Wingborn (41 page)

They all leant closer and Corin bashed
foreheads with Derrain as she planted a loud kiss on his lips. She
teetered away, crowing,
“
Tol
’
you! Tol
’
you! I got a
kiss!
”

Lunging to catch her before she fell over,
Derrain sighed and tucked her under his arm.
“
You should have asked, Corin. I
’
d have kissed you
gladly.
”

“
Ser’
sly?
”
she hiccupped.
“
S
’
that
easy?
”

“Depends how
nicely you ask.”

She chuckled and cuddled up to his chest.
“
You
’
s nice, Derry. I like you.
”

“
Should
‘ope so,” Mhysra hiccupped. “Hate to think you go ‘round kissing
them you don’
t.
”

“
Don’
t be jealous, M
’
sra, I
’
ll kiss you too if you want.
”

Mhysra cackled.
“’
m all right, thanks.
”

Corin wrinkled her nose.
“
Can I have
‘
novva drink, Derry?
”

“
No.
You got your
kiss.”

“
Offa
you, mebbe,” she grumbled. “Need more courage. Wanna
‘
novva.
”

“I told you to
ask.”

“Not from
you!” she protested, while Mhysra wandered into a wall.

Derrain reached out and snagged
Mhysra
’
s wrist as she
walked into the wall again, asking it why it wasn
’
t getting out of the way and
didn
’
t it know it was
rude to obstructify people in this manner. He reeled her in and
smiled at Corin.
“
You
don
’
t need courage,
little one.
”

“
You’s
nice,” Corin repeated, patting his cheek. “But I wanna kiss from
Dhori. Where’
d he go? D
’
you know? Oh! A rhyme! Where
’
d he go, do you know? I don
’
t know, where he go? Where he go,
I don
’
t know. I
don
’
t, I don
’
t know!
’
m so clever.
”
She collapsed against his chest, staring up at him
adoringly.
“
Don
’
cha
think
’
m clever,
Derry?
”

“
Brilliant,” he agreed, staggering sharply left as Mhysra
avoided another wall, which she was sure had lunged. They had it in
for her, all of them. Evil walls. “Come on, girls,
upstairs.
”

“
Stairs,” Mhysra whined. “They’
re worse than walls.
They trip you up an
’
everything.
”

“
Stairs!
I love stairs! ’
m good at stairs!
”
Corin raced off, slipped and slithered
down, scraping her hands but miraculously not flattening her face.
“
Did you see
that?
”
she demanded.
“
It tripped
me!
”

“I warned
you,” Mhysra said. “I told you they was mean.”

“You was
right!”

“
Is
there any reason why we can’
t talk like normal
people?
”
Derrain
pleaded, as they berated the stairs.

“
You’
re at Aquila, lad. There
are
no normal people here.
”
Stirla and Lyrai were watching
their distinct lack of progress, bright-eyed with amusement.
“Need a hand?” Stirla
offered.

“Please.”

“
Come
on, milady. Up.” Lyrai
pulled Mhysra to her feet and hauled
her over his shoulder.

“
Ooooh,”
she groaned as he straightened. “Feel dizzy. World’
s gone
upsides.
”

“No, just
you,” Lyrai assured her, while Stirla scooped up Corin.

“
You
know, you’
re not as grouchy as I thought you
were,
”
Mhysra murmured
to Lyrai
’
s back.
“
An
’
you have a nice bum.
”

It was Derrain
’
s turn to trip on the stairs, he was laughing so
hard.

“Thank you,”
Lyrai said gravely, not even flinching when Mhysra patted his
backside.

“’m gonna regret this in the
mornin
’
, aren
’
t I?
”
she muttered.

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

As Lyrai
carried her up the stairs, she remained quiet, though Corin was
trying to bargain a kiss out of Stirla, who promised to drop her if
she tried.

Then
Mhysra hiccupped. “Ow. Your shoulder’
s not as nice as your
bum.
S’
all
bony.
”

“His bum?”
Stirla asked.

“No, the
shoulder. It sticks in my –” another hiccup “– belly. Hurts.
Uh-oh.”

“What?”
Derrain, Lyrai and Stirla asked.

“Feel
sick.”

It was quite possible that Lieutenant Lyrai
had never moved so fast as when he put Mhysra down, turned her
around and boosted her up to an open window.

When she was dangling halfway out of it, she
giggled.
“
S
’
rainin
’
.
”

“
Tell us
something we don’
t know.
”

“
Umm…
Dhori’
s on the roof.
”

“
What?”
Stirla dumped Corin and ran to the next window, while Lyrai gripped
hold of Mhysra’
s belt before she could fall out.

“Are you
done?” Lyrai asked.

“
I
don’
t feel sick now,
”
she confirmed, then protested as he dragged her
inside.
“
I like it out
there. I like rain. Noooo!
”

“
Blast
it, d
oes he want to get killed?
”
Stirla cursed, leaning right out of the window to
see Dhori on the high roof opposite.

“He likes it,”
Mhysra grumbled, sliding down the wall next to the sleepy Corin.
“He likes rain on his skin an’ thunder in his bones. Makes him feel
good.”

“How do you
know?” Lyrai asked in surprise.

She shrugged.
“
If you knew him, you
’
d know. He
’
s safe on the roof.
”
The rain had turned her maudlin.
“
Don
’
t make him get down. You didn
’
t like it when you couldn
’
t fly.
”

Lyrai blinked at the abrupt change of
subject.
“
Do you like it
when you can
’
t?
”

“
Course
not. It’
d be the same for Dhori if you made him get down. He
needs storms. Don
’
t make
him come inside.
”

Smiling, he hauled Mhysra to her feet.
“
I won
’
t. Come on.
”

This time he scooped her into his arms
rather than over his shoulder and she snuggled against his chest.
“
S
’
nice,
”
she murmured.
“
You smell better than my cousins.
”

Stirla chuckled as he picked up Corin again,
Derrain having disappeared.
“
Careful, he
’
ll think you
’
re an admirer.
”

“I admire all
kinds of things.” She yawned. “An’ my cousins smell terrible. Bet
you smell better too.”

“He has a nice
bum too,” Corin murmured.

“Who?” Stirla
asked.

“You,” she
replied sleepily. “Do I get a kiss?”

“No.”

“I tried.
L’ten’n Lyrai, can I have a kiss?”

“No.”

“No fun,”
Corin complained.

“I thought you
wanted to kiss Dhori,” Mhysra reminded her, on the verge of sleep
herself.

“
Do.
Wouldn’
t say no to a l
’
ten
’
n,
tho
’
. Keepin
’
my options open.
”

“Wise child,”
Stirla agreed, but neither of the girls were listening. Both were
sound asleep.

THE MORNING AFTER
the feast, Aquila was bathed in uncharacteristic sunshine.
It broke over the mountain edge and speared straight in through the
girls’ dormitory window, where it was greeted with groans. When a
maid climbed the stairs to find out why none of them had come down
to breakfast, she was forced out under a rain of
pillows.

Lessons for
the day were cancelled.

Luckily for
most, they had only hazy memories of the night before. Still, it
was a good half-moon before Mhysra felt able to look Lieutenant
Lyrai in the eye again, and Corin couldn’t speak to Lieutenant
Stirla for the better part of a month. Oddly enough, neither
lieutenant complained.

31
^st
Gale

I
T WAS SLEETING. A
gain.
“
The joys of Aquila,
”
Stirla grumbled, tipping his hat further over his
face.
“
How can you bear
this every day?
”

Blinking water from his eyelashes, Lyrai
chuckled; supervising an afternoon flight was the least of his
worries.
“
I like
flying.
”

“
So do
I.” Stirla shuddered as ice trickled down his neck. “When
it’
s sunny.
”

Lyrai shook his head. After spending so much
time grounded, he
’
d
tackle a blizzard if it was his only chance to fly.
“
Come on.
”
He slapped Stirla
’
s shoulder.
“
Time to get your feet wet.
”

“
They’
re already wet,
”
Stirla muttered, trudging over to Atyrn.

“
Stop
complaining. Once the blizzards truly start you’
ll be
spending plenty of time inside.
”
Lyrai secured his hat and shuddered. He was not
looking forward to the next few months.

His friend grunted and hauled himself into
Atyrn
’
s saddle, Lyrai
mounted Hurricane and they launched into the miryhl-filled skies.
It was Sunday, which meant all the first-years flew together,
regardless of their flurries; all Lyrai had to do was watch.
Thankfully, he was assisted by three lieutenants and four
sergeants. It wasn
’
t
unheard of for the captains to join these practise flights, but
Lyrai didn
’
t blame them
for keeping out of the sleet today.

Circling above the students was like staring
into the eye of a storm as the miryhls lapped the field. The more
confident flyers rose to the top or darted through the middle,
while nervous pairs stayed close to the ground. The four young
lieutenants watched from above, while the sergeants kept order in
amongst the flock. After a while the sleet lessened, easing
visibility, so that the pairs resolved into individuals.

Shaking the water from his eyes, Lyrai
shivered and studied his students. Dhori and Latinym were rising
from bottom to top and down again, while Mhysra and Cumulo swirled
in and out of the main flow behind them. This exercise was too tame
for them, but everyone had to practise together. Derrain and
Zephyr, Corin and Wisp, Haelle and Thunder, and Mouse and Onyx
bobbed behind Cumulo and Latinym like bows on a kite tail, making
Lyrai smile.

An ill-advised attempt to race between some
cocky students drew his attention away and he was on the verge of
intervening when Hurricane tensed.

“Mouse,” was
all the warning he got before his miryhl dived.

Gripping handfuls of feathers, Lyrai
squinted through the rain and swore. Mouse, indeed. Eager to copy
his friends, the foolish boy had urged his miryhl too high, too
fast and had collided with another student: Bovei fra Benlei. A
young lord and favourite of Willym
’
s, Bovei did not make allowances for accidents.

Even as Hurricane arrowed down, Bovei raised
his flying crop – and how he
ha
d one of those when they were banned, Lyrai could
only guess – and lashed out. As Bovei was a mean-tempered bully,
Lyrai expected him to aim for Mouse. Instead he slashed at
Onyx
’
s face.

“
No!
” Lyrai and
Hurricane roared together, and Lyrai urged his miryhl even faster,
diving straight through the flock of novice pairs. Miryhls
scattered and students yelped, but Hurricane ignored them. Since no
one fell off, Lyrai did likewise.

Onyx squealed and dodged the whip heading
for his eye, taking the brunt of the strike the crook of his wing.
Already unbalanced from the collision, Mouse slipped, hands
grasping at the wet saddle but finding no purchase. The leather
straps, which should have been holding him in place, were
unbuckled: he
’
d been
copying his friends again. Onyx shifted to catch him, but Bovei
cracked the whip across the miryhl
’
s neck. Bruised and wounded, Onyx flinched.

“
Mhysra!
”
Mouse plummeted through the cloud of miryhls.

Cumulo
dived after him.
With more strength than finesse, the
Wingborn seized the boy
’
s leg and flapped frantically to slow their
reckless descent.