Chosen: Book 1 in the Dragon Queen series

Brunna flapped her hands at me as she hurried to my side. “Call me Brun.” She pitched her voice oddly low. “I’m pretending to be a boy.”

“I see that. Why?”

She lifted a shoulder. “I figured we’d be safer a boy and girl together, rather than two girls.”

While I watched, she stood straighter, jutting her chin as though daring me to pour cold water on her idea. Her face was feminine, but perhaps I only thought that because I knew it was her. I stepped close enough to poke at the hair under her cap and gasped. “You cut your hair off?”

Her chin jutted harder, while her jaw tensed. “Yes. My disguise had to be convincing.”

Too late to tell her to stick it back now. My attention moved to her clothes. Underneath the greatcoat she had a short jacket, shirt and breeches. Either she’d bound her breasts or the clothing was heavy enough to eliminate the shape of her. “Did you raid your brothers’ cupboards?”

Her smile hitched at the question. “They’ll never notice. And if they do, they’ll blame each other. Are you ready?” Her tone held muted excitement, as though we were off on an adventure. I hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed by reality.

I set Dragon’s basket down to adjust the pack that was already rubbing my shoulder. Dragon – unfortunately – misunderstood the pause. A rustling, snapping noise came from inside. I swung the basket around and up, intending to command the creature to settle down, but by the time I’d completed the movement I was only holding the handle. The rest of the basket was cascading to the ground in fragments while Dragon flapped his inadequate-looking wings and hovered at eye-level, mouth open and teeth showing in what, for a human, would be a grin.

“You have to stay hidden,” I hissed. I glanced around on instinct, but fortunately his only witness was Brunna. Dragon simply hung in the air, as though we needed time to admire him. “How is he doing that, do you suppose?” I asked. “His wings can’t possibly be strong enough to hold him up.”

“Magic,” Brunna said, with a shrug as though that answered everything.

Dragon decided we’d watched him enough. He settled onto my shoulder, crooning in satisfaction as his claws crushed the fabric of my coat. “That isn’t hidden,” I chided. “If anyone spots you, they’ll steal you away. It’s for your own good, you know.” Guilt slid through me at the lie. Dragon’s safety equalled Pa’s cure. That’s all I cared about.

Dragon crooned and butted my chin. I eyed Brunna’s pack, the only other conveyance we had that might fit the creature. “Do you think we could cram him into that?”

She scuffed a foot into the mess of willow fragments on the ground. “Not for long.”

“So what do we do?” I should have found a mage to take the egg the moment Pa fell ill. An egg would have been easy compared to this.

Brunna looked up, frowning at Dragon. Then her jaw sagged. “Er, we don’t need to fret.”

“What?” I craned round, then squinted, leaning my head further away. I couldn’t see him.

“He vanished,” Brunna breathed, wonder in her tone.

Dragon’s claws were firm on my shoulder but I still lifted my hand, touching a smooth, warm neck that I could see straight through to my fingers on the other side. I forgot to breathe.

“That’s amazing.” Brunna’s eyes were wide at witnessing magic first-hand.

I smiled and rubbed harder, hearing a crooning noise in reward for my efforts. “Aren’t you clever?” I told Dragon. “Just stay like that until we reach Muirland City.” I turned to Brunna. “Problem solved. Let’s go.”

She hitched her pack higher and turned back to the road. “You’ll have to remember not to stroke the air above your shoulder.”

I eyed my friend. “And you have to remember you’re Brun, not Brunna.”

“Of course.” Her tone was gruff, and when she started to walk, she had a different gait, like her brothers instead of herself. I shook my head. I was surrounded by masters of disguise and I’d never known it.

“What did your Ma say about your going to Muirland City?” I hitched my thumbs into the straps of my pack and tried to find a comfortable rhythm to walk to. If a cart passed we could hitch a lift, if not we might have to walk all the way to Markham, next town along the road.

Brunna – I supposed I should start thinking of her as Brun to make sure I didn’t slip up – didn’t hear, so I repeated the question.

“Oh, er, not much.”

Even without the colour blooming in her cheeks I’d have challenged that. Ma Henderby was far too protective to blithely wave her daughter off on a potentially dangerous trip. I’d been surprised not to find her at the crossroads issuing last-minute advice.

Brunna wouldn’t meet my eye, plodding determinedly forward with her eyes on the path.

I hurried to catch up and set a hand on her arm, unsurprised at the tension I felt beneath my fingers. “Brunna – Brun, what’s happened?”

“She’s marrying me off.”

“She’s – what?” It took a moment for my brain to process the mumbled words. “Marry? Who to?”

Brun glanced around to ensure we were alone. “The son of a distant cousin of hers, way off on the border with Nordin.”

“I’m sorry.” I slipped my arm through hers. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What were you supposed to do about it?”

Hurt ripped into my heart. “I could have helped you, Brunna. Together we might have found a way out.”

She straightened her shoulders. “Yes, well, I did find a way out. He can’t marry me if I’m not here, can he?”

“Is he so awful?” I asked. There weren’t many options for girls in Besserton; if you didn’t have a trade, you either married or you starved. I was lucky; since Pa didn’t have a son to leave the shop to, I’d inherit. I swallowed, because it was awful to think that I benefitted because my mother had died birthing me and Pa had never remarried. And I wasn’t glad about that, just pleased I didn’t have to get married if I didn’t choose. Brunna was the only daughter in a family of six sons; she didn’t have the luxury of choice.

“I’ve no idea.”

