Chapter 13
Lance
“This way… cadets.”
I barely bit off that last word, unable to believe that the general would even consider having these three brutes join the corp.
Then I remembered exactly why I’d left the Royal Riders in the first place.
When I first joined up, flush with the success of bonding with a baby Viridian, I would’ve lived and died for General Rex.
Back then, the man was the face of an organisation I loved and so he had my unquestioning loyalty.
Then me and my friends were stolen from the keep by the queen and thrown into a cell to try to bully her son into doing what she wanted.
We were just pawns in a game powerful people played, and that had me looking across at the silver dragon riders.
They had huge dragons, so they had to be kept close.
Well, I’d keep them very close. The three of them just stood there, staring at me as if daring me to make a move.
It was a challenge I’d meet gladly. As I stepped up to face the group, it was clear who the leader was.
The one who laid hands on Fern smiled, a dark, twisted thing.
“Do we have a problem?” I asked.
“Only one.” A thin line of blood had formed under his chin and, I admit, a savage part of myself liked seeing it there.
He swept a finger along it, then flicked the blood at me.
My feet planted, not moving an inch as a few tiny drops hit my armour.
“You draw steel on me and mine again and you won’t live long enough to sheath it. ”
My hand went to the hilt of my sword, itching to prove this idiot wrong.
Gods, if I could provoke him to draw first, then what came next would be considered natural justice.
But rather than rise to the bait, those canny blue eyes took in every move, then smiled.
Respond, not react, that was what Father had hammered into me, but I’d managed to forget everything he taught me.
Perhaps because all I could see in my mind’s eye was this bastard’s hands digging into the softness of Fern’s arms.
My wrist settled on the hilt. Treating this… male as a potential threat was giving him way too much power over me. It wasn’t a mistake I’d make twice.
“Making threats against an officer, cadet?” I said. “That can get you in a lot of trouble.”
“Not a cadet yet,” the leader growled, stepping closer.
“Ahh, Kael…” Was that the name of the Duke’s son? The one with the lean face slapped his friend on the chest. “How about we just get through this whole cadet intake thing? Live to fight another day and all that.”
“Not until—” Kael said.
“Let’s go.”
How the hell we overlooked the scowling white-haired man, I don’t know.
All of us were tall, but every single one of us would have to look up to meet his eyes.
Luckily, he didn’t seem keen on that happening.
Without another word, he turned on his heel, marching off in the direction of the men’s hall.
“Your friend has the right—” I started to say.
“Fine,” Kael snapped and strode off after his comrade.
“I’m Lorien,” the lean-faced man said, offering me his hand as we walked towards the entrance. I just stared at it. He dropped it, shoving his hand in his pocket. “So we might’ve gotten off on the wrong foot—”
“Not on the wrong foot.” We paused at the doorway where the white-haired man had already gone inside. Kael stood waiting, brows drawn down as he watched me speak to his friend. “When people show me who they are, I remember. The way you treated Fern—”
“That didn’t quite go as planned.” Lorien spoke fast as if worried I’d interject.
A fear that was well founded.
“What was the plan, Lorien?” I stepped closer.
“Drag Fern out of the keep by her hair like a barbarian intent on raping and pillaging?” He had the good grace to go pale at that, but I wasn’t done.
There was an anger inside me, one that came bubbling up, no matter how hard I tried to keep it stuffed down, but why would I show such restraint here?
“Just know that every single dragon here and their riders will bring you and your silver beasts down if you lay a finger on a lady, any lady.”
I amended my sentence hastily.
“Join the corp.” I nodded to the doorway. “Keep your damn hands to yourself and…” For just a second I considered if what I was about to say was wise, but for once I didn’t want to think about the consequences. “Stay the hell away from Lady Fern.”
I didn’t wait for a response, turning and striding off towards the women’s hall, just in time to see Fern and another woman emerge. Arms laden with uniforms and boots, I was there by her side in seconds.
“Let me take those for you.” Without waiting for permission, I plucked her burdens from her, happy to be the one to bear them. “So where have they got you staying?”
“In with the princess.” The other woman was a birdlike little creature, but what she lacked in size she seemed to make up for in personality. Her belongings were shoved against my chest, forcing my free hand to slap down on the growing pile lest they fall over. “I’m Sparrow. You’re Lance.”
“Gods, I’m so sorry,” Fern said. “I should’ve introduced the two of you.”
“No need.” Sparrow’s smile spread wide. “Everyone knows who Lance Axton is. I was working in the kitchens when you were a cadet here, but your exploits were legendary. The pranks—”
This is why I rarely came to the keep. It felt like the stones themselves were saturated with memories, of me, of my friends, and no one seemed to realise not all of them were pleasant ones.
“Were misguided and stupid.” I shot the two of them a meaningful look.
“Something I encourage the two of you to avoid getting caught up in.” Dimples popped in Sparrow’s cheeks, making clear what she thought of that advice.
I turned to Fern, something settling in my chest each time I looked at her.
“So you’re situated on the ground floor? ”
“I’m not sure…”
Fern’s head bent over the map that had been provided at the same time mine did and it took everything I had not to close the gap between us.
