Dragonslayer

Chapter Ten

I stare at the ceiling and don't move. Tabira gives an impatient snort. "Hurry up, Kai. We don't have all day."
I don't respond.
"Kai."
Nothing.
"Kai!"
I sigh. "Tabira..."
She shakes her head. "No arguments. You have to look nice."
I roll over. Today's the day. The first day of my dragon choosing- maybe the only day if I'm lucky. It's early- two hours before sunrise, according to the solar clock on our wall. I'm meant to be ready to leave an hour before. "An hour to look nice? Tabira-"
"Kai," she cuts me off. "Dragons care."
I roll my eyes. "Keep telling yourself that."
"They do," she insists. "I'm not giving you make-up. Skotadi hates that and yours might, too."
"It'd better 'cos I'm not wearing it!" I mumble, burying my face under the pillow. It's warm and I don't want to get up.
Tabira pulls the covers back. "I'm braiding your hair, Kai. It'll be painful if you don't let me do it properly."
"Hair pain," I mutter, closing my eyes. "Nothing."
Tabira twists me back into an armlock so tight I nearly wince. She spends so much time reading and computing that I forget she's fully trained in combat too. "This sort of pain," she explains. She lets me go and I shake out my arm, getting up with a groan. "I hope you're happy," I complain.
She smiles. "Oh. Very." Taking a thick lock of my dark hair, she starts to brush, and I feel my hands tapping on my knee involuntarily. Nerves?
"Niko said good luck, by the way," she tells me and I snort. Despite his emotional story in the training room, he and I are still on cold terms with each other. We fight once a day now, both of us insanely competitive. Apart from that though, we don't talk. At dinner yesterday he took the last slice of cake I nearly punched him. No, he would not say good luck. More likely Tabira made it up to try and make peace between us. She and Niko are practically siblings, and she hates to listen to me insult him.
Part of me briefly wonders if there's a chance Niko might've actually said it. If maybe the arrogant, smug boy is just a mask to cover who he really is. But I dismiss it without a second though. No, Niko is just an idiot.
Tabira starts to braid, overlapping strands. "I'm going to a party tonight," she informs me. "In a different city. It's a diplomatic thing- a few Dragonriders are going. You should so."
I shake my head, earning me a groan from Tabira. "You messed up the braid!" she cries.
"Sorry," I say unapologetically as she unravels the strands to start again. "And no. I'm not going. I hate parties."
Tabira sighs. "I know you do. But it'll be a laugh. Jabe's going, and I know you like him."
For a moment, I'm lost for words. "You think I like Jabe?" I finally splutter.
Tabira frowns. "You don't? Why spend all that time listening to him blather on about his stupid skills then?"
I feel my cheeks redden, but not for the reason you might think. Jabe is nice, and funny, and even good-looking, but even the idea that I could consider him that way is new to me. "Because I actually want to learn?" I want to put my head in my hands but that would drive Tabira insane. "Oh, damn, is that what everyone thinks?"
Tabira laughs. "You're Kai Sequetur! When did you start caring what people think?" She gently taps the side of my head. "Are you in there, Kai?"
"Not funny," I mumble. "I just... I don't like Jabe, okay?"
"I believe you," she reassures, finishing my hair with a flourish. "There! All tied up. I'm getting you an outfit now as well, okay?"
I give a non-committal grunt. If I say no she'll do it anyway. Why waste energy arguing?
"Tell me something." She goes over to the wardrobe.
"Mm?"
"You're nervous now." She says it as if it's fact, making me feel self-conscious. "But you weren't nervous all those times fighting those dragons?"
I frown. She raises a valid point. I am tense now. Before fights... I was always relaxed. Sipping a glass of juice, even. Confident. "I guess..." I think about it. "I knew what I was getting into. Before fights you get detailed profiles of your opponent. There were never any surprises."
"Ironic," Tabira says, "considering life is full of them. Everything you tell me makes me feel as if life as a Champion is like being a walking corpse."
Something about that strikes me. "No!" She gives me a curious look, and I compose my expression. Tabira won't report this lapse in character; I'm confident of that. "No," I repeat more quietly. "It wasn't like that."
"If you say so." Tabira tugs a hanger out of the wardrobe. "But remember- glory often hides the worst cases of slavery."