The Golden Rider Book 1: The Golden Traitor

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I had trouble sleeping that night.  It really stunk that Mason and his posse were back at the Academy.  I was hoping for another peaceful day away from them, and now that had to go and ruin that.  I tossed and turned all night.  When I finally gave up trying to go to sleep, I put on my uniform and headed up to the top of the Academy.  I made sure that no one was there before walking to the edge and sitting down.

I looked out at the area surrounding the Academy.  The first Academy was towards the back edge of the mountainous region.  We were in a little valley, and I could barely make out the towering mountains using the moon light.  I could barely hear the large river a little bit to the south, and the trees stood silently below me.  I sighed in relief when I got the feeling I was not alone.

“What are you doing up here?”  I carefully turned around and saw Karel standing a few paces behind me.  I didn’t see his Dragon anywhere near me, so I assumed that he 

“Um, sorry, I can leave if you want.”  I got up to leave when he stepped in front of me.

“It’s okay.”  He sat down where I was previously sitting.  He looked out over the valley when I noticed him pat the spot next to him.  I frowned, but I sat back down next to him.  I suspiciously looked at him.  “So, how was your break?”

“Good?” I asked.  Karel remained silent after that.  I could feel the tension in the air.  Karel was always a confusing person.  He didn’t seem like Mason, Austin, Grace and Evan.  He was calmer and more level headed.  He never seemed to get into fights, but I knew that he rivaled even Mason in his sword fighting.

Even with all of his strength, what confused me the most is why he was sitting with me.  Don’t get me wrong, Karel had never attacked me like Mason, but he still hung out with the jerk.  He always took Mason’s side, and he tended to stay away from me.  He was silent most of the time, but whenever we were in the same room, I could feel him watching me.  He made me feel very uneasy, and I wanted to get away from him.

“Well, I better get to bed,” I told him and got up.  I walked back to the door that leads to the steps that would take me back to my room.  I looked back and saw that he was still sitting there, but now he was looking at the stars.  His legs dangled over the edge of the building, and he was lying on his back.  He rested his hands behind his head and watched the night sky.

I got back to my room as quickly as possible and tried to go to sleep.  I found that I kept thinking about Karel on the roof.  I had never actually seen him alone before.  He was always with one of the others, so to see him so peaceful was a change.  I rolled over in my bed and played with the necklace Jacey had given me.  It helped calm my mind, and I soon fell asleep.

I struggled to wake up the next morning.  I was tired from staying up so late into the previous night, but I knew better than to be late to Viktor’s class.  I was still the first one to the class because I had grabbed a quick breakfast, but Jacelyn wandered into the courtyard soon after I arrived.  She groaned before flopping down on the ground.

“You’re up early,” I laughed and sat down beside her.  I started to stretch out beside her while she tried to fall back asleep.

“Bane wasn’t feeling good last night, so I was up all night with Aiden trying to help him out.”

“That’s nice.  All night with Aiden,” I said.  Jacelyn’s head snapped up.  Her face was bright red.

“No!  I mean, we were taking care of Bane; we didn’t do anything!” She quickly explained.

“I understand,” I said and looked at her from the corner of my eyes.  “So, when are you two going to go out?” I asked. She sighed and got up to start to stretch.