Page 24 of Ava's Love of the Dragons
"She even demanded that I come to school today. Bah!" Lilly snorted indignantly and slid to the edge of the bed. "Now tell me. What did you learn yesterday? Did you fight? Did he show you any brilliant tricks?"
"I need to prepare better. That's all." Ava went into the adjoining bathroom, washed up, and came out dressed. Lilly sat on the bed with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.
"You don't really believe that yourself! What did he say?"
"Strictly speaking, he hardly said anything, but asked questions."
Lilly nodded knowingly. "I bet they were brilliant questions. Which ones, for example?"
"What I did wrong."
The girl scratched her pointed chin. "You took a lantern and weren't prepared. Right?"
As Ava nodded, she clenched her fist. "I'll be the best student Master Boom has ever seen."
Amused, Ava rolled her eyes. She could probably learn a thing or two from Lilly when it came to enthusiasm. "Where did he get that inappropriate nickname from anyway?"
"Inappropriate?" Lilly made a dismissive gesture. "You'll see soon enough. What are we doing today? How will we be trained?"
With raised eyebrows, Ava put her hands on her hips. "You're asking me this before we've had breakfast? Who are you and what have you done with the always-hungry Lilly?"
The girl jumped off the bed. "Who says I haven't already had breakfast?"
"Without me?"
"We can have breakfast again. We'd better grab some rolls and go straight to the arena. After all, you shouldn't miss your lesson."
This was getting better and better. Lilly was turning into her personal slave driver. "And what about the others?"
She shrugged, but Ava saw exactly how she casually stroked her neck. She had observed this gesture before and knew what it meant. She quickly put two and two together.
"Let me guess: You're trying to avoid Lynn so she doesn't drag you into the classroom."
Lilly looked at the floor and ran the tip of her shoe over the wooden floorboards. "Nonsense. Not me. Nobody makes me do anything I don't want to do!"
"Then you can accompany me to the breakfast room without any problem. You surely have nothing against a second portion—and it will be bigger if we don't take our plates to the arena."
The girl stroked her neck again. "Of course."
Time would tell if she really came along or found a reason to disappear beforehand. Amused, Ava shook her head.
They left the room just as Marcus was standing in front of the door, his hand raised to knock.
"Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?" He beamed at her as if she were his personal sun. He had also received fresh clothes and was dressed in a white tunic and a leather vest. Underneath, he wore leather pants that were reinforced at the knees and thighs, just like hers. Only he apparently hadn't takento the boots, as his bare feet were in the old leather sandals he always wore.
Amused, she raised her eyebrows. "You, in combat leather?"
"Just for today. Although I have to admit that the vest is practical. And you seem to like leather clothing after all." He raised his eyebrows.
Lilly demonstratively rolled her eyes and squeezed between them. "We were going to breakfast. Are you coming?"
"Sure, I'll accompany you the whole day."
Ava pointed to his sandals. "Then you'll need better footwear, because according to Master Clark, my first task is to run."
Marcus raised his eyebrows skeptically. When Ava didn't add anything, he shook his head. "Honestly, we can do such training just as well in a safer place."
Would he question every instruction from the trainer? Though Ava really didn't understand the purpose behind it either. Nevertheless, she wanted to stay and wanted to learn to fight, so for now, she would do what Master Clark asked of her.
