That shut him up but didn’t keep that glare out of his gaze as he looked at me. It was clear that he didn’t like me saying anything that could potentially make Aylia upset.
Aylia didn’t say anything as she slowly ate her food. I managed a couple bites but quickly gave up, putting my fork down.
“You should really eat more,” she said.
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“Just hurry and ease her mind,” one of the girls said. “Put her out of her misery.”
Aylia sighed, putting her own fork down. “It isn’t that easy.”
“But it’s something at least,” Kilven said.
They ambiguously went back and forth like that, saying things without actually saying anything. All I knew was that there was more to tell me, but they weren’t sure how to proceed or if it was even time to reveal it all.
Finally fed up with feeling like I was missing half the conversation, I slammed the tabletop, making it bang loudly, as the plates and cups shook and clanked. The table groaned under my protest.
“What is going on exactly?” My question came out bitingly. They needed to tell me something, or I was going to scream and start breaking noses.
“The Fae never wanted to rape us and make us have their babies. But they did kidnap us to keep us safe,” Aylia finally answered. “The way the dragons get their powers is perverse and wrong. They practically rape us every time just so they can breathe fire. But that isn’t all we are as Divines. Even saying we’re riders is demeaning, like all we are good for is to ride their backs and be used.”
“Don’t get off track,” Ollie said.
“Right.” Aylia cleared her throat. “We can use magic. On our own and without the dragons. And we can be powerful. We don’t need them. It’s the other way around—they need us. But we can do without them. The Fae have been keeping us safe from them, so that we aren’t used and so that we can train and become who we’re truly meant to be. And Rayna, it’s absolutely marvelous.”
“Magic on our own? Perverse?” Nothing made sense. “It’s the dragon and rider bond itself that gives us power.”
Aylia shook her head. So did the others at the table. Clearly, they thought differently.
“No. That’s the real kicker, isn’t it? The dragons need us for their dragon to breathe, but we don’t need them. We can do magic without them.”
Aylia jumped to her feet, a new excitement taking over her. She tugged at me until I was forced onto my feet. She didn’t give me much chance to say anything as she pulled me out of the mess hall, the others only smiling and waving at us as we disappeared through the doors.
Aylia didn’t stop talking as she quickly walked through the confusing halls.
“‘Divine’ isn’t a bad term, not here. It represents who we are, and what we’re capable of doing, which is far more than our hearing,” she said, growing more excited the more she talked. “It’s more than being raped by dragons, so they can breathe fire. It’s more than just being a mate and tool for the dragons. They suck our magic out of us; they steal it to make themselves more powerful. Lord Neyil knows this and has been helping us to become better than that, to become more. Rayna, we are so much more than a dragon battery pack. I don’t know how many times I will have to say this for you to believe, but I will until you get it. I know it’s something unbelievable, but it’s true.”
“I’m beginning to think truth is subjective, depending on who I listen to and which side they are on,” I said.
Aylia thought that over as she led me through a set of doors and down another hallway that skirted around a courtyard and into open, fresh air.
“Maybe. I guess you need to decide which side holds onto more truths than the other. You’re being lied to, trained to think a certain way. I don’t want that for you. It isn’t a way to live as a Divine. I don’t want you to fall into the dragon king’s trap.”
“And what trap is that?” I asked.
“Where you become nothing but a puppet.”
Aylia pushed through glass doors covered in vines, and then we were in a massive courtyard filled with more riders. I stopped, gaping as I watched. The air was so charged with magic that all the hair on my skin stood up, even the little hairs on my head. People wielded what looked like crackling white magic, shooting it out and hitting targets. Some of the other riders hit hard, doing scorching damage, while others not so much. But the effect was still the same: the riders were using magic defensively and offensively, yet there were no dragons in sight.
Aylia stepped in front of me, arms wide, as a massive grin spread across her face.
“This is what the dragons stole from us. They took our magic, and in turn, they controlled us. But not here. Here, we get to be who we were truly meant to be.”
As she spoke, bags were lifted high up into the air, doing a little, whirly dance in the air before slowly going back down, landing somewhere on the training grounds.
Rider magic? Without a dragon. How many more times was I going to be shocked since coming here?
The grin on Aylia’s face only widened as she looped her arm with mine and dragged me deeper into the training grounds.