Chapter 20
Fern
“Go and sit on the other side of the hall…” I hissed, shooting Kael a dark look.
I’d dreamed of stepping into a crowded ballroom and all eyes turning my way, but the reality was far less pleasant than I’d anticipated.
The poor officer trying to outline the rules and regulations of cadet life was struggling to hold people’s attention.
Perhaps because like me, they followed the every move of the dragon rider’s fingers as they stretched up, tracing a short path down the back of my neck only to find each stray curl of hair that had sprung free of my bun.
I barely suppressed a shiver each time he stroked his fingers through them.
“And why would I do that?” My eyes slid sideways in time to catch his rakish smile.
That had me jerking my eyes back to the front of the room.
“If I close my eyes, I can still feel you in my arms.” My breath sucked in too fast had him chuckling.
“You too? Well, that’s good to know. Imagine how good it will be when I’m holding you—”
“We’re holding you.” I was supposed to be focussed on what the officer was saying, not the lean-faced man on my left.
He held out a hand, his smile entirely different to his comrades.
Full of mischief, he twisted his wrist, making clear he’d continue with the introductions whether I wanted to or not.
“Not sure if you remembered, but I’m Lorien.
” I clasped his hand briefly, pulling away again in seconds. “The big lump behind you is Dain.”
The white-haired man. He’d scowled as he stalked into the room, looking more like a mountain lion than a man, equally out of place. Those brows drew down harder when he saw me, forcing my feet to move faster as I took my seat.
“So—” Lorien went to say.
“I want to emphasise.” The officer leaned over the lectern, gripping its sides as he scanned the hall and wouldn’t you know it, his eyes settled on me.
“That everyone who stays at the keep does so at the general’s pleasure.
Our dragons are swift and unyielding when dispensing the king’s justice.
If you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, one where you feel you are being coerced in any way, always bring this up with an officer. ”
The sound of the bells signalling the next class was about to begin was exactly what I needed. I sprang to my feet, ready to scurry out of the hall, away from the audience and my ‘escort,’ but of course, that wasn’t to be.
“Where are we off to, lass?” Lorien kept pace with me with ease, plucking my schedule from my fingers. “Art class? Well, I can’t even manage a stick figure myself, but I guess I’ll have to give it a go.”
“What?” I snatched back my schedule, holding it close to my chest and that was the moment when his smiled faded.
He seemed to be focussed far too much on the piece of paper or was it my…
? I jerked my hand down and that grin was back again.
“You have your own classes. Something manly like swordplay or beer drinking or farting on command.”
“Not anymore.” When Kael appeared before me my jaw clenched so tight the muscle began to ache. “Where you go, so do we.”
“I—”
“I’m off to cookery class,” Sparrow said as she joined us. “But we’ll meet up at morning tea.” Her eyes sparkled as she took the four of us in. “You can tell me all about this then.”
A protest rose and died in my throat as she hurried off.
So did everyone else, striving to get to class on time, which meant I needed to do the same.
With a growl I turned on my heel, my boots clicking across the floor as I dove into the stream of students, making for what I hoped was the art studios.
Only for them to dog my every step.
“Don’t have to run off, lass.” I could almost feel Kael’s dark tones, like a caress across my skin. “We’ll chase you either way and I can say with all confidence that nothing me and mine hunts avoids capture.”
That had me stopping still and staring at Kael, then his comrades.
The man himself grinned like a cat that got the cream, Lorien resting his elbow on the other man’s shoulder as all three drew closer.
Like a wall of masculine flesh, they were cutting me off from the rest of the keep, as if I had no choice but to submit to their blandishments.
But my eyes were opened the moment I bonded with Auren.
Sweeping into my family’s estate with a massive dragon that swore she’d eat anyone who crossed me.
My sister’s stammered out story, laying bare the horror of her life, when I thought she was living the dream.
I had been given a gift, one where I decided my destiny, not some man.
Men.
With a glance over the shoulders of the three riders, I saw people, so many people in cadet uniforms, passing by, but it was the sight of a man in a black leather uniform loping past that caught my attention.
Moving past my harassers, then cutting across the path of several cadets, I came to stand before the man.
“Rider?” He stopped and blinked, looking me up and down. “Could I trouble you for a moment?”
His expression changed then, a slow smile forming. With a touch of his fingers to his forehead, he performed a truncated bow.
“Of course, milady. How may I be of service?”
