Chosen: Book 1 in the Dragon Queen series

It was a quiet day in the shop, neither payday nor far enough from it to make Magpie’s a useful resource for the townspeople. Pa watched me work for a while, then retreated into the back room with Ma Fowler. If I’d been in any doubt about their relationship, that ignorance was cured by the laughter that drifted through to me periodically, along with the chink of cups.

When the door jangled, I looked up. Brunna stepped inside, breaking into a smile when she saw me. “I need to talk to you, Alliss.”

Pa pushed through the curtain, hoping for a paying customer. When he saw Brunna, his lip curled. “Make sure you get your work done,” he snapped before stomping back to the kitchen.

Brunna looked after him, blinking. Her smile widened. “He’s cured! The fae wasn’t lying!”

I lifted a shoulder. Her expression was exactly the way I’d expected to feel – until Pa had crushed my delight.

“It seems he got back to normal shortly after we left. And wasn’t thrilled to wake and find me not here.”

“Oh, Alliss.” She reached out. “All that way for nothing, eh?”

“That’s how Pa sees it.” My throat thickened and I swallowed. I wasn’t going to cry; there was nothing to cry about. I’d got what I wanted, just not how I’d thought I would. “It’s all right. He’ll calm down and remember he likes me again soon, I’m sure.” I tried to smile. “Family’s family, after all.”

Brunna’s eyes widened. “Is he very angry?” She glanced towards the curtain into the back room, lowering her voice.

The memory of his fingers digging into my flesh echoed on my shoulders. “A little. I spent too much of his money to no effect. I can’t expect him to be pleased about the matter.”

A female giggle burst out of the back room. Brunna met my gaze, raising her brows in question.

“Ma Fowler made herself very much at home while she was looking after the shop. I’m not sure she’s ever likely to leave.”

“Ah.”

Guilt washed over me. “I’m so sorry. How did you get on?” I examined her face. “What did your mother have to say?”

Brunna was here, so at least she hadn’t been locked up until she could be married off, but I knew her mother; Ma Henderby was a determined woman when she put her mind to it.

Brunna clutched at my hands, her expression bright with delight and anticipation. “I’m going to leave with the troupe!”

“She agreed to let you go?”

Brunna nodded, her smile widening. “I got it all wrong, it turns out.” Her gaze dropped and she scuffed a toe against the floorboards. “She was only pushing me into marriage because she was worried about getting me settled now all the boys have their apprenticeships. She wanted me to be safe; have someone to look out for me, and if the troupe’s willing to take on that role, she’s all for it.” Her grin broke out again. “We’re putting on a show tonight. Half past seven in the square. And then tomorrow ... I’ll be a part of the troupe for real.”

Her expression was incandescent. A hollow of loss and loneliness opened up in the pit of my belly. I wanted to weep. I wanted to cling to my best friend and beg her not to leave me. Instead, I clung on to my smile. “That’s wonderful news! I’m so pleased for you.” I was pleased for Brunna. It was my own silly self who howled with self-pity. I’d thought when I returned home and Pa was cured that everything would go back to normal. Instead, everything was different. I didn’t fit in my own life any more.

“You’ll come and see the show, won’t you?” The light in Brunna’s eyes dimmed.

I shoved her arm. “Of course I’ll be there, idiot. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Her gaze flitted over me, more perceptive than I was comfortable with. “You know, you could come with us, too.”

I was tempted, I really was, but this was Brunna’s future, not mine. I shook my head. “I’d be a spare part. You’ve got talent.” She opened her mouth to protest. I held up a hand for silence. “I’m honest enough to admit it, Brunna. My singing sounds like a crow, I can’t dance. If there’s anything entertaining about me, then it’s by accident. If the troupe took me up it would be out of sympathy, and I don’t want that.” I cast a hand around the shop. “There’s all manner of junk that needs my care and attention, I’ve got plenty to do here.”

