Page 61 of Ava's Love of the Dragons
Draco swept away, and everyone there stared after him. They were definitely no longer off the king's radar.
Kilian led them into a building where a scribe wrote their names down and handed them equipment. Kilian whispered something to him in regards to Lilly and Lynn, causing the scribe to nod and add a note to his records.
Lilly linked arms with Kilian and grinned mischievously up at him. "I hope you'll personally oversee my training."
He gave her a nonchalant wink. "You'll be placed in classes with the other children, and Lynn will assist as a teacher."
The girl looked at him, dumbfounded. "You can't do this to me!"
Lynn, on the other hand, clapped her hands enthusiastically. "A real class. That's wonderful." Her eyes shone, but she suddenly lowered her head and smoothed her hair again. Perhaps because Allan had been watching her intently?
As soon as they were equipped with uniforms, two soldiers stepped forward to escort them to their quarters. Ava, Lilly, Lynn, and Magg would share a room, while Marcus was to be housed with the other cadets. When he heard this, he pulled Kilian aside.
"You're not only signing me up for combat training, but now you're also separating me from her? How am I supposed to help her like this?"
"You can't be any closer to her in this building. So save your anger for tomorrow's training." With those words, he turned away without saying goodbye. He didn't even give Ava another glance, but considering how curiously the scribe and soldiers were watching her, that was certainly sensible.
She lay awake for a long time that night. The bed was unfamiliar, Lynn was sleeping restlessly, and Lilly was snoring. But none of these were the reason why; rather, she felt a tension within herself. She didn't want to be in this royal training camp, and sensed it was wrong. Yet she didn't know what else to do, since continuing her training was the sensible thing to do.
The battle against the mages had clearly shown that she needed to learn much more and get faster. That she wouldn't be able to defeat Elora yet.
Could she ever? How was she supposed to win against a mage? She had nothing but the Isip stone to deflect the spells. But merely defending and dodging wouldn't get her anywhere. She urgently needed a plan.
Eventually, she got up and made to sneak outside to look at the night sky, but Magg appeared beside her out of nowhere. Her long blonde hair hung loose over her shoulders and shimmered in the pale moonlight that came through the narrow windows.
"Where are you going?"
"I need some fresh air."
"Then I'll come with you." Her tone clearly indicated that she actually had something else in mind.
"Who assigned you to protect me? Marcus?"
"You saved my life, as well as the other cadets', so I owe you. And don't make fun of your friends! They worry about you because they care about you."
"That wasn't my intention, but I haven't been training like a maniac these past few days just to not be allowed to take a single step on my own."
"You haven't been training like a maniac, that was me. And we're no longer at Master Clark's, but an official training facility of the king. Here, in addition to soldiers, there are plenty of cadets lurking in the hallways who would be delighted if a dragon lost its rider."
Ava let out the breath she'd been holding. She hated feeling trapped.
"She's right, Ava. Better stay in the room. Then Lilly won't be alone either."
Had the two conspired against her? She took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll stay, but only if you answer one question for me."
Magg's expression immediately clouded, and her muscles tensed. Ava didn't want to annoy her, but she needed to understand her better.
"Are you on my side or not?"
"I'm on the dragons' side."
Ava nodded. "Then I guess we're friends."
"Not if you prevent the dragon leader from forming the bond necessary for all of us to survive."
So that's what this was about.
She could understand Magg's objections. Maybe it was good that they had come here after all, because under the eyes of the soldiers, she and Kilian would be forced to maintain a strict distance. Every hidden glance would actually not be hidden at all, with every encounter observed by thousands of pairs of eyes.
