Page 25 of The Dragon Queen
I set my pack next to his and undressed before I jumped in the water, letting myself sink for a moment before I swam back to the surface. I slicked my hair back and wiped the water from my eyes, and then I saw Talon before me, drops on his tanned skin, possession in his eyes.
My tiptoes could reach the bottom, so I balanced to keep my chin above water.
His arms circled my ass, and he lifted me to him so I could keep my shoulders above water, bringing our faces close together.
A pain formed in my chest when I realized he’d probably brought Vivian here, but I didn’t want to be jealous of who he’d loved before, especially when I was going to be lucky enough to love him longer than she did.
“It’s beautiful here.”
Whatever composure he’d reclaimed was washed away by my words. “You should have seen it before.”
“I’ll see it after—when you restore it.”
His eyes couldn’t hold mine for more than a second. They darted away. “The guards at the gates were searching for weapons.”
“Why would weapons concern them?”
He moved to the shallow part of the pool then pulled me off him, turning his back to the rock as he leaned against it, his mood immediately soured by our reality. “Because the people are prisoners—and they’re starving.”
“I wonder why they are starving.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “The soil was fertile when I lived here. Produced the reddest tomatoes and the juiciest grapes. They must be using that land for something else, or they ran the soil dry by hoarding all the water. I’m not sure. People probably tried to leave, but my uncle wouldn’t have a kingdom without people to rule, so he locked them inside. Weapons are forbidden to prevent an uprising. I expected conditions to be bad…but not this bad.”
I studied the side of his face, studied the sorrow that burned in his eyes. “We’ll fix it.”
“Stop saying that.”
“We will, Talon.”
He gave a slight shake of his head.
“There’s no reason you can’t reverse the damage that’s been done. No reason you can’t take the crown and restore this land to its former glory?—”
“Let’s just get through this.” His mood dropped further, his eyes losing their light. “All that shit that comes after…doesn’t matter right now.”
The waterfalls pounded into the water and sent endless ripples toward us. The sun felt welcome on the skin while we were submerged in the cool water. It would be a paradise if this were a different time, if he were a prince and I were a pretty girl he’d met down in the village. “What’s the next step?”
“The path leads to the storage area. It’s where we house the aged wines and cheeses because it’s cooler in the mountain than anywhere else. The servants live on the grounds, at least they did when I lived here. We can get you a uniform there.”
“And then what? I just walk into the castle?”
“Yes.”
“No explanation?”
He shook his head. “Just say you’re new and clean. They won’t question it.”
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t question their superior.”
“Based on what I saw in the village, my uncle rules with fear and ferocity. Nobody will want to question him without fear of pissing him off. I’m sure this will be the same. If anyone asks, say that Jairo gave you the position. No one will want to question him.”
“Who’s Jairo?”
“My cousin, one of my uncle’s sons,” he said. “I’m sure he’s around.”
Now that the time had arrived, I felt the race of my heart, felt the uncertainty in my blood. But when I was scared before, I pushed through it, and that was what I would do now. I was the only one who could do this, because even if they miraculously didn’t recognize Talon, he would have a hard time explaining his presence. No one would bat an eye at another maid in the house serving the royal family.
Talon built a fire out of the dried grass and a couple of old branches. It was small, but that was all we needed since we had nothing to cook. He leaned against the wall and looked at the waterfall.