I am pleased to hear of your progress with Myth. Perhaps my hopes of you rising as a contender in this year’s race are not far-fetched, after all. Don’t forget our deal.
I let the paper fall onto my lap as I let out a long breath. With midterm exams and papers hanging over my head, I didn’t need the reminder from Fairfax to excel. I was barely sleeping as it was.
Be not discouraged if your progress is slow. I believe in you, Arivelle. Remember, you have something no one else has. Do not waste the gift you have been given.
Wishing you a joyous Rending,
Your uncle,
Merlon Fairfax
I crushed the letter in my fist as soon as I read his name. Somehow, our dream of shattering the centuries-old way of doing things felt ludicrous. If I’d learned anything in my months at Cardan Lott, it was that these people cherished their way of doing things, and upending that would take more than a single girl and her dragon.
What if everything you think you know is a lie?Covington’s words haunted me the rest of the evening as I studied the best ways to treat a dragon’s hide in the event of a lost scale and attempted to memorize the formula for the cream used on dragon skin to prevent sunburn on the skin beneath. Of all the upcoming finals, chemistry was going to be the most challenging. As I tapped away at a typewriter in the library, my gaze kept drifting out the window, but this side of the school offered me only a soot-streaked view of the chimneys of Treston.
And no matter how hard I tried to focus on the exact chemical makeup of a half-dozen ointments and salves, my thoughts kept drifting between ways I might get a peek at Covington’s journal and wondering what Covington’s theory was.
True to his word,the invitations for the night race were sitting inside our books that we’d left by the fireplace in the common room. It was the night before final exams, a terrible time to miss sleep, but Covington had promised me answers, and I wasn’t going to miss my chance to learn them.
My heart fluttered as I donned the dress Vanya had insisted on buying me. Loose fabric hung down my body. Over my chemise, only a girdle, an undergarment Vanya and the woman at the dressmaker’s shop had insisted I needed for this look. Iran my hands down the beaded fabric that hung smoothly down my silhouette.
“You, my dear, look fabulous,” Vanya said, twirling in her own gorgeous dress. Her black hair was curled and down, also a newer fashion, only pinned back behind one ear with a pearl clasp.
“And you look like a princess.” When I was standing next to her, no one would notice me. But with the rumors circulating about me, it was nothing new.
“You’ll need this,” she said, holding out the fur stole I’d borrowed the night we’d slept outside.
My shoulders slumped. “You’ve already given me the dress.”
“And now I’m giving myself a gift. I don’t want to hear you whining about how cold it is all night.” She smiled and threw the fur wrap at me.
The train ride was as boisterous as always, bets being thrown around like candy. I was hunkered down with Vanya when Covington strolled onto the train. This time, he wore a waistcoat, like the rest of the boys. None of his usual exhaustion shone on his face tonight. Instead, an easy smile replaced his scowl. According to what we’d learned from Bryce this year, Myth would come to me, even across several miles, if I called for him. So I’d left Myth’s roof hatch open, as we did when the dragons were allowed out to hunt, hoping that Covington’s townhouse wasn’t too far away to silence my call.
Covington scanned the crowd, pausing briefly on me and moving on.
My stomach jumped into my throat, and I told myself it was just the excitement of the night race.
Shep and a few other third years hurried onto the train just after the call for all aboard.
As they made their way down the aisle, Shep caught my eye. He winked at me, and Vanya gasped, elbowing me so hard I coughed.
Grasping the seat in front of us, Shep leaned down. “Looking lovely tonight, ladies,” he said, tipping his hat.
“She does, doesn’t she?” Vanya said, giggling.
Shep nodded again, his eyes on me.
Biting my lips, I watched him follow his friends to the seats up front.
“Encourage him!” Vanya hissed at me. “Or one of those third years will snatch him up.”
I fully believed one of the pretty third years would snatch him up anyway, encouragement or no, andnowas certainly easier.
When we descended the train, Covington stood at the far end of the platform, hands in his pockets, face directed at the train car where the crowd spilled out. Laughter and the steam from the engine fogged the night, but I caught the way his posture stiffened as he saw me. He held my gaze a moment, then turned and fell in step beside Prescott, throwing his arm around him.
No sooner had the dragons assembled at the starting line—a third year and a second year this time—than someone shouted, “They’re coming! Hide!”
CHAPTER 21
