The meaningful look she gave me coaxed an incredulous laugh out of me. “I’m a filthy ground-dweller, remember? How in anyone’s right mind would I be a better prospect?”
Rhia gave me a dry look. “You’re obviously not just a ground-dweller,” she pointed out. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have a dragon. Besides, you’ve pledged yourself to House Tavarian, which is not a little thing. Lord Tavarian has no offspring and no official heir, so there’s some speculation going around that you might just become his successor.”
I nearly toppled over in my chair at that. “There’s no way I’m going to be his successor,” I sputtered. “I’m not of his bloodline, and he’s not exactly fond of me.”
“Oh, I agree it’s highly unlikely,” Rhia said with a grin. “The houses are very adamant about making sure that the head always carries the same bloodline, so unless Tavarian’s secretly a eunuch, he’ll be finding a wife to settle down with soon enough. But on the off-chance that he is missing his balls, you’re the only other dragon rider in his house. Which means that if he keeled over tomorrow, you’d be in the line of succession.”
I snorted. “I highly doubt either of those things are going to happen,” I said. The idea that a man as intense as Tavarian didn’t have all his plumbing intact was laughable. My heart beat a little faster just thinking about that penetrating stare, and I hastily pushed the image away. Even though he came off as cold and intimidating, Tavarian was good-looking, wealthy, and powerful. I had no doubt he could get a wife tomorrow if he really wanted one.
The real question was, why hadn’t he done it already?
Finishing off my breakfast, I told Rhia I’d catch up with her later, then headed over to the headmaster’s office to pick up my schedule from his assistant. I sat in the chair by her desk and pored over it in the fifteen minutes I had remaining before classes started for the day. As I expected, military history, herbology, and dragon lore were on the list, but there were also language lessons—Zallabarian, to be specific—weapons and combat lessons, dragon husbandry, and flying lessons, amongst other things.
“Flying lessons?” I asked the assistant. “But what use is that, if I don’t have a dragon to fly with?”
“You’ll still benefit from watching the others practice,” the woman said, pushing her spectacles up the bridge of her nose. “The instructor will expect you to take notes, and your dragon will attend with you.”
That brightened me right up. “Is Lessie going to fly with them as well?”
The assistant actually smiled at that. “It will be at least a month before she will be able to truly fly,” she said, “but I’m sure she’ll be practicing every morning when the dragons go out to exercise.”
I grinned at the idea of Lessie playing in the field with the other dragons and trying to mimic them. Part of me was a bit worried about her being around dragons who were so much bigger than her, but after seeing the way she handled Kadryn yesterday, I had no doubt she would be fine. Besides, the stable master would be out there looking after them, and he would intervene if anything went wrong. There was really no reason to worry.
I went off to my first class, and the rest of the day went by like a whirlwind. I had worried that the teachers would all be the ivory-tower types—people who were good at regurgitating facts but didn’t have any real experience in the fields they taught—but to my delight, they were all retired dragon riders, and I enjoyed the lessons even though I was a bit behind the rest of the class. I even had fun in herbology, a class taught by a woman with messy, silver-streaked auburn hair and a smock that I suspected was perpetually smeared with green. She complimented me on the healing poultice I made even though I put a bit too much arelas in it—a blood-clotting herb that in too high a dose could slow blood flow and put a person to sleep, or even cause a stroke. Not exactly great if you were expected to rush back into battle.
When three o’clock finally came around—or fifteen hundred hours, since everyone used military time here—I was so excited I practically raced out of the languages classroom. Lessie was waiting for me when I rushed into the stables, and when she jumped into my arms, she seemed a bit heavier.
“We’re flying today?” she squealed, wriggling in my arms.
I laughed. “We’re not actually flying,” I corrected. “We’re going to watch the others fly.”
Lessie huffed. “Speak for yourself,” she said, hopping out of my arms. My mouth dropped open as she snapped out her wings and glided to the ground. “Odorath taught me that this morning,” she said proudly.
