong in a place so dirty and murky.Even the color of her hair - pale pink locks, vibrant even in the darkness of the cell - stands at odds with t
My little Dragon Queen Chapter 92
Alcina watches wordlessly as the Gifted medic heals Brendan’s palm. She stares intently at the white glow emanating from the woman’s hand, as she hovers it over Brendan’s burned palm. Slowly, the reddish hue of the burn recedes, until Brendan’s palm has returned to its normal state.Alcina wishes she could have been born with a Gift like hers, something that would allow her to chase away the bruises and ailments and scars on Brendan’s skin; not something that would hurt him. Human nature, she realizes, is greedy beyond all belief. How many years had she yearned for a Gift, any Gift, she remembers wishing desperately in these very halls? And now that she has been graced with one, she yearns for something more, still.With a respectful bow, the healer excuses herself, leaving just the two of them in the otherwise empty room. Alcina doesn’t move from her perch, sitting ramrod straight in her chair. Stares at Brendan’s hand, every fiber of her being longing to reach out for it so that
My little Dragon Queen Chapter 91
Alcina sips dutifully at the glass of water Brendan had forced upon her, eyes doleful as she peeks up at him from underneath her lashes.Brendan stands over her, arms crossed, not unlike an ominous guard watching with keen eyes as if to ensure Alcina truly is drinking the water. They had hardly made it to the closest parlor room from the courtyard entrance when Brendan had promptly sat her down on a chair and ordered a terrified attendant to fetch a pitcher of water.Alcina sips obediently at her second glass now, shoulders slumped both in exhaustion and misery as she glances up at Brendan through her drenched bangs.“Why do you look as though someone has slaughtered your childhood pet?” Brendan demands.Alcina recognizes the terseness of Brendan’s awkward attempts at caring for someone, but cannot help the slight grimace all the same. “You were watching, weren’t you?” she says sullenly, mouthing at the rim of her cup. “I was terrible-”“You were not terrible,” Brendan begins to say,
My little Dragon Queen Chapter 90
Two hours in and Alcina is already exhausted.It is midday, now, and the sun beats harshly down on her back, thoroughly drenched with sweat. The wind whipping at her face and limbs from Orion’s movements as she darts through the air does little to cool her down, perspiration dotting her temples and her hair matted to her forehead and neck.Alcina can barely hold on to her sword as it is, while still maintaining her tenuous hold on one of Orion’s spikes to steady herself on her back.A pair of arrows whistle as they just barely miss her cheek, her hair whipping upwards from the projectiles spinning past her just a millimeter away from her skin. “Pay attention,” Percy says from the ground, where he stands, perfectly relaxed with his hands tucked into his pockets - not at all unlike the form he’d assumed, that day of the ruinous wedding.Darla, seated beside him still in her panther’s form, licks her lips in a manner that sends a shiver down Alcina’s back.She yelps, then, as Orion jerk
My little Dragon Queen Chapter 89
Back in the Western Plains, a Commander General continues his vigilant observance throughout the night, long after all the castle lights have been extinguished.Alone, he sits, eyes sharp as he assesses each unobtrusive corner of the room.It is none other than Lord Brendan’s own private study, a room that is locked and forbidden to all those aside from the lord himself, and his most trusted advisor: the General who has tasted only the sweetness of victory, each time he has stepped onto the battlefield.Lincoln tilts his head.And then, in a motion too quick for an ordinary man to catch, seizes the dagger laying innocently across the desk, and hurls it across the room.It sinks itself into its target.A gasped expletive fills the air.Lincoln picks up a second dagger, its blade gleaming under the single line of moonlight spilling in through the sliver in the curtains. This, in the next breath, he throws with lethal accuracy.“My, would you look at that,” he says cheerfully, brightly.
My little Dragon Queen Chapter 88
“No.”Alcina fumbles with the straps currently adorning Perseus’s broad back the contraption that, she claims, is meant to strap a person in. Brendan stares at it with an unmoving expression.Alcina pouts.Brendan remains firm. “You do realize,” he drawls. “That I am, technically, still in recovery, yes?”Alcina winces.“I don’t know about you, but I’m rather certain that falling hundreds of feet to my death is not what the healers advised for a speedy recovery-”Alcina whines at him. Stomps her foot, even, in a way that Brendan resolutely does not find at all endearing.“You won’t fall,” she says. “I have been practicing very hard this entire week, at flying with Perseus!”Brendan raises a solemn brow. “You mean to say that this is a newly acquired skill that you are attempting to pass off on me, then?”Alcina flushes. “Brendan,” she wheedles. Brendan briefly spares a moment of appreciation, anew, for the two older brothers who have raised this petulant little thing, all these years
