27. Aurora
AURORA
For the rest of the day, I was stuck in a haze. So much had happened that I wished I could just crawl into a quiet corner and try to make sense of it all.
I couldn’t spare the time, however, because life at the Academy never slowed or stopped. I had to go on with classes and dinner—where Ryse Skoren and Chud Larson were both eating calmly at the same table—as though nothing had happened.
Larson didn’t so much as glance at me, which made me cautiously optimistic. But I had to stop looking at him because my eyes kept catching Ryse’s. When that happened, I blushed and looked quickly down at my plate, but I could still feel him staring at me.
I barely ate anything but my single spoonful of Dragon Custard. I simply wasn’t hungry.
After dinner and bathing time in the Cook-pot, it seemed as though the awful day was finally winding down and I was glad of it. I left the other cadets splashing and laughing and, wrapped in my towels, made my way back to the dorm.
But just as I stepped inside, someone grabbed me by the throat and shoved me against the wall.
I gasped as the back of my head connected with the hard stone. For a moment my vision was filled with bright sparks of light, and I couldn’t even see the face of my attacker. Then my eyes cleared, and I saw the small, no-color eyes of Chud Larson glaring into mine.
“Let…let me go!” I gasped, looking around for someone—anyone—to help me. But our Dorm Monitor was nowhere to be seen, and the other boys were still at the Cook-pot.
There was no help anywhere—I was on my own.
“Ryse…Skoren,” I choked out. “He won’t…won’t like this!”
If anything, this threat seemed to make Larson even angrier.
“Listen to me, you little shit,” he growled furiously, his long fingers digging into my throat. “I know I can’t touch you now—I know you’re off limits.”
Then why are you choking me? I wanted to ask, but by now I could barely get enough air to breathe, let alone talk.
“So you’re safe—for now,” Larson continued. “But just wait until the first Mating Flight of the season.” An ugly grin spread across his acne-scarred face. “Because then, you’re mine. And nobody can do anything about it.”
Then, as abruptly as he’d grabbed me, he let me go.
With a final sneer, he walked out of the dorm, leaving me alone to rub my bruised throat and wonder what in the world he was talking about.
I vaguely remembered Jorn-o’s father warning me about the Mating Flights when he’d first dropped me off at the Academy, but I still didn’t know what he’d meant by it.
Still rubbing my neck, I resolved to ask Jorn-o about it when he got back to the dorm. In the meantime, I would get into my nightshirt. But first I wanted to look at my throat.
Sure enough, there was a ring of red fingermarks that showed up quite well on my pale skin, I saw, as I leaned close to the mirror.
I hoped they would fade soon. In the meantime, I would just button my nightshirt all the way up to my throat.
It wasn’t the most comfortably way to sleep, but it should hide the marks.
Should I tell someone about Larson’s threat, I wondered? I doubted the Head Master would do anything about it but give the violent cadet another stern talking to. Also, it would probably make him angry if I bothered him again.
As for Ryse, I didn’t want to get him involved either. I barely knew the North Wing Leader—I couldn’t expect him to fight all my battles for me.
So I was on my own…but what could I do against such a huge, angry opponent?
I felt trapped and I still didn’t even know what Larson’s threat meant.
I wondered why the books I’d read from my father’s study hadn’t mentioned anything about the Mating Flights.
Surely there must be something strange about them, but what?
Hopefully I could find out and then I’d know exactly what Larson was threatening to do to me.
But when I asked Jorn-o about the Mating Flights later, before lights-out, he looked both mortified and uncertain.
“We’re not supposed to talk about that,” he said, which was a first for him. He was usually willing to discuss or explain anything to do with the Academy to me. “Why do you want to know, anyway?”
I thought of telling him about Chud Larson’s threat…
and then decided not to. I knew Jorn-o—he would insist on telling the Head Master or at the very least our Dorm Monitor, who would probably escalate the matter to the Head Master.
I couldn’t afford to let that happen—if I caused any more trouble, I could get kicked out of the Academy.
“It was something your father said to me when he dropped me off during Receiving Day,” I said—which was at least partially true. “He told me to make myself scarce during the Mating Flights.”
“And you should,” Jorn-o said earnestly. “I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard that everything gets kind of crazy around here when there’s a Flight.”
“But when do they happen? I mean, is there some kind of schedule?” I asked, feeling frustrated by his non-answer.
Jorn-o laughed.
“Hardly! A Mating Flight can happen at any time of the day or night. You’ll know it’s starting when you hear the horns blowing.”
“Horns?” I felt more confused than ever.
“Look, you’ll know it when you hear them,” Jorn-o said cryptically. “When you do, just try to stay low and keep out of the way of the upperclassmen.”
“Why?” I demanded.
He only shook his head.
“Like I said, things get…crazy.”
And, though I tried every way I could think to pry more information out of him, that was all he would say. I had to go to bed with my questions unanswered.
I drifted off, wondering how I could find out about the Mating Flights and what could possibly be so secret and taboo that even my best friend at the Academy was afraid to speak about it.