by Rachel Angel
“We have no choice,” one of them muttered as he raised the heavy iron knocker and let it fall to the wood.
“Enter,” a feminine yet strong voice called out.
They filed in and lined up before the Queen.
On a high-backed wrought iron throne with a golden cushion, she sat, her back straight, her lips in a solemn line, and her eyes inquisitive. “What brings you?”
“It is the border,” one said.
“There has been a breach,” the other added.
“It is The Border,” the third muttered.
She cocked a brow as her lips tightened. Nodding her understanding, she rose.
“For centuries, we dragons have protected The Border. This land between the human lands and the dragon lands, has been the buffer from the deadly creatures that want to descend and destroy us. We’ve been fortunate; these wicked creatures are the natural enemy of both the dragons and humans. We’ve worked well with humans in controlling these creatures. For centuries The Border has been co-governed by the humans and the dragons.”
“As you would imagine, this was highly unexpected. We’ve relied on our relations with humans for so long, we’ve never considered re-evaluating the situation.”
“Clearly, we will need to reinforce the border. The threat to our kingdom, to our very way of life is at stake.”
“I realize that,” she replied as she gazed off into the distance, her eyes focusing on nothing in particular.
“Forgive me for saying so, but you don’t seem very surprised by the news we bring.”
“I suppose not.”
The four men looked down at their heavy boots.
“Here is what we will need to do,” Queen Jade of Rose Cliff said calmly. “We will send our elite patrol. The best of the best from Wyvern Academy. But we will have a human on the team too. One who is strong enough to stand up to, fit in with, and challenge the boys. I propose something unprecedented.” She turned to them, her chin high and her eyes shining with pride. “We will send in a female human; our first to Wyvern.”
All eyes widened then quickly narrowed as they took in what she’d just said.
“But…” one of the men muttered.
“A female?” another one managed.
“But, we can’t do that,” the third argued. “They are simply not strong enough.”
“Really?” she said, stepping down to come face him. “Not strong enough?”
Taking a step back, he said, “A million pardons, your Majesty, but…”
“I stand here, a mere female, and yet you cower before me. What does that tell you?”
“You are an exception. Few females could do what you do. Few females would want to.”
“Nonsense. They are capable of anything they put their minds to.”
“But…”
“We cannot afford to allow more than half of the kingdom’s population to remain passive. Our increasing inability to defeat the darkness that continually presses down on us is that we don’t train our females to fight as we do our boys. We don’t allow them to learn the skills that we so readily teach the boys. Think about it; those creatures out there don’t care if they fight a male or female. They are ruthless and bloodthirsty and will kill regardless of the gender of their opponent.” She looked at them, her gaze going from one pair of eyes to the next.
“It just seems like such a desperate move.”
“Perhaps, but if we don’t make this desperate move, they will break down our barriers, tear down our walls and storm the border. Then where will we be? No. We need to take action now. I will prove to you all that training the females of Wyvern to be skilled fighters and strong warriors is the best way of strengthening our fighting forces and empower our entire species.”
“But where, pray tell, will we find a suitable female for this experiment?”
“Worry not your lovely head,” she said with a chuckle. “Out there is an extraordinary girl from The Borders who was born to carry this torch.”
The fourth man who had not yet spoken cleared his throat. “Queen Jade, as the leader of the most powerful kingdom in Wyvern, you are a prime example of how extraordinary a strong woman can be, but you’ve set the bar extremely high. It will be hard, if not impossible to find a female who will prove to be so strong.”
“You underestimate me,” Queen Jade said. She strolled the length of the salon and back, stopping pensively before them. “For weeks now I’ve heard whispers about the crumbling forces at The Border. My people have been walking around in fear and I’ve stayed awake night after night trying to find solutions to the obvious problems. And when I realized we needed to train our females, I knew who would be the first. I knew who had the biggest chance of succeeding.”
A skeptical frown creased his brow.
“And she is being summoned as we speak,” she said with finality.
Chapter 1
Ally pushed a huff of warm breath against the cold metal shield she’s just finished working on. With a soft rag she rubbed her breath off, leaving a shine.