Gods, I needed to work out what the hell was wrong with me.
Fern was a beautiful woman, but I saw them all the time without losing all good sense.
For some reason, I felt like I was teetering on the edge of something each time I was in her presence, fighting to find a way to stop from falling.
And wanting to surrender to it with every breath.
“This is the ground floor.” My finger traced the path on the map, perilously close to hers. “They put you down here to ensure the women’s quarters are as far away from the men’s as possible.”
“Of course.” Fern looked up at me shyly. “For the sake of propriety.”
“And because the male cadets stink.” Sparrow’s interjection had us pulling apart to look her way. “When I was still a maid, we used to draw straws to see who’d be forced to clean the cadet bunks.”
“You put thirty odd young men in the one room.” I smiled wryly. “Have them working hard every day. Things like cleanliness can fall by the wayside.”
“Thirty…?” Fern turned to Sparrow, her face making clear what she thought about sharing a room with so many other women.
“Women don’t have to bunk in with all the other female cadets,” Sparrow assured her. “Some of the officers’ rooms were turned over to us when they started admitting women to the corp. Well…” Her eyes met mine. “Women other than Pippin.”
The Runaway Queen, that’s what they called her, but when I was a first year cadet, she was just Pippin. Curiosity, then friend, then… I swallowed hard and then said, “Well, let’s get you ladies situated.”
I led the way, following the winding corridors from memory until we stopped in front of the right door.
I opened it and then ushered the two of them in.
Fern’s eyes were everywhere but on me as she tried to take in the room, but Sparrow’s smirk made clear she knew exactly what was going on.
She sailed past and started pointing out the amenities.
“Cora is in there.” The suite featured a shared living room and then three bedrooms. The crown princess’ door was closed, but the other two rooms were open and empty except for the supplied furniture. “We get one of these rooms each.”
“Oh, this one has a spectacular view.”
Fern walked over to the window that spanned the wall, staring out to where some dragons were clustered in the courtyard. Beyond that the foothills of the mountain rose, wildflowers pocking the grass.
“You have this one,” Sparrow said.
“I couldn’t—” Fern said quickly.
“What do I need a view for?” Sparrow’s hands went to her hips. “Been looking at that mountain for my entire life. Not having the sun streaming in through windows as soon as it rises?” She strode into a nearby room and bounced on the bed. “This ones for me.”
The woman never seemed to stop moving, grabbing her items from my arms and dropping them on the bed, then walking over to the last room.
“The bathroom is over here. No showering in with all the other women for the princess, and so we don’t have to,” Sparrow announced proudly.
“A bath…” The way Fern said that word. I wanted her to say my name with the same kind of longing. Her hand slid along the copper bath’s edge. “Gods, I haven’t had one in days.” With a discreet sniff of her dress, she blanched.
“Want first bath?” Sparrow said, then yanked on the silken rope in the corner of the room.
“If you’re sure?” Fern asked.
“While watching someone else fill the bath for once will be a pleasure, its one I can wait for. If I’m desperate, I can duck up to one of the serving women’s bathrooms and have a shower.”
Sparrow’s eyes met mine, that mischievous smile back.
Was I that obvious? That my whole body tightened at the sight of the copper because my mind started racing.
The bath was big enough to admit the both of us and at that realisation, it was all I could see.
Stripping every piece of clothing from Fern, revealing the body my eyes couldn’t stop tracing the shape of, then letting my hands learn the terrain of it as I smoothed the soap across her skin.
“Take your time getting cleaned up,” I ground out. “I’ll stand guard outside.” Fern looked up at me in alarm. “Then I’ll escort the two of you to dinner. The feast the kitchens put on for intake day is always a memorable one.”
With a nod, I withdrew, but it wasn’t the rich meats or the crisp roast vegetables I thought about. When the maids brought buckets of steaming water and dumped then into the bath, I caught every splash.
Especially the last one.
With the maids gone and the door closed the last time, I knew it had to be the moment when Fern dropped into the bath.
My teeth ground together, wondering at the madness that consumed me.
Never in my life had my ears strained for the muffled sounds of a woman bathing, nor tried to visualise exactly how it went.
Rosy skin, sweetly rounded arms moving, hands smoothing over breasts that…
I wrenched my focus back to the hallway as several women walked past. I nodded and smiled politely to each one, but if you put a knife to my throat, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you a single thing about their features.
Not when my mind was obsessed with Fern’s.
When the door opened and the woman herself appeared, pink cheeked and dressed in her new uniform, I pushed myself away from the door.
Officers tweaked the uniforms of cadets all the time, showing them how they were supposed to sit.
Perhaps that’s why my hands moved now, shifting the collar, the seams following the line of her shoulders better.
They didn’t touch a stray strand of hair, tucking it behind their ear, though.
My fingertips burned as I did just that, only her shy smile forcing me to step backwards.
“Well done, cadet,” I said, offering her my arm. “Can I escort you to dinner?”
“You can escort the both of us.” Sparrow emerged from the suite, now also in uniform. She took my other arm and gave it a pat. “Eating fancy food and having someone else do the serving? Lead on, Lieutenant.”