“That’s pretty good for a hatchling,” a rider walking by said. He was a gangly teenager, maybe seventeen, with tousled reddish-brown hair, and he looked impressed as he checked out Lessie. “Most dragons can’t glide until they’re a few weeks old.”
“Thanks.” I scooped Lessie into my arms and carried her out of the stables, not wanting to be in the way as the other riders fetched their dragons. Was Lessie special because of her ancient dragon pedigree? I had assumed that the other riders found her so valuable because she was female, but perhaps there was more to it.
“I’m very proud of you,” I told Lessie, stroking her head as we headed to the field. “You’ll be flying circles around the other dragons in no time.”
Although nobody had told me precisely where on the field we were meeting for lessons, I had a feeling that the armored woman standing next to her giant, ruby red dragon was as good a place to start as any. My class schedule said her name was Major Maryssa Falkieth, of House Falkieth, and when I’d asked about her, I was told that she was one of the oldest teachers at the academy.
“Aha!” she said in a gravelly voice as I approached. Her moss green eyes lit up as she eyed the dragon in my arms. “You must be Zara Kenrook, the ground-dweller.” She said the word without any of the disdain Aria had shown me earlier. “I couldn’t resist stopping by to visit your dragon earlier this morning. She’s quite the beauty.”
“Please thank her for the mutton leg she brought with her,” Lessie informed me. “It was quite good.”
I relayed the message, and Major Falkieth laughed. “Polite, too,” she said, reaching out to scratch Lessie beneath the chin. “Odorath told me she’s already showing great promise as a flier.”
“Ahh, so that’s Odorath.” I craned my neck to look up at the massive red dragon. He was at least fifty feet long, nearly twice the size of Jallis’s, and even though he was only saddled for one, I imagined he could easily carry three full-grown men. “Lessie was just telling me about you,” I informed him.
The dragon chuffed, turning his head to the side to study me out of his giant yellow eye. “He says that while your hair is not quite as magnificent as his dragon hide, he finds the color quite pleasing,” Major Falkieth said with a snort. She patted the side of her mount’s neck. “Dragons are wise creatures, but they are also ridiculously vain sometimes,” she added fondly.
“Zara!” Rhia cried, and I turned to see her coming toward us with her mount in tow. My breath caught as I looked at her dragon—his scales were a shimmering amber, the exact same shade as Rhia’s eyes, and his irises were pure gold. He was maybe twelve feet long, still small, but his stocky build was more than sufficient to bear Rhia.
“Is that your dragon?” Rhia gushed as she closed the distance. Her dragon stopped a few feet away as Rhia stared at Lessie, her eyes sparkling. “Oh, she’s beautiful! Can I touch her?”
“She is a friend?” Lessie inquired.
“Yes.”
“Then she may pet me. Briefly.”
I relayed the message, and Rhia gently ran a hand down Lessie’s scales. “You two are going to look amazing in the sky together,” she said as the other riders arrived. “I’ve never seen a dragon’s hide this exact shade of blue.”
“Your dragon is pretty amazing to look at too,” I said, loosening my grip on Lessie so she could jump free. “Ykos, right?”
“That’s right.” Rhia scratched her dragon beneath his chin, just in front
of one of the spikes jutting out from his jaw, and he let out a loud, rumbling purr. “He’s like a really big puppy,” she informed me as he rolled onto his back for a belly rub.
“Enough of that,” Major Falkieth called. “It’s time to line up.”
As we started to fall in, Jallis and his mount hurried onto the field with barely seconds to spare. He took his spot at the very front of the line, with the rest of the more experienced riders, while Rhia and I stood at the end. His hair was a bit tousled, his skin flushed, and as Aria and a few other cadets sat in the grass a safe distance away, I wondered if the two of them had caught a quickie outside the stables.