It was surely her best work yet. The magnificent shield, light and easy to carry, yet strong and impenetrable, was embellished with a crest featuring three dragons surrounding a jewel encrusted crown. An iridescent rainbow shined across the width of the shield.
She pushed another huff a breath, but almost chocked on it as the door to the forge was suddenly flung open.
“Oh, Ally,” her foster mother cried as she clutched her heart. “Thank heavens you’re here.” She rushed to Ally’s side and pulled her into her bosom.
“Kate, what are you doing here?” Ally said when Kate released her tight hold. She smiled but it quickly faded when she saw her foster father behind her, his face set in an odd expression. “Bilbo? What’s going on?”
“Ally,” he said solemnly. “You’ve received a royal decree from the dragons beyond The Border; from Wyvern.”
Ally set the shield down as she let out a nervous chuckle. “The dragons? Why would they be sending a royal decree here?”
“Oh, Ally,” Kate cried, tears of uncertainty in her eyes. She put her arm around the foster child she’d grown so fond of.
Ally reached out to take her other hand. Their connection had been so immediate after her biological parents’ death. She’d found a soft shoulder to cry on in Kate and a strong father figure in Bilbo. Theirs was an easy relationship of respect and love. Now it pained her to see them both so upset.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Ally persisted. “Surely they can’t do this. They can’t send a royal decree all the way out here. It’s not within their kingdom.”
“But they can.”
Surprised by the strong, assertive voice, Ally turned to see William standing in the doorway.
He made his way into the forge. “The peace pact Wyvern formed with our lands, The Borders, allows them to co-govern our land.”
She tried to ignore how handsome he was and concentrate on his words. Though she’d known him forever, she still sighed whenever she saw him, but she managed to do it in silence.
“What do they want with Ally?” he asked.
Bilbo pulled the rolled piece of paper out of his back pocket. With shaky hands he unrolled the decree and cleared his throat. “Ally of The Borders is hereby summoned by Queen Jade of Emerald Realms to attend the Wyvern School for Boys. She will be the first female student to attend the prestigious Academy. It is a great honor and Ally of The Borders should be flattered. A refusal to attend the Academy, however, will be viewed as treason and the penalty will by the beheading of her legal guardians, Kate and Bilbo Blacksmith.”
Kate let out a muffled cry as Bilbo rolled the decree back up.
“That can’t be right,” Ally whispered as she looked at the couple she loved so much. Shaking, she melted into Kate’s hold. “Oh, my God. How can they do this to me? They leave me no choice.”
Chapter 2
Ally’s heart grew heavier and heavier as her horse brought her into the gated gro
unds of the Academy. Since learning of her forced attendance to the all-boys school, she’d tried to find something encouraging about the situation; the chance for an adventure; the opportunity to better herself; the greatest test of her life. Yet, when she’d opened her eyes that morning, all she saw was imminent failure.
In the distance, the main entrance came into view. A tall, thin figure stood flanked by four taller and more powerful figures. Each clop of her horse’s hooves was met with the pounding of her heart. Pulling on the reins, she stopped her horse in front of them and easily slid down off her saddle.
While she didn’t need assistance, she noted how no one made a move to help her down.
“Greetings, Miss Ally,” the tall older man said in a deep, raspy voice. His leathery skin spoke of years in the harsh sun and the three clearly defined scars across his face were no doubt testimony to dozens of battles won and lost. He held his hand out to her. “I am Headmaster Jerrod.”
“Nice to meet you, Jerrod.” She shook his hand.
She now saw that the four figures behind him were incredibly good-looking young men who remained absolutely motionless. Standing tall, their shoulders broad and their tunics tight against the breadth of their chests, they exuded a sexuality she’d never known before.
One of them finally stepped forward when Jerrod tilted his head towards him. “Allow me to introduce myself,” he said. “I am Razor, the red prince of Rose Cliff Kingdom.”
Ally nodded and tried to force a smile, but despite the warm copper hair and big amber eyes, his arrogant and cold glare kept her lips tight.
“I am the crown prince and will one day rule Rose Cliff; the most powerful kingdom in Wyvern.” He turned to the green eyed, teal haired guy beside him. “And this is my cousin, Jasper, the green prince of Emerald Realms.”
