32. Aurora
AURORA
“What was that all about?” Jorn-o asked me as we left the Mess Hall together. I’d been afraid that Ryse might insist on coming with me, but he hadn’t said a word when the bell rang, and I jumped up from my new spot at his table and hurried away.
“I don’t know.” I said, looking away. “I think it might have to do with Larson. Ryse feels responsible because he used to be in his Wing.”
“Used to be in his Wing?” Toady exclaimed, his eyes wide.
“Holy shit!” Bugs exclaimed. “Then it’s true—Skoren kicked him out!”
“Who’s he replacing him with, then?” Leaper wanted to know.
“Me,” I said in a small voice.
“What?” Jorn-o gave me a look that was pure confusion. “But that’s not how it works! You can’t be in a Wing unless you have a dragon to fly.”
“Ryse says I’ll be flying with him until I get my own dragon,” I said.
My friends all shook their heads.
“Never heard of a First-year getting into a Wing before,” Toady muttered.
“I know, but it’s not like I asked to be in a Wing!” I exclaimed. “And anyway, I think it’s just that Ryse wants to protect me from Larson for some reason.”
“I think you’re right,” Jorn-o said thoughtfully. “At least, if what I overheard earlier today is any indication.”
“What? What did you hear?” everyone wanted to know—myself included.
“Well, I spilled something on my shirt at lunch, so I ducked back into the dorm to change between classes,” Jorn-o told us.
“But as I was coming out of the bathroom, I saw Skoren talking to our Dorm Monitor. I couldn’t hear everything, but it sounded like he was demanding that Larson get moved out of Dorm A. ”
“What?” I exclaimed, barely believing it. Was there no end to Ryse Skoren’s meddling in my life? It wasn’t like I was completely helpless. Why wouldn’t he leave well enough alone?
“Yeah and actually, the Dorm Monitor agreed,” Jorn-o said. “So I don’t think Larson is in our dorm anymore.”
“Just hope he didn’t get moved to ours,” Bugs said dolefully. “He’s a mean bastard.”
“Yeah, and getting kicked out of his Wing and his dorm on the same day is only going to make him meaner,” Bugs agreed.
I didn’t say anything—my mind was still reeling.
So Ryse had actually gone out of his way to get Chud Larson moved out of my dorm.
I was going to have to confront him, I thought to myself.
I couldn’t let him keep solving all my problems—I had to stand on my own two feet, or no one would ever respect me at the Academy.
I was already the shortest and the weakest—I didn’t need to look like a coward too!
My chance came later that night. I took my usual quick dip in the Cook-pot, then wrapped myself in towels and waited by the broad, arching entrance to the underground lake until I saw the Second-years coming.
The moment I caught sight of Ryse, I motioned at him. He had been talking and laughing with some of the other Second-years but he nodded at once and came over to me.
“What is it, Auri?” he asked, his brows drawing low. “Did he bother you again?”
“No, you did!” I exclaimed.
“I did?” He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Just come here—I need to talk to you.”
I stomped over to the far side of the wall, which curved into a natural alcove and offered a bit of privacy.
Ryse followed, still frowning. He was wearing a single white towel draped low around his hips and his broad, bare chest was on display—a fact I tried very hard not to notice.
I myself was wearing one towel around my waist and the other draped across my shoulders to hide my breasts. Even though my Dragon Glass pendant hid my true identity, there was no use in tempting fate.
“All right, what’s all this about?” he wanted to know.
I saw no reason to beat around the bush.
“You can’t keep interfering in my life,” I told him. “I mean, I appreciate you trying to keep me safe, but I have to face my own problems.”
He shook his head.
“We’ve been over this, Auri. You’re just too small and Larson is too big and too mean.”
“But you kicked him off your Wing and got him kicked out of my dorm!” I protested.
Ryse’s golden eyes flashed.
“Because I don’t trust him around you,” he growled. “For the Goddess’s sake, he left a necklace of bruises around your throat, Auri!”
As he spoke, he reached out to trace the dark bruises on my tender flesh with one finger.
The simple, gentle touch made me tremble, but I tried to ignore the way my heart was pounding.
“But he’s only going to hate me more, now,” I pointed out. “You’ve made him an outcast—a rider without a Wing.”
“Someone will take him eventually,” Ryse said, frowning. “In the meantime, I’ve had M’alex speak to his dragon. He’ll be reigning her in, which ought to put a check on Larson. I also let him know if he lays a single finger on you again, M’alex will let me know and he’ll be sorry.”
