now or never

1

"You are insane Cam! When Dad finds out you're joining the Rider Quadrant, all hell will break loose. " I warn my twin brother. "What does it want to do bitterly? From the moment I cross the viaduct I'm a cadet, then he can't do anything." Cam replies, annoyed.

 Enraged, I turn to the large window behind me and look up at the clouds. Five more days until Conscription day, five more days to decide which quadrant I'm going to join and how I can talk Cam out of his crazy idea. 

We've both been passionate about dragons since we were little and Cam loves a challenge. We've been training for years, but he with a goal and I without. I don't care which quadrant I go to because I'm prepared for anything. Our father is the King of Navarre and you never know what he will choose, at least as far as his children are concerned.

 I take a deep breath in and out before turning back to my brother and looking deep into the eyes that set us apart from the rest. The green eyes, the hallmark of the royal family. 

"You don't seriously think that our father, the king, wouldn't stand up to drag you back. I know you think it doesn't matter who your father is once you've crossed the parapet, but believe me, you won't even make it to the because you'll have to give your name before you're allowed to go up. "Don't you think I know that?" he almost shouts. 

"Do you think I haven't thought this through? I wouldn't give my name, of course. I'd give another one, a made-up one." "And then what? If it really works, with the name, then what? Do you think you won't be recognized? The professors know our family and if they don't then Violet and Aetos will!" I'm getting louder too.

 I don't even know why we're having this conversation. Even if we weren't banned from joining the Rider Quadrant, I don't know if I could let Cam write his own death warrant. I felt Cam's gaze on me, expectant. Like he was waiting for me to give in, like I usually do. But when I still didn't say anything else, he just snorted. 

"Violet would never betray me or send me away, and you know that because she joined herself last year and bonded with a dragon." "She might not but Dain would! The only thing he can do is follow rules and anything that benefits him!" I reply. I've never liked Dain, just like his father, and from what I've heard he's well on the way to becoming like his father. 

"Please, Alice." Cam sounded almost pleading. "You know I have to do this. I have to join the Rider Quadrant, it's the only way I can get a dragon and have a chance to fight the Veneni." I thought about his words and knew that he was right.I nodded curtly before leaving the room and going to my room. 

If Cam really was going to join the Rider Quadrant, he certainly wasn't going to do it alone.

~~~~~~~~~~ five days later ~~~~~~~~~~

I double-checked to make sure everything was in my backpack that I had packed last night. Of course, I wasn't a fan of the idea of joining the Rider Quadrant without my dad's permission, but Cam was determined to become a Rider, and I didn't want to leave him alone. 

Two days ago, I took Cam into the woods to our favorite spot, a small lake in the middle of a clearing, and talked to him again about the quadrant. As much as I'm not thrilled with his decision, he's not thrilled with mine, but he agreed with the idea of being able to keep a better eye on me so I can't do anything wrong. (Who does he think I am anyway?) And now I'm standing here waiting for him to knock on my door so we can go out together.

 Luckily for us, after our conversation in the clearing, we decided to tell our father that we were going to take a trip around the kingdom in honor of our twentieth birthday. Luckily for us, he believed it and thought it was a fantastic idea, so to his knowledge we were in Luceras. 

There was a knock and I opened the door of the small room in the accommodation where my brother and I were staying. Cam has a muscular build, a strong chin and square jawline with a shock of light brown hair, and he's ten centimeters taller than me.His hair is sandy brown and his green eyes mark him as well as mine, that I am a child of King Tauri. Aaric is full of himself, with the same arrogance you see in each of his brothers and his father. I wouldn't say I'm as arrogant as my brothers, but definitely more confident than many. 

"Have you packed everything?" he asks me as he looks me over from head to toe. I was also wearing close-fitting clothes so that the wind on the viaduct wouldn't get caught in my clothes. My shoes had extra sturdy soles to make sure I didn't fall to my death before I even entered the quadrant. I nodded and threw my backpack over my shoulders. It wasn't heavy, which was very important so that I didn't have to carry so much weight and had the risk of losing my balance in the back of my mind. When I turned back to my brother, I noticed how his gaze rested on my hair.

 "Why didn't you cut it shorter? They'll give us away," he remarked. I shook my head. "I've already cut it off a good bit and that's enough. There's no rule about how short the hair has to be and if someone thinks it's a disadvantage because they could be grabbed in a fight, then that person will have one less hand." With that, I walked past him towards the crowd.I had light brown, curly hair that now reached my shoulders after it had covered my entire back.

 I probably wouldn't have cut them any shorter, but the main reason was my eldest brother, Halden. Ever since we were children, I often sat in front of him while he did me some kind of hairstyle. Halden was the one who was always there for me and protected me. But now I was on my way to becoming a rider and maybe I will  never see him again...