While gorgeous beyond belief, Ally quickly realized how off putting and untouchable he is. He didn’t even bother to step forward to greet her, but simply remained where he stood, barely looking at her.
“I’m Tar,” the third young man called out with a curt wave. “Black prince of the dark forest. Second in line to the throne.”
Ally had never seen eyes so black and void of any warmth. A shiver ran down her back.
“Flint,” the last one said simply. “Silver prince. Metal Realms.”
He was more rugged than the others and the silver tattoos that covered his arms added to that ruggedness. His silver hair and blue eyes made him look icy cool, while his tightly pressed lips did nothing to bring warmth to his face.
Each young man was cooler, colder, frostier than the last. Great, she thought. What a welcome wagon. Not only did they not want her there, they seemed to be silently challenging her, but to what, she didn’t know.
Headmaster Jerrod smiled. “You are, indeed, in great company, Miss Ally. Not only are these four princes the top students and leaders of the Academy, they are in their third year with us and we are infinitely proud as they will all, one day, be the kings of Wyvern Kingdoms.”
Ally tried to look impressed but was too chilled to do so.
“You find yourself in a very enviable position. No female has ever had the opportunity to study so close to these eligible princes.”
She pressed her lips together to keep from blurting out something inappropriate. So far, aside from the overt sensuality she sensed in them, all she’d seen were four arrogant, and most probably narcissistic guys who couldn’t deal with the fact that a female was entering their arena.
“I will leave you in their experienced hands as they will show you to your quarters, as well as various portions of the school.”
Ally looked at the foursome who seemed less than enthused by the idea of showing her around.
“All right,” Razor said as he grabbed her hand. For a moment he seemed poised to bring it to his lips to kiss it, but he quickly let it fall and brushed it away. “Stay close. We wouldn’t want you to get lost.”
The others snorted and chuckled as they entered the large stone building.
“I’ll show you where to eat, sleep and…” He stopped a second to give her an up and down glance. “Well I guess you’re expected to learn something here also, so I’ll show you your classes.”
“I know I don’t seem like much now,” she tried to explain, “but I’m quite strong and I’m a fast learner.”
“Really?” Jasper said with sensual undertones. There was something almost playful about him; almost. “If that’s true then you will quickly learn that you have no place here. In fact, this should be the scariest place in all the kingdom for a girl like you.”
While Tar remained silent, his deep, dark eyes gleamed with mischief and his wicked smile left her legs weak. There was something sinfully sexy about him.
She glanced back at Flint who groaned as they reached the large eating hall. He hadn’t so much as cracked a smile and had said not a word. His eyes maintained a hard noncompromising glare, and Ally sensed he’d be the kind of man who didn’t just lay gently with a woman, but who threw her down hard, who made love hard and who brought pain harshly.
Though still a virgin, she’d heard tales of gentle men, rough men and loveless men. She’d also heard Kate and Bilbo on a few occasions. Their love seemed gentle, if not slightly dulled by time.
As they left the dining hall and continued to the sleeping quarters, she was pleased to see just how easily she fit in. She’d deliberately covered her rainbow hair with a plain brown wig and chosen cloth that resembled the uniform the boys wore; white blazer, tan pants, a white shirt and tie.
They reached the many smaller buildings that were the living quarters and entered the last one. At the last door at the end of the hall, they stopped.
“I have no doubt you come from lesser means and that you will appreciate your luxurious room.” Razor pushed open the door to what would be her home for the next while.
She couldn’t help but gasp at the beauty of the large room. Razor was right. Her room at the Blacksmiths was nothing like this. In fact, the whole of their home could almost fit it the large, airy room.
While decidedly masculine in its décor, a few attempts had been made to soften the hard lines of black, brown and copper. The linen on her bed was soft and flowing and there was even a bowl of flowers on the dresser.
“And finally,” Razor said as he closed the door, “the most important part of the entire campus.” He turned on his heel and led them all back outside. Pointing to the far left, he said proudly, “The stadium.”
As they approached the large outdoor structure, the sounds of a large cheering crowd grew louder and louder. Clearly something was going on in the stadium.
Ally swallowed as a chill of true fear coursed through her. Through the loud cheers she also heard the most bone chilling cry of pain.
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