Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles) (20 page)

“Are you gonna stand there and watch me do all the work?” he snapped suddenly.

I shook my head and started helping him stack the saddles up, moving them all onto one side of the room so we could go through and check, polish, and recheck them all one by one. “I wasn’t doing that for his sake, you know,” I muttered. “I know you were trying to stick up for me.”

Felix didn’t answer.

“Things are different this year. You don’t have to be so worried about me. I can take care of myself now.” I picked up a couple of oiling rags and tossed one to him.

He paused, staring at me as he caught the rag. We studied each other awkwardly from across the room without saying a word. After a few minutes, Felix’s shoulders sagged. He let out a sigh. “Old habits die hard, I guess. I had no idea if you’d even come back this year. You don’t know how many nights I stayed awake wondering if that scumbag father of yours had murdered you and tossed your body in a ditch somewhere.”

I smiled and started setting up three workstations for us with stools and sawhorses. “Well, now that you don’t have to worry about being my bodyguard, worry about yourself for a change. Don’t let the stuff Lyon says get to you. He’s just trying to start a fight. By the way, do you think he’ll actually come help us?”

Felix went over to the stack of saddles. He took the first one off the top of the pile and threw it at me. It was like tossing me a small cow. I managed to catch it, but it almost knocked me over.

He laughed. “Who cares? We already know we can’t trust him, right? So I’m not gonna rely on him for anything. Fool me once…”

I couldn’t argue with that logic. Last time we had relied on Lyon, we’d ended up trapped in a prison camp with royal guards and a king drake standing between the exit and us. I dropped the saddle onto the sawhorses and started checking all the straps and buckles. If anything looked bent, torn, or loose it would have to be fixed before the rider could use it again.

Felix started doing the same with another saddle. As the hours ticked by, we checked each one over and over, and then cleaned them with leather oil and brass polish. Of course, Lyon never showed up to help. By the time the sun was starting to set, there were still a dozen saddles left in the pile. My hands were aching, and I was beyond starving.

“Let’s finish up after dinner,” Felix grumbled. “If I look at another buckle my eyes are going to turn to mush.”

I agreed and stood up to stretch. We still had a lot left to do, but I couldn’t imagine starting on another saddle until I had something to eat. Thinking about some fresh, hot bread and roasted meat made my insides squirm happily.

Felix and I left the tack room and started for the dining hall. It was late in the evening, but the academy was still bustling with activity. Students were running around in groups, following instructors. Most of them were wearing their uniforms, but Jace hadn’t given us our new avian tunics yet. The fledglings all looked so young to me now. It was hard to believe I’d been one of them last year. It seemed like so long ago.

The craftsmen were still working in the forges and armories, making new equipment while their apprentices ran errands. Tackmasters poured wax for saddle molds while riders struggled to get their dragons to cooperate. I still didn’t see my father anywhere, but I wasn’t going to go out of my way to look for him. After all, it’s not like I had anything to say to him, and I knew better than to think he even wanted to see me.

I was about to take my first bite from a big piece of roasted pork when Felix drummed up the topic of the annual officer’s ball. Immediately, he had a captive audience. Other avians sitting close to us scooted in closer, grinning like we were sharing in some big secret. They were more than willing to ignore me altogether if it meant they’d get some useful information about girls. Felix apparently knew a lot about them and he was always more than happy to talk about it. He loved the attention.

Training hadn’t even started yet, but Felix was already planning out our evening like the ball was tomorrow night. He rattled off the names of noble girls he wanted to dance with, and people I should avoid. None of those names meant anything to me. I didn’t know any nobles except for him and Lyon, but some of the other avians seemed interested.

“Julianna Lacroix,” he whispered like her name was a curse in some foreign language. “You’ll know her because of her teeth. They’re so big she can’t say two words without spitting on everyone in a two-foot radius. If you can’t avoid dodging a dance with her, at least try to hold her out at arm’s length to avoid the spray.”

I scowled at him. “That’s rude.”

Felix glared right back at me challengingly. “Says the one who’s never even met her. It’s like dancing with an angry camel. You’ll see at the ball.”

