Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles) (29 page)

“Don’t volunteer me for that!” Lyon’s face went red.

Felix glanced at him coolly, “Why not? We need a third person. Who else is going to play the girl?”

Lyon fumed. His eyes were smoldering. “Why not you? You guys act like an old married couple anyway.”

“I’m too manly to play a girl. Besides, you’re the shortest,” Felix retorted quickly. “And you whine like a girl, so it’ll be very realistic.”

Laughter erupted around us. Lyon looked embarrassed enough to puke. His face was a frightening shade of red, and he was glaring daggers at Felix. I decided if it did come down to a fight, I was going to stand back and watch this time. These two might never get along, but at least their arguments didn’t come to blows anymore.

Even though I was still learning about Lyon, it didn’t take me very long to figure out that he was a stubborn hothead. Felix was stubborn, too, which was why I knew they would probably never see eye to eye. As long as they didn’t kill each other, I decided it was better to stay out of the way and let them duke it out on their own. Playing referee with them only prolonged the inevitable.

I was hoping they were just kidding about teaching me to dance. I was dead wrong about that, though. The next morning, after another perfect landing in formation with Jace, Felix caught me by the arm and gave me that scary, scheming grin.

“Ready?” He looked a little too excited for my comfort.

“We are not doing this, Felix. It isn’t a big deal. I don’t have to dance with her,” I whispered. The whole time, I was watching Lyon glare at us out of the corner of his eye, like he knew what was about to happen. “I didn’t even ask her to the ball.”

“Idiot! Why not?” Felix slapped me hard on the back. “Write her again and ask her. And yes, this is a big deal. You’re a dragonrider. You’re expected to know how to dance as well as you fight. It’s not all about swords and wearing strings of fallen enemies’ ears around your neck, you know.”

I stared at him in horror. “Who is wearing ears around their neck?” For some reason, the only person I could envision doing something like that was Thrane. Yeah, he definitely seemed like the type to make jewelry out of his fallen enemies.

He waved off my question. “That’s beside the point. Jae, I am going to teach you something that will take you a lot further in life than sword fighting or air combat techniques ever will. Something that has saved men’s lives and reputations countless times. Something invaluable. Something more precious than the finest gold or rarest gems. Something that will have duchesses and queens falling at your feet.”

“And what is that?”

He smirked at me and winked. “Charm.”

“You want to teach Jae to be charming? That’ll be the day.” Lyon snickered.

I scowled at them. “Shouldn’t be very hard, if you two manage to pass for charming. You both eat like hogs and fight like wild animals.”

Felix shook his head. “Sure, we can be like that around each other. But being at a ball will be different. You’ll see, Jae. There’s a code for how you have to act around girls if you want to get anywhere. It’s like a game. And believe me, as dragonriders, we are expected to always win.”

For the record, I didn’t enjoy Lyon playing the girl any more than he did. In fact, Felix was the only one who seemed to be enjoying that arrangement. He kept coming up with new, creative ways to tease us the entire time as I staggered through leading the dances. I was too flustered by the complicated footwork to pay much attention to his taunting, but Lyon’s face stayed so red I was afraid he was going to start bleeding from the ears.

Three mornings a week, after our laps and drills were finished, I tolerated being teased while Felix coached me through different line dances and waltzes. Lyon and I refused to make eye contact as I was forced to hold his hand and, even worse, his hip. The first time Felix actually got us to stand in a waltz pose together, he burst into laughter. Lyon snapped. They punched each other for a few minutes, and I considered leaving the room and walking off the nearest cliff. It seemed better than having to hold Lyon like that ever again.

I still had a shred of dignity left, though. I was learning to dance, and Felix insisted I was getting better. It gave me some hope that maybe I wouldn’t completely embarrass myself at the ball.

“Lyon dances like a three legged cow,” he assured me. “So it’ll be easier with a real girl. They’re much lighter, and more graceful. And a lot less ugly.”

Lyon cursed under his breath. “Oh right, well excuse me for not dancing like a girl.” We only had a few weeks left before the ball, and I knew he was probably just as ready as I was for this dance class to end.

