Page 30 of Court of Rivals
Taking a deep breath, I focus on him and say,time for training. They want you in the practice yard.
No response.
I try again.Ebron! I need you!
Still, no response. Maybe I’m not doing this right. I try again, this time shouting into my mind,Ebron, you there? We’re supposed to practice today.
His lazy, happy voice comes into my mind.We’ll be there shortly. No need to shout.
Humm. I wonder what he’s been up to.
Around me, I can tell the men are getting irritated, although I don’t know why. Then, Prince Alaric says, “I don’t remember it ever taking this long to get a dragon's attention before.”
Prince Lucien glances over at me, his long blond hair now tied back from his face. “It probably has something to do withherdragon.”
Oh, hell no! It’s too early for me to already be taking the blame for these idiots and their dragons.
I shrug. “I can’t help it if your dragons are easily distracted by a pair of balls.”
Multiple eyes lock onto me, but I just cross my arms in front of my chest, trying to look casual. I might not go looking for a fight with these men, but if they bring one to my door, I’m not about to back down.
Prince Gareth strides over to me, and his brothers are suddenly at his heel. “Today in practice, things are going to gomyway.”
I cast him my bestI don’t give a fucklook.
He moves forward, so that he’s crowding my space. “My dragon leads. Their dragons follow. You? You’re at thewayback. You understand? I want you so far back you can barely see what’s going on.”
“Seems like a great way to learn,” I reply dryly.
“This is serious,” Prince Alaric says, stepping closer. “This whole thing might be a game to you, but it’s not to us. Training properly can be the difference between life and death out on the battlefield.”
“And I’m sure the safest place to be on a battlefield is in thefarback away from the rest of the pack,” I counter.
Prince Alaric’s face shifts into a startled expression. That’s one thing I’m starting to notice about him, whatever he’s thinking is always right on his face. Not so much with the other two. Prince Gareth likes to hide any emotion behind a scowl, and Prince Lucien tends to have an easy smile that never reaches his eyes, like he’s playing a part, but not doing it well.
“Back of the pack,” Prince Gareth tells me curtly. “Keep your fucking dragon in line.”
A shadow passes overhead, and then the earth shakes as Ebron lands roughly in the center of the practice area, his dark scales are beautiful against the afternoon sunlight. Moments later, Prince Gareth’s silver dragon lands, followed by Prince Lucien’s gold dragon, and Prince Alaric’s white dragon. Again, I’m struck by how much smaller they are than Ebron, nearly a fourth of the size. I’m much smaller than the princes, but I’m not even less than half their size. I can’t even imagine having sex with a man four times my size.
Not that I’m thinking about having sex with them.
It’s also strange how much more delicate the female dragons seem. Even their wings look more like butterfly wings and less like bat wings, like Ebron’s. Their snouts are thinner, their scales placed, almost as if to be more beautiful than durable, like Ebron’s. It’s a bit of a shock to me that these are the dragons that fight in the wars rather than the males. Although, I guess it makes sense when there are fewer males, and the males tend to want to be left alone.
“Ebron,” I call and hurry toward him. He lowers his head so I can pet his scales gently.
Beside us, the females roll onto their bellies, offering their bellies to Ebron as they make strange sounds that remind me of geese. As sophisticated and beautiful as they’ve seemed before, now they remind me of cats rolling around in the sunlight. The whole thing is strange.
“What are they doing?” I ask.
Trying to show me that they would make good mates. All the females are. They know that this time around I’m not just selecting mates for when they’re in heat, but mates for life, and they all want to be a partof my harem. But not to worry, I’ll choose our mates well.
“Did he answer you?”
I jerk, and find Prince Alaric close behind me, eyeing my dragon cautiously.
Without thinking, I touch my face. The bruise from his fist. My black eye, and I stare at him, wondering if he really expects us to just have a normal conversation.
His gaze snaps to where my hand touches my face, and he winces. “It wasn’t personal.”
