The Dragon Queen's Heir [book one]

11

OLIVER LEADS ME THROUGH THE HALLS OF THE SCHOOL until we're back at the dining hall. "It's dinner time already?" I say. The windows reveal the sky to be pitch-black, lanterns providing light as Oliver leads me to long tables of food. After the day I've had, even the cold meat no one has touched looks appetizing. "How long did I take to find Eira?"

"Most of the day," Oliver says, grabbing a plate and handing it to me. Sensing my worry, he grins. "Don't worry. It's normal. Most of the students actually just got back."

I nod, taking some chicken and fried rice before going to the drinks and pouring myself lemonade with one hand. My thoughts still whirring from the mountain of information I've just been given, I open my mouth and let the first question I think of spill out: "Did you know her? The girl that almost destroyed the school, I mean."

Oliver freezes in the middle of pouring his drink, his knuckles white on his glass. Slowly he straightens, moving his jaw back and forth as we walk to a near-empty table. "Vaguely," he finally says, setting his plate down on the rough wood of a table at the far corner of the dining hall. "Mostly through a mutual friend."

I sit as well, immediately regretting saying anything. His pained expression, though he tries to hide it, shows clearly, and it's evident what he told me isn't the whole truth. "I'm sorry," I say, glancing down at my food. "I didn't mean—"

"No, it's okay." Oliver grins, and just like that, the tension is gone. He takes a bite of his food right as a shadow appears over my shoulder. I glance being me and find Nikolai standing with a plate in his hand. Before I can say anything, Nikolai glances up, and I instinctively follow suit, finding a tall girl with blond hair and manicured nails standing beside Oliver.

The girl grins, revealing pearly white teeth that immediately set me off. "Hope you don't mind us sitting here with you, Oliver," she says cheerily.

Oliver shakes his head, his grip on his fork tightening. "Not at all, Sara." At his words, Nikolai sets his plate down on the table next to me, sliding onto the bench as Sara does the same. Desiring anything but her attention, I stuff a bite of chicken into my mouth and keep my gaze lowered to my plate.

"Oh, you must be the new Rider!" Sara says after a beat, the exact moment I'm about to shovel another bite of my food into my mouth to avoid conversation. Caught, I sigh and lower my fork back to my plate, meeting Sara's bright green eyes. "I must be honest, I didn't expect another girl so soon!"

Oliver sighs and gestures to Sara with one hand. "This is the mutual friend I was talking about. Ciana, meet Sara."

Sara eagerly sticks out a hand, and I grudgingly take it, shaking over our food. "It's so nice to meet you, Ciana!" Then she turns to Oliver. "What do you mean, mutual friend?" She laughs. "If you're talking about June, then—"

"Ciana, Sara is actually one of my best friends. We've grown up together through the Academy, and she'll be joining me to work for the king after we graduate," Oliver says, meeting my eyes. I nod and rub my thumb over my fork, unsure what to say. Thankfully, Oliver saves me, saying, "Sara, is this your trainee?"

Sara nods. "He's been pretty quiet so far, but I'm sure he'll warm up eventually. Right, Nikolai?"

Nikolai gives a barely perceptive nod, stuffing a large chunk of steak into his mouth. A moment later, his eyes meet mine, and I can't help but grin as he takes another huge bite. This guy has the same tactics to avoid conversation I use. He gives a lopsided smile back, his head twisting back to Oliver a moment later.

"Well, I'm sure he's going to turn out just as great a Rider as anyone," Oliver says.

Sara waves a hand. "Of course he is." Then she turns to me, and I curse myself for emptying my plate so fast. "So, Ciana, where do you come from?"

Nikolai and Oliver turn to look at me as well, and I gulp, at a loss for things to say. "Uh..." I clear my throat, glancing desperately at Oliver. My mind seems to be at a loss, unable to think of even the simplest of lies. Oliver gives me a sympathetic smile but says nothing, so I say the first thing that comes out of my mouth. "I'm an orphan."

