“And this woman.” When Kael’s arm came to rest along the back of Fern’s chair, my focus sharpened. The way her body stiffened, her spine jerking away from his touch, I caught it all. “You can leave her care to us…sir.” The officer’s jaw muscle flexed as Kael tacked on his title belatedly. “Because no one will lay a single finger on Fern, not while we draw breath.”
With a blink, I saw a frantic flicker of visions obscuring the three of them and in each one, I saw Fern walk away with a huff. We were fucking doomed, and I hadn’t even said a word to the woman.
“This is insubordination,” the officer spluttered. “I can have you cleaning latrines for a week.”
“We’ll do that with our tongues if that’s what it takes to stay right here,” Lorien replied, all the good humour leaving him. “So go back to your lectern and tell everyone what they need to do.”
He wanted to argue, this unnamed officer. I watched his lips purse, then his chest heave as he sucked in a breath, but the sound of a dragon’s roar stopped him cold. The sight of our three beasts sweeping past, their scales flashing silver in the hall windows was what sealed the deal. The man turned on his heel,marching back to the front of the room. He snatched his papers off the wooden table and collated them into a neat pile with a snap of his wrist.
“Well, let’s get started then…”
Chapter 20
Fern
“Go and sit on the other side of the hall…” I hissed, shooting Kael a dark look.
I’d dreamed of stepping into a crowded ballroom and all eyes turning my way, but the reality was far less pleasant than I’d anticipated. The poor officer trying to outline the rules and regulations of cadet life was struggling to hold people’s attention. Perhaps because like me, they followed the every move of the dragon rider’s fingers as they stretched up, tracing a short path down the back of my neck only to find each stray curl of hair that had sprung free of my bun. I barely suppressed a shiver each time he stroked his fingers through them.
“And why would I do that?” My eyes slid sideways in time to catch his rakish smile. That had me jerking my eyes back to the front of the room. “If I close my eyes, I can still feel you in my arms.” My breath sucked in too fast had him chuckling. “You too? Well, that’s good to know. Imagine how good it will be when I’m holding you?—”
“We’re holding you.” I was supposed to be focussed on what the officer was saying, not the lean-faced man on my left. Heheld out a hand, his smile entirely different to his comrades. Full of mischief, he twisted his wrist, making clear he’d continue with the introductions whether I wanted to or not. “Not sure if you remembered, but I’m Lorien.” I clasped his hand briefly, pulling away again in seconds. “The big lump behind you is Dain.”
The white-haired man. He’d scowled as he stalked into the room, looking more like a mountain lion than a man, equally out of place. Those brows drew down harder when he saw me, forcing my feet to move faster as I took my seat.
“So—” Lorien went to say.
“I want to emphasise.” The officer leaned over the lectern, gripping its sides as he scanned the hall and wouldn’t you know it, his eyes settled on me. “That everyone who stays at the keep does so at the general’s pleasure. Our dragons are swift and unyielding when dispensing the king’s justice. If you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, one where you feel you are being coerced in any way, always bring this up with an officer.”
The sound of the bells signalling the next class was about to begin was exactly what I needed. I sprang to my feet, ready to scurry out of the hall, away from the audience and my ‘escort,’ but of course, that wasn’t to be.
“Where are we off to, lass?” Lorien kept pace with me with ease, plucking my schedule from my fingers. “Art class? Well, I can’t even manage a stick figure myself, but I guess I’ll have to give it a go.”
“What?” I snatched back my schedule, holding it close to my chest and that was the moment when his smiled faded. He seemed to be focussed far too much on the piece of paper or was it my…? I jerked my hand down and that grin was back again. “You have your own classes. Something manly like swordplay or beer drinking or farting on command.”
“Not anymore.” When Kael appeared before me my jaw clenched so tight the muscle began to ache. “Where you go, so do we.”
“I—”
“I’m off to cookery class,” Sparrow said as she joined us. “But we’ll meet up at morning tea.” Her eyes sparkled as she took the four of us in. “You can tell me all about this then.”
A protest rose and died in my throat as she hurried off. So did everyone else, striving to get to class on time, which meant I needed to do the same. With a growl I turned on my heel, my boots clicking across the floor as I dove into the stream of students, making for what I hoped was the art studios.
Only for them to dog my every step.
“Don’t have to run off, lass.” I could almost feel Kael’s dark tones, like a caress across my skin. “We’ll chase you either way and I can say with all confidence that nothing me and mine hunts avoids capture.”
That had me stopping still and staring at Kael, then his comrades. The man himself grinned like a cat that got the cream, Lorien resting his elbow on the other man’s shoulder as all three drew closer. Like a wall of masculine flesh, they were cutting me off from the rest of the keep, as if I had no choice but to submit to their blandishments.
But my eyes were opened the moment I bonded with Auren. Sweeping into my family’s estate with a massive dragon that swore she’d eat anyone who crossed me. My sister’s stammered out story, laying bare the horror of her life, when I thought she was living the dream. I had been given a gift, one where I decided my destiny, not some man.
Men.
With a glance over the shoulders of the three riders, I saw people, so many people in cadet uniforms, passing by, but it was the sight of a man in a black leather uniform loping past that caught my attention. Moving past my harassers, then cutting across the path of several cadets, I came to stand before the man.
“Rider?” He stopped and blinked, looking me up and down. “Could I trouble you for a moment?”
His expression changed then, a slow smile forming. With a touch of his fingers to his forehead, he performed a truncated bow.
