Dragon Unleashed by Grace Draven
Author:Grace Draven [Draven, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-06-09T00:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The distant chime of the courtyard’s gate bell sounded in the solarium. Gharek stiffened. A visitor at this late hour didn’t bode well. He watched his daughter where she sat across from him on the floor. She ignored the chime to study the cards laid out between them in a neat square, their faces beautifully illustrated and used to hide the winning numbers on their undersides. Her small features pinched with concentration.
“You have to pick sometime, Estred,” he told her. “It’s not going to flip over by itself.”
Estred chewed on her lower lip. “I don’t want to pick the wrong one.”
“It won’t matter. You’ve won the three games you needed to win the wager between us. I’ve already agreed you can stay up longer this evening.”
Not to be hurried by her impatient father, she stared at the cards as if to will them into giving up their secrets to her. “If I win this one, then maybe I can stay up tomorrow too?”
Gharek arched an eyebrow. At seven years old, his daughter was a consummate negotiator. What a diplomat she’d make once she was an adult. The thought nearly crushed him. No matter her natural talent and intelligence, Estred would never go beyond the walls of this city, maybe not even the walls of this courtyard. Not if he failed in the task handed to him by the empress.
“Out of the question,” he replied. “You can win the next dozen games, and you’ll still go to bed at the usual time tomorrow. You’re lucky I weakened tonight, especially when I suspect you might have cheated at the last play.”
She bristled. “I won that game fair and honest, Papa!”
He held up both hands, prepared to apologize, but stopped at the light footsteps entering the solarium.
Estred’s nurse, Siora, stood in the doorway. When he met her eye, she inclined her head toward the hallway.
He turned back to Estred. “My apologies. I only tease. I know you don’t cheat. Keep studying your cards. I want to have a word with Siora in private. When we’re done, I’ll return, and we can finish the game.”
She tapped her small, bare feet on the floor in an excited dance and grinned at her nurse, who was standing behind him. “Can I have a bowl of honey pudding since I’m staying up late tonight, Siora?”
The woman pretended to consider the question as if the world’s existence hinged on her answer. “I’ll think about it. Let me talk to your father first; then I’ll give you my answer.”
Siora possessed a voice that always soothed his daughter, yet Gharek found it uncanny for no reason he could explain. Her gaze, as well, made him uncomfortable every time it landed on him. And yet he trusted her with his daughter’s care. With a single act of profound courage, she’d proven her devotion to Estred and earned a place in his household, no matter how uneasy she made him.
She followed him down the hall, finally stopping near the courtyard entrance. Siora gestured toward the gate leading from the courtyard to the street.
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