I rolled my eyes and went back to eating. The other avians were much more interested in his detailed descriptions of the noble girls. They asked him questions, and Felix went on and on about who would most likely step on their feet, try to trap them into boring conversations, or would be the most willing to fool around with a few meaningless kisses.

When I didn’t join in, Felix started scolding me again. “You should take this more seriously.” A few of the other students sitting near him nodded in agreement. “We’re expected to interact this year. We have to make an impression.”

“I’d rather not make an impression as a moron, if it’s all the same to you,” I growled at him. It came off a lot harsher than I meant it too. I regretted it instantly, and Felix actually looked a little stunned that I had lashed out at him like that.

He sank back in his seat, frowning at me like he couldn’t decide if I was kidding or not. I shrugged and waved a hand at him to try and brush the subject away. “Look, it’s not a big deal to me. No one’s going to ask me to dance, you know that. So why worry about it?”

Felix pursed his lips. “You never know. Halfbreed or not, you’re still a dragonrider.”

I was starting to hate it when he said things like that to me. My heritage didn’t matter to him, but it mattered to everyone else—especially girls. Katty had made that fact very clear. Her angry words were still ringing in my ears. As much as I didn’t want to admit that she was probably right, I had to face facts sooner or later. When it came down to it, I was still a halfbreed. Beckah was probably going to end up with a grocer after all, and there wouldn’t be anything I could do to stop it.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Lyon piped up right on cue. I hadn’t even noticed him coming into the dining hall. He sat down with a tray of food a few seats down from me. “Don’t even get his hopes up. The noble girls will take one look at him and probably faint in terror.”

I flashed a look of warning to Felix. I could see him gritting his teeth already. His shoulders were hunched up aggressively, and his biceps were bulging under his sleeves.

Lyon apparently had a death wish, because he didn’t stop there. “I mean, come on. We were all told the same stories as kids. Gray elves are blood-thirsty savages squatting in the mud of that wicked forest, weaving evil magic and eating the hearts of fair maidens. That’s all those noble girls will ever see when they look at him. It doesn’t matter what uniform you put him in. You can’t make dung into diamonds, and you can’t make a halfbreed a hero.”

There was silence at the table. The other avians sitting around us were looking back and forth between the three of us, not daring to say a word. The tension was so thick you could practically see it. Felix might as well have had steam coming out of his ears. Frankly, I didn’t care what Lyon said about me anymore. He probably knew that, too. He was just trying to get a rise out of Felix. Unfortunately, it was working.

Anyone could have seen that Felix was on the edge. His hands were balled into fists that made the veins on his arms stand out. His jaw was locked, and his nose and mouth were twitching at a snarl. I knew we had a few seconds before he snapped and dove over the table.

Suddenly, something inside me clicked. I’m not sure what it was. Maybe I was thinking of what Sile had told me before—that I was viewed as the weakest link in the academy and the others would try to take advantage of that. Or maybe I had grown into a moody jerk with a really short temper. Either way, something came over me and I was helpless to stop it. I saw what was happening, and instead of keeping my head down for the sake of appearances, I acted.

Lyon was using me to get to Felix. That was going to stop.

I put my hands on the table and stood. All eyes turned to me. I only focused on Lyon. “You and me. Outside. Right now.”

Lyon choked on his food. “What?”

“You heard me.” I couldn’t believe how calm I sounded. “If you’ve got something to say, say it to me. Don’t talk like I can’t hear you, or like I don’t understand. I know what you’re trying to do. You think you can keep using me to provoke him? Like he’s my keeper or something?” I leaned down to put my face uncomfortably close to his. “Big mistake. I’m nobody’s sidekick. I’m definitely not your doormat anymore. So let’s go outside and clear the air, shall we?”

A chorus of
oooh’s
went up all around the dining hall. I could feel the excitement rising with the anticipation of a fight. Everyone was hoping for a show.

