After a quick but emotional farewell with Rhia, Lessie and I took off early the next morning with Kade, Ullion, and Daria. My stomach fluttered with nervous excitement as we flew—I'd never visited a military camp and had little idea of what to expect. Would we be living in tents? Mrs. Browning had made us pack bedrolls, mess kits, and other items suitable for camping. While I was an expert at camping thanks to years of traveling through forests and jungles, searching for buried ruins, I wasn't looking forward to camping year-round. Summer only lasted a few short months, and then the harsh winter winds would be bearing down upon us. I was not looking forward to camping in a tent with snowdrifts piling up around me.

"If Tavarian's mission to Traggar goes well, we might not be stuck at the camp through winter," Lessie reminded me as we soared over rolling hills dotted with greenery. "We'll be back at the hidden valley in no time, training with Muza again."

I could tell that the prospect of seeing Tavarian's dragon again cheered Lessie very much, so I patted her neck and smiled. "I hope he comes through, then," I said, ignoring the feeling of dread in my stomach. Tavarian must be good at his job, but I'd never seen him in action as a diplomat, and everything I'd read and heard about the Traggarans told me that they would not be easy to negotiate with. Their hatred for Elantians might be stronger than their capricious tendencies, and if that was the case, no amount of pleading or bribing would sway them from their path.

It took us twelve hours to fly to the northern border, with several stops along the way to allow the dragons to rest and for us to relieve ourselves. They did not hunt, since more food would only slow us down, and though the riders had packed dried meat and hard biscuits for the journey, we were all ravenous by the time we landed.

As instructed by Lieutenant Bellmont, the four of us touched down in a wide clearing next to the dragon stables. I was pleased to see the camp was not made up of tents, but buildings constructed of solid timber. The stables were the largest building, with enough room to comfortably house twenty dragons, and I imagined the other large building, located toward the center of camp, were the barracks we'd be staying in.

Several officers strode out from one of the smaller buildings as we dismounted, their expressions stern. As they approached, close enough to look us all over, I was able to read the surprise and derision all over their faces. They were not pleased to see us, I realized with dismay.

"Greetings," a tow-headed woman with close-cropped hair said stiffly. Her grey eyes swept over us as we fell in line, and I had to fight against a scowl at the dismissive look she gave us. "My name is Colonel Roche, and I am in command." She gestured to one of the officers, who pulled a pen and notepad from his breast pocket, then stepped up to Kade, who stood at the front of the line. "Name and rank."

Kade gave it to her, and she went through the rest of us quickly. "Zara Kenrook," I said when she got to me, third in line.

Her grey eyes narrowed. "The ground-dweller," she said. "Yes, we've all heard of the troublemaker that Lord Tavarian took in." She glanced over my shoulder at my dragon, as if she couldn't believe Lessie had actually chosen me. "General Sarte requested you because of your ‘experience’ with the enemy’s cannons.” The skepticism in her voice made me want to shove her head into one of those cannons so she could get her own personal “experience.”

Too bad we didn’t have any cannons around here.

“Regardless of whatever friends you may have in high places,” the colonel went on, “you’ll be expected to follow the rules just like everyone else. Thieving and insubordination will not be tolerated at this camp. Is that understood?”

She shoved her nose into my face, eyes glittering with disgust. I swallowed back my rage and forced myself to nod. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I can’t hear you!”

“YES, MA’AM!” I shouted, loud enough to blow her eardrums off.

She nodded coldly as she stepped back, unfazed by my sudden volume. “Good. Now get your dragons settled in, and report to the quartermaster.”

The four of us turned and led our dragons to the stables. The stable master gave our dragons a critical once-over as they were introduced to him, then shook his head. “Babies,” he muttered in disappointment. “They sent us babies.”

Lessie dropped her head so it was level with his and let out a low growl. But that only made the stable master scowl at me. “Get your dragon under control,” he snapped at me, “or I’ll ground you both for a week.”

Gee, I'm sure that'll help with the war effort, I thought sarcastically, but I put a hand on Lessie’s flank, warning her silently. Disgruntled, she backed off, though she continued to glare at the man.

The stable master finished his inspection of our dragons, then assigned stalls to each of them. "Dinner will be served at the mess hall in forty minutes," he said as he walked away. "I'd get a move on if I were you."

