Squire Derel (Knight Protector Book 1) by Rachel Ford

Author:Rachel Ford [Ford, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-15T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen – Callaghan

There had almost been combat a second time that afternoon, only between Alduran and myself. Lidek was the voice of reason who kept us from coming to blows. Or, more aptly, the voice of disapprobation, whose disdain cooled our anger. “What in the gods’ names are you two on about? You want to kill each other? Well, have at it. Once the present crisis is solved, and you’ve both done your duties. In the meantime, I don’t want to hear another word.”

So, scowling at each other, we commenced the business at hand. The first order was to get a dispatch back to the capital, posthaste.

Lidek wanted dragon riders of our own in the shire. “Just in case that Southern snake gets any ideas.”

Mayor Fitzwilliam took the expresses, as soon as they were drawn up. It was dark when she stepped into her skimmer, and her face was drawn. “Make sure…well, make sure they don’t burn the town down in my absence, Callaghan.”

“I’ll do my best,” I promised. “You make sure they get the Commander his dragons.”

She sucked in a breath and nodded. “I’ll do my best. I’ve never spoken to the queen before. But I suppose I will now.”

I laughed. “You’ll be fine. It’ll be better than staying, anyway. At least she doesn’t breathe fire.”

That was a bit too impudent for the mayor, and she blinked in surprise. “Uh…err…I should go.”

The rest of us had no such escape waiting. The business of preparing to receive diplomatic envoys entailed almost as much as was required to deal with potentially hostile military forces just over the border.

For the one, we established watches and patrols. We rolled the wyvern cannons out of storage, and into discreet locations up and down the border. Short of a direct hit, they wouldn’t kill a wyvern. But the explosion was often enough to discombobulate the beast, or its rider, and bring it down.

Alduran protested that this was a show of bad faith. “If SKP Valarian realizes what we’ve done…”

“He’ll have nothing to fear, if he means to keep his word,” Lidek declared. “And if he doesn’t…well, he won’t catch us with our trousers down.” Nor would the commander be shaken from the position, however much the other man protested.

I and the rest of the taskforce saw it his way, too. Even Tofte and Westergaard managed to coexist on the same side of the point. “We’re within our rights to set up defenses,” she said.

“We’d be damned fools not to, after everything they did,” he agreed.

“But you know how Valarian will see that.”

“I’m not sure I give a damn.”

“No. For once, I have to agree with Westergaard. They need to know we’ve got the political backbone to use our military might, if it comes to it.”

“Exactly. After that performance today…”

“That took balls,” Tofte shook his head.

She snorted. “If you mean it was ugly overcompensation, but ultimately weak and vulnerable, then yes, I suppose it did.” He frowned, and she pretended not to see. “He wasn’t arguing from a position of strength.

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