“All right,” Major Falkieth said as we stood at attention. “As you all probably know already, we have a new recruit amongst us, Zara Kenrook. She and her dragon, Lessie, will be observing from the sidelines as we practice. Level One cadets, take the north end of the field, Level Two the south, Level Three the east. Team leaders, get started on drills.”
“Yes, ma’am!” they shouted in unison, and then split off as directed.
“Miss Kenrook,” Falkieth said, turning to me, “you should go and observe Level One today. Head over to the north end of the field with the others.”
I did as she said, letting Lessie down so she could run through the grass beside me. Or really, ahead of me, I thought wryly as she darted across the field like a comet. She had the grace and agility of a cat, already able to outrun me with very little effort.
The team leader caught sight of me as I joined the group, and she jerked her arm to the side. “You can sit over there,” she said with a curt nod. “Keep a safe distance and keep your dragon in line. I don’t want her getting trampled by the others.”
Lessie sniffed as she followed me over to the spot the team leader indicated. “As if I’m clumsy enough to allow myself to be trampled,” she said, sounding highly offended. “Does she think that I’m a simpleton in need of constant direction?”
I stroked her spine, mindful of the tiny bumps forming along it that would one day be spikes. “Well, you are still a baby,” I reminded her.
She gave me the side eye. “The proper term is dragonling. And I won’t remain one for long.”
A pang hit my heart. As much as I wanted to ride Lessie, I knew I’d miss being able to cuddle her in my arms. I knew that Lessie was exceptional, advancing quickly for her age, but it seemed to me that dragons matured a little too quickly, given their long lifespans. Why were their childhoods so short? Or did their minds not catch up with their bodies? Did the average six-month-old dragon have the temperament of a toddler and the body of an adult? I’d have to ask Rhia at dinner.
Lessie finally settled onto my lap, and for the next hour we watched the Level One cadets practice. First, they started with a simple meditation drill between rider and dragon to strengthen their telepathic connection. Then they did mounted drills where the team leader shouted out certain formation exercises, similar to marching drills, that the dragon riders had to follow in perfect sync as a group. After about twenty minutes of this, they finally moved on to flying drills, which mostly consisted of launching into the air, doing a short flight routine at a relatively low height, and then coming back down.
I raised my eyebrows as the cadets donned parachute backpacks on top of their armor. “How does that work?” I asked aloud. “Aren’t they only effective at about two hundred and fifty feet?”
“Cadets are trained to parachute safely from as low as one hundred feet,” Major Falkieth said from behind me, and I jumped to my feet. “If they fall from their mount below that, they’re trained to land with minimal impact. Here, watch,” she said, pointing at the sky. “Looks like Miss Thomas is about to give a demonstration.”
Rhia battled to stay atop her mount when a particularly nasty gust of wind batted her dragon as they came in for a landing, forcing him to lean sideways. For a moment I thought she was going to make it, but then she slid, her feet slipping free of the stirrups.
“Shit!” I clapped a hand to my mouth as Rhia tumbled through the sky. But to my amazement, she angled her body midair, aiming for a safe, level patch of grass. In seconds, she angled her body from an arched position to a vertical position, wrapped her hands over the top of her head, and bent her knees just in time to land feet first on the ground. The force of the impact made her stumble as she landed, but she smoothly tucked into a roll, then came to a stop and sprang up with a smile.
“Dragon’s breath,” I muttered. “How did she not blow out her knees doing that?”
“That’s what the armor is for.” Falkieth slapped me on the back as she walked past me. “It’s built to minimize impact around the joints. Don’t worry—you’ll get your own when it’s time to start your training.”
The trainees finished their exercises for the day, and then were given twenty minutes of free training to practice whatever they wished. I watched with envy as many of the cadets took to the skies, some of the more advanced riders chasing each other high up, darting between clouds.
One day, I’m going to do that.
“Hey.” Rhia plopped down into the grass next to me, her face flushed as she grinned at me. “Did you see that landing.”
“I sure did.” I grinned back at her. “You were amazing.”
