Page 32 of Court of Rivals
Ireallyhave to get one of those saddles.
We dive up, and then we suddenly start diving down.
Ready for a dip?
I grip onto him tighter. “Ready!”
He dives down into the ocean and the cold water hits me like a brick wall. If I hadn’t been warned, I might have struggled not to drown, but I hold my breath until I don’t think I can hold it any longer, and then Ebron shoots us right back out of the water.
Wet, the cold wind stinging my skin, I laugh. “That was amazing!”
Looking behind me, I watch as one after another female dragon pops right out of the water. Some of the smaller ones struggle a bit more to escape the water, but before long, we’re all back in the air.
I feel… alive. Alive and free. Maybe I wasn’t born to be a dragon rider, but my soul was meant for greater things than just the earth and walking on my two feet. This is everything I never knew I wanted and more.
Time to head back. The females are getting tired,Ebron says, his tone amused.
“Are you tired?”
Never, he has a sharp bark of laughter.But the male dragon riders are tired too. Tired and grumpy. I don’t think they enjoyed our dip in the water.
“Ugh,” I say, already preparing myself for a fight.
We land in the training yard, and the princes land beside me. Their dragons are the only ones who managed to stay right behind us throughout all the training. I use Ebron’s wing to get off my dragon and start heading for my room for a much needed bath and meal.
“Harper!” Prince Gareth shouts behind, and it’s the kind of shout that makes all the hairs on your body stand on end.
I whirl around, fists clenched, pretty sure no one has ever made the prince this angry before.
He storms up to me. His pretty dark hair soaking wet and falling over one eye. His bare chest covered in a layer of water that gleams back at me. “What thefuckwas that?”
I tear my gaze from his very delicious-looking chest. “What?”
He grabs me by the arm and hauls me against him. “That was reckless, immature, stupid, and selfish. Do you have any idea the danger you put all of us in today?”
Glancing up, it’s strange to see the storm brewing in his deep blue eyes. “I didn’t do anything. Ebron led the other dragons, and they followed.”
“But you’re not the leader,” he shouts into my face. “I’m the leader. You and Ebron need to follow me.”
I try not to flinch with the full force of his anger leveled at me. “Your dragons wanted to follow him, so they followed him.”
“Fuck!” he shouts, his mouth inches from mine. “How can you possibly be this careless? This stupid?”
Something warm hums in my lower belly. Something I don’t understand.
There’s movement to my side. Prince Lucien and Prince Alaric are watching, but based on the looks on their faces, they both agree with Prince Gareth.Great, I won’t find any allies with them.
“I don’t know what you want me to say. If you want to lead the dragons, then you find a way to get them to follow you. That has nothing to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you,” he growls.
“Ebron decided–”
“That’sexactlyit, you’re letting your dragon decide. That can’t happen. In battle, it’s imperative that your dragon obey you. I’ve never seen such a strange relationship between human and dragon before, but you need to get something through your thick skull. Ebron is not your friend. He is not your equal. He’s a tool you use for battle. The dragons understand this. Just as the Hollowborn are our enemies, the bone wyrm are theirs. This system works because we have a shared enemy. Because we’re the brains and they’re the brawns.”
I don’t know what to say. “I’ll talk to Ebron–”
“Fuck!” Prince Lucien shouts from nearby, stray long blond hairs dripping with water down his face. “She doesn’t get it.”
