Page 19 of Court of Rivals
Suddenly, Ebron jerks wildly, and I nearly go tumbling off his back. I have to cling to his scales and climb up his side to get back in place. Once I do, I notice the cause of my trouble. Prince Gareth is knocking his dragon into Ebron. Prince Lucien’s dragon hits us from the other side, but this time I’m ready. I cling more tightly to his scales, wondering what the hell they’re doing.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I shout, unsure whether or not they can actually hear me.
My dragon answers, cool and calm.They’re challenging us. They want to see if we’re tough enough to handle being their peer. We will show them that we have a warrior’s heart.
Ebron begins swerving, then darts into the sky. When they start to catch up with us, he dives back down. I’m laughing. I can’t help myself. I love the feeling of the air all around me and the sense of danger makes my heart race in the best way possible.
Suddenly, a dragon smashes into Ebron. My hands scramble for purchase, but I’m falling. My hands claw out around me, but there’s nothing to hold onto. The ocean is rapidly coming at me, as does the awareness that hitting that water will be like hitting a brick wall.
I swallow down a scream of fear, screw my eyes closed, and prepare for the pain.
Instead, I smack into something hard, except it’s not the ocean, and I’m not dead. Opening my eyes, I see that Ebron has caught me, landing me square on his back. My heart starts working again, and elation fills me.I’m alive! I survived!
Laughing, I throw my arms out and fly on my dragon’s back. Me, a healer, a nobody. I’m flying on a dragon’s back and the feeling of freedom is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life.
We should head back.
“We probably should,” I say, grinning. “Have you picked out your mate yet?”
I’m still deciding about our mates.
I notice he saysourmates, but it’s likely a mistake. A dragon slip of tongue.
We’re about to head back when Prince Gareth flies up beside us. “Race you!” he shouts, then takes off in front of me.
There’s a grumble of laughter in my mind from Ebron before he takes off after them. It takes seconds to bridge the gap between them and us, and then we’re overtaking them. Ebron doesn’t even seem to be straining himself when he passes them, and we have a wide space between us.
Once he’s proved his point, he stops.
Prince Alaric and his white dragon appear at our other side. “How about the obstacle course?”
“Obstacle course?”
He doesn’t respond, just darts down.
We follow him, genuinely curious. We discover, just above the treetops in the woods, big rings attached to poles. Prince Alaric and his dragon fly through one with ease. We follow, more carefully because of Ebron’s much larger size. But before long, we overtake them, and then we’re darting through rings far ahead of them.
I’m laughing again. “This is fun!”
Very fun. I expected battle preparations to be… different.
“Now, we head back to the academy.”
Ebron steers us back to our new home, and the female dragons stay close behind. We land in the center of the training area, with the princes’ dragons landing on both sides of us. The females turn to Ebron, flapping their wings, and making strange sounds.
“What are they doing?” I ask.
Ebron sounds amused.A mating ritual. They seek to gain my interest, even though they already have it. When male dragons come around, it creates a competition between the females, each wishing to be the one he chooses. They’re just accustomed to having to seek me out, not to me coming to them. This will be… different.
My dragon lifts his wing, and I use it to climb down, feeling on top of the world. Ebron I just showed them, all of them, that we can handle being here. That we deserve a place at this academy. Now that they’ve seen as much, things should get easier. We should have their respect.
“That was amazing!” I call out as Prince Lucien dismounts his own dragon.
His long blond hair has been tangled by the wind, and his skin has been kissed by the wind. He looks… handsome. Dashing. Exactly the way I’d imagine a prince and dragon rider to look.
Except, he just walks past me, ignoring my words.
“Come on,” I call after him. “That was an amazing first ride together.”