It was a convoluted chain of communication, but I guessed it made sense. If Larson tried to hurt me, his dragon would feel it. And if M’alex was keeping an eye on her, he would know it too and then he would relay that to Ryse, who would come after Larson.
And all because of me.
“I don’t understand.” I shook my head. “Why, Ryse? Why do you care what happens to me? You barely know me—I’m just a runty little First-year without a dragon.”
His eyes flashed again.
“Don’t call yourself that. You’ll grow—you just need more of the Dragon Custard. And you’ll get a dragon—I meant what I said, you won’t get less than a Gold-wing.”
He had a lot more faith in my bloodlines than I did.
I shook my head again.
“You still didn’t answer my question. Why are you so set on protecting me?”
Ryse’s eyes slid away from mine and he ran a hand through his hair, which made his chest muscles flex. I tried not to look.
“Remember when I told you I always listen to my dragon?” he said at last.
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Well…for some reason, M’alex thinks you’re important.” He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling with the gesture. “I don’t know how or why—I’m just doing what he tells me to.”
“Oh…all right.” I didn’t know why I felt let down. Had I been hoping that Ryse was interested in me and wanted to protect me because he had some kind of feelings for me?
But that was crazy because he still thought I was a male, I reminded myself. I was lucky that M’alex had taken an interest in me. Otherwise, it would be me against Larson, and I knew who would win in that situation.
“I’m flattered that your dragon likes me so much, but I can stand on my own two feet,” I told him at last. “You didn’t have to put me in your Wing—was that M’alex’s idea, too?”
Ryse nodded—a little too quickly, I thought.
“He wants me to keep you close to me,” he told me. “Again, I don’t know why. Maybe it has something to do with your, uh, ability. Being able to feel dragon emotions, I mean.”
I sighed. This again.
“Is it really that unusual?”
“I told you, I’ve only read about one other person who had it,” Ryse said seriously. “I need to go back to the library and see if I can find that text,” he added, more to himself than me. Then he frowned at me. “How could you not know it was unusual?”
“My br—I mean my sister had it too,” I said.
“We grew up feeling the emotions of our father’s dragon.
” I shifted and wrapped my arms around myself.
“Of course, most of what we felt was rage. My father was always so angry after he got demoted to Wide Sweeps and F’lorn fed off his anger and amplified it.
Which made him even angrier and it went on and on and on like that. ”
Ryse’s golden eyes softened.
“That’s a bad cycle to get into,” he said softly. “A rider has to keep control of his emotions—otherwise he and his dragon can go into a downward spiral pretty quickly.”
I thought of the final downward spiral my father and his dragon had taken…thought of their broken bodies at the bottom of the ravine… It took some effort to push the bad memory away.
“Well, I just thought it was normal,” I said. “But we’re getting off topic—I need to be able to stick up for myself.”
“And you will be able to,” Ryse told me. “Because starting tomorrow, you’ll be training with me every morning.”
“What?” I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
“The Second-year’s weight room,” he told me.
“It’s located on Level Two, down the hall from here.
” He gestured down the hallway that led away from the Cook-pot.
“You’re going to meet me there an hour before First Bell every morning and we’re going to make you strong enough to stand up for yourself. ”
“But—” I started to protest, but he put a finger to my lips to stop me.
“Before you start complaining, I know you’ve been getting up early to go ride the Flight Simulator every morning, so it’s not like you’ll be missing the sleep.
Plus, the kind of work-out I’m going to design for you will be a hell of a lot more useful than just clinging onto a wooden dragon for an hour every day. ”
I supposed I couldn’t argue with that. Also, I was pretty sure I would get kicked out of the Academy if I ever went near the Flight Simulator outside of class-time hours again.
“All right,” I said at last, when he moved his finger. I wondered why my lips tingled where he’d touched me.
“Good.” He nodded in satisfaction. “Now come on—I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I protested. “I can get there fine on my own.”
“I just want to be sure your Dorm Monitor is there and you’re not all alone,” he said, and I could see I wouldn’t be able to talk him out of it.
“All right. Thank you,” I said, with as much graciousness as I could muster.
But as we walked back to my dorm, I couldn’t help wondering how it was that I had not only not stopped him from interfering in my life but had somehow agreed to even more interference.