We keep rising into the clouds, then above the clouds, riding our dragons into the sky like the dragon riders of legend. I don’t honestly think any of the three will freefall from here, but I watch them anyway, wondering what they’re thinking. Probably just that I’m crazy, or silly, for trying to have fun on my dragon instead of just worrying about war and death.
Suddenly, Prince Lucien leaps from his dragon, falling from sight so fast it’s shocking. I see the look on the other two men’s faces before they jump too, not willing to be shown up by their brother. Their dragons take off after them, and I don’t have to say a word for Ebron to follow them down through the clouds. I watch, heart racing, as they seem to fall ever closer to the water, before their dragons catch them on their backs.
Ebron comes alongside them, and I can see the three men breathing hard. Prince Lucien is smiling. Prince Gareth lookssurprised. But Prince Alaric simply looks confused, like he hasn’t quite figured out how to feel about what just happened.
I laugh. “What did you think?”
Prince Lucien’s gaze meets mine. “Next time, we race.”
Smiling, I coax Ebron to go back up through the clouds while the others follow me. We do three freefalls, and our dragons catch us each time. Each prince wins once, but I can’t fault them for it. All three are heavier than me. Then, we dive down to skim just above the water. Their dragons follow Ebron’s every move, and I lean over, running my hand along the surface of the water as we go.
Behind me, the three men do the same. Their looks of delight make my heart swell. Watching them enjoying playing on their dragons is even more fun than playing myself. We do different tricks in the air, and then the others repeat what we do. We dive around hills and mountains. We fly as close to the sun as we can manage.
I hear their laughter. It catches on the wind, swirling around me. The sounds are genuine. Unexpected. And I like it.
Lying on my back on Ebron, I stare up at the cloudy sky, my heart happy. I hear motion at my side and see Prince Gareth, his jet black hair flying around his face. He’s wearing a look I’ve never seen before, a mix of peaceful and happy.
“You know this isn’t what dragons are for,” he tells me over the wind.
I smile back. “Why not? Bonding time is just as important as practice time!”
Instead of arguing, he flops back on his dragon, and we fly that way for a while, side-by-side, not saying a word, and I feel like I’ve won some kind of battle as Prince Lucien and Prince Alaric surround us, all looking content on their dragons. I don’t expect this to be some big change between all of us. Their mindless devotion to being dragon riders, to being soldiers, runsdeeper than something that can be fixed with one afternoon, but I hope today makes them think. Makes them wonder. If living their lives in a constant state of misery is really the way it has to be.
“We should probably get back,” Prince Alaric says near me.
“Agreed,” the other two brothers say after a long minute.
I can almost feel the disappointment that sweeps through them, but I swear I’ll find another way to take them out and show them some happiness. They might be complete and utter assholes on the surface, but deep down I know there’s more to them than that. A chewy center surrounded by a hard, jerky outside.
Climbing up higher onto Ebron, I get back in my saddle, and we head towards the academy. Beneath me, I can tell Ebron is content. Relaxed. He liked spending the day with just me, but I think he liked spending the day with his mates even more. I feel a pang of guilt that I’m the only thing keeping him and them from being together. It seems needlessly cruel, but the idea of just accepting a marriage with the three princes is inconceivable. If I didn’t want to marry Tesson, and I’d been ready to fight not to be with him, why would I just accept being with the princes now? They’re just as cruel, except in different ways.
We reach the academy, and land almost in perfect unison. Dragon riders are scattered around the training grounds lifting weights, fighting using hand-to-hand combat, and studying books around the outside of the grounds. They’re probably sticking to their training on the ground, knowing they’ll have to be getting ready for the ball soon. Ebron uses his wing to help me get down, but then there’s Prince Alaric, catching my hand and helping me onto the ground. We stare at each other for a moment in shock, as a current of something unknown passes between us.
“Today was… fun,” he tells me, a note of disbelief in his voice.
“You flatter me, sir,” I tease.
His cheeks turn red. “You don’t understand. We never do things like that.”
“There’s no time,” Prince Gareth says, coming around Ebron.
“Our time is better spent preparing for war.” Prince Lucien has an edge of something in his voice that says he might not completely agree with that idea.
I shrug. “You only get one life. It’s your choice how you want to spend it.”
Prince Alaric draws his shoulders back. “Our life is dedicated to protecting our people.”
I hesitate, then decide the hell with it. “Your father is king. He was also a dragon rider. It seems to me that he hasn’t spent every minute of his life in complete dedication to battle and war.”
The expression on their faces is almost comical. It’s like this is the first time they’ve thought about their father, a man known for his parties and his many women, and considered that he was a prince to the throne once upon a time. I don’t know the king’s history, but I do know that his military conquests aren’t discussed nearly as much as his romantic ones.
Prince Alaric takes a step closer to me. “You know, you have the strangest way of making me look at the same thing I’ve seen a thousand times, but seeing it… differently.”
I flash a smile. “It’s a skill.”
A strange energy flows between the four of us, and I can’t help but wonder if we’re finally going to find some kind of peace between us. If the tension and the fighting will stop. If they’ll just let me be a dragon rider and succeed or fail on my own.
Ebron and the female dragons take off into the sky. The rush of air from their wings swirls around all of us as we stare up at the sky, watching their retreating forms. Seeing them… it never gets old. It always feels so magical.