“Remember what I said about greetings and introductions. Confidence. Eye contact. Charm. It’s a state of mind.” Felix snapped his fingers at Lyon like he was summoning a pet dog. “Let’s run through it one more time.”

Lyon sputtered a few more curses as he stomped toward me. I tried to visualize Beckah standing in his place with her warm smile and deep green eyes. It was nearly impossible, though. Lyon was definitely a boy. And this was definitely the most embarrassing thing I’d ever done in my life.

As soon as we had gone through our awkward bows and stepped into an opening dance pose, the dorm room door to our room burst open. I was holding onto Lyon’s waist and hand, as usual, and he was pretending to hold up a dress. We both froze, too stunned to react.

Jace was standing in the doorway. He looked at all of us, his brows raised and his expression completely blank.

My last shred of dignity withered and died.

“When you’re finished with… whatever this is, I need to see the lot of you downstairs to be measured for your formal uniforms.” Jace managed to say, although he sounded a little hoarse. I could have sworn I saw him suppressing a smile. “Hurry up.”

The door shut, and I died a little inside. Lyon shoved away from me. Judging by the shade of red his head was turning, he was too angry and embarrassed to speak. I couldn’t say anything, either.

The only person who could make a sound was Felix. He was laughing so hard he was choking. He fell down on the floor, gripping his sides. I had to step over him in order to get out of the room. Lyon followed me, but he kept his distance. I couldn’t blame him for that.

“You think he will tell any of the girls at the ball about this?” I heard Lyon mutter from behind me.

I glanced back at him. That hadn’t even crossed my mind. “He better not. I know where he sleeps.”

Lyon met my gaze and sighed. “You know, I used to envy you. Felix’s family is the most powerful in the kingdom, next to the royal family. I thought it must be nice to have friends in such high places.”

“And how do you feel about that now?” I couldn’t resist smiling.

“I’m wondering how you’ve managed to survive him this long.” Lyon actually laughed. He sped up to walk beside me down the stairs.

Felix caught up with us halfway, still snickering under his breath as he draped his arms over both of our shoulders.

The dining hall was filled with chatter when we arrived. Avians and instructors were rushing around like crazy, taking measurements and placing orders with the tailors who had set up work areas at different ends of the long dining tables. Felix drifted away to talk as soon as we entered the crowd. He disappeared, leaving us to hold a spot in line until it was our turn to get measured.

“Morning classes are canceled today,” he announced. He sounded really excited about it. “Some kind of emergency meeting for all the instructors. Some of the guys are planning on taking a joyride. We should go, too.”

Lyon shrugged. “As long as the instructors don’t mind.”

“What’s the meeting about?” I had a feeling Felix was holding out information. He loved gossip too much not to find out all the details he could.

“They’re keeping it a secret, but rumor is it has something to do with the battle scenario this year.” Felix gave me a funny look. “Maybe even something about crazed animals.”

My stomach twisted into a knot. I looked away, diving headfirst into worry as I waited to be measured for my uniform. If they were calling meetings about it, did that mean things were getting worse? I cringed at the thought. I was worried about Beckah and the rest of Sile’s family. I knew I had to write her another letter as soon as possible. I had to warn them.

After we were measured, the three of us filed out to the Roost and saddled up with a handful of other avians. We took off and spent the rest of the morning goofing around in the air. It was nice to ride for pleasure instead of chasing Jace’s tail. But as much fun as it was to swoop through spirals and launch pretend attack runs on Felix and Nova, I couldn’t get into it. My head was in a fog because of what Felix had said. I kept looking back at the academy and wondering what was happening in that meeting. Not knowing was killing me. I couldn’t shake the sense that I was somehow
entitled
to know.

That feeling didn’t go away even after we landed and started toward the gymnasium for combat training. As we started lining up, Felix elbowed me to get my attention. He was staring at me like he was concerned.

“You all right?” He whispered.

I wasn’t sure what to say, or how to explain how I felt. I shook my head a little, and we both snapped to attention as the instructors arrived to start the class. Jace and Morrig walked in together, talking quietly until they split off to manage their separate stations.