“You haven’t met him?”

“We’ll meet on our wedding day, Ma says. We’ll have the rest of our lives to get to know each other.” Her tone was bitter. No wonder she’d been so eager to come with me.

“Will she send your brothers after you?” I queried. I’d supposed any danger to be found in Muirland City, or on the road there and back. We didn’t need to pull trouble after ourselves.

“I hope not.” Brunna shook her head determinedly. “No, their masters won’t be able to spare them.” Each of the six was either a journeyman or apprentice.

“That’s good. We’ll take care to keep ahead of them, just in case.”

“And they won’t be looking for a boy and a girl, if they do try to find us,” she pointed out.

I didn’t point out that dressing in her brother’s clothes was unlikely to fool those same brothers. “Smart thinking,” I told her instead, patting her arm. “It’ll work out.”

“I know. I’ll make it.”

We kept walking. I’d thought I was the determined one, with Brunna simply along for the ride. I wondered what would happen when it was time to turn back home, but I pushed that thought out of my mind. There was no need to borrow trouble.

~

Five hours later we staggered into the marketplace of Markham village with the high sun beating down on us. I was used to being on my feet all day in the shop, but that proved to be a different matter to walking at a brisk pace. My thighs burned and I thought I was gaining a blister on my right little toe. Dragon was surprisingly heavy, and had grown more so every step of the way.

“We should buy something to eat and then keep going,” Brunna said. “We can make it to Midwood by nightfall if we don’t linger.”

“We should see if we can snag a lift,” I said.

“I can walk farther,” Brunna promised. I realised she thought I was trying to be considerate of her, when I was actually thinking of myself.

I straightened. “Of course we’ll walk if we need to.” I glanced around. It was market day, stalls set up around the square offering all kinds of goods, many of which made my stomach rumble painfully. I realised the implications. “And I think we’ll have to walk. No one here will leave until the market’s over.” I tilted my head to indicate my invisible passenger. “We should get something to eat and keep going.” I knew I wasn’t imagining the impatience with which Dragon’s feet were kneading my shoulder, and from the weight of him I could tell he was straining towards the far corner of the marketplace where someone was roasting nuts over a metal brazier.

“We’ll find something nice for you,” I promised Dragon. Better than mice; that should be easy.

Finding something to eat was easy. We bought two twists of roasted nuts and one of spiced meat at the brazier before we left the marketplace. The difficulty was finding a way to feed Dragon without drawing attention. Brunna and I dug into our snack while a low, keening cry of misery poured into my ear.

We ambled to the edge of the market, but there were still people going about their business, folk from the surrounding area coming to buy and sell at the market. Another low cry. Dragon fidgeted on my shoulder. I thought he might snatch a nut if I didn’t feed him soon, and that would tip us all in the stew if anyone oversaw. We couldn’t wait until we were alone. I glanced around, assessing the shadows. Perhaps we could just chance it.

“Let me try something.” Brunna glanced around, then stood beside me, linking her arm through mine to keep me close. She took a piece of meat from the twist I held, tipped her head back and tossed the sliver as though she meant to catch it in her mouth. She mis-threw, of course. The snap came from Dragon’s mouth, a gulp followed by a croon of satisfaction.

Brunna grinned. “Nothing to it.” And nothing to see, since the food vanished the moment it entered Dragon’s mouth.

We continued that way, Brunna alternately cramming nuts into her mouth and throwing meat so Dragon could catch it. I started to relax. This was easier than I’d thought.

“Hey there!”

We twisted, our smiles freezing.

A tall bear of a man was striding towards us. I wanted to put a hand up, to hide Dragon, but he was already hidden, and better than I could ever do for him.

“That’s a tidy sleight of hand, boy,” the bear told Brunna. His broad face was creased in a grin. He wasn’t looking at me, or Dragon, but I didn’t let myself relax.

Brunna stepped so she was slightly in front of me, adopting a boyish, protective stance. I had no option but to be grateful for the cover. I glanced around, looking for a way out. Unfortunately, the stranger probably knew his way around the town much better than either Brunna or me.

“Thank you,” Brunna said. She shifted, weight onto her toes in case we needed to flee. I tucked my arm through hers and carried us on past the bear. It was a chance meeting; nothing more. “And that’s not even his day job, sir!” I called, falsely cheerful.

“Not a conjurer?”

“No, sir. Just here for the market,” Brunna answered, voice gruff, face tipped to the ground in a way that might have signalled respect rather than a desire to hide.

“We’re entertainers. You should come watch our show.”

“We’re on our way to Muirland City,” I told him. “No time to delay.” Brunna took my arm and we started to sidle away from the bear.

“We’re heading that way,” the bear called easily. “Give us a silver penny for the show and we’ll take you up with us.” We both turned back. Warm feet paddled my shoulder; all three of us turned back.

Brunna paused, eyes wide, asking permission. I shook my head. We didn’t have money to spare, and Brunna couldn’t risk her disguise being spotted, nor Dragon’s existence being guessed at. “We don’t have time to waste,” I muttered.

Brunna turned back with a smile of apology. “Maybe another time.”

The bear raised a hand. Then he turned and was gone.

I exhaled and leaned against Brunna’s arm. “You see danger in every corner,” she chided me.

I straightened. “We’re smuggling a dragon. It’s not wrong to be cautious.” I picked up my pace. I wouldn’t be able to relax until Dragon was safely handed over to a mage and I had a cure for Pa in my hand. The faster we reached Muirland City, the better.