Page 11 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

“Relax, I won’t have any accidents, and I won’t be on patrols until at least next year.”

The hurried clatter of hooves on stone ricochets off the houses around us, and I tense.

“Right, that’s why they call them accidents, because people plan them.” Sloan’s words drip with sarcasm, and I laugh.

“You worry too much. I’ll be fine.” I wave off her objection while the riders pass us and continue down the street.

You only have to survive Assessment, I think. I’ll worry about the rest once I get there.

Sloan hurries to catch up with me. I see her eyeing me and know what’s coming next even before she plucks on the tunic that peeks out from under my sweater. Both are new and represent the local style.

“I still don't see why you are dressed like a boy. They do let girls join, right?” Sloan looks affronted on my behalf, which makes me smile.

“It’s less suspicious. I will be one of many instead of the one exception.” Guilt swirls in my stomach. I hate lying, but Darren, as the commanding general of the king’s army, gets regular updates on all the military posts. If he hears about a girl who climbs like a squirrel and just started training at the Aerie in Telos—the same place I happen to spend my ‘vacation’ at—he will be here to drag my ass back home before I even have the chance to try on the uniform.

“And what happens once they find out you lied?” Sloan voices the worries I’ve stubbornly ignored so far.

“I guess I have to hope that being bonded and my connections will be enough to keep them from doing something drastic.”

Like executing me.

My smile falters for a second. Well, it’s not like that outcome would be different from what I’d face now if anyone finds out I’m cursed.

“You hope?” Sloan’s wide eyes are locked on me.

I shrug. I’d rather have her think I’m crazy than endanger her by telling her too much.

My plan is easy: get into the academy, bond a bird at Picking, and become a skyrider. Boom, all problems fixed, and no one has to protect me anymore.

At least I can fight. Growing up in a fortress that’s an active outpost with four older brothers as companions has its perks in that regard.

Sloan is quiet next to me, and I hope she doesn’t regret helping me.

A shadow slips over me, and I look up, multiple dark shapes circle above us. Some are so far up they can be mistaken for ordinary birds, some so close, their shadows blot out the sun while they pass overhead. The riders on their back are not always visible from down here, but I know they’re there.

That is what I’m going to become—a skyrider.

Seeing their dark shapes outlined against the blue sky above me transports me back to the day three months ago that sparked the plan to come here.

“They are so going to kill me,” Sloan says, drawing me out of my memory.

I grimace. If my brothers find out what I’m up to, they will lose their shit for sure. Not that they would harm her, but I can easily see them dragging me back like a glorified prisoner.

A tall sand-colored building peeks out from behind the townhouses surrounding us, and I perk up—the academy. Suddenly, I can’t wait to get this over with.

I like Sloan, I do. We are as close as you can be if you see your cousin only a few weeks every summer, but she’s too goodat worrying, and I don’t see the point. It’s not like it changes anything.

Big iron gates loom beside us, marking the beginning of the academy grounds. The gates are part of an equally imposing iron fence held up by intermittent stone pillars of the same sand-colored stone as the buildings behind them.

On my left, the fence gives way to a tall building. The buildings all have a similar structure to our fortress at home, but their walls are as light as the fortress is dark.

The compound is in excellent shape, not a blade of grass or a tree branch out of place, and the building's big windows sparkle in the light of the sun rising above the mountains in the east. They have the distinctive bluish glint of magically enforced glass, making them as durable as the walls around them.

Ian would approve.

The two guards operating the gates give us a cursory glance before ignoring us. More guards patrol the perimeter farther down, and there is a slight shimmer in the air around the gate too, hinting at magic.

The whole academy is a lot bigger and more impressive than I thought. The buildings are all at least four stories high, their pitched roofs and towers surrounded by a parapet walk.

---