AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not all that concerned about a dragon getting laid. I’m more worried about becoming nothing more than a red smear on the arena floor.”
He chuckled and threw an arm around my shoulder. “Don’t worry about that. You’re a bloody natural, Tess. You’ve got this. Just trust the team and the team will look after you. We strike without warning,” he said, performing the rider salute. I mimicked the gesture, though with a lot less enthusiasm. “Look, I better go, we’ve all got a curfew tonight but I wanted you to have your greens, unless you want to go one more round of sparring in the classroom?” A welcome throb between my legs told me exactly what we’d end up doing if we did.
I shook my head. “If I don’t have it now, I won’t at all and it’ll be the sundering sword for me. I’ve just got to trust you’ve trained me well enough to survive.”
He dipped in close, placing a warm kiss on my forehead, then ruffling my hair briefly before stepping back. “You’ll be fine. I’ll see you at first light.”
I ended up sleeping on the couch that night, Fluffy curled up on my hip as I did so. I wasn’t sure what to do with him when we went, he really seemed to have bonded with us. I intended to leave a window open so he could sneak in and out, assuming he’d be able to fend for himself on the plenitude of spiders.
“Rise and shine-a, hands-off vagina!” My eyes jerked open to see a grinning Jez standing over me. “Flea’s already off but don’t ask him for a cup of coffee. I’m not sure when you had time to piss in his Wheaties, but they’ve well and truly been urinated in. Let’s get this show on the road. Dragons are dropping to the ground out there like flies and the prospect of all that big meat between people’s legs is making me twitchy.”
“When I wake up properly, remind me to punch you in the face,” I growled.
“In the capital baby, but not the face. I’ve decided I like this multiple partner thing and am going to form my own harem. Can’t do that looking like a poster girl for domestic violence, so below the belt only.”
I shook my head getting up, dislodging a cranky Fluffy as I did so. He grumbled at me as I reached out to pat him, finally relenting when I found the spot he liked behind his ears. “See ya, Fluff. You’ve definitely been the cutest and most useful pet I’ve ever had.” His eyes went wide and shining, his little ears dropping. “Maybe I’ll be back this way someday, drop in and catch up with you and Mr or Mrs Fluffy and the kids.” He made a quizzical sound but Miazydar interrupted my moment. The riders are forming and Flea has attached all the luggage.
Just got to pull on my uniform and I’ll be right out.
“Finally, cadet,” Captain Keya said as I arrived. Scalla waved enthusiastically, wrapped as she was in a thick scarf, a leather jacket and owl-like goggles. “Follow my lead and stay in formation until we land at the capital. Let’s show the country what the Fourth Wing of Her Majesty’s Dragon Corp has to offer!”
We took off in a series of whoops. Miazydar getting cranky that we were flying at the back, apparently due to my tardiness. I admit, I felt only relief as we flew up and away from Lorikham. While I’d definitely learned a lot, it wasn’t always what was in the curriculum. Now onto the final test.
33
“So this is the human rider?”
A slender woman looked down at me from her throne. This was Queen Mistral of Aravisia, apparently. Her throne looked like an Art Nouveau wet dream, tendr
ils of whippy, organic metal curled and twisted back on itself to create an almost ethereal seat of power. The lady herself was dressed in a floor-length silk gown of indigo, the bodice the result of no doubt thousands of hours of hand beading. Her skin was a flawless honey colour, her dark brown hair tumbled over her shoulders and her sharply pointed ears poking through the tresses. The Aravisian tendency towards angular ears seemed much more pronounced in royalty, and as I looked around the court and those gathered, I was willing to bet it was a sign of good breeding. Finally, on top of her head, Mistral wore a crown made from white gold filigree and a plethora of deep blue and purple stones.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Tess McKinnon of Earth,” Captain Keya said
. She shot me a side look and I bent into the bow we’d all practised over and over.
“Your Majesty, this is the girl with the unregistered dragon we found in Damorica.” Lord Graves, the douche who had dismissed me to the university in the first place had appeared. “As you might remember, I sent you that report on the possible development of a dragon corps by the Damoricans. So far the ambassador denies everything, though the girl and her beast were used to slay the remaining member of the Fenrisian royal family.”
Her Majesty waved her hand and Graves immediately halted in his recitation of the allegations against me. “Damon was ridiculous, in fur or cursed without it. The Damoricans should’ve done something about him well before now. Your dragon is red, yes?”
“Ah, yes, Your Majesty.”
She looked over my shoulder and said, “Put him with Sephador. All the reds were wiped out in the Succession. I’d like to bring that line back into the pool. With Sephador’s violet colouring, we may get some magenta or fuchsia offspring.”
“Of course, Your Majesty, though we were due to bring Baron Updike’s beast to stud…” The Queen’s violet eyes burned into the minion’s until their mouth finally stopped moving. “Right away, Your Majesty.”
Miazydar, it looks like you’re gonna get laid.
What?
The Queen apparently likes your red hide and has chosen you to throw a leg over her queen.
What? I’m to be put to her, like a bull?
Maybe you can have a chat first, see if you both like long walks on the beach and pina coladas?
Dragons do not drink pina coladas. We prefer the blood of enemies.
You’re missing out. They’re fruity.
