Page 29 of Court of Rivals (Their Dragon Rider #1)

“Maybe speaking slower would help,” I offer.

His look of annoyance turns into a full scowl. “You know, most recruits go through their training and get that kind of arrogance knocked out of them long before they get a dragon.”

“So what happened to you and your brothers? They do less “knocking” when you’re wearing royal panties?”

Prince Gareth steps away from the other men and into my space. “You know, someone outta knock some sense into you.”

“Your brother already tried, and failed,” I say, offering a smile.

A dark shadow passes over us for a long second before Ebron comes crashing into the center of the practice yard.

I jerk my gaze from the prince’s and notice that Ebron is looking pretty damn proud of himself, or maybe I’m just feeling it through our connection.

Either way, he’s got the air of a king surrounded by pretty women, who are all throwing themselves at him, which I guess he is.

Prince Gareth’s silver dragon suddenly lands beside Ebron. She tosses some kind of meat at Ebron, and Ebron catches it, eating it in one bite. Then, she steps away from him and spreads her beautiful wings, doing a little dance in front of Ebron.

What’s she doing?

Ebron sounds pleased. Trying to impress me.

Is it working?

Yes.

“What the hell is Sylvara doing?” Prince Gareth mutters.

I glance at Prince Gareth. “Sylvara is trying to impress Ebron, and apparently, he likes it.”

The prince’s gaze snaps to mind. “He likes her or just likes that she’s trying to impress him?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

It’s funny, I’m pretty damn sure Prince Gareth is trying to speak to his dragon.

I’m also pretty sure that she’s completely ignoring him, which is irritating the crap out of him.

It’s nice… as long as Ebron really isn’t enjoying his dragon too much.

The king’s words still linger in my head, making me wonder if I really will feel compelled to be with the riders of the dragons Ebron chooses to be with.

I’ll have to ask Ebron about it.

Another dragon lands near Ebron. This one is Prince Lucien’s golden dragon Verdraxa.

She begins to flick her tail around Ebron.

He turns to regard her and watches her show of flicking her tail around him, sometimes touching him, sometimes moving around him.

Then, she leans forward and rubs her neck against him.

Sylvara roars and blasts fire at her.

Verdraxa roars right back.

“Uh oh,” I mutter.

“Your fucking dragon is causing trouble again,” Prince Gareth hisses.

“Your dragons are the ones who are all hot and bothered,” I tell him, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

Then, Nythera, Prince Alaric’s white dragon lands. She breathes fire over the back of his scales, and he instantly turns to face her. She makes clicking noises, noises I’ve never heard a dragon make before, and Ebron leans forward, and they rub necks.

“Damn it, does he like them?” I whisper to myself.

“He better not,” Prince Gareth says, his tone threatening as he leans into my space. “Control your dragon.”

“You control your dragon.”

“You know she won’t listen to me.”

“So what makes you think he’ll listen to me?”

Prince Gareth’s eyes narrow, but his gaze runs over my face, like he’s thinking. Which can’t possibly be a good thing. Every time these princes “think” about something else, it ends badly for me.

“I guess I should start figuring out which dragon riders I want to bone though, right? I mean, if I’m fated to end up with the riders of the dragons Ebron chooses, maybe I should get to choosing who I want and guide Ebron toward those female dragons.”

He looks at me like I’ve lost your mind. “How the hell are you going to just pick a few riders to be your husbands?”

I glance over the training grounds with all the riders. “Bone my way through them? See if any of them are worth going a second round with?”

“You wouldn’t,” he says softly.

I shrug. “Why not?”

His jaw ticks. “Do you have any idea of the complications that would come from something like that? You’d ruin all the bonds, and careful relationships, that have formed over years of training together.”

“Why?”

He seems exacerbated. “You do realize that if you fuck any guys here, they’re going to keep wanting to fuck you, and they’re not going to be happy to share you with other men.”

I huff. “How can you possibly know that?”

He looks away. “Trust me. I know.”

I roll my eyes. “I just think you’ve made it your personal mission to ruin my fun.”

“How about you just learn how to have fun with your legs closed?”

“Like you?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

And for some reason, it bothers me to think that while he seems to be busy torturing me every day, he might be spending his nights fucking his way through half the ladies in that ball room. That hardly seems fair that I sit here bored and horny every night while he does anything that moves.

“Did you tell her?” Prince Alaric asks, suddenly at our side.

“Tell me what?” I ask, already suspicious.

He motions some of the dragon riders, and they leave for a minute before coming back with an extra large saddle. One that might just be big enough to fit around Ebron.

“We figured that if you’re going to be practicing with us, it might as well be the right way,” Prince Alaric says, as three dragon riders head over to Ebron.

What are they doing?

They have a saddle for you, to make it easier for me to ride.

Is this what you want?

Yes, if you’re okay with it.

Then, the saddle will be used.

Ebron lowers himself to the ground, holding himself still. The dragon riders look to me as if confirming that they’re not about to get toasted by Ebron. I nod, smiling. He’ll be a good boy.

“Thanks for the saddle,” I tell them.

Prince Lucien appears near his brothers. “We didn’t get it because we’re encouraging any of this nonsense. We got it because his next rider will need a saddle that properly fits him anyway.”

I turn and pat Prince Lucien’s cheek. “Such a sweet boy.”

He startles and draws back from me with wide green eyes.

They get the saddle on him, and I feel a rush of excitement. Now, I’ll be able to ride him properly. They might not be saying it, but this is another big step toward belonging here. To becoming one of the dragon riders officially.

I take a step to try it out, but someone snags my arm.

I turn and see Prince Gareth, watching me closely.

“It’s important that you know that all of us know you don’t belong here.

The first chance we get to be rid of you, we will, and then Ebron will get the rider he deserves, and we’ll have a leader that we all deserve. ”

Do you want me to step on him?

“No,” I say, although his words make me smile.

“No what?” Prince Gareth asks, looking confused.

“Ebron wanted to know if he should step on you.”

Prince Gareth glances at my big dragon with an edge of concern, but he quickly covers it up with arrogance. “He’ll learn to respect me when I’m his rider.”

“ Such big boy dreams,” I say, bopping him on the nose with each word.

And he and Lucien are definitely related, because his look of horror is remarkably similar to his brother’s. These three can throw anything they want at me, but nothing is going to scare me off.

We get on our dragons. I settle against the saddle, surprised by how much more secure I feel. This… this is going to be nice. Hopefully, it’ll allow me to fly and fight the way the others already know how to do.

In the practice yard, a servant comes rushing out and stops near me and Ebron, looking uncertain, and nervous around my very large dragon. “My lady, you have a message.”

“A message?” I ask, confused.

The servant rings his hands. “From your fiance.”

“ Fiance ?” All three princes repeat, sounding shocked.

Oh, fuck. That’s the last thing I want to deal with right now. “We’re riding. I’ll hear the message later,” I say, then encourage Ebron to go.

To my relief, he flaps his wings and takes off into the sky. We quickly leave the academy, and my unwanted message, far behind. The three princes take off after me, and then I see the other dragons entering the training yard, collecting their own riders.

We circle over the academy, waiting for the others, and I can feel tension all around me.

Tension from the female dragons, and tension from the princes.

I wonder what they’re thinking. Are they trying to decide how I could’ve attracted any man?

Are they wondering how a fiance might disturb their little asshole project?

I can’t be sure. Those three are hard to figure out.

Beyond them, I wonder what I’m supposed to do.

Tesson is clearly not my fiance any longer.

I’m sure while I was gone my parents made that clear to him.

If that’s not enough for him, unfortunately for him, I’m not holding back any longer.

I’m going to make it very clear that there’s nothing between us.

The other dragon riders join us in the air until there are twelve of us. My thoughts stray back to the book Roland had showed me, and I try to give what I remember a try, even though I don’t remember all of it. Surely knowing the ways they do things should help them come around to me?

“Arrow Formation!” I shout over the wind.

What’s Arrow Formation? Ebron asks.

I try to picture what the formation looks like and send the image to him, but I’m not sure it works like that. Just tell the females and fly straight. They’ll know what to do.

He does as I ask, and we fall into a perfect Arrow Formation. We move around this way for a while, changing course, weaving and maneuvering, and everyone manages to stay in formation. It’s actually kind of cool.

“Encircling Spiral Formation,” I order, again telling Ebron just to fly straight and communicate the order with the others.

Everyone does as we say. I know, eventually, I’ll have to learn the hand signals, because the riders probably aren’t happy following their dragons’ lead, but this will have to do for now.

We fly further and further away from the city, out across the ocean, because I know the rest of our practice would be better done where we won’t risk hurting anyone.

We practice drive-and-strikes. All of us sweeping down as if to attack an enemy below us.

The good thing is that everything is made easier by the saddle, easier, but not easy.

Rolling evasions are a bit nauseating, but I adjust to them the best I can, holding on for dear life as Ebron rolls to avoid an “attack” from a Hollowborn in the air.

We practice reversing directions in midflight, which isn’t really possible, but we try, and then coordinated attacks.

All of us flaming at an imaginary target at the same time, then us doing it in staggered bursts.

By the end of it, everyone seems tired, and I feel proud.

I ran the practice. The way they wanted.

I think.

I’m about to tell everyone to head back to the city when some unknown disturbance ripples through Ebron and I. Tensing, I feel his muscles do the same beneath me.

What’s wrong? What are we sensing?

Ebron heads straight up, ignoring the other dragons, rising above the clouds, then stopping abruptly.

Just in front of us, we come face-to-face with a Hollowborn, riding a bone wyrm.

Everything inside of me stills, and the world around me freezes.

I’ve heard it whispered that the Hollowborn aren’t human.

That they’re fantastical creatures from the underworld meant to look like humans, but I’ve never believed it until now.

The man in front of me has no hair. He wears all black, leaving only his head and neck exposed.

His skin is ghostly white, black surrounds his eyes, and black lines go up and down his lips, expanding out, like teeth in a skull.

Black covers his lower cheekbones, giving him the sharp angular lines of a skull.

A black… almost piece of jewelry rests in the center of his forehead, going all the way back behind him.

He and the bone wyrm look to be creatures of death. The bone wyrm is nothing but the skeleton of a dragon, that somehow manages to stay in the air. His bone wyrm is smaller than Ebron, a female, like most bone wyrms, and yet no less powerful.

I’d seen that for myself in the clearing.

We regard each other for a long moment, him glancing over my dragon and then at me as if he doesn’t quite know what to do with me. Not that I blame him. I can’t imagine a Hollowborn has ever seen a male dragon before, which certainly means they’ve never seen a female rider before.

This also means that as badly as a Hollowborn wants a dragon, Ebron may have just become his newest goal. If you have to have a dragon, might as well steal the largest one, right?

I blink, the world coming back into focus. Run! I tell Ebron

It is one bone wyrm. I can handle him.

We’re not ready.

We always have to be ready for battle.

Ebron dives toward them and attacks, his flames burning over them as the bone wyrm turns, shielding its rider from the flames. The bone wyrm attacks, it’s poisonous gas heading toward us, but Ebron avoids it.

Below us, the other dragon riders break through the clouds. Probably wondering what the hell we’re doing. I glance back and see the princes, watch as their gazes fall on the Hollowborn, and everything changes.

They try to flame it from all sides, but the bone wyrm dives down into the clouds, disappearing from sight. The twelve of us follow quickly after, even though I don’t like it. In the clouds, you can’t see more than ten feet in front of you.

I catch a glimpse of a Hollowborn on my side and startle. To the left , I tell Ebron.

But then he’s there at my right. No, our right.

Ebron switches direction.

Below me, I see a flash of black. Beneath us. There’s black above us. No, above us.

“How the hell is he moving so fast?”

Suddenly, they , and it is multiple Hollowborn, I realized that now, dive at us from above, crashing into Ebron with all their might.

Ebron flips, and I go flying out of the saddle.

Air is all around me. I kick and grab out, but there’s nothing to grab onto.

My stomach turns and horror fills me. I’m going to fall all the way down.

I’m going to hit that ocean like a brick wall and be dead on impact.

Arms are suddenly around me. A solid surface beneath me. I turn to thank whoever saved me and come face-to-face with the Hollowborn. To a terrifying skeletal face.

He smiles, tightening his hold around me. “Hello, my lady.”