Brunna frowned. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy.” Or I would be. Soon. Once me and Pa were back to normal.

Brunna threw her arms around me. “I love you, Alliss.” Her voice was thick.

I hugged her tightly, then pushed her away. “Get on with you, don’t weep all over me.”

“I’m sorry.” She straightened. She wasn’t crying; I’d caught her in time. Her eyes were just a little pink.

“Get back to the troupe.” I pushed her towards the door. “I’ll see you later.”

As the afternoon dragged on, delicious smells issued from the kitchen. I began to wonder if it might not be so bad if Ma Fowler partnered up with Pa after all. Neither Pa nor I were particularly good cooks, and she and I could just keep out of each other’s way the rest of the time.

When it was too dark to work – and Pa was too cheap to light a lantern to keep me going, I was allowed to stop to eat.

Ma Fowler stood at the stove as I walked into the kitchen, Pa at the table waiting. The smell of stew made my stomach rumble. Ma Fowler filled a bowl with stew and set it down before Pa. The next bowl was set at her own place.

I watched her, fighting the instinct that she was going to tell me I wasn’t allowed food. Perhaps she’d find me a crust of dry bread and some cold water. Finally, she sniffed and doled me out a bowl.

I accepted with a murmur of thanks. I dipped my spoon in and tried to identify the ingredients, but it seemed to be entirely gravy. Ma Fowler had managed to avoid placing any meat or even lumps of vegetables in my portion.

Perhaps we couldn’t just ignore each other and live in peace.

I took a slice of bread from the loaf and mopped up the stew as though it were soup. I hated to admit it, but it was tasty. Everyone has something good about them, I guessed.

“Some entertainers are performing in the town square tonight,” I said as the meal finished, an overture of peace to the pair of them. “Would you like to come with me to watch?”

“Entertainers?” Pa sounded disapproving before I’d even finished speaking. “We don’t have the money to waste on nonsense like that.”

“We don’t have to pay,” I said. “Brunna’s performing.”

“Brunna? From down the road?” He tutted. “Women showing themselves off. This place is going to the dogs.”

I bit my tongue. “I’ll go alone, then.”

“You’re going nowhere,” Pa said firmly. I opened my mouth. He hurried on. “You can go up to your room if you’re done eating. You’ll be up early for work tomorrow.”

“I’m not tired.”

“You’ll do as I tell you,” he snapped. “I don’t want your face ruining my evening.”

Ma Fowler fought a smile, not very successfully. I pushed my chair back, heat burning the backs of my eyes. “If you like, Father,” I said tightly and ran upstairs.

I wanted to slam my door, but that would prove Pa right to treat me like a child. I shut it firmly and sat on my bed, fuming.

The sound of footsteps sounded on the staircase. They were too heavy for Ma Fowler. Relief ran through me. Perhaps now I’d have a chance to speak properly to Pa and get things back to normal between us.

I threw the door open just as he reached the top of the steps. “I’m sorry we argued, Pa. I did everything wrong, but I meant well, I swear it.”

He folded his arms, his expression unchanged. “You wasted a lot of my money. You’ll have to pay it back.”

“You know I’ll do that, Pa. You know you can trust me.” Injustice burned through me. “It’s Ma Fowler you should be careful of.”

Fury wreathed his expression the moment I said her name. “Who in the name of the maker do you think you are to talk to me like that?”

“I’m your daughter, Pa. I love you. I don’t want you to be taken in by her.”

His mouth twisted with dislike. “You’re not my daughter – and your mother is the only woman I was taken in by.”

I stared at him. He ... What did he mean? My heart beat hard and a rushing noise began in my ears. “What?”

“Oh, come on, girl. Don’t tell me you really thought you were my get? We look nothing alike.”

Reality twisted around me. He had to be joking. But Pa wasn’t the jocular sort. My voice was husky, my throat dry. “I look like my mother. That’s what you always said.”

