“I’m Lady Fern Rochester,” I found myself saying. “Bondmate of the queen dragon, Auren. Who the hell are you?”
Chapter 13
Lance
“This way… cadets.”
I barely bit off that last word, unable to believe that the general would even consider having these three brutes join the corp.
Then I remembered exactly why I’d left the Royal Riders in the first place.
When I first joined up, flush with the success of bonding with a baby Viridian, I would’ve lived and died for General Rex. Back then, the man was the face of an organisation I loved and so he had my unquestioning loyalty. Then me and my friends were stolen from the keep by the queen and thrown into a cell to try to bully her son into doing what she wanted. We were just pawns in a game powerful people played, and that had me looking across at the silver dragon riders.
They had huge dragons, so they had to be kept close. Well, I’d keep them very close. The three of them just stood there, staring at me as if daring me to make a move. It was a challenge I’d meet gladly. As I stepped up to face the group, it was clearwho the leader was. The one who laid hands on Fern smiled, a dark, twisted thing.
“Do we have a problem?” I asked.
“Only one.” A thin line of blood had formed under his chin and, I admit, a savage part of myself liked seeing it there. He swept a finger along it, then flicked the blood at me. My feet planted, not moving an inch as a few tiny drops hit my armour. “You draw steel on me and mine again and you won’t live long enough to sheath it.”
My hand went to the hilt of my sword, itching to prove this idiot wrong. Gods, if I could provoke him to draw first, then what came next would be considered natural justice. But rather than rise to the bait, those canny blue eyes took in every move, then smiled. Respond, not react, that was what Father had hammered into me, but I’d managed to forget everything he taught me.
Perhaps because all I could see in my mind’s eye was this bastard’s hands digging into the softness of Fern’s arms.
My wrist settled on the hilt. Treating this… male as a potential threat was giving him way too much power over me. It wasn’t a mistake I’d make twice.
“Making threats against an officer, cadet?” I said. “That can get you in a lot of trouble.”
“Not a cadet yet,” the leader growled, stepping closer.
“Ahh, Kael…” Was that the name of the Duke’s son? The one with the lean face slapped his friend on the chest. “How about we just get through this whole cadet intake thing? Live to fight another day and all that.”
“Not until—” Kael said.
“Let’s go.”
How the hell we overlooked the scowling white-haired man, I don’t know. All of us were tall, but every single one of us would have to look up to meet his eyes. Luckily, he didn’t seem keen on that happening. Without another word, he turned on his heel, marching off in the direction of the men’s hall.
“Your friend has the right—” I started to say.
“Fine,” Kael snapped and strode off after his comrade.
“I’m Lorien,” the lean-faced man said, offering me his hand as we walked towards the entrance. I just stared at it. He dropped it, shoving his hand in his pocket. “So we might’ve gotten off on the wrong foot?—”
“Not on the wrong foot.” We paused at the doorway where the white-haired man had already gone inside. Kael stood waiting, brows drawn down as he watched me speak to his friend. “When people show me who they are, I remember. The way you treated Fern?—”
“That didn’t quite go as planned.” Lorien spoke fast as if worried I’d interject.
A fear that was well founded.
“What was the plan, Lorien?” I stepped closer. “Drag Fern out of the keep by her hair like a barbarian intent on raping and pillaging?” He had the good grace to go pale at that, but I wasn’t done. There was an anger inside me, one that came bubbling up, no matter how hard I tried to keep it stuffed down, but why would I show such restraint here? “Just know that every single dragon here and their riders will bring you and your silver beasts down if you lay a finger on a lady, any lady.”
I amended my sentence hastily.
“Join the corp.” I nodded to the doorway. “Keep your damn hands to yourself and…” For just a second I considered if what I was about to say was wise, but for once I didn’t want to think about the consequences. “Stay the hell away from Lady Fern.”
I didn’t wait for a response, turning and striding off towards the women’s hall, just in time to see Fern and another woman emerge. Arms laden with uniforms and boots, I was there by her side in seconds.
“Let me take those for you.” Without waiting for permission, I plucked her burdens from her, happy to be the one to bear them. “So where have they got you staying?”
