"That was an accident. I swear …" Ignatius began. Evander waved him away. Good merciful heavens, these trainees really would be the death of him.
“Rosemary,” Evander said. His voice trembled, as did his knees, his hands, his whole body. He tensed, squaring his shoulders. “Explain to me what happened.”
“You cheated us out of our first devouring, sir,” Rosemary said, stifling a laugh.
Samara gasped and looked at her friend in shock.
“Ignatius startled the dragon, sir,” Elspeth said flatly.
Evander glared at Rosemary. “Ignatius did startle the dragon.”
“But the dragon is deaf …” Giles mumbled. “So how …”
“Good question,” Evander snapped. “The answer is that your friend was so bleeding loud, the dragon felt his voice and clamped down.”
“You took too long …” Samara began.
Evander inhaled sharply and held up his hand. “If I had stayed in there for a bleeding week, it would still be your fault. Go. I don’t want to see any of you again tonight. You’re lucky I don’t send you all home with Lysander.”
Glowering, they shuffled out of the paddock. As soon as they were out of sight, Evander doubled forward, planting his hands on his knees. For an instant in the dragon’s mouth, he’d thought he was about to be eaten, and it shook him. Forcing deep, even breaths, he lay on his back on the packed dirt and stared at the stars. He had a headache before he’d entered the paddock; now, he could hardly see through the searing pain. But as his heartbeat calmed, the throbbing settled into a rhythmic hum.
Music carried on the breeze, and Evander wondered if he had to go to the festival, or if he could find an excuse to hide in the barn. He didn’t want to see Valenna again. Not yet. And his head pounded. He’d overexerted himself today.
For a year, he’d lived under a cloud of guilt and regret, all while Valenna’s image grew sharper, more statuesque in his memory. He’d hoped seeing her in reality would upend that image. It did. She was more beautiful than he remembered.
Life was cruel like that.
“Vander? Is that you?”
And of course, Valenna was here, right now, seeing him like this.
Cruel and humiliating.
“Are you alright?”
“Of course,” he replied. “I always lie on my back in the center of the paddock at this time of day. It elongates the spine.”
“Does it? I don’t remember you doing that in Largotia.”
“Well, my spine wasn’t so wonderfully elongated in Largotia.”
“Do you need help?”
Groaning, he sat up, then struggled through the throb in his temples and gained his feet. Walking slowly so he wouldn’t stumble, he crossed the paddock, climbed over the fence, and joined Valenna. She wore a heavy cloak over her dress, buttoned to the neck.
“Good grief, Vander!” she gasped, her eyes widening. “What happened to you?”
“Oh, that.” He glanced at his bloody clothes. “Not my blood.”
“Are you sure?” She took a step toward him, scanning his body. He felt warm and tingly, and he unconsciously squared his shoulders.
“Really,” he repeated, “I just pulled a dragon’s tooth.”He pointed at the dragon stumbling along the fence, rubbing its side on the protesting posts.
“I hope you’re not planning to come to the festival like that,” she said with a mischievous smile.
Evander wasn’t listening; he was noticing the way her hair curled against her neck and remembering what it felt like to brush her dark tresses aside and kiss her there, below her ear.
“Vander?”
