The Dragon Queen's Heir [book one]

4

MY HEART STOPS. Does he know who I am? I feel for my hair to make sure it's still the right color and length, taking a sigh of relief when I find it's still disguised. He must just be surprised girls are still trying out. Finally, his gaze moves on, and he continues, his smile stretching wider across his warm brown face.

"As you all know, the Selecting is a sacred ceremony meant to detect the possibility of a young person's magical power and the possibility of him or her being able to bond with a dragon." He pauses, letting the audience digest his words, even though they were the same words repeated at every Selecting, his lips still formed in a polite smile. "To detect this possibility, a young person will make contact with the Abernathy Stone, and this stone will light up one color—if any—depending on the level of power within that young person."

Even though I know exactly how the Selecting works, I still find myself hanging onto the headmaster's every word as he continues smiling and explaining, waving his hand around if a particularly interesting topic comes up. Finally, he glances down at the scroll and says, "Now for our potential Riders! If you guys will please come up when I call your name, that would be great."

Since I was one of the last ones to sign up, I settle back into my seat and make myself as comfortable as I can under these conditions, expecting it to be a while before I get to go, but to my surprise, the first name Professor Singh calls is mine. Startled, I jump up, but my coat falls to the ground. I blush and pick it up, ignoring the snickers of the boys around me, then hurry up to the stage.

Professor Singh examines me in a way that reminds me of a bug about to be squashed by immature children—it's like he's trying to find my weaknesses so he can exploit them and embarrass me in front of the entire village. Instead, all he says is, "You may touch the stone, Miss Ashdon."

Blushing, I take a step forward, glancing out at the audience and finding my mother sitting in the front row of seats. There's something sad in her eyes, something that tells me maybe there was a reason she didn't want me to come to the Selecting. Then I banish the idea, anger once again rising in my chest. Regardless of her reasoning, she had no right to stop me from coming here.

I turn back to Professor Singh, my eyes narrow in determination despite the obvious disinterest of the audience. Who cares what they think? Glancing down at the table, I find the simple gray stone that will decide my fate. Without hesitating, I reach out and place two cautious fingers on its surface.

Immediately, a rush of power fills my veins like a stream of cold water, waking up all my senses for what feels like the first time in my life. I take a deep, long breath, letting the feeling travel down all the way down my body, peace enveloping my mind like a blanket. Somewhere far off, the sound of a murmuring crowd reaches my ears, but I ignore them, settling into this new feeling of rightness.

But suddenly, like someone breaking a twig, it snaps.

For a moment, I'm back to normal me, the surreal peace gone, but then, my mind plunges into darkness so deep I doubt even a light would allow me to be able to see my own hand. My heart hammering in my ears, I let go of the Abernathy Stone and rub my eyes, but soon, even the feeling of the real world disappears, and I'm lost in the endless night, barely resisting the urge to scream.

I take a step back, muttering incoherently under my breath. This isn't supposed to happen. Professor Singh never mentioned anything about this—

Suddenly my world is lit up, illuminating an endless gray plane, and this time I do scream, because it all feels so real and I could be trapped in here and my mother was right about me coming here—

Then it's all gone, and I almost breathe a sigh of relief, but then—

A dragon, dark as night, rushing at me, maw wide open, ready to devour anything in its way.

A woman with pitch-black hair cackling, the noise reaching my ears a thousand times louder than it should. I cover my ears, but it's useless—

A burning castle—

Screaming teenagers, running to and fro—

Dragons, roaring in pain—

Then it's gone.

I scream, but the sound echoes, haunting me until finally, mercifully, my mind goes dark.

~

"Ashlyn."

The spoken word lifts my mind out of a fog, but I shiver and resist, forcing myself to go to sleep, unwilling to repeat the horrors of what happened last time I was conscious. The fog begins to build around my brain again, protecting me.

"Ashlyn, wake up!"

I don't want to. But there's no going back, my protective fog already dissipating and forcing me to open my eyes. It takes a moment for them to focus on my surroundings, but the first thing I notice is an ink-black dragon hovering above me. I sit up, shoving off the sheets covering my body, and take heaving breaths, searching for the nearest door.

"Ashlyn, it's okay!"

My head snaps around and takes in Professor Singh's hair, tousled and tossed into a messy braid that reaches far below where his waist disappears behind a desk, his wide eyes, hidden by a pair of glasses. Behind him are multiple paintings of scenes from various points in history—except no one in the paintings is human. Glancing back up at the ceiling, I realize the dragon is actually just a painting, the same thing as every other dragon in here.

Professor Singh sighs, gesturing forward to where my makeshift bed rests on the floor. In front of it is a simple chair where I gingerly sit, taking in my surroundings with wide eyes. "Where am I?" is the first question that spills out of my mouth, a thousand crowding in behind it. "What happened to me? Am I really going to be a Rider?" I take a deep breath, meeting Professor Singh's eyes. "What's going to happen to me?"

"Miss Rehlia, you have nothing to worry about—"

Suddenly I realize something, stuffing my hand into the pocket of my trousers and searching for my stone, the thing that helped me get here. It's gone. Glancing back up at Professor Singh's desk, a sigh of relief escapes when I see the stone resting on the worn wood. "Am I in trouble, Professor? I didn't mean to lie or anything, but my mother would have never allowed me to go—"

Professor Singh sighs again, fingering his dark braid with one hand and massaging his temple with the other. "Miss Rehlia, I told you, you have nothing to worry about here. In fact, I'm quite glad you lied about your identity. It solved a problem I was worrying about for quite a long time."

I frown, rubbing my thumbs against the wooden arms of my chair. "What do you mean? Were you waiting for me to come here?"

"I'll answer all of your questions later." Professor Singh stands and reaches for my stone, taking it gently into his hand and holding it out for me to take. "You'd better get to dinner, Miss Ashdon. And please, make sure no one finds out your true identity."

"Wait, wait," I say, taking the stone in dropping it in my pocket. "Does this mean I'm a dragon rider, then?"

Professor Singh nods, something like amusement twinkling in his eye. "Yes, Ashlyn. That means you're a dragon rider." 

Woah, some serious stuff happened this chapter! What do you think of Professor Singh? He's probably one of my favorite characters :) Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and please don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this chapter!

~ Amber