The Bastard Prince: 1 (Dragonspeaker Chronicles)

She has a dragon and shes not afraid to use it.Nellie Dreessen is a kitchen maid in the palace of Regent Bernard of Saardam. She has worked for two kings and two regents has seen two royal families murdered through magic has seen ghosts and demons and kept her head down like a good girl.On her fiftieth birthday she receives her late fathers diary which describes a magical item that is so evil it needs to be kept in the church crypt: a box that contains dragon.Problem is someone has stolen the box.Regent Bernard holds a banquet for his eldest sons sixteenth birthday. Distinguished guests come from far and wide. Because she knows what the box looks like Nellie discovers it in a noblemans luggage.Removing the box from a thiefs room is not stealing right? Not if you intend to return it to the rightful owner: the church.But someone poisons the nobleman and everyone in the kitchen is a suspect. Nellies friend in the church advises Nellie to flee with the dragon box. The Regent is on a mission to stamp out magic and Nellie plans to do what she does best: keep her head down and hide.Problem is the dragon has other ideas.