Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles) (34 page)

Julianna had squeezed herself into a tiny corner between the outside wall and the flower pot, like she was trying to hide. I squatted down so that I could be eye-level with her. The instant I asked her that question, she started to cry again. It was that real, frantic kind of girl-crying that makes us men spin into a state of panic because we don’t know how to fix it.

Remembering Felix’s intense training on how to be charming, I took out my handkerchief. It had a little bit of dirt and kohl on it from when I had wiped Beckah’s face, but I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t leave her there like that. She was obviously miserable. I felt sorry for her.

“Here, take this.” I offered her the handkerchief and tried to smile at her in a non-creepy way. “It’s okay. Just try to calm down. Are you hurt?”

“I-I’m okay. I promise.” Julianna took my handkerchief and immediately started blowing her nose. I made a mental note not to use it myself until it had been washed.

“Do you want to talk about it?” That seemed like a safe question to me.

She sniffled some more as she dabbed at her eyes. “No one will dance with me. Not even the lowest ranking soldiers. They laugh and give me all these excuses.” The more she talked, the more she cried, and soon she was sobbing again. “I know it’s because I’m such a horrible dancer. I know I’m terrible. It’s useless. I hate parties like this!”

I remembered everything Felix had said about this girl and how she accidentally spat on people all the time when she talked. He had warned all the other avians at our dining table not to dance with her because she was awkward. It had annoyed me at the time, but now it made me feel bad for her. I knew what it was like to be teased and unwanted.

“I’m not a good dancer either,” I said as I sat down beside her.

She blinked at me like she was surprised. “But I saw you earlier. You were dancing with that girl in the black dress. You looked so beautiful together.”

“Yeah, well, that was only because I had to practice with some of the other guys in my class for weeks,” I confessed. “Those were basically all the dance moves I know. Good thing she didn’t ask for another one, huh?”

I heard her laugh. It was weird since she still had tears in her eyes, but at least she was smiling now. “You mean… you really danced with other boys to learn?” She started laughing harder, and covering her mouth with her hand. “I-I’m sorry! That’s just so funny!”

I smirked and nodded in agreement. It was funny. And I was glad she was laughing now instead of crying her eyes out. I started telling her about how Felix made Lyon and I practice as dance partners, and how Jace had walked in on us once while we were doing a romantic waltz pose. By the end of my story, Julianna was giggling so hard her cheeks were red.

“I guess we’re both awkward dancers, then.” She sighed and handed my handkerchief back.

I shrugged as I stuck it back in my pocket. “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. Do you want to dance?”

Julianna looked hesitant. “You’re sure you want to? Even if I trip or step on your feet?”

“Sure. As long as you don’t care that I’m a halfbreed.” I chuckled.

She smiled at me brightly, and bobbed her head up and down. “Okay! Let’s dance!”

I stood up and helped her crawl out of her hiding place behind the flower pot. She was pretty tall for a girl, probably even taller than most of the men, but there weren’t many people around who were taller than I was. I still towered over her, and she seemed to like that because I kept catching her looking up at me with these strange little smiles.

When we stepped into the ballroom, she leaned over to whisper, “You know, I didn’t know halfbreeds could be so handsome.”

I tried not to blush. Felix had warned me that it wasn’t very charming to act like a kid. I had to be cool and confident. “Thanks.”

“Are you courting that girl? The one you were dancing with before?” She asked as I led her out onto the dance floor. “It’s just, well, you two looked so happy together. Everyone else was making comments because, um, because you’re a…”

She didn’t have to finish. I knew what she meant. “Because I’m a halfbreed. It’s okay. I’m used to it.”

“Right.” She nibbled at her lip as she stared up at me. We started slowly moving through a few simple dance steps. “So, are you courting her?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. Technically, I wasn’t. The problem was asking Sile if I could. According to Felix, I had to get her father’s permission, and somehow I seriously doubted Sile would ever allow that. I distinctly remembered him threatening to rip my ears off if I messed with her.

“No,” I finally answered.

“But you want to be. I can tell. It’s written all over your face.” Julianna let out a sigh as she gave me a weird, misty-eyed smile. “It’s forbidden love, right? That’s so romantic!”

