Page 8 of Creatures of War

Her smile was nice as she turned around and went through the doors, holding them open for me.

Chapter Six

Our room ended up being quite large, with beds on opposite sides and pushed up against the walls. Windows took over one wall, giving us a view of the city below us. We were even higher up than when we were in the ballroom.

“This place is amazing, isn’t it?” Aylia said as she moved over to one of the beds and sat on it, bouncing up and down briefly with a smile.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, not really sure what to say.

It looked nice for sure, but nothing about this place and the people were amazing. Our guide had seemed so proud about the fact that our academy was attached to the royal palace. I didn’t feel the same, not even close. Felt all too much like we were making it easier for the king to control us.

“So Rayna, right?” she asked.

“Yeah, Rayna Delian. I’m from a tiny farming village south of here.”

“Nice to meet you, Rayna. Aylia Craig. I’m originally from a place near Tyne, but I traveled around a bit for the last couple of years. I never expected to come here though. The day I was revealed was so surreal. My parents were just as surprised and zoomed me over here. I had to wait a few weeks now, but I heard that others who had just missed the first enrollment had to wait here for months.” Aylia shuddered. “So glad I wasn’t one of them. Two weeks was long enough for me.”

Aylia really knew how to talk, all that quietness now gone since it was just the two of us. I zoned out, my thoughts turning to the tightness in my chest instead. It almost felt empty with my guys so far away. I tried to send thoughts out to them, but either they didn’t respond or maybe they were too far away.

Or there was something wrong with them. But if something was wrong, I’d feel it, right?

“…and they were so pretty. I wanted to stay longer but we had to get here. Dad was too worried about me missing enrollment. Joke was on him how early we appeared.” Aylia was still hopping on her bed as she talked, clearly excited about being there. She practically shined as she talked, only making her cuter.

There was a loud knock that made us both jump. Aylia practically dove to hide behind her bed. I walked over and slowly pulled back the curtain, a bit scared to see what was making that sound. The window shook as knocking happened again just as I pulled the curtain back enough to see what it was.

My gaze met green ones, and I let out a little yelp as my heart jumped into my throat.

‘Rayna.’ Zilon smiled broadly.

‘Zilon! What are you doing here?’

His voice in my head had been more than welcoming.

“Who is it? Why is he there?” Aylia practically yelled, her panic settling in.

“He’s a friend,” I said quickly, turning to her as I opened the window. “He’s not going to hurt you.”

Aylia gaped at Zilon as he slipped into the room. Zilon was already taking the space in. His shoulders slumped and relief ran through me, coming from him.

“You’re okay,” he said in an almost whisper.

“I’m okay. How are the others?”

“Come with me and see. We were able to slip away, and the others are itching to get their eyes on you.”

“Others?” Aylia squeaked out. “Why is he here? What’s going on? Do you know how much trouble we can get in if he’s caught? We aren’t supposed to mingle with the dragons until we’re mated.”

I sighed and went over to her. She was so kind, and it wasn’t like I was keeping this a deep, dark secret. I expected that by this time tomorrow, people were going to know that I was already mated and that I had multiple of them.

“It’s fine,” I said, grabbing her hands. She didn’t pull away from me, so I took that as a good sign. “He’s my mate. I already found my mates.”

“Mates?” She yelped.

That info seemed to get her attention.

I nodded. “More than one. Three of them in fact.”

“What? How? Is that even possible? Wait, you’re the one who came in already mated? The one Coral was asking about? And three? Wh…how?”

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