It was a stupid thing to do. Even I knew that. But Sile had been right all along when he told me I had to pick a fight. I saw that now. I had to establish myself as a capable member of this academy, especially if I wanted to make sure Felix didn’t go around swinging wildly at anyone who said something bad about me. I knew Felix would fight to the death defending me against everything and everyone. It sounded great in theory. In practice it put a huge target on his back. It made everyone look at him like an obstacle that had to be overcome in order to get to me. I had to make a stand for myself now.

Lyon sat there, glaring up at me. I could tell he was thinking it over. He probably didn’t want to fight me, but I’d left him no choice now. If he backed down now, he would look like an even bigger coward.

He pushed his tray of food away and stood up to meet me nose-to-nose. “Fine,” he agreed. “Outside it is.”

A huge crowd of students followed us out of the dining hall. I knew it was only a matter of time before the instructors noticed and stepped in to stop us. I had a plan. This had to be fast.

We gathered right outside the dormitory, and slowly everyone started forming a big circle around Lyon and me. Last year, Lyon had kept company with a group of lackeys who always showed up whenever he wanted to push me around. As he emerged from the crowd, I noticed that he was alone now. In fact, I hadn’t seen them around him at all since our incident at the prison camp last year. Maybe he’d lost his friends?

As I started toward him, I felt a strong grip on my elbow. “Have you lost your mind?” Felix muttered furiously.

I wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“Jace is going to beat your face in,” he warned. “Call this off. You’ve made your point.”

I pulled my arm away and smirked. “No, not yet. You don’t get it, do you? If I’m going to survive here, and if you’re going to keep being my friend, then I have to do this. Besides, what’s the worst he can do? Make me run a few more laps?”

The color was draining out of Felix’s face. I knew why. I joked about it now, but the chances that Jace might actually beat me for this were good.

I tried not to think about it as I turned back toward Lyon. I knew there was a lot worse Jace could do than hit me a few times. He could get me kicked out of the academy. “Yeah, like that’s anything new.” I muttered to myself. The fear of getting kicked out had been my driving force last year. Now, for whatever reason, it didn’t scare me as much. I was trusting Sile’s advice. Surely he wouldn’t tell me to do something that would get me in that much trouble.

The crowd around us had started yelling and cheering as I squared off with Lyon. The realization of exactly how stupid this was started crashing in on me. Not just because it was unnecessarily barbaric, but also because I was pretty much the worst hand-to-hand fighter in the world. I couldn’t remember if I’d ever actually seen Lyon spar before, so I didn’t know what his strengths were. It was a safe bet to assume that whatever he could do, it was better than anything I could come up with.

I widened my stance, put up my fists, and braced for impact.

For a few seconds, we paced around in a slow circle and sized each other up. It was almost like a dance. I was studying how he moved, trying to find a weakness. Lyon was short and husky, so I knew he’d probably hit hard. I’d have to use my speed and reach to keep from taking too many blows. After all, part of my plan was to draw this out as long as I could.

Lyon lunged first. He dove at me and started swinging his fists. The crowd roared with excitement. I only heard one person cheering for me, and I didn’t have to look to see who it was.

I dodged and weaved around Lyon’s attacks easily. He was a lot slower than I expected. I easily darted in to jab at his face, pounding his cheeks and then jumping back out of his reach again before he could retaliate. It started to frustrate him. I could see his anger mounting. Even if his heart hadn’t been in this fight before, the idea that I might beat him in front of everyone was starting to wear him down.

He started getting reckless. He lunged at me and grabbed the front of my tunic. He pounded his fist into my face so hard it made my brains feel scrambled. I was stunned, but not for long. I hooked a leg through his and drove my elbow into his gut, sending us both sprawling into the dirt.

I knew I wasn’t much of a match for him when it came to grappling. My height and speed wouldn’t serve me much. On the ground, he had the advantage, and he refused to let go of my tunic so I could get away. Lyon got me into a headlock from behind and started to squeeze. My vision blurred. I could taste blood in my mouth.

Through the haze, I saw Felix squatting down a few feet away from me. He was yelling at the top of his lungs, but I couldn’t make out anything he said over the noise of the crowd. I tried to get my legs back under me. If I wanted to win, I had to get back on my feet somehow.