It took all my brainpower to keep from turning beet red again. “Right. Something like that.”

“You should tell her how you feel,” she insisted. “It’s always better to be honest, even if it’s difficult.”

I swallowed hard and tripped over my own feet. Thinking about it made me nervous. “It’s too late for that. I think I already blew my chance to tell her.”

Julianna smiled brightly. “It’s never too late to tell someone you love them.”

We both tripped and stumbled a lot while we danced through three or four songs together, but it was fun. A lot more fun than dancing with Lyon, anyway. She didn’t spit on me at all, even though I probably deserved it since I accidentally stepped on her feet at least ten times. I couldn’t figure out what Felix had against her. In my opinion, however little it counted, I thought she was kinda great.

When we finished dancing, she started introducing me to some of her noble friends. They didn’t look very interested in getting to know a halfbreed. In fact, most of them looked terrified. But the fact that she was trying meant a lot.

As soon as Julianna started telling them about my forbidden romance with the mysterious beauty in the black dress, all the girls lit up like torches. Suddenly, they were all interested in knowing every single detail, even though none of them had recognized Beckah. They didn’t know who she was, and I decided not to tell them. The last thing I needed was Sile showing up in the dead of night to beat me senseless because he’d heard through the grapevine that I was having a secret romance with his daughter.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Julianna giggled with excitement. “It’s like a fairy tale! She might even be a princess. Her makeup was pretty exotic, wasn’t it?”

The other noble girls ate up that idea like expensive dessert. They gossiped and laughed, whispering things and looking at me out of the corner of their eyes. It made me nervous because of the way they were all blushing and staring. I had no idea what kinds of things they were saying about me, and something told me I didn’t want to know.

It didn’t take long for that much female excitement in one area to attract Felix, Lyon, and some of the other avian students from my combat training group. They gathered around to join the conversation. Felix was quick to introduce himself as my best friend, and that made the girls even more excited because now I was associated with the resident celebrity.

Now that I had found a niche, the ball was a lot more fun. We took turns dancing, and the girls seemed understanding about how horribly I danced compared to the other men. They told me it was adorable, which I figured was about as much of a compliment as I could hope for. Felix always had a different girl on his arm every time I turned around. He changed partners almost as quickly as he drank glasses of wine. The more he drank, the louder he got, and less he cared about how many infantrymen he insulted on his way around the ballrooms.

It didn’t take long for things to deteriorate to a full on drunken mess. Some dancing was still going on, but a lot of couples had broken off and left to find a quiet spot to be alone. Lyon and Felix had teamed up to challenge a few of the other infantrymen to arm-wrestling contests. Well, it started with arm-wrestling, then it quickly devolved to other pointless feats of strength.

The girls seemed to enjoy the show. Those that were left were talking loudly and giggling, hanging on the arms of whichever man had won their loyalty for the evening. For me, that was Julianna. She stuck at my side and held onto my arm, which I didn’t mind. I didn’t think she was expecting anything from me since she knew about my feelings for Beckah.

But I was wrong about that.

She asked me to walk her to the restroom so she could refresh her makeup. It probably should have seemed strange to me, especially since I had already picked up on the way the other girls always seemed to go together in pairs or groups to do that kind of thing. But I was so distracted by watching Felix arm-wrestle a soldier who was twice his size, I didn’t think twice about it.

I led her out of the ballroom and down a hallway, still trying to catch a glimpse of the showdown going on at the arm-wrestling table even as we left. I was expecting Julianna to go on and leave me to wait for her. But she didn’t. Instead, she grabbed the collar of my tunic, pulled me down toward her, and kissed me on the mouth.

It only lasted about two seconds before I managed to pry her off me and hold her at arm’s length so she couldn’t try it again. “What are you doing?”

“I just wanted to see what it was like,” she said with a dreamy-eyed smile. “I’ve never kissed a dragonrider before.”

“I-I’m sorry, Julianna.” I struggled to keep my voice quiet. “You know I’m in love with someone else.”

She eyed me sheepishly. “I know. But she left you here alone, didn’t she? Don’t you like me? Even a little bit? No one else has to know. I won’t tell a soul.”

