“No, it’s fine.”
“It’s a monkey, Elena. Believe me, the Rubicon is much scarier. See it as a stepping stone.”
I sighed and walked over. Lucian reached out his arm, and the monkey that hugged his head run the length of his arm. He brought the beasty over to me. He has a beautiful long tale, with a white mane and a dark tiny face with a button nose. The monkey opened his mouth and revealed tiny sharp teeth.
“You can scratch him. He won’t bite.”
“You sure about that?” I hovered to scratch him.
“Well, not while I’m here.”
My finger reached out to him and scratched his tiny round head.
He bent his head in all directions where it itches. Okay, he was adorable.
We spent a few minutes more in the monkey cage and everyone came to say hello. There was even a pregnant monkey, and she loved the prince.
When we said goodbye and exited the cage, the monkeys went ballistic and Lucian’s cheeks reddened. “So, what is the plan?”
“Train in the art of combat or something like that.”
“War.”
“Is it like war? I mean, will they teach me how to make war?”
“Why? Do you want to declare war?”
“No, I don’t think I’d be any good at it.”
“Nonsense. You will get a lot of tutors that will teach you some fighting skills and they’ll push Paegeia down your throat.”
“You make it sound so awful.”
“It might be different. I do not know what they teach on the other side. Blake mentioned it was quite boring.”
My heart felt as if it skipped a beat. I took a soft breath. “You know Blake?”
“Yeah, he is one of my best friends.”
“Best friend?”
“Okay, my blood-brother.”
So he was the same age as Lucian.
I changed the subject, as I didn’t want to speak about Blake. “So your mother told me you tried to tame the Rubicon a few times.”
“Yeah, I can count my lucky stars that I’m still alive. There were others too and believe me, they didn’t come out of that ring in one piece.”
The muscles in my face slacked as I gaped at him. “He killed them?”
“It’s not the other side of the wall. Trying to claim a dragon that doesn’t belong to you comes with plenty of warnings.”
“So, you are like me, a Dragonian,” I drawled the word, hoping I pronounced it correctly.
“Yes, I’m just a late bloomer. I don’t know what my ability is yet.”
“Which one is your favorite?”