“These men are being very…” I pointed at the three of them, enjoying the way their faces turned to stone. “Persistent. Would you escort me to the art studio?”
“Are they indeed?” His own expression turned hard, right before he offered me his arm. “Of course, Lady…?”
“Fern,” I replied, wrapping my hand his leather clad forearm. There was a satisfaction to be gained from seeing Kael, Lorien, and this Dain fellow’s expressions growing thunderous. “And may I know the name of my saviour?”
“Hardly a saviour.” The rider smiled nonetheless, obviously pleased by the title. “And it’s Slade, milady. Now, the first year art studios are this way.”
Slade was like a great ship, slicing through the waves of other cadets, forcing them to step aside and let us move down the hallway at speed. The silver dragon riders had no such luck. As I glanced over my shoulder, the mass of students closed around us, so each man trailed along far behind us.
“Here we are.” Slade turned to me once we reached the doorway of the studio and right when I was about to thank him for his time, a hand landed on the wall above my head. My eyes went wide as he leaned in, staring down at me. “So you’re one of the new cadets?”
“Ah, yes…” I stammered out.
“Figured.” His eyes slid down my body and I was beginning to think it wasn’t to make sure my uniform was in order. “I’d remember if I saw a pretty girl like you in the dining hall.”
“Oh… ah…” Gods, what the hell did I say? It felt like all of my training was lost as the man smiled down at me. “Thank you? Yes, thank you for getting me to class in one piece. If there’s ever anything—?”
“Have lunch with me.” I was just repeating the pat phrases we all used when someone did us a service, but I’d never had anyone actually take the offer up before.
His smile widened. “Riders eat on the floor above the cadet’s mess.
Come up there when the lunch bell rings or…
” He glanced down at my schedule then back at me.
“Or I can come by history class and escort you up to lunch. You’ll be looking for some relief after sitting through one of Christian’s interminably boring lectures. ”
“I quite like history.” That came out far more abruptly than I meant it too. “But of course, I’d be happy to dine with you.”
“Can’t wait.”
With a flick of his fingers, he sketched me a quick salute, then turned on his heel and marched away, only for the three of them to appear at my classroom.
“Little bird—” Kael growled. The man had more overbearing nonsense to spout. I wasn’t having any of that.
“Lady Fern to you,” I said primly. “Milady, as we were not formally introduced. I have art class and—”
“So do I.” Dain’s mood hadn’t improved at all, but he brushed past the lot of us, walking in through the door. “Go. I’ll ensure Fern is safe.”
My mouth feel open because the white-haired man was able to achieve something I failed at. The other two backed off with a nod.
“We’ll see you at lunch then.” Lorien bowed slightly. “Farewell, milady.”
My muscles were locked down tight, my whole body bristling, ready to fight, but he and Kael turned with a nod, walking away.
That left me to go to class. Dain was already inside the room, moving around the circle of easels.
I was spared a sidelong glance, but the moment when our eyes met, he was frowning again, right before he took a seat a place on the opposite side to me.
Which left me free to look around the room.
My smile came unbidden. The cluttered room was full of paper, canvasses, and plaster sculptures, the air perfumed by the scent of dust and turpentine. The colours of the sketches, the watercolour pinned to the wall…
I was in heaven.
“Sit, sit…” An older man with a very distinctive waxed moustache stepped into the room, a long scarf looped around his neck and trailing over his shoulder. “I am your tutor, Lucien, and today—”
“You’re taking art too?” Cora slid into the seat beside me, a leather satchel of brushes and pencils set down on the small table between us. I nodded, her impish smile a match for my own. “I should’ve asked you last night. We could’ve walked over to the studio together.”
Lucien grabbed a couple of plaster casts and began setting them up on the podium in the centre of the room.
“That’s very kind,” I said, but it was Dain’s eyes I stared into across the floor, not Cora’s. “I managed to find a escort to help me find the class.”
“Now.” Lucien clapped his hands together.
“Let’s start off with a few quick sketches to find out what we’re working with.
Pencils and charcoal can be found at your easels.
” I looked down and saw a variety of drawing implements had been placed in a small drawer under the bottom of the easel.
I pulled out a soft pencil, thumbing the lead.
“Gestural sketches.” Lucien waved his hands through the air theatrically.
“We don’t have time for anything detailed. Show me what you can do.”
My pencil rose, and I started feathering it across the page.