“Yes, that’s what he said,” I sent back, with a heavy heart. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“but he cannot separate us! HE CANNOT MAKE US PART!”
I felt a wash of agony sweep over me as L’eesha sent me her pain and terror at the idea of losing me.
“He’s the Head Master,” I sent back. “I’m afraid he can do whatever he wants.”
“NO HE CANNOT! I WILL NOT LET HIM!”
Suddenly the air outside the Academy was filled with the roaring of dragons. Enraged and filled with grief, it echoed through the stone halls and bounced off the walls and ceilings—a deafening wave of sound that made many of the cadets and professors clamp their hands over their ears.
“You can’t separate them!” someone shouted from the crowd. “My dragon says if you try to send Lysandra away, that the Queen will leave too!”
“Mine says the same!” another cadet yelled and a chorus of agreement followed.
“Order, order!” The Head Master banged on the podium angrily. “I have already said that they are to be separated, and Lysandra’s dragon will remain here at the Academy for breeding purposes.”
But more and more cadets were standing to shout their anger. Even some of the professors were protesting.
“You can’t keep L’eesha here if she doesn’t want to stay!” I shouted, raising my voice too. “You can’t separate us—it’s cruel!”
The Head Master gave me a dark look.
“If I say that she stays, she stays. I’ll chain her in the Caverns if I have to!”
But at this he had apparently gone too far.
The entire auditorium erupted as everyone rose to their feet.
The roaring of the dragons had become deafening, but I could still hear some of what the cadets were shouting.
“You can’t cage the Queen!”
“My dragon says we’ll defend the Queen if you try to chain her!”
“How dare you speak of chaining the Queen!”
“Enough! Enough!”
To my surprise, the person shouting this time wasn’t the Head Master—it was the Head Healer. Professor Zephyr rose and came up onto the stage. She waved her hands for quiet and finally, the shouting began to die down. But outside the dragons were still roaring and I could feel L’eesha’s rage at the idea that we should be separated.
“Listen to me,” Professor Zephyr said to the crowd. “No one is going to separate the Golden Queen from her rider.”
“What?” the Head Master demanded. “I have already pronounced the sentence!”
“Then you’ll just have to take it back,” the Head Healer said, frowning sternly. “Can’t you tell what the Golden Queen means to the dragons of this Academy? She saved all their lives! You can’t punish her just because her rider is a woman!”
“But…it was her rider I meant to punish!” The Head Master pointed at me. “Aurora Lysandra is guilty of?—”
“The only thing she’s guilty of is being a woman,” Professor Zephyr snapped, apparently losing her temper at last. “Rather than throwing her out, you ought to be recruiting more like her!”
“What?” The Head Master looked truly outraged now. “Are you suggesting we should let more female riders enter the Academy?”
“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Professor Zephyr said, frowning. “I have been studying the ancient manuscripts that Cadet Skoren found in the library, and it is my belief that the Madling attack we suffered was not an isolated incident.”
Her words quieted everyone. Outside, even the dragons stopped roaring, and I realized they were listening to what she had to say through their riders.
“What do you mean?” The Head Master narrowed his eyes at her.
