Mass release: 3/15
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"Year 1 are mostly made of the fresh meat, however there are also the repeaters, so, its most populated year and the one you're the most vulnerable in, for as long as you don't bond a dragon and make through the triage on the next summer, you will remain as a year 1. Year 2 is more dynamic, it's when you actually learn how to do everything with your dragon, it's calmer since it's way less populated, you are finally considered a dragon rider, but under year 3. Now, in year 3 things change, you gain more power, more authority, you gain actual battle experiences, the danger is higher, your bond with your dragon is put to test, and the bad side is having to babysit year 1 and 2s, and taking care of the entrance test."
Oh, so that's what Marvor Velothren was doing before that guy asked me for a bloodbath and everything went south when I ignored their stupid rules and went on the bridge before my time, and the four idiots who also followed me then.
"1st years are vulnerable and in constant danger. 2nd years are dynamic, in possession of a dragon, and have no responsibilities yet. 3rd years get responsibility, actual battle simulations, monthly and not just on the summer final test like it goes on for 1st and 2nd years, the top 16 that was decided in the summer finals of year 2, become wing leaders and can pick their vice-leaders also from year 3, becoming babysitters, they are allowed to command, discipline, test, and punish the cadets under them."
"Year 1 is annoying. Year 2 is freeing. Year 3 is about power. Is that it?"
He grinned amused, "Pretty much, yes."
"What about 4th and 5th years?" I tilted my head.
"4th years are focused on themselves, they are in constant real simulation of battle and of everything that comes with it, they don't watch over anyone and they aren't watched aside from the supervisors and masters here, as well as they are the last ones to actively attend their classes in Arkhane grounds. Now, the 5th years are the interns, in the end of year 4 the graduates are divided in groups of 8 and sent out to the top towers around the Empire, under the Commanders of each one, to get actual battle experience in real battles. However, the 5th years have to comeback to Arkhane on the 1st day of every month, to repass everything they've been doing, all they have accomplished, everything to gather points, so they come back for one last battle simulation, as their final test to graduate, and that's it."
"So, essentially, the most crucial year for personal growth is the 4th?"
He clapped his hands, "Exactly. Most think it's the 3rd and the 5th."
"I don't to think like most," I pressed my lips together.
"Because you're special," he snapped his fingers smiling, and I realized his son got that adorable smile from him, "and profoundly smart. I'm not affiliated to any political side in here, so, I mean it when I say that I think you're be the best rider to come out from here in generations. There is something about you that feels different in a changing way, changing as in world changing, with a big purpose to make things no one has done before."
"Is that your intuition speaking?" I asked softly, no mockery in my voice.
A firm nod, "My intuition has never been wrong. And here between the two of us?" He leaned closer to the edge of the bed as if to get closer to me, and I unconsciously leaned in too, "I hope you kill Nevil Velothren gruesomely, I never liked that pretentious bastard," he whispered and I couldn't help cackling.
For the first time in years, the laughter that bubbled from my chest was a genuine one, not mocking, not bitter, not mischievous, just… genuine. "I will."
"I won't say that I think you should or not do what you want to Moros, as I have never seen the guy, he didn't attend here, after all, we may be the majority and with the biggest dragon power, but there are countless rogue dragons and many people bond them out there, outside and inside the borders, it's not a crime. But I will say that, regardless of your confrontation with Marvor, he's a nice kid, has a nasty temper, doesn't like many people, isn't the most friendly, lacks in knowing how to socialize and how to actually bond with people, can come out as rude, but he is different, the same kind of different that you are."
"He was not raised like you were, he wasn't even raised by his father, his brother was a bitch to him and also not present, and his mother was not in the picture for some reason, some say she is dead, that she was killed, as well as that before she vanished, she was the one to raise him. Marvor was not born in the Empire, he was born outside, in a different and dangerous environment that I happened to see twice in my years as a rider. I'm also not trying to influence you, I just want you to have the facts before you do something that you could regret later on."
"I know that you are not heartless, child, you suffered more than anyone should have, and you are still in pain, that makes you angry, and I understand. You loved, you were used, you were blamed for something out of your control, you had your heart broken, your innocence taken away, you were taken advantage of, you got backstabbed by someone you thought you loved, then you lost your crown and your birthright claim to the Imperial throne, then you lost your parents, your baby siblings were taken away, and you suffered through it all alone. That was wrong and violating, and it's okay to hurt, it's okay to be angry, to want to burn the world."
"You are in your right, you know what happened better than any of us, as you were in the very core of everything. It's your right to want revenge, to want to murder and burn everyone who's to blame for all that happened, you will regain your strength, you will get your siblings back, and you will get a strong dragon that will help you achieve that. But there's something that I fell in the right to pass down to you, because your mother taught me when she was here, as I was a 2nd year when she was a 1st one, and we were close enough that she called me a friend."
My heart stopped for a second and I felt my eyes blurred, raging emotions trying to take over me, and the kindness in his words made want to fucking cry. When he noticed it, he jumped off and came to me, then he held my hands softly.
"I was struggling to accept my mating bond because the father of my mate, who is now my wife, was responsible for the death of my mom in the battlefield. Your mother came to me to talk about it and she opened my eyes, she told me that I was wrong for blaming my mate because when that happened, she was a child, a innocent one and she was suffering her own hell that was different from mine, and her father had always been horrible and abusive to her. My problem was with him, he did that, he caused my mom's death, not her, and blaming her and wanting to avoid the bond and hurt her, was wounding all of us."
"Sure, Marvor and you are a different story, but the core problem is the painfully the same. His father and his brother took everything from you, they are to blame for your pain, they are horrible people, but while they were doing all that, Marvor was innocent and living his life how he managed, far away from this, he didn't even know who you were until his family took yours away. He also has his own demons, he also lives in his own hell, and unfortunately, even if it hurts to see him because he looks similar to Nevil and that may make you want him dead, he has nothing to do with you and your past, cadet."
"But he said,"
"He understands that you'll probably keep screaming at him and trying your best to hurt him, for what he didn't do, so, he decided to make so you wouldn't feel so much like a bitch, not by harming you, but provoking you with words. He isn't evil, he is just giving reason to your unreasonable reaction to him, who in truth is innocent to your anger. But don't tell him I told you this, don't tell anyone, I said I was going to keep my mouth shut about it, but I can't."
"For him?" I clenched my jaw.
"For your mom, Grace," he caressed my hand softly. "You look like her."
Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.
"I do?" My voice broke and I swallowed.
"Ah, child," he sighed. "It's not your fault, Grace."
"Yes, yes, it is," I shook softly, tears rolling down. "I… only I knew that secret way to get into the palace through the ancient tunnels under it. I… I… he… he asked me for a way to get him to be with me there, since I was prohibited from seeing males, he said he loved me. I… I…" I broke, unable to speak, crying.