Page 11 of Court of Rivals (Their Dragon Rider #1)

Ebron begins swerving, then darts into the sky. When they start to catch up with us, he dives back down. I’m laughing. I can’t help myself. I love the feeling of the air all around me and the sense of danger makes my heart race in the best way possible.

Suddenly, a dragon smashes into Ebron. My hands scramble for purchase, but I’m falling. My hands claw out around me, but there’s nothing to hold onto. The ocean is rapidly coming at me, as does the awareness that hitting that water will be like hitting a brick wall.

I swallow down a scream of fear, screw my eyes closed, and prepare for the pain.

Instead, I smack into something hard, except it’s not the ocean, and I’m not dead. Opening my eyes, I see that Ebron has caught me, landing me square on his back. My heart starts working again, and elation fills me. I’m alive! I survived!

Laughing, I throw my arms out and fly on my dragon’s back. Me, a healer, a nobody. I’m flying on a dragon’s back and the feeling of freedom is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life.

We should head back.

“We probably should,” I say, grinning. “Have you picked out your mate yet?”

I’m still deciding about our mates.

I notice he says our mate s , but it’s likely a mistake. A dragon slip of tongue.

We’re about to head back when Prince Gareth flies up beside us. “Race you!” he shouts, then takes off in front of me.

There’s a grumble of laughter in my mind from Ebron before he takes off after them. It takes seconds to bridge the gap between them and us, and then we’re overtaking them. Ebron doesn’t even seem to be straining himself when he passes them, and we have a wide space between us.

Once he’s proved his point, he stops.

Prince Alaric and his white dragon appear at our other side. “How about the obstacle course?”

“Obstacle course?”

He doesn’t respond, just darts down.

We follow him, genuinely curious. We discover, just above the treetops in the woods, big rings attached to poles.

Prince Alaric and his dragon fly through one with ease.

We follow, more carefully because of Ebron’s much larger size.

But before long, we overtake them, and then we’re darting through rings far ahead of them.

I’m laughing again. “This is fun!”

Very fun. I expected battle preparations to be… different.

“Now, we head back to the academy.”

Ebron steers us back to our new home, and the female dragons stay close behind. We land in the center of the training area, with the princes’ dragons landing on both sides of us. The females turn to Ebron, flapping their wings, and making strange sounds.

“What are they doing?” I ask.

Ebron sounds amused. A mating ritual. They seek to gain my interest, even though they already have it.

When male dragons come around, it creates a competition between the females, each wishing to be the one he chooses.

They’re just accustomed to having to seek me out, not to me coming to them. This will be… different.

My dragon lifts his wing, and I use it to climb down, feeling on top of the world. Ebron I just showed them, all of them, that we can handle being here. That we deserve a place at this academy. Now that they’ve seen as much, things should get easier. We should have their respect.

“That was amazing!” I call out as Prince Lucien dismounts his own dragon.

His long blond hair has been tangled by the wind, and his skin has been kissed by the wind. He looks… handsome. Dashing. Exactly the way I’d imagine a prince and dragon rider to look.

Except, he just walks past me, ignoring my words.

“Come on,” I call after him. “That was an amazing first ride together.”

He turns and looks back at me, anger in his voice. “You’re pretty smug for someone who’s never fought a Hollowborn.”

Disappointment swells inside of me as the next man heads toward me, without looking in my direction. Prince Gareth doesn’t even try to look happy, or excited, that I could keep up with his little crew of riders. He simmers with rage as he storms past me.

Prince Alaric walks past me a little more slowly, and my gaze is glued to his muscles as he lifts his hand to run it through his short brown hair.

Our eyes meet momentarily, and I get the sense he’s curious about me, but he jerks his gaze away just as fast. If I’m looking for a friend among these dragon riders, I have a feeling I’ll be looking for a long time.

I have found a comfortable place just a short distance from the academy grounds. Call if you need me , Ebron says, then takes off into the sky.

Watching him go, a pang of loneliness echoes through me, but I fight to ignore it.

If I’m going to be a dragon rider, if I’m going to be a warrior, I can’t let something as foolish as loneliness take me down.

Turning, I spot a man by the door. He has overgrown brown hair and light brown eyes.

Not a bad looking fella, by any means, but he’s being a little strange. He’s lingering, watching me.

When our eyes meet, he hurries over, but his expression is hesitant. “Hello, I’m Roland Graves.”

“Harper Nightborne,” I tell him.

He gives a big sigh, like just us talking is costing him something precious. “The king has decided that you may need an official guide here and has assigned me to you. I can show you back to your room and go over some basic information about the academy that might be useful to you.”

“Oh,” I’m surprised, but happy. “That would be wonderful!”

We start to walk together, and I decide to hell with it. “Any idea why everyone here hates me so much?”

He gives me a startled looking then rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Imagine spending your whole life trying to win a gold crown, and then one day someone just walks up and takes it. It’s a pretty shitty feeling.”

“Is my dragon the golden crown?”

He nods. “Having a male dragon as a rider is almost legendary. Our books show it’s possible, and I think in the back of all our minds we hoped to have a dragon like that for ourselves. Watching someone who hasn’t even been trained have one is… rough.”

“But he’s not a thing, he’s a living being.”

He shrugs. “It doesn’t change the way we feel.” His expression shifts a little. “Many of the men have even tried to make their cases to have Ebron for themselves in the short time you’ve been here, but Ebron has ignored their requests.”

I startle. “We can talk to each other’s dragons?”

He casts me an angry look. “See, that’s what I’m talking about.

You don’t even know basic things.” There’s irritation in his voice.

“Yes, we can talk to other dragons. We can shout to a room of them, it’s all about picturing where you want your thoughts to go.

If you picture it to everyone, everyone will hear you.

It works the same for dragons, although dragons rarely talk to humans outside of their rider. ”

“Good to know,” I mutter. “So, how does one… graduate from the dragon riders’ academy?”

He gives me another look of disbelief. “As long as you fight in the war against the Hollowborn, you’re in the academy.

They keep us constantly training to ensure we’re sharp.

Here, right now, is just one group of dragon riders, but there are more all over the kingdom, and there’s always a group stationed at Gore Rock, of course.

Dragon riders are rotated from their locations to the academy every few months.

Our time here is the closest thing to a break that we get.

When we, or our dragon, get too old to fight, we retire and work more as advisors to the academy and the riders.

Many of the retired riders actually teach classes, some of which you’ll be attending soon. ”

I realize we’re in the halls and start to pay more attention to my surroundings. Is this where my room is? Or do all the halls look the same?

“All of this is really helpful. I was actually surprised that no one had told me anything earlier. It was like I was just being jerked from one thing to another.”

He runs his hand through his messy hair. “Actually, I think the king assumed the princes would help you, but then he decided it might be best to actually assign someone to you.”

We stop at a door, and he pushes it open. Stepping back inside, I do indeed see that it’s my room. My really beautiful, spacious room that looks even better in the afternoon light.

“You’ve actually got one of the nicer rooms,” he tells me.

Pointing to my right, he explains, “Prince Alaric is on that side. Prince Lucien is on your other.” Then, he leads me out to the balcony.

The training yard is beneath us. Matching balconies on all sides.

He points at a balcony across from me. “That’s Prince Gareth’s room.

And all the other rooms are filled with other riders. ”

“Oh, fun,” I mutter sarcastically.

He winces. “I’d like to say things will get easier, but I kind of doubt they will. You’re lucky though. The Hollowborn have been pretty quiet lately. It’s a good time to train and learn.”

“Good to know.”

“Piece of advice?”

I nod. “Always.”

“Maybe try to follow the lead of the princes a bit more, especially Prince Gareth. They don’t exactly appreciate being put in a submissive position.”

“Most men say that until they try it,” I say without thinking.

His face turns red, and he clears his throat. “Yeah, well…”

“Sorry,” I say, “you know how a girl’s thoughts roam.”

“It’s okay. We’re all like that, being connected to the dragons and all.” I’m about to ask what the hell that means, when he continues. “Well, why don’t you get situated. The bedside tables should be filled with the books we read here. I’ll have your dinner sent in to give you a little downtime.”

“Thanks,” I say.

“Of course,” he turns and heads out the door.

I watch him leaving, feeling a little strange.

It’s clear that this Roland fellow doesn’t like me any more than the others, but he’s helping me because the king has ordered as much.

It’s not the way I’d prefer to get information, but it’s better than getting no information at all.

All I can hope is that tomorrow is better.

It has to be better. Right?