Page 24 of Wild Bond

Deciding to use my sudden spark of energy, and banking on her overconfidence, I shifted my hips. Then in a single motion, I grasped her elbow and shoved it to the side using the momentum and my remaining upper body strength to roll us until I was the one pinning her to the ground. I grinned savagely down at the shocked look on her face before I followed it up with a solid jab to her throat.

She gagged and wheezed, and I made to move away when she shifted her legs throwing me off her and onto my back. I gasped in pain and heard several of my new classmates chuckle.

I stared up at the blue sky for an instant before a shadow fell over me. Daisha’s striking face, now contorted with rage, glared down at me. “Like I said,” she seethed. “You don’t belong here.” She glowered at me one last time before moving away.

I hastily got to my feet, knowing I needed to be ready to face my next opponent. I tried valiantly to ignore the sharp pain in my back, and along my shoulders and left hip as I stepped forward.

Mercifully, Trenton called a short water break, and I collapsed down next to Con. He was the only one who hadn’t pummeled me ruthlessly into the ground when it was his turn to spar with me.

I groaned as I leaned back on my elbows. “Realms, everything hurts,” I complained.

Con winced in sympathy. “They haven’t been pulling any punches, have they?”

I sighed. No, they had not. But then again, I didn’t expect or want them to.

“That Daisha girl, though, what dragon dung did she step in this morning? She has to be a descendant. Only one of those inbred, self-important bastards would be so put out by the fact that I was from the lower city.”

Con went silent beside me, and I glanced at him. A prickling suspicion entered my mind.

“You’re a descendant, aren’t you?”

He nodded sheepishly and I groaned.

Descendantwas the term used for people whose bloodline had produced dragon riders for several generations without fail. Because of this, they were usually wealthy and in prestigious positions in society, even if they weren’t dragon riders themselves.

“And it gets worse . . .” he hedged.

I stared at him and sighed in defeat. “She’s your sister, isn’t she?”

He nodded with a smirk. “That she is.”

“Curse the Nine and all their followers!” I swore under my breath. “I’m sorry.”

Con chuckled.

I dropped down to lie completely on my back, slinging my arm over my eyes in embarrassment.

He chuckled again. “It’s fine. Daisha can be hard to take, but we Varrons aren’t all bad.”

“Wait.” I sat up. “Did you say Varron? Like Councilor Varron? He’s your father?”

Con sighed. “Yes. I see you’ve already met.”

“Only briefly when he dragged me before the entire council and accused my bond with Skye of being fake.”

Con winced. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t sound out of character for him.”

I wanted to ask how someone like him could belong to the same family as Varron and Daisha but knew that would be incredibly rude, so I bit my tongue.

“My mother’s nice though,” he joked, and we both laughed as some of the awkwardness eased.

It was quiet as we both drank from canteens, then I ventured, “So what did you do, then?”

He stared at me in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You’re descended from a rider family, you’re nice, and your sister doesn’t seem to be hurting for friends,” I gestured to where she sat laughing with Warran and the same two girls from before. “So, I know it can’t be that they hold a grudge against your family. I know why they hate me, but what did you do to earn their disapproval?” I didn’t say it, but I had noticed during the lesson how most of them had all looked at him like he was dirt on the bottom of their shoe.

His easygoing manner suddenly became very subdued. When he spoke, his words were filled with resentment and ill-concealed pain. “I had the audacity to fail the trials.”

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