Thrane was a bigger jerk than usual when we got to his station. He made us do drill-downs, and of course, I was the first one in the middle of the circle. We had progressed to using practice weapons now, and were learning to fight against multiple enemies who were also armed. Sometimes, we even had to start without one and hopefully steal one off someone we sparred by disarming them mid-fight.

I was expecting to get that kind of treatment when Thrane stuck me in the middle of the drill-down circle first. One by one, the other students in my group moved in to attack me. I disarmed my first opponent in a matter of seconds, catching him totally off guard and twisting his arm until he dropped his sword. The pent up frustration about the meeting must have made me space out, because before I knew it, all the fights were over and I had sparred with everyone else in the circle.

I had won every fight, and I wasn’t even sweating.

Thrane pushed through the circle, his dark eyes glittering suspiciously as he eyed me up and down. “You must be feeling proud of yourself,” he growled.

I stared back at him. He didn’t scare me anymore, and I wasn’t stupid enough to answer that comment.

Thrane moved in closer, invading my space until I could see the little pink veins on his eyeballs. Standing that close gave me a real appreciation for how big he was. His neck was thicker around than my leg. His breath blasted on my face as he started to laugh. It was like standing nose-to-nose with a fully grown bear.

“Pick someone,” he commanded.

I blinked in confusion. I couldn’t stop myself from glancing behind him, catching Felix and Lyon’s faces in the crowd. They looked worried. This was new to all of us.

“You act like my training is boring to you. You think you’re a soldier, now?” A wicked smile spread over Thrane’s face, showing off his horrible, crooked teeth. “So let’s see it. Pick someone, or I will.”

Panic made my throat seize up. I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what to do. Once again, I looked past him at the rest of the guys in my group.

Lyon was looking right at me. When our eyes met, I could read the determination in his gaze. He gave me a nod.

I knew I didn’t have a choice. If Thrane was going to make me do something terrible to anyone, it had to be Lyon. He was the only one who knew about my healing power. He was the only one I could fix without risking revealing my abilities to everyone. He must have known that, too, because when I hesitated, he glared at me and mouthed two words, “
Hurry up
.”

I pointed at Lyon. He stepped out of the crowd and started walking toward us. Suddenly, Thrane spun and grabbed Lyon by the hair. He pushed him down to his knees in front of me, jerking his head back so that we were forced to look at each other.

“Break his arm.” Thrane snarled at me like an angry wolf.

I didn’t dare to move an inch.

“A soldier does what is necessary. He doesn’t feel pain or guilt in combat. So break his arm, or fight me.” He rumbled again.

There was no good option. I didn’t want to hurt Lyon, but I definitely didn’t want to fight Thrane. It wasn’t even that I didn’t think I could win. Maybe I could win, but I didn’t trust myself not to fall victim to battle fever again in order to do it. I knew that was what Thrane really wanted.

“Tick tock, halfbreed.” Thrane was giving me another toothy, evil smile. “I’m about to make the choice for you. Don’t act like you don’t have a killer instinct. We’ve already seen that you do. So let’s see it again. Let’s see if you can handle being a soldier.”

* * *

“We can’t keep doing this,” Jace said. He was standing over Lyon’s bed in our dorm room, checking both of his forearms. They were freshly healed.

I sat, propped up in a chair at his bedside, wiping the cold sweat from my face with a rag. After healing Lyon’s arms three days in a row, I was able to do it without losing consciousness anymore. I still got a little nauseous, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. That might have made me a little proud, since my abilities were obviously coming more easily to me now, except that keeping this a secret was getting more and more impossible.

People were starting to suspect—people that mattered. Thrane already suspected that I was up to something, but he didn’t have any proof. At least, not yet. Now the other avians were talking. Felix was asking questions, and sulking when no one would give him a straight answer. Lyon was spreading the rumor that he and I were faking it every time Thrane called me out and demanded that I prove myself. The others seemed to like that, like it was some kind of elaborate prank we were playing, but I knew we couldn’t keep this charade up for much longer. And Thrane was probably counting on that.