Page 56 of Court of Rivals
“I guess today we may see some of the princes’ female dragons trying to impress Ebron again,” Roland says with a smile.
Because they seem to be the dragons Ebron is focusing on the most.“Right. And their dragons are…?”
“Prince Gareth has Sylvara, the silver dragon. Prince Lucien has Verdraxa, the golden dragon, and Prince Alaric has Nythera, the white dragon. Their dragons are the strongest and most powerful of the females.”
Of course.
Ebron better be focused on other females today.
There’s silence between us for a long moment before he says, “When we get to the practice yard…” But then, just stares at me.
“Yes?” I frown, prodding him to keep going.
“Well, the princes weren’t particularly happy about me dancing with you.”
I roll my eyes. “Those guys are the worst, but they’re all bark and no bite.”
“Maybe,” he says, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking guilty.
I kind of want to ask him if that means what I think it means, but I don’t want to ask. I want to believe that regardless of what the princes said, Roland will stand up and be my friend, even if people don’t like him for it, despite all signs saying the opposite.
We reach the practice yard. I turn to ask Roland a question, but he’s already separated himself from me, weaving through the other men.See, every time I think he might not be too bad,he acts like a damn coward, and my vagina dries up like a desert. I could never fuck a man with that little backbone.
I see the three princes in their separate groups of three or four riders, talking, looking casual. I think I’m beginning to piece together how this place works. There seems to be twelve dragon riders at any one time that are working together as a unit. They train together without their dragons each day, and with their dragons multiple times a week. There are probably a hundred other, at least, dragon riders that have not earned dragons yet, and a second and third group of twelve dragon riders that practice in units around our schedule. It makes for a lot of dragon riders and interesting schedules for everyone.
Squaring my shoulders, I stride up to Prince Gareth. He doesn’t smile. He never really smiles, but he seems to be enjoying the conversation he’s having with two dark-haired men who are built nearly as large as the prince himself. For half a second I think about how nice it is to see him connecting with his friends, but then his gaze swings to me and his mouth pulls into a thin line.
“Should I have Ebron come to the practice yard?”
“You’re going to do whatever you want anyway, so why ask?”
It startles me, but I try not to show it. “Good point.”
Reaching out with my mind, I sense that Ebron is near, even though I don’t know why.How do you feel about another day of practice?
Ebron sounds amused.I’m ready.
Then, head over!
“Okay, he’s coming.”
“But not because you commanded him to, because you asked him to, right?” The two men next to Prince Gareth snicker.
I smile. “Yes, because I asked him to. Because Ebron and I have mutual respect for each other. Because we’re partners in this.”
Prince Gareth shakes his head. “You’re not partners. You’re dragon and rider. How long is it going to take you to figure that out?”
“Maybe speaking slower would help,” I offer.
His look of annoyance turns into a full scowl. “You know, most recruits go through their training and get that kind of arrogance knocked out of them long before they get a dragon.”
“So what happened to you and your brothers? They do less “knocking” when you’re wearing royal panties?”
Prince Gareth steps away from the other men and into my space. “You know, someone outta knock some sense into you.”
“Your brother already tried, and failed,” I say, offering a smile.
A dark shadow passes over us for a long second before Ebron comes crashing into the center of the practice yard. I jerk my gaze from the prince’s and notice that Ebron is looking pretty damn proud of himself, or maybe I’m just feeling it through our connection. Either way, he’s got the air of a king surrounded by pretty women, who are all throwing themselves at him, which I guess he is.
