Dragon Fight

DRAGON FIGHT SAM HALL Dragon Fight Dragon Fight © Sam Hall 2023 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except for in the case of brief quotations for the use in critical articles or reviews. Edited by Steph Tashkoff Cover art and design by JoY Cover Design The characters and events depicted in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Created with Vellum STALK ME! Stalk me! Facebook author group: Sam’s Hall of Heroines Facebook page here Newsletter sign up here Instagram here Book Bub here Tiktok here AUTHOR NOTE This book is written in Australian English, which is a weird lovechild of British and American English. We tend to spell things the way the Brits do (expect a lot more u’s), yet also use American slang and swear more than both combined. While many people have gone over this book, trying to find all the typos and other mistakes, they just keep on popping up like bloody rabbits. If you spot one, don’t report it to Amazon, drop me an email at the below address so I can fix the issue. [email protected] TRIGGER WARNING This book takes place in a fantasy realm, not a direct analog for our early industrial period, but there are some similarities. It is not our world at all. You may notice some anachronisms and speech patterns that don’t exactly fit with a historical setting. Lets chalk that up to creative license! Triggers This book deals with a Cinderella like character who was bullied by her step family. I tried to keep the details light as possible, but there is some flashbacks of that in this book. Queer sexuality of one character is discussed in terms that make sense of the time and culture, not necessarily a reflection of now. Some secondary characters are jailed and tortured, though the details are not discussed in depth. A fight between two dragon queens seen in a vision reveals that unborn dragons are killed. A memory where an animal was harmed and then euthanised is revisited and expanded on as a flashback. CONTENTS Stalk me! Author Note Trigger Warning Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 What’s next? Acknowledgments 1 “You married the big, handsome dark-haired fellow, then?” Nadia asked me, not long after we arrived at my family estate. We’d come for my honeymoon with Brom, or at least that was what we had told everyone. But had any other couple ever brought three of their closest friends on such a trip? We had, and for quite different reasons than we could safely divulge. My staff had rushed out at the sight of dragons, fussed over Glimmer until she retreated up on my shoulder, watching her admirers warily, and then Cook had announced everybody needed to hop to and gather ingredients for a feast. One of the footmen had carried my bags up to my father’s old room and, after I’d set them on the bed, Nadia had landed beside them in a flurry of skirts, leaning over to pick up my hand and inspect the ring on my finger. “Which one?” I’d asked her, as I moved to set Glimmer down on the bed. She eyed the two of us then before nestling down on the bedspread to sleep. “Well, it couldn’t be the drill sergeant,” she said, consideringly. “He’s a man in his thirties and much too old…” She paused then, to look at me sheepishly. “It’s not him, is it?” “No, Soren is not my husband,” I told her confidently, even though I still felt his hands on my skin, heard his huskily whispered words of encouragement as he schooled me yet again, this time in the art of taking four men together as my lovers. “It’s Brom, the wing commander.” “So tall and muscular.” I smiled at the swoony tone of her voice, watching her sigh and then flop back onto the bed. “An officer as well.” “And a good man,” I told her, knowing that to be true in my heart. “Do you love him?” Nadia’s tone was rising with her excitement as she flipped to lean on her elbow and look at me. “Was it love at first sight when you saw him here? Were you sneaking around when that bloody prince arrived? And what happened to him?! Why aren’t you queen-in-waiting anymore?” I wanted to answer her honestly, I really did. Nadia was as close to a sister as I’d ever had, so holding back information from her felt wrong. But as I opened my mouth, Glimmer cracked open one eye and stared at me. You are a dragon queen in a world that has forgotten what that means, she told me. You cannot share these details, not until people are willing to accept them. “That’s a very long story, or a short one,” I said with a rueful smile. “The queen rejected Glimmer and therefore me. I was told to join the royal dragon riders and a husband was found for me.” “So it’s not a love match?” I watched