Gritting my teeth, I removed Lessie’s tack and hung it up, then grabbed the brushes and tools hanging from the walls and gave her a quick grooming. As I ran a hand over her scales, checking for rot or damage, another dragon poked his large head through the door.

"Kadryn!" I exclaimed, my lousy mood falling away instantly. Lessie jumped to her feet with a squeak of excitement so she could rub her snout against his.

“Jallis must be here, then!” Lessie said, and I could hear the grin in her mental voice. “Are you excited to see him?”

“It’ll be nice to see a friendly face,” I said, smiling. “Especially who doesn’t think we’re a bunch of useless kids.”

“We’ll show them,” Lessie said in a heated voice as she settled back down onto her bed of hay so I could finish grooming her. “Those soldiers are just jealous.”

I smiled at her haughty confidence, but inside I was worried. As much as I hated to admit it, Colonel Roche was right to be concerned about us. Lessie and I weren't thieves—or at least I wasn't, not anymore—but we weren't exactly the best at following rules. The military virtues of discipline and obedience, especially blind obedience, would not come easily to either one of us. If we weren’t careful, we could find ourselves grounded.

Being grounded would be safer than patrolling the border, I tried to tell myself, but my heart wasn't in it. Yes, I wanted Lessie and me to be safe, but we weren't the type to sit back and do nothing. If there was something we could do to help, we wanted to be a part of it.

I finished Lessie’s grooming just in time for her dinner to arrive—two whole sheep, freshly slaughtered. Her hunger instantly reminded me of my own, and I left her to enjoy her meal so I could find my own food.

After a short visit with the quartermaster, who assigned me a bottom bunk in the women's section of the barracks, we made our way to the mess hall. Joining the line, I grabbed a tray and scanned the room, searching for Jallis. It didn't take long to find him—he was at one of the long tables on the far side of the room, talking and laughing with a group of men and women. I frowned, noting that they all appeared to be officers, including Jallis. Was that a lieutenant pin on his breast?

After grabbing my food—a simple meal of stewed meat, beans, and brown rice—I made my way over to the table. Jallis glanced my way as I approached, and his face slackened with shock.

“Zara?” He shot to his feet instantly, his fork clattering against his tray. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been stationed here, same as you, apparently.” I frowned, noting the complete lack of warmth in his eyes. He seemed…dismayed to find me here, and my jaw tightened reflexively in anger. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“No, of course not,” he said hurriedly. “It’s just that I didn’t think you and Lessie would be called out so soon. I thought they’d give you more time to train.”

“They asked for us because we have experience with the cannons,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “Mind introducing me to your friends?”

“Oh. Yes, of course.” Jallis seemed flustered. He introduced me to the three other officers seated with him, who all turned out to be dragon riders as well. “This is Manfried,” he said, indicating the stocky, silver-haired man next to him. “He and I are partners.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

He grunted. “I thought Lyton here was a whippersnapper when they first assigned him to me, but you seem even less experienced.” He pinned his sharp gaze on me. “Have you seen battle?”

“As a matter of fact, I have,” I said, lifting my chin. “An airship attacked Zuar City a couple of nights ago. They had two of those new cannons mounted on the ship, and they tried to shoot us out of the sky during a training exercise in Briarwood Forest.” Mouths dropped open in shock, and I had to hide a smirk. “One rider and his dragon were badly wounded, but luckily no one else was hurt because my friend Rhia and I flew up into the clouds and destroyed the airship. If we hadn’t used dragon fire to destroy that airship, it might have injured or killed many more dragons. Those shrapnel cannons are deadly.”

The officers said nothing, and after a second, I realized silence had fallen over the entire mess hall. “Well, that’s what we’ve been up to,” I said brightly. “What about you?”

Jallis gave me a lopsided smile, quickly recovering from his shock. “Let’s catch up a bit later,” he offered, ignoring the disapproving frown on his partner’s face. “We can compare notes when I go tuck in Kadryn for the night.”

“Tuck in,” Manfried snorted. “It’s a dragon, not a baby.”

Jallis’s cheeks pinkened, but he merely said, “It’s an important part of our bonding ritual. You know that.”