“No. I can’t do that.” I kept a firm hold on her shoulders. Sure, it was a little tempting. I was a guy, not a saint. The way I felt about Beckah kept me from wanting to do that with anyone else. She was the only girl I wanted to kiss.

We exchanged an awkward moment of silence, staring at one another. She kept smiling like she was waiting for me to surrender to that foggy look in her eyes. I was waiting for her to give it up so I could go back to the ballroom and forget this had ever happened.

“You really do love her, don’t you?” Julianna finally sighed and took a step back. “I guess that’s a good thing. It isn’t fair, though.”

I was relieved. “Please don’t try that again.”

“Fine, I won’t.” She agreed reluctantly. “But tell me one thing. That was your first kiss, wasn’t it?”

“Uh,” I started to answer. I didn’t want to admit that it had been. Felix acted like that wasn’t something I was supposed to be proud of.

She seemed to know just because of my reaction. She smiled a little and patted my arm. “I’m sorry. You were saving it for her, weren’t you? Well, don’t worry about it. You didn’t kiss me back, so it doesn’t count.”

“It doesn’t?” I wasn’t so sure Beckah would see it that way.

Julianna nodded. “Oh, of course. Besides, you can blame it all on me. Tell her I forced you.”

Technically she had forced me, so that wasn’t exactly a lie. Regardless, I decided I was going to take this to my grave. No one needed to know—especially not Beckah.

When we returned to the party, things had gotten even more rowdy. A huge crowd was gathered on the balcony, pushing and shoving to see something going on outside. I held onto Julianna’s hand so she didn’t get swept away, and muscled my way to the front. I had my suspicions that this had something to do with Felix, and of course, it did.

Felix was in a fight with a much older man. In fact, it looked like the same big burly soldier he was going to arm wrestle when I left. They had taken their disagreement down into the gardens, and were duking it out on a patch of grass right below the balcony. The man was dressed like a high-ranking infantryman, and it looked like he had the upper hand at the moment. Felix was pinned underneath him, taking blow after blow while the older soldier punched his face in.

Julianna gasped and turned away to hide her face against my shoulder. “That’s horrible! I can’t watch!”

Fury rose up inside me like a roaring fire. Felix was such an idiot, picking a fight with someone like that when he was too drunk to win. I was going to have to clean up this mess before he got beaten up so badly he couldn’t go back to training.

I led Julianna to the edge of the balcony and planted her hands on the railing. “Stay here,” I commanded.

She nodded frantically. “But what are you going to do?”

I had a crazy thought. It was stupid, really. But no one was ever going to remember me for doing the sensible thing in a moment like this. I pressed out with my thoughts, calling to Mavrik in my mind, as I shoved my way through the crowd. I found a servant with a tray of liquor bottles. I snatched up two of the bottles and started back for the railing.

I heard a few people scream my name, probably Lyon and Julianna, as I jumped up on the stone railing of the balcony overlooking the garden. It was about a ten foot drop to the spot below where Felix was still losing the fight. I waited, listening, and when I felt the buzzing presence of a familiar dragon ringing in my mind, I threw one of the alcohol bottles into the air as hard and far as I could.

Dragon flame erupted into the night sky. Mavrik spat a burst of venom that made the bottle explode into a shower of fire. The fight immediately came to a stop. People screamed and backed away at first. Then, they all started
clapping
. I guess they thought it was some kind of show.

I took that opportunity to throw the second bottle. Mavrik swooped down again, the air humming over his wings, and ignited the second bottle. It sent fire showering down over the dewy grass. While everyone was distracted, I ran down the steps toward the garden.

My plan had worked. The older soldier wasn’t hitting Felix anymore. He was too busy trying to put out a fire on his shirt sleeve. He didn’t even notice me until I grabbed him by the collar and drug him off my friend.

When he saw who it was—or rather, when he noticed I was a halfbreed—he started to throw random punches at me. He was too drunk to aim well enough to hit me, though. I dodged his blows easily, and tossed him face-first into a nearby water fountain. Water splashed everywhere, and he came up dripping and gasping for breath.