Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
“I thought female dragons were getting scarce?” I said, frowning. “Wouldn’t it be a good thing to have a female dragon?”
“It is if they have Nobel bloodlines,” Jorn-o explained. “For instance, it’s the Head Master’s dragon who laid the latest clutch of eggs. She’s a Turquoise Gold-wing—the only female of that kind in the whole Academy.”
“She also laid the only Midnight Gold-wing dragon egg in years—that’s the one that Ryse Skoren Impressed,” Leaper murmured, nodding at the Second-year North Wing table.
“Of course he Impressed it—the Skoren’s aren’t just a Great House—they have dragon blood in their bloodlines,” Jorn-o said.
“Wait…you mean they…?” I raised my eyebrows, unsure how to go on.
“Interbred with the wild drakes, long before we domesticated Dragons—or so the stories say,” Jorn-o finished for me. He shrugged. “Who knows if it’s true, but everyone knows that no one of the Skoren line has ever bonded to anything less than a Silver-wing and most of them fly Gold-wings.”
Yeah, the Skorens are like royalty around here,” Toady said, nodding.
I thought of how Ryse Skoren had saved me from Chud Larson and wondered why he’d bothered. Was it because he saw my hair and eyes and was extending a courtesy to a member of another Great House? Or did he just see a pitifully skinny runt and decided to help me out of the goodness of his heart?
Studying his calm, stern face from across the room, I wasn’t sure which explanation might be the most plausible.
Just then a great bell started tolling somewhere and everyone jumped into action.
“That’s the after-dinner bell—it means we First-years all have fifteen minutes to get to our dorms,” Jorn-o explained, when I looked around in confusion.
“What? But I thought we got assigned to our dorms tomorrow,” I protested.
“They’ll make the formal assignment based on our exam scores,” he said. “But for tonight, we’re all together in The Great Dorm. Come on—we don’t want to be late.”
“But it’s not that late,” I protested, wishing I could have more time before I was cooped up in a room with a hundred strange boys.
“That doesn’t matter,” Leaper said as we all grabbed our trays and hustled to the long rectangular window where used dishware was deposited.
“The upperclassmen get more time—by the time you’re a Fourth-year you can stay out until midnight,” Bugs told me. “But First-years have to get to their dorms right after dinner.”
However, there was a brief reprieve coming. A moment later, a booming voice started echoing in the Mess Hall.
“First-years!” it shouted. “First-year cadets! Listen up—before you go to your dorm, please stop by the Commissary first to pick up your uniform and personal items. If you don’t know the way, ask someone!”
“The Commissary is on the Second Level, so we’re not far from it,” Jorn-o said helpfully. “Come on, Auri—I’ll take you.”
Leaper, Bugs, and Toady tagged along and the five of us ended up at the back of a long line of cadets who were waiting for their new Academy uniforms.
I just hoped they’d have a uniform to fit me.
11
AURORA
The Commissary was a broad stone archway with a counter that ran the length of it. Because it was so long, there was room for five lines of cadets and the process moved quickly. Though we started at the back of the line, Jorn-o, Toady, Bugs, Leaper and I soon came to the counter, which was being manned by five bored-looking upperclassmen.
“Let’s see now,” said the upperclassman who was leaning on the broad stone counter said as I stepped up. “Extra-extra small, without a doubt. Do you know your shoe size?”
I lifted my chin, determined not to let him look down on me—even though that was literally what he was doing from his greater height.
“Size four,” I said.
“Four?” His eyebrows shot up. “Really? That’s tiny.”
“That’s my size,” I said, looking him in the eye and trying my best not to sound ashamed. In my previous life, my dainty feet and hands had been a point of pride for me. It seemed strange to be in a world where they were shameful instead, for being too small.
The upperclassman shook his head.
“Don’t even know if we carry sizes that low. Give me a minute, newbie.”
Then he went behind a partition, leaving me to stand there, wondering if he would be able to find me anything to wear. I hoped my diminutive stature wasn’t going to be a problem here at the Academy, but I very much feared that it would be.
As I was musing on how to make everyone think I was masculine despite my size, the upperclassman finally came back. He had a stack of clothing in his hands with a small pair of black boots balanced on top.
“Here you go—two size extra-extra small uniforms, including shirts and underclothes,” he said to me. “Two size extra-small night shirts—we didn’t have extra-extra small in those. And one pair of size four boots, that I think must have been made for Professor’s Horlick’s son when he was little and wanted to dress up like a cadet.”