Recognizing I was dismissed, I trudged over to the table where Kade and the others were sitting. “I should have warned you,” Kade said apologetically as I sat down. “The officers aren’t allowed to fraternize with us.”

“I didn’t realize that Jallis would become a lieutenant so quickly,” I muttered.

“He and his dragon are older, with more experience, and he comes from a prestigious family,” Ullion explained. “More than likely, his father purchased the commission for him.”

“Of course he did.” I sighed, trying to extinguish the spark of jealousy. What did I care if Jallis was an officer and I wasn’t? Officers had to deal with more responsibility, which was exactly what I didn’t want.

“I guess this means none of us are getting partnered up together,” I said, glancing over to Jallis and the older rider he’d been paired with.

Daria shook her head. “They’ll want to send us out with someone more experienced,” she said. “To make sure we’re safe.”

Meaning someone who’s rigid and unwilling to think outside the box, I grumbled quietly to myself as I ate my food. What Rhia and I did, flying up into the clouds and taking out that airship on our own initiative, was exactly the kind of forward thinking the military disapproved of. Dammit, I missed her already. I understood why she and I had been split up, but I still hated it.

Observe and report, I reminded myself. As long as I stuck to the parameters of the mission, I shouldn’t need to break the rules, right?

After dinner, I went back to the stables, hoping to see Jallis again. Sure enough, he was in Kadryn’s stall, gently petting the larger dragon’s head as he sat in the hay with him. The stiff, formal officer was gone, replaced with the kind, caring young man with a gift for comforting animals.

“Hey.” I leaned over the stall gate and smiled at him.

“Hey.” He twisted around to look at me, a rueful smile on his face. “Fancy seeing you here.”

I opened the gate and let myself in. “You really aren’t happy to see me,” I said, making a face as I sat down and leaned my back against the opposite wall.

Jallis sighed. “I’m just surprised Lord Tavarian allowed it,” he said. “Does he know you’re here?”

I nodded. "I spoke to him the night before we left. He wasn't happy about it, but General Sarte was insistent that Rhia and I be deployed since we're the only two who have experience dealing with the cannons. I'm not sure why that's necessary since we're just going to be doing reconnaissance missions, but it's not like I can ask." I shrugged.

“Rhia?” Jallis frowned. “Is she here too?”

I shook my head. “She was sent to the Zallabarian border.”

“I see.”

The two of us fell silent, Jallis turning his attention back to petting his dragon. I was about to leave so I could spend time with my own dragon when Jallis shifted, reaching for a leather pouch sitting in the hay.

“I brought this for you,” he said, handing it to me. “Wax and star blossom oil,” he added as I pulled out two containers. “You’ll want to treat your gear with this before you go out on patrol. It helps keep them waterproof.”

"Thanks," I said, a little surprised. "Is the weather nasty out there?"

Jallis grimaced. “Even on good days we end up getting hit by rain and squalls.”

“Ugh.” I was not looking forward to that. “Have you seen any hostilities yet?”

“No, but the Traggarans are assembling a large navy in one of the southern ports that might be intended to cross and invade Elantia. Manfried and I regularly pass by there to check on it, and this armada is growing by the day. They’re even loading the ships up with large amounts of supplies.”

“Then they’re definitely going to be used soon,” I said. Biting my lower lip, I considered the problem. “Is there a way to burn the ships before they can launch their armada? Maybe we can swoop down there with our dragons and light them all up.”

“Not without putting them at great risk,” Jallis said. “We’d have to get close enough for the fire to reach the ships, and the port is heavily fortified with those heavy, old-style cannons. We’d be blown out of the sky. Not to mention we’re not allowed to make a move,” he added. “We’re not officially at war, after all.”

“Right.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes. The Zallabarians had already attacked us, and yet we couldn’t retaliate. I understood why we had to wait—we didn’t want to strike before Tavarian had a chance to convince the Traggarans to stand down—but it was still frustrating to have to sit on our hands and do nothing.

“Well, I better turn in for the night. I’ve got to be up early for a meeting.” Jallis rose, dusting the hay off his uniform. He extended a hand to help me to my feet, and I took it. The familiar current of warmth passed between us, but instead of pulling me against him, as he would have in the past, Jallis merely smiled. “Good night.”

“Good night,” I echoed. Patting Kadryn on the head, I followed