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)
Suddenly, I hungered for that bond—the bond a rider and dragon have the moment they first look into each other’s eyes. I was so lonely—so dreadfully, soul-numbingly lonely since Auren had died. I barely remembered my mother and I had never been close to my father. He had doted on my brother but as a female, I was beneath his notice. Auren had been my whole world up until he died and now…now I had no one.
But could a girl really Impress an egg and bond with the dragon that hatched from it? All the texts I had read said no and conventional wisdom would have laughed at the very idea. Why not though, I asked myself? Why couldn’t they all be wrong—at least in my case?
The legends all spoke of dragons burning a female to ashes if she got too close, but I’d been having the flying dreams. And G’lornie seemed to like me well enough—he hadn’t so much as blown a smoke ring in my direction. Also, the courier had said the little Brown was specially sent out to find the right candidates for the Academy. And he’d liked me so much he’d licked me—one side of my face was still damp from his drool.
So why couldn’t I go to the Academy and Impress a dragon? I looked just like my brother had in the face and I had a fairly deep voice for a girl—no one had to be the wiser. Why not go?
I’ll tell you why not, because if you’re wrong about being able to pull this off, you’ll be dead! shouted a panicked-sounding voice in my head. You can’t just pretend to be male and expect to get away with it! Can you?
That was the question, and the answer might mean my death.
“What should I pack?” I heard myself asking.
The courier shrugged.
“Nothing—G’lornie can’t carry much besides the two of us. Besides, they’ll give you everything you need at the Academy. Not that you’ll need much to start—just a uniform and supplies to take notes for your classes. The professors are extremely strict,” he added, waggling those poufy eyebrows at me sternly. “They won’t tolerate any sass or backtalk. The course load isn’t easy, you know.”
“I know,” I said quickly. I’d heard as much from father, when he was half-drunk and feeling expansive. Auren and I had heard all about how difficult the courses were—it was one reason my father had hired a tutor when we were younger, though the expense nearly broke us financially. Luckily for me, I had been included in those lessons—mainly because Auren wouldn’t behave unless I was at his side.
“I swear the girl is a better scholar than her brother!” I remembered the tutor—a stick-thin fellow with a receding hairline and an Adam’s apple nearly as big as a real apple—muttering.
So I should be well prepared for the Academy—academically, at least. But there was more to the Academy than academics.
I pushed away my doubts and nodded at the courier.
“Well, I guess I’d better get ready.”
“Do that.” He nodded. “G’lornie and I will be in the cave. See you at six AM sharp.”
“Six sharp,” I repeated, nodding and this time when he turned away, I let him go.
Then I went back inside to prepare, as much as I could, to take my brother’s place at the Academy. I had no idea if I would survive the experience, but I was determined to try—no matter what the consequences were.
3
AURORA
Was I really going to do this?
The question surfaced in my mind as I stood before the mirror with the scissors in one hand and a hank of my long, white-blonde hair in the other.
It wasn’t too late to change my mind. I could still offer myself as a bride to some minor Nobleman who would be happy to add the bloodlines of a Great House to his own. True, I wasn’t much to look at—my features had grown even sharper with the hunger that gnawed my belly day and night and my breasts had shrunk to the size of unripe peaches for lack of food. But I might still find a place for myself, somewhere in the kingdom.
In fact, that had been my father’s plan for me. He’d been looking into getting me married off in the year before he and F’lorn had plunged to their deaths. But once the madness took him, everything else fell to the wayside.
I had been glad he hadn’t found me a place—I didn’t want to be parted from Auren. But now there was no one in the echoing caverns of my ancestral home but me. I didn’t even sense any ghosts, though conventional wisdom said my father’s spirit should have lingered if he died in madness. There was just nothing—just loneliness.
I wanted to be around people again—I was normally a friendly and outgoing person. There would be lots of new people to meet at the Academy.