Chapter 20 #2
He rolls his eyes, but then pulls me for a kiss.
I can’t go to the hatchling’s room dressed like this, so I rush up to the dorm, where I find Celine and Nelly getting ready for bed.
“Something wrong?” Celine asks.
“Everything’s fine,” I mutter.
“Congratulations, Mayara,” Nelly says.
“Thanks. I just need to change,” I explain. Then I put on the dress I use to sleep, and descend to the dungeons.
The hatchling’s room is silent when I enter it. Too silent, an odd quietness that agitates my heart.
“Ava? Vos?” My voice is shaky, and I feel the weight of the walls closing in on me, almost suffocating me.
They need to get out of this room, but I’ll have to be sure that they’ll be safe.
“Ava? Vos?” I ask again, as I search behind pots and rocks.
I finally find the dragons lying down in the darkest corner, their little bodies so still. Too still. A chill seizes my chest as I crouch to touch them. Vos stirs, and I exhale, and then Ava wiggles and turns her head, her pretty blue eyes settled on me, as if asking for something.
I pick them both up, one in each arm.
“Are you sleepy? Tired?” Cold dread pools in my stomach. “Sick?”
Ava snuggles closer, and I bring them with me as I lie down on the usual straw pile, then close my eyes, feeling the warmth of the little dragons on my side.
The staff comes to mind.
Burning, burning, burning—and I don’t know what to do.
The little dragons wake up in a much better mood, and Ava even climbs on my shoulder, like usual. Vos is still a little cranky, but that’s his usual self. They seem fine, and relief washes over me. Still, I tell myself to take their well-being more seriously and research how to help them.
After I kiss each little dragon’s head, I return to my dorm, where I wash, change, then find Celine and Nelly right as they’re heading to breakfast.
“Had a nice night?” Celine asks.
“No,” I grumble, still worried about the baby dragons, but then I realize what they’re asking about and smile. “I mean, yes, obviously. Just a little tired.”
“You don’t have any class,” Nelly says. “Why don’t you rest?”
“I want to have breakfast with my friends. And I have things to do.”
We get down to the refectory and fill our trays, and I’m glad they make no comments about the small bruises on my neck.
For some reason, I’m starving, and I get three loaves of bread, three apples, and an orange.
Nelly glances at my tray and smirks. “Oooh, your betrothed really gave you some exercise.”
I smile, even if I have no idea why I’m eating so much. “The most amazing and lovely exercise!”
When we sit, Celine eyes my tray and lowers her voice. “So everything’s good now?” Between you two?”
“Yes.” I almost ask her why things wouldn’t be, and realize there are quite a few reasons, so I say, “Now that we’re officially betrothed, things are different.”
“That’s good to hear.”
My thoughts turn to the little dragons. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
“Yes?” Celine looks surprised.
“I need to talk to Instructor Katrine. Ask her some questions. Since you know her…”
“I don’t know her that well,” Celine says as she spreads butter on her bread. “I went to her office once, to ask to retake the class.”
“Can you show me where it is?” I ask. “Her office?”
“Yes, but… she doesn’t like to be bothered.”
“I’ll have to try.”
Celine pauses, thinking, then nods. “I have a flying lesson today, but we can go there in the afternoon. Would that work?”
“Yes. Are you flying from the Outer Hill?”
A loud groan leaves her lips. “Yes.”
“I’ll come and watch you!” I suggest, trying to cheer her up.
“Nobody’s going to watch me?” Nelly asks, her tone playful.
I recall the class she’s having. “Hand-to-hand combat, right?”
“Yes.” She doesn’t sound in the least enthusiastic.
“I’ll come next time. In fact, I’d love to see what you learn.”
She lets out a bitter chuckle. “Nothing useful. We learn how to fend off riders. When are we going to get that close to them?”
I stir as I recall being pinned on the floor of the hallway, those dark eyes piercing me. “Probably never,” I lie, then ask, “Is there anything specific you learn to do against them?”
“It’s the same as the dragons.” Nelly shrugs. “Try to run from them, but if we get close, we can use a dagger and go for the eyes, the throat, things like that.”
The throat. Like Alayel did. It means that it’s not his special move. “How, though? A slash?” I trace a line across my own neck.
She makes a forward movement. “More like stabbing, but I can’t be sure. The instructor is not super clear.”
I frown. “How can you not know what you’re supposed to do?”
“Everything is very vague, and I’m not joking.”
Celine nods. “It’s true. I always hated that class, but at least he didn’t make us fight each other.”
“What do you do?”
“Movements…” Nelly chuckles. “In the air. Then he shows us a diagram with vital body parts. Then we run. It’s bizarre.”
“I’m sorry.” And I’m even more sorry when I consider that the riders have magic, so sentinels are completely unprepared to face them. Maybe I should tell my friends about the riders’ powers, but I still recall Mallor’s words forbidding me from mentioning it to anyone.
Mallor. He might call me soon. At least now I’m not as worried, since I should have Alayel’s protection. Maybe I could even ask my betrothed how to find information to help the hatchlings.
We finish eating, and I follow Celine, who walks with her class to the Outer Hill, until I part ways with her and head to the Outer Beach.
I take my shoes off, letting the warm sand caress my feet. At the water’s edge, I walk on the wet, cool ground and close my eyes, feeling the ocean breeze on my face and the cool water bathing my soles in short bursts as the waves come and go.
Instead of joy, I feel something tightening inside me as I think about the little dragons stuffed in that room. I’ll figure out a solution for them. I have to.
To ease my mood, my thoughts turn to Alayel.
My future husband. He danced with me in front of the entire academy, then introduced me to his father as his future wife.
It was like a wondrous dream, the kind that feels too far-fetched to ever become real.
But it’s my reality. I’m betrothed to a prince.
When I look at the sky again, I spot the first glider in the air, and that old, deep yearning comes in full force. I still want to be there, flying—despite everything.
Some wishes are illogical, I suppose, and yet if I close my eyes, I can feel the air drifting beneath me, can see the beach from up above, can imagine myself flying so clearly that the absence of it aches.
And yet it’s safer down here. It’s safer to know that I won’t have to fly when there’s an attack, that I won’t have to confront dragons.
Unless Mallor decides I should fly, after all. I suppose I’ll see what happens.
A familiar scent catches my nose.
I turn and see Alayel walking toward me, his stride confident and relaxed, a lovely smile on his face. “Why is it so hard to find my betrothed?”
“I was at the refectory this morning. You don’t eat?”
He grabs my waist and pulls me toward him, then gives me a brief kiss on the lips. “I sleep until I absolutely must get up. But I found you. What are you doing here?”
I point to the hill. “Celine’s flying.”
He looks up, squinting against the sun. “My batch is going next.”
“You’re going to fly too?” My heart speeds up and I don’t know if it’s from worry or yearning.
“No. I don’t really fly, I just monitor the group.”
“So you’ll never have to face the dragons.”
He shakes his head. “Neither will Ledeia. That said, remember my father gladly sent me to face dragons in their own territory, so I wasn’t always safe.”
“But he recognized you as his son.”
“After I survived. I don’t know if he realized his plan backfired or if he thought I was blessed by Foros, and therefore was truly his son.
” He looks at me, a wild glint in his eyes.
“He’ll accept you too, you know? Last night, I think he was in shock, but he’ll see how incredible you are. Everyone will see.”
“And yet you thought—”
He places a finger on my lips. “That I had to hide you. I was wrong, and you made me see it. Will you come to my room tonight?”
“Same time?”
Leaning his forehead on mine, he whispers, “Come before the rain. We’ll eat together and then watch the thunderstorm from my window while I fuck you.”
I grimace. “Is this supposed to be romantic?”
He grins, then grabs my chin and kisses my lips. “It’s supposed to be realistic. See you later.”
His steps fade into the distance while a glider lands on the sand. I look up at the sky again, hoping to find Celine, and see three gliders up in the air, except that I can’t identify who’s steering them from this distance.
For a moment, they remind me of the flock of dragons I saw, even if the image was terrifying at the time, and even if there are fewer gliders than dragons.
Maybe this was our way to defy the legendary creatures. Look at us, we’re also flying! Of course, the problem is that we can’t launch fire and don’t have huge, sharp claws or teeth, so our defiance puts us in a vulnerable position. Not us. I don’t know if I’ll ever fly.
Another glider lands on the sand, still not Celine.
The recruit grabs the flying apparatus, folds it, then carries it away from the beach. Four gliders are in the air now, and for some reason, something about the sight makes my heart weary. But it’s nonsense—they’re gliding far from each other.
Or not. I blink, unsure if I’m imagining things, if my mind is creating a horrific image that doesn’t exist. No. I’m not imagining things. One of the gliders is tilted. Too tilted. My heart pauses and my insides turn cold.
A cool gust of wind hits my face. Up above, the glider tilts sideways, then spirals fast straight down. Straight onto the rocks at the edge of the Outer Hill.
My feet are running before I can accept what I’m seeing. It has to be a nightmare, an evil illusion. That’s the only explanation that makes sense. Gliders don’t simply fall out of the sky like that. They don’t.