The Dragon's Queen (Dragon Lords) by Michelle M. Pillow Page A

with a weary sigh. “The drink was called tea.”
    “ Are you sure?” Mede furrowed her brow. That’s not how she remembered it.
    “ Yes. I’m sure.”
    “ The princes belong to the order,” Mede asserted, hoping to lighten her mother’s expression. “You said you liked Rolant.”
    “ The princes? Both princes?” That perked her up a little.
    “ Yes.” Mede nodded. “Prince Llyr as well.”
    “ Then you met the heir prince?” Grace asked, not bothering to hide her hopeful tone.
    “ Yes.” Mede again nodded. She thought of the man who constantly danced through her thoughts. There was no reason he should be there, but he was. The fact annoyed her more than her mother’s desire to see her wed and pregnant. “I met Prince Llyr. He was very kind.”
    “ And?” Her mother forgot her tears. “Did you go to the palace? Did you see the king’s court? Were the palace guards there?”
    “ No. I met the heir prince at the campsite.” Instantly, Mede knew her mistake.
    “ Campsite? You slept out of doors?” Her mother gave a delicate shiver. She again took a deep breath. Her hand trembled.
    “ Nothing improper happened. It was on palace grounds.” Mede thought of the cutting, of the drunken dancing weaving through the tents, of Llyr’s touch on her arm, of getting the Var fur. The Var fur? How could she have forgotten getting kissed by the catshifter? Surly a kiss should have ranked higher in her thoughts than a touch on her arm. Grace watched her carefully. Mede smiled brightly. Gods forgive her for lying to her mother. “I promise. I held myself like a lady.”
    “ What did the prince say to you? Are you invited to the palace?” her mother asked.
    Did the woman never give up? Mede suppressed her sigh. “ We did not speak long. What does an heir prince have to talk about with me? He congratulated me on my honor.”
    “ There was nothing else?” Grace insisted.
    “ Nothing of importance.” Mede thought of his hand on her arm. Even now she could feel the tingling. Her mind’s obsession with that touch was weird considering the evidence of his dormant crystal. Perhaps years of her mother’s daydreaming had finally rotted into her brain. She was imagining a connection where there was none because he was a prince.
    “ And the other men of the order,” her mother pried, sniffing lightly.
    “ All kind men who treat me as they would a sister.” Mede hoped that would give her mother some comfort. She always talked about how she wished she could give Mede siblings, and how her inability to have more children was her life’s regret.
    Grace touched Mede’s dark hair, running the backs of her fingers over the length of it. “You are so beautiful, my daughter. On my home world you would have been celebrated with fine society parties and afternoon callings. Men would have asked your father’s permission to escort you on carriage rides.”
    It was a fantasy Mede had heard often. When her mother spoke, her eyes glazed and her mind drifted far away. If not for the settlement disbanding, Grace would never have left her Victorian world. For a moment her mother’s serene mask slipped to reveal her loss and an intense sadness washed over Mede.
    “ Do you wish you could have stayed? You never talk of what happened or why the settlement disbanded.” Mede placed her hand on her mother’s to stop her from needlessly rearranging the biscuits.
    “ There is no reason to relive unpleasant memories,” Grace said. Mede could see her mother did relive it despite the words. She wanted to ask what had happened, but knew not to pry. This was one story her mother kept to herself. Mede wasn’t even sure her father knew the truth of it.
    “ Do you regret coming here?”
    Grace blinked back her private thoughts. She instantly shook her head in denial. “Never. Not for one second have I regretted coming here. I love your father more than my own soul. And you, you are my beautiful daughter. I regret not being able to show