Page 73 of Flameborne: Chosen

Gil squeezed my shoulder again. “If you’ve got something to say, Bren. You should speak up. We’re a team. A team only works is if we voice our problems and solve them together.”

I almost did it. I opened my mouth to tell them that I didn’t want to hear about theirconquests,and that even if a woman enjoyed the joining, maybe she smiled to keep themhappyrather than because she wanted them? But with the words on the tip of my tongue, the shaking low in my belly suddenly solidified into outright fear.

Furyknights.

A whole team of them. With free hours on their hands.

And their minds on women.

I did notwant their attention turned to me.

“I’m fine,” I said tightly. “Just tired.”

Gill sighed and several of the others looked at me like they didn’t believe me, but I ignored them.

None of them spoke any more until we reached the dining hall. It was a quiet, tense walk and it made my skin crawl.

I wasn’t hungry and they obviously wanted to talk about their women. I wished Gil would take his hand off my shoulder. But when I turned my head to look up and try to ask to be allowed to go, he didn’t even take his eyes from the building ahead.

“Get a plate,” he muttered. “Youmustfeed your body to strengthen.” Then he steered me across the courtyard outside the second Academy building without another word.

Two sets of double doors led into the large, open hall with dozens of tables, a line of women and servants at the back serving food from wide, long tables that spread the length of the hall and separated the dining area from the kitchen.

The noise from hundreds of Furyknights eating, talking, and being served was overwhelming. It echoed in the large space and panic flickered in my chest. Strangely, Gil’s hand on my shoulder felt grounding—perhaps because he was pressing down on me like he thought I might flee.

But we made it through the line together, men at the tables calling out to my brothers as we crossed towards the food line.

I was used to the eyes on me in here by now. The first night had been awful and I’d almost left. But now, even though the men tended to watch me from the corners of their eyes, and I could sometimes feel gazes on my back, overall, they were coming to expect my presence with my squad.

That should have been comforting.

Instead, I took the food the cooks gave me, thanked Gil for making me eat, muttered a farewell to my squad, then left, carrying the steaming plate and knife and fork in a trot across the courtyard towards the stables.

Once I was out from under all those eyes, the humiliating and wearying awareness of failure made my steps drag and my chest heavy.

‘Don’t weep, Little Flame,’Akhane sent as I hurried down the main aisle of the stables.‘Your brothers may not always be correct, but they have good hearts. Trust them.’

A minute later I stepped into the stable, relieved to see the dark form of Kgosi wasn’t back from his duties yet.

But as I turned to Akhane with my first real smile of the day, I froze.

She was strapped up again.

I blinked thinking maybe I was seeing things. But, no.

“Akhane, how—”

‘It is a trial, Bren. Don’t worry. We’ll get through it.’

I almost threw the plate to the floor of the stable—only knowing it would be dangerous for the dragons to have broken crockery here among the straw held me back.

“Why?” I whispered. “Why would they do this?!”

Three days. And I hadn’t successfully harnessed, mounted, or unharnessed alone. And now they just left me here with a harnessed dragon?

“Are they coming back to make fun of me?!” I asked Akhane with a gasp.

‘No! Bren, your brothers don’t know of this. Only your Wing Captain.’