Sara's mouth opens in an 'o', and Nikolai's head snaps towards me, his brown eyes wide. Cringing, I continue. "I ran away from my orphanage to attend the Selecting. Find a better life, you know?" I want to die. I want to ram my head into the table until I die from blood loss and stupidity. "So here I am," I finish weakly.

"Oh, Ciana, I'm so sorry!" Sara says, covering her mouth. "If there's anything you need me to do, please just let me know." I nod, my skin stretching tight as I force a smile on my face and grip my fork until my fingers turn white.

Oliver clears his throat and stands, eyeing me as he says, "Well, it's getting late. We'd better get to bed. See you tomorrow, guys." I give a weak goodbye as Sara and Oliver leave the dining hall, leaving Nikolai and me alone.

My heart hammers in my ears as I sit in silence, finishing off the last of my lemonade and trying to think of the most creative ways to say 'stupid'. I don't get far before Nikolai takes a gulp of his drink and puts it on the table. "So," he says. "How are you?"

I frown. "Right now?" At Nikolai's nod, I sigh and twiddle with the ends of my hair. Feeling stupid. I just created an entirely false background for myself I'm pretty sure will come back to bite me in the butt. "Tired. Ready for bed. Today's been a long day, even though I didn't even realize most of it went by." I yawn, accentuating my words, and run my fingers up and down my empty cup. "You?"

Nikolai gives a half shrug. "I'm not really tired. It didn't take long for me to bond with my dragon, so I just hung out in my dorm most of the day." He pauses, and I glance down at my plate as his brown eyes run over my body. "Is that story about you being an orphan true?" Of course. I figured he wouldn't believe me, considering my horrible lying skills. I consider telling him my identity, but the fact that I only met him this this morning stops me. I open my mouth, then close it. "It's not, is it?" Nikolai eventually says after a few awkward moments of silence.

I quickly shake my head. "No, no, it is." Nikolai raises a brow but doesn't say anything, and I clear my throat, piling all my trash onto my plate. "What about you? Where do you come from?"

"Well," Nikolai starts, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm from Bellhaven. Two parents, dog, stereotypical family." He waves a hand, lowering his gaze to meet mine. "Nothing special." I nod, pinching the glass of my plate between two fingers.

"At least you have two parents," I say softly, the weight of my father's death suddenly crushing my chest. Life hadn't changed much after his assassination, but I still miss the silly advice he would give me in between meetings, the rare days we would take the palace horses and ride them through the woods outside the village.

Most of all, I miss his acceptance of who I was and what I wanted.

After my father's death, my mother changed, going from my best friend to my worst enemy within a matter of days. She spent more time in her room, snapping at me whenever I tried to grieve with her or attempt to mend our broken hearts. She stopped letting me go to meetings with her, hid me away from the public eye. I've always chalked it up to grief for my father, but occasionally, I can't help but wonder if it was something more.

Something like sadness flashes in Nikolai's eyes, but soon, it's gone, and he clears his throat, standing with his trash. "I'd better get back to my dorm," he says with a lopsided grin. "See you tomorrow, Ciana." Then he's gone, leaving me to my thoughts. I pick up my trash a moment later, standing and throwing it away before making my way through the halls to the dorm chamber.

I still don't know what to think of Nikolai, but he seems nice enough. What I like most about him is the fact that he doesn't care where I come from or who I am (at least, who my false identity is). He's not afraid of me, and I appreciate that.

I bury my thoughts as I pull open the heavy wooden doors to the dorm chamber. This time, unlike last night, there are groups of boys huddled on couches talking and playing various games. Part of me wishes I could join them, but it would be practically impossible to find anyone willing to spend time with me long enough to play a game. Sighing, I walk past them and go up the stairs to my room, pushing open the door.

My eyes immediately widen. This is chaos.

What do you think happened?! Let me know down in the comments!

~ Amber