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)
“Cheating, eh?” The Head Master shook his head. “That’s poor form. Very poor form, indeed.”
“Poor form? Head Master, we’re talking about sullying the honor of the Academy and attempted murder!” Ryse exclaimed, his golden eyes flashing. “That’s considerably more than poor form. Larson ought to be thrown in the brig! Or at the very least, sent out on Wide Patrol where he can’t harm anyone.”
But his words seemed to make the Headmaster unaccountably angry.
“That will be enough, Skoren!” he snapped. “I am the judge of disciplinary matters here—not you!” He looked at me. “I will speak sternly to Larson and instruct him to leave you alone, Lysandra. As for the damage to the simulator, the repairs will come out of his pocket money.”
He rose from his chair and glared at us both. I scrambled to my feet as well, since this was clearly the end of the interview.
“In the meantime, I’d better not hear either one of you talking about this. Consider the matter private and off-limits to anyone outside this office. Dismissed.”
During his speech, Ryse Skoren’s face had been getting paler and paler, but his mouth was clamped shut and his lips were thinned, as though he was stopping himself from speaking. When the Head Master said, “Dismissed,” he rose, bowed briefly, and left without a word.
I hurried to follow him, nearly running to keep up with his long legs as he strode stiffly down the corridor.
“What…what just happened back there?” I demanded, puffing a little. I was getting out of breath trotting along beside him.
Ryse looked down at me and I saw that his golden eyes were flashing with anger.
“What just happened was a classic case of nepotism,” he snapped.
“Nepotism? How?” I asked, frowning. “I never heard that Chud Larson was related to the Head Master.”
“There have been rumors for a long time that he’s either his nephew or the by-blow of a mistress.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “I never believed it before now, but it makes sense—why else would he have been allowed to Impress an egg and bond with a dragon after being at the bottom of his classes all last year?”
I felt my stomach clench.
“Now he’s going to know I told on him and there’s no real reason he won’t come after me again. He actually could kill me next time!”
Ryse stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked down at me for a long moment. Then a look of determination came over his face.
“That’s not going to happen. Come on.”
He turned and headed in the other direction while I trotted to keep up with him.
“Where…where are we going?” I panted.
But Ryse didn’t answer. His dragon eyes were narrowed, his jaw was clenched, and he just kept walking.
All I could do was try to keep up, though I had no idea where we were going.
23
AURORA
As I followed Ryse Skoren down the stairs, the Great Bell began tolling for breakfast. The sound sent a shock through my body. How had so much happened in such a short amount of time?
I had no answers but as the familiar scents of breakfast drifted to my nose, I began to have a bad feeling about where we were headed.
“Wait, where are we going? What are you going to do?” I asked, still running to keep up.
Ryse still didn’t answer. He headed right into the Mess Hall and bypassed the line to go straight to his usual table.
I saw with deep unease that Chud Larson was already seated with a tray in front of him. He must have come directly from the Flight Simulator to the Mess Hall to avoid any suspicion.
He saw Ryse coming and frowned when he saw me right behind him.
“Hey, Skoren, what—” he began
Before he could finish, Ryse grabbed him by the front of his uniform and yanked him to his feet.
“Listen to me,” he ground out, glaring Larson in the face. “I know what you did. If you don’t want to be kicked off my Wing, you’ll put a leash on your temper and leave this little First-year alone.”
I could feel myself shrinking in embarrassment as my face flooded with heat. Little First-year? Is that how he saw me? Also, it felt like everyone in the whole Mess Hall was staring at us.
Chud’s face went red…then purple.
“You can’t do that!” he snarled. “You can’t kick me off the North Wing!”
“Watch me,” Ryse said stonily. “I’m the Wing Leader—it’s my choice if I don’t want a cheating, murderous asshole flying with me.”
Chud’s face got even darker.
“What…you…you can’t…” he sputtered, clearly so angry he could barely talk.
“Keep it in mind,” Ryse said and shoved him back down in his chair. “I’ll be watching you,” he added. “If you want to stay in my Wing, you’ll fucking behave!”
The whole Mess Hall really was watching us now. The usual noisy chatter had stopped so Ryse Skoren’s last words were heard by everyone there. As he stalked away to get in the breakfast line, most of the eyes followed him…but a fair number landed on me.