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Right. He didn’t make eye contact, just ambled out into the living/kitchen area, looking at the fireplace. “Looks like a fire is all the heating we’re getting so I’ll find the axe and go and chop some wood. Jez, grab Miazydar when he’s finished and take him with you when you look for bedding. Either make him small enough to get on the other porters’ good sides or big enough to scare them into giving you what you want. I don’t reckon we should wander around here on our own. Once you’re back, we’ll go down to this village, get some supplies.” He looked at his cigarette packet with a shake of his head. “Got to remember to bring more tobacco next time we do this.”
We both just nodded. Flea didn’t say a lot, so when he did, we all tended to pay attention. I hauled my bag in from the front of the cottage and started to pack things away as Jez brought a bucket and some rags. We both began to clean up, first by grabbing the drop sheets over the furniture. Miazydar had returned and was happy to get onto spider eating duty. Apparently, they were a delicacy and the perfect way to round out a meal. We carried the first sheet out, making sure to keep each end held high to pool the dust in the centre to flick it off outside.
“Be careful,” I said as Jez walked backwards. I heard the regular chopping sound of Flea making firewood. Jez looked over and stopped so abruptly I nearly walked into her. “What the fuck, Jez?” She grinned and jerked a thumb over her shoulder. Flea was indeed breaking up logs into kindling, but he was doing so shirtless.
People tend to assume strength means biceps bigger than your head, but I’d met guys like that at uni who could bench press their own body weight but struggled to do anything useful like changing a tyre or opening a jar of pickles. Flea’s was the opposite. His had a lean muscular elegance to it, not an inch of fat on him, tattoos swirled up and around his ribs to form a solid mass over his chest and down his arms. His muscles bunched and released as he swung the axe down, my mouth going dry as I watched.
“Tess? Tess?”
“What?” I looked back to see Jez grinning.
“And that’s the real reason why I am resigning myself to that pitiful pallet. You want him, he wants you. You’re seriously vitamin D deficient and you only just started the cure.”
“Vitamin D?” Jez grabbed her crotch suggestively. “Oh, right.”
“Embrace the D by embracing your inner Jez. You could be dead tomorrow, they were talking about killing you today. Fuck him, fuck him often, in as many ways as you can think of, because who knows what tomorrow will bring? It’s what I intend to do.”
“You’re quite the philosopher when you want to be,” Miazydar said, emerging from the house, picking big hairy spider legs from his teeth with a claw.
“I like to call it Jez’s fucking philosophy, fuck it or tell it to go get fucked, there’s no in-between.”
“Yes, well, I believe I’ve eradicated all the arachnids from the cottage as well as some other pests. You should be quite safe in there now. Now, Flea mentioned you needed support when gathering bedding?” She nodded. “Perhaps we should take care of that now if we’re to visit the village before sundown.”
“I’ll just strip the beds before we go,” Jez said and disappeared back inside. Flea paused for a moment, wiping his brow with the back of his hand before looking over at me. I dropped my eyes hurriedly, busying my hands with flicking out the dusty sheet.
By the time Jez walked out with the bedding, I’d revealed a couple of armchairs, a couch and a dining table that could fit four. I started mopping up the accumulated dirt on the benches when I heard someone walk inside. A hand was placed on my hip as the tap was turned on. Flea filled a glass of water, drinking it down while looking out through the kitchen window.
“It’ll be OK, Tess,” he said, dropping a kiss on the top of my head before disappearing back outside.
The two of them took Miazydar and some gold and went down to the village as the dinner bell sounded. I hustled over to the other side of the campus, only able to work out where I was supposed to go by following the stream of students. The dining hall was big, though nowhere near as elaborate at the main building. Rows and rows of tables filled with people made up the vast majority of it. I filed in with the last of the stragglers, conscious of the many eyes on me as I looked for a seat. Most people stopped what they were doing and turned to take a look as I passed. I was relieved when I found a table with
only a few on it, taking a seat down at the end where all places were empty. Entering a place full of strangers was always bloody nerve-racking, you imagined people looking at you strangely, but this time it wasn’t just insecurity.
“Hello, you must be the new dragon rider.” My head jerked up to see a guy with a wave of brown hair take a seat beside me. He resembled those effortlessly casual male models you find in magazines, walking on beaches in dress pants and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked expectantly at me until it belatedly occurred to me to reply.
“Yeah, I’m Tess,” I said, putting out my hand.
“Alden,” he said and rather than shake, he held it. It was weird, he just kept it cradled there, but I didn’t feel like it was due to different social rituals. “This is Grey, Rylan and Vella,” he said, indicating a girl and two guys who had also approached. He patted my hand and then let it go. “So, you’ve come to Lohirikam to study. What degree are you taking?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Apparently meeting someone at uni was much the same in any dimension. “I’m not. I already have a degree in arts and business management. I’m not from Aravisia and my only way of getting home with my dragon is to finish some elementary units and attain honorary citizenship status.”
“Not Aravisian?” Grey said with a frown. “Then how the hell did you get your hands on a dragon?”
“That’s a really long story...” My voice trailed off as VC Bhechro moved to stand at the head of the dining room.
“Good evening students. With the way the rumour mill works, I assume it is not news to any of you that we have a new dragon on campus. Maransher is the only unregistered dragon that has been found in 287 years. He is not currently affiliated to any of the families and, if his rider does not pass her proscribed units, will be available for bonding with one person from the pool of the highest-scoring candidates. Learning matters here at Lohirikam. We pride ourselves on providing a top-class education to all of those fortunate enough to merit a place and many of our graduates have gone on to take positions in one of the branches of government. But this, this opportunity is what puts the fire in the belly of many of you and for the first time in over 20 years, one of you could be the lucky candidate to become a dragon rider. Enjoy your meal, students, because tomorrow you must work harder than you ever have before.”
I looked down at my empty white plate. It was to be expected, I guess, if this society was built on using dragons as the ultimate reward for working hard, the law of supply and demand dictated that my needs as the possessor of a rare commodity didn’t mean much in the face of ravening desire. I was the stumbling block to success, social position and the privilege of being Miazydar’s companion. It was selfish, but I was bloody glad Flea and Jez had stayed. I wasn’t sure if I would survive the academic Hunger Games shit that was surely going to follow in the next three months.
“Are you OK?” the girl, Vella said.
“Yeah, it’s just been a big day. I expected to stand before the Council, explain what had happened and go on my merry way. Instead, I’m stuck here having to prove I should 1, not be executed or 2, be allowed to stay with my dragon. I’m processing as fast as I can, but it’s not fast enough.”
“Stick with us,” Alden said. “Riders need to look out for each other. They all want what we have. You can’t trust any of them.”
“OK.”
“Let’s eat,” Rylan, a guy with shaggy dark hair said. “If we’re going to have one of Alden’s little ‘strategy’ meetings, I need to do it with a full belly.
