Page 18 of Court of Rivals
“Okay, I’ll ask him if he wants to go riding.”
“Ask?” Prince Gareth repeats, spinning to face me.
“Yes,” I tell him, wondering what I’d done wrong now.
“We don’t ask. Wetellour dragons what we’re doing,” he says angrily.
“And how does that work out for you?” I ask, my tone sarcastic.
“They usually listen to us,” Prince Alaric offers softly.
Prince Gareth and Prince Lucien continue walking, more like storming away. Fists clenched. Backs straight.
Screw them.
I close my eyes and try communicating with Ebron.I guess we’re going to be flying with these jackasses and showing them that we can handle being here. If you want.
My dragon’s voice comes low and strong.Very good. These females are overwhelmed by me, but I can’t pick my mates properly if I don’t know who is strongest. Who is the fastest.
I open my eyes and Prince Alaric is staring at me. For a moment, his expression is pure fascination before the look disappears, and his face is blank once more.
“My dragon’s been told,” I say.
He nods, and we continue walking. Following the others at a bit of a distance.
“So,” I begin. “How long have you been training to be a dragon rider?”
His words are factual and cold. “I, like all the other dragon riders here, have been training since I was a small child. Since I was old enough to walk. Dragons and dragon riding are our lives here, because we know the Hollowborn are a danger that only we can stop.”
“And how did your dragon choose you?”
“All dragon riders are taken to the Island of Dragons. The place dragons return to in order to lay their eggs and hatch their offspring. We stay there and try to get a dragon to choose us astheir rider. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. No matter how much training a rider has, nothing guarantees them that they’ll get a dragon.”
“Interesting.” I hesitate, but decide to press on. “I guess that makes the way Ebron and I found each other even more unusual.”
“Yes, it does,” his words are clipped.
We come back out into the practice yard. Ebron is in the center. Waiting. Female dragons are circling overhead. I don’t wait. I hurry over to Ebron, stand on his wings, and he lifts me up and puts me on his large back.
Prince Lucien calls up at me. “We have a way of doing things. Just follow along and you’ll be fine.”
“Sounds good,” I tell him, but can’t stop the sarcasm that laces my words.
We launch up into the sky, and then begin to circle as the smaller females land in the practice yard, and the men climb onto their backs. I notice, for the first time, that all the female dragons have essentially saddles on their backs.Saddles seem like a good idea.
“We’re going to have to get you a saddle,” I tell Ebron.
His voice is nonchalant.If that’s what it takes to fight the Hollowborn.
Soon, all the female dragons are in the air around us, with their riders on their backs. There are perhaps twelve men in the sky with me, and all of them seem cool and confident. I get the feeling they have something planned, but I don’t have time to think when Ebron takes off. He picks a direction and starts flying as fast as he can, and the females fall in line behind him. All of them seem to be trying to go the fastest, but it’s the three princes who are right on our heels. Prince Gareth’s dragon is right behind us. She’s a large silver dragon with scales that seem to sparkle in the light of the sun. Prince Lucien’s dragon isnext. She’s nearly as large as Prince Gareth’s dragon, but she’s golden. The same exact shade as his hair. Prince Alaric’s dragon is gorgeous. As pure white as fallen snow, with wide wings that seem far too big for her.
There’s a desperate energy to the female dragons. I get an overwhelming sense of arousal. Of attraction, and I glance back at the three princes, my heart racing for other reasons than just the flight. The strange awareness of my body is unsettling, so I’m glad when Ebron suddenly shoots straight up into the sky. I have to hold on tight to his scales to keep from falling, but the feeling is like nothing else on this earth.
“Woot! Woot!” I shout into the sky.
Then, Ebron dives down past the females, nearly hitting several on his descent. I’m cheering excitedly as we nearly hit the ocean beneath us, then pull up at the last minute. The female dragons behind us are trying to follow our pattern. But still, somehow, the three princes’ dragons are staying the closest to us.
We move, ducking, diving, as Ebron, I suspect, tests all the females. Every time I catch a glimpse of the other riders, they look pissed as hell, but I ignore them. This is what Ebron wants to do, so this is what we’ll do. If it’ssoeasy for them to control their dragons, I’m sure they can stop the females from following us.