“The first time I attempted that I sprained my ankle,” she admitted. “I was off it for three weeks, and then Major Falkieth grounded me for three more weeks and made me practice falling every day from a safe height. This is the first time I’ve gotten to fly since then.”
“Then what are you doing sitting here with me?” I asked, shoving playfully at her shoulder.
Rhia gave me a sheepish smile. “I just felt bad about being out there while you’re stuck here on the ground.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t feel bad for me. I enjoy watching you fly. Now get back out there,” I said, pointing to Ykos, who pranced impatiently nearby. “Your dragon isn’t done, and neither are you.”
As Rhia raced off to rejoin her dragon, I glanced across the field to see one of the Level Three cadets land in front of the group of girls who had been watching from a distance. Three more landed nearby, and I immediately understood why the girls had come to watch the lesson when the cadets jumped down to help them up onto the backs of the dragons. I guess it pays to have a dragon rider boyfriend, I thought as one of the girls whooped loudly, the yellow-green dragon she sat on with her boyfriend shooting into the air. Her cries of delight quickly turned into shrieks as the dragon did a barrel roll, and I bit back a snicker. Someone wasn’t getting laid tonight.
A gust of wind smacked into me from behind, startling me and Lessie. She jumped out of my arms with a hiss, and I sprang to my feet and turned just in time to see Jallis and Kadryn land a few feet away.
“Hey.” Jallis grinned at me. “Want a ride?”
I stared at him, my blood thrumming with excitement despite my misgivings. A chance to ride a real dragon? Now? I glanced back to catch Aria staring. Her face had gone white, her eyes bulging out of her skull, and I had the distinct sensation that if she had a crossbow in her hands, she would have shot me.
Did I really want to put myself directly in the path of all that crazy?
Before I could give him my answer, the deep bray of a battle horn echoed through the air. Instantly, the entire field went dead silent, and Jallis’s dragon lifted his head, eyes blazing as though he sensed something I didn’t.
“It’s a call for aid,” Lessie said. “Another dragon is summoning all adult dragons to the Eyrie. There is some kind of fire that needs putting out.”
“I’ve got to go,” Jallis said, all business now as he gripped the reins of his mount. He flashed me a quick smile. “Rain check on that flight, then?”
“Right,” I said weakly as his dragon took off. I threw my hands up to shield my face as I was assaulted by a whirlwind of dust and grass, then peered through my fingers to watch the rest of the dragons fly away.
“Well,” I said to Lessi
e as I bent down to pick her up. “I guess that’s the end of that lesson.”
“There will be others,” Lessie said, her molten eyes trained on the departing dragons. “And one day, when that horn sounds again, we will answer the call too.”
10
The rest of the week passed far quicker than I thought it would. At first, I’d assumed I’d be counting down the days until Friday, when I could go down and visit my shop and connect with the real world again. But the dragon rider training was intense, and funnily enough, I actually enjoyed it. Each morning when I woke up, I eagerly looked forward to my lessons, and each night when I hit the pillow, my mind raced for a good hour as I mulled over everything I’d learned that day.
“Hey.” Rhia fell into step next to me in the hallway to my next class. “What are you doing tonight?”
“Prepping for my trip to the ground tomorrow,” I said. “Why?”
“Oh.” She blinked. “Why are you going down there? Do you have family you visit?”
“Sort of,” I said, not sure how much I wanted to explain. Everybody had assumed I was just some street rat, but they were quickly disabused of that notion when I showed them I was perfectly capable of keeping up with them in classes, and even excelling in some cases. I knew that they were speculating about where I’d really come from and what I’d done before I came here, but no one had actually dared to ask me, and I certainly wasn’t volunteering.
“Oh.” She was silent for a moment. “Can I come?”
It was my turn to blink. “You want to visit the ground? Walk amongst us commoners?”
Rhia snorted. “You already know I don’t think that way about you. And of course I’m interested. I’ve never really had the chance to visit Zuar City properly.”
Call of the Dragon Page 10
