Page 20 of Court of Rivals
He turns and looks back at me, anger in his voice. “You’re pretty smug for someone who’s never fought a Hollowborn.”
Disappointment swells inside of me as the next man heads toward me, without looking in my direction. Prince Gareth doesn’t even try to look happy, or excited, that I could keep up with his little crew of riders. He simmers with rage as he storms past me.
Prince Alaric walks past me a little more slowly, and my gaze is glued to his muscles as he lifts his hand to run it through his short brown hair. Our eyes meet momentarily, and I get the sense he’s curious about me, but he jerks his gaze away just as fast. If I’m looking for a friend among these dragon riders, I have a feeling I’ll be looking for a long time.
I have found a comfortable place just a short distance from the academy grounds. Call if you need me, Ebron says, then takes off into the sky.
Watching him go, a pang of loneliness echoes through me, but I fight to ignore it. If I’m going to be a dragon rider, if I’m going to be a warrior, I can’t let something as foolish asloneliness take me down. Turning, I spot a man by the door. He has overgrown brown hair and light brown eyes. Not a bad looking fella, by any means, but he’s being a little strange. He’s lingering, watching me.
When our eyes meet, he hurries over, but his expression is hesitant. “Hello, I’m Roland Graves.”
“Harper Nightborne,” I tell him.
He gives a big sigh, like just us talking is costing him something precious. “The king has decided that you may need an official guide here and has assigned me to you. I can show you back to your room and go over some basic information about the academy that might be useful to you.”
“Oh,” I’m surprised, but happy. “That would be wonderful!”
We start to walk together, and I decide to hell with it. “Any idea why everyone here hates me so much?”
He gives me a startled looking then rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Imagine spending your whole life trying to win a gold crown, and then one day someone just walks up and takes it. It’s a pretty shitty feeling.”
“Is my dragon the golden crown?”
He nods. “Having a male dragon as a rider is almost legendary. Our books show it’s possible, and I think in the back of all our minds we hoped to have a dragon like that for ourselves. Watching someone who hasn’t even been trained have one is… rough.”
“But he’s not a thing, he’s a living being.”
He shrugs. “It doesn’t change the way we feel.” His expression shifts a little. “Many of the men have even tried to make their cases to have Ebron for themselves in the short time you’ve been here, but Ebron has ignored their requests.”
I startle. “We can talk to each other’s dragons?”
He casts me an angry look. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. You don’t even know basic things.” There’s irritation inhis voice. “Yes, we can talk to other dragons. We can shout to a room of them, it’s all about picturing where you want your thoughts to go. If you picture it to everyone, everyone will hear you. It works the same for dragons, although dragons rarely talk to humans outside of their rider.”
“Good to know,” I mutter. “So, how does one… graduate from the dragon riders’ academy?”
He gives me another look of disbelief. “As long as you fight in the war against the Hollowborn, you’re in the academy. They keep us constantly training to ensure we’re sharp. Here, right now, is just one group of dragon riders, but there are more all over the kingdom, and there’s always a group stationed at Gore Rock, of course. Dragon riders are rotated from their locations to the academy every few months. Our time here is the closest thing to a break that we get. When we, or our dragon, get too old to fight, we retire and work more as advisors to the academy and the riders. Many of the retired riders actually teach classes, some of which you’ll be attending soon.”
I realize we’re in the halls and start to pay more attention to my surroundings.Is this where my room is? Or do all the halls look the same?
“All of this is really helpful. I was actually surprised that no one had told me anything earlier. It was like I was just being jerked from one thing to another.”
He runs his hand through his messy hair. “Actually, I think the king assumed the princes would help you, but then he decided it might be best to actually assign someone to you.”
We stop at a door, and he pushes it open. Stepping back inside, I do indeed see that it’s my room. My really beautiful, spacious room that looks even better in the afternoon light.
“You’ve actually got one of the nicer rooms,” he tells me. Pointing to my right, he explains, “Prince Alaric is on that side. Prince Lucien is on your other.” Then, he leads me out to thebalcony. The training yard is beneath us. Matching balconies on all sides. He points at a balcony across from me. “That’s Prince Gareth’s room. And all the other rooms are filled with other riders.”
“Oh, fun,” I mutter sarcastically.
He winces. “I’d like to say things will get easier, but I kind of doubt they will. You’re lucky though. The Hollowborn have been pretty quiet lately. It’s a good time to train and learn.”
“Good to know.”
“Piece of advice?”
I nod. “Always.”
“Maybe try to follow the lead of the princes a bit more, especially Prince Gareth. They don’t exactly appreciate being put in a submissive position.”