He laughed unkindly. “Like your mother, or like whatever Nordin bastard put you in her belly. She arrived on my doorstep with a fat belly and a sob story. I was fool enough to be taken in by her, but I won’t be fooled by you. Not any longer.”

Tears burned in my eyes. My head pounded, secrets and lies bludgeoning their way into my thoughts. “It’s not true.”

“I’m not making up stories, girl,” he spat. “Now you know the truth. You’re nothing to do with me, and you’d better earn your keep if you want a bed in this house.” Pa turned and strode out without a backwards glance.

The snap of the door in its frame startled me out of my confused thoughts. “Wait!” I took a step forward, my fingers closing around the doorknob.

Before I could open it, a key turned in the lock. I rattled the knob fruitlessly, hardly believing what had happened. Pa – or whoever he was – had locked me in. I hammered on the door. “Unlock this door!” I demanded.

“You’ll stay where I put you,” he snapped.

I hammered again, but the only reply was the sound of his footsteps retreating back down the stairs. I dropped onto my bed, cradling my head in my hands. It couldn’t be true. And yet why would he say it if it weren’t the truth? My whole life was a lie. My head throbbed. A cackle of laughter from Ma Fowler drifted up the stairs. My fury curdled. No way were she and I both living in this house, not after this. My throat dried. Except that I was the one no longer welcome.

I crossed to the window and craned out. I don’t know why I bothered. It wasn’t as though I could escape that way. It was too high to jump from my window to the ground below. A washing line was strung across the alley between our house and next door, but only a tightrope walker could get out using that. If I shouted down that I wanted to leave, perhaps Pa would let me out. He’d probably be pleased to see the back of me. But I had nowhere to go.

I slumped to the floor, tipping my head back against the wall. I needed a plan, but my thoughts were too fractured to think even a minute into the future.

A buzzing sound filled my ears. I took a deep breath. My eyes snapped open when I realised the woozy sensation afflicting me wasn’t driven by anger or confusion. I thought I’d lost the visions when I lost Dragon, but here was another one. I leaned my head into my hands, my elbows on my knees.

Darkness obscured everything, and when the scene cleared, it was myself I saw. Fear and pain swirled around me. I was huddled up, hunched over. My hands were tied in front of me with thick rope. They doubtless explained why I’d been unable to defend myself, because my face was covered with bruises, cuts and dried blood. A robed figure advanced on me. A mage.

I gasped, sense returning. I was safe in my room. My fingers strayed to my neck, touching the damaged skin where the necklace had been. I let my hand drop. I couldn’t stay here – was that what the vision was telling me? If I didn’t get away, I’d be captured by the mages again.

I shook my head, rising to shaky feet. I was safe here. Safer than I wanted to be, with the door locked and Pa in charge of the key. I swallowed, remembering the hunters who had attacked in the Murval forest. But they wouldn’t pursue me all the way to Besserton – would they?

I returned to the window. I couldn’t bear to be trapped. I pushed my head out, then ducked back. Someone was walking down the alley below. I kept low but rose up enough to see out. A dark, burly shape passed by. I listened, straining my ears. He made for our back door. There was no reason to walk down the alley otherwise. I heard a knock and stopped breathing to listen.

“Are you the dragon-hunter?” My heart stopped when Pa’s voice rang out. No, no, no. This wasn’t happening.

“I hope you’re not wasting my time.” The burly man’s voice was gruff. Was he the one who’d held me down and threatened to gut me? “I was told you have information that will help us find a dragon.”

“The information is sound … if the price is right.” Pa’s voice was … oily, the way it changed when he was trying to impress someone.

The door snapped shut as the hunter stepped inside. My heart surged desperately, as though it would leave the room whether the rest of me went with it or not. Pa was going to hand me over to the hunters. I was nothing but a payday to him now. And the hunters would hand me over to the mages if I couldn’t produce Dragon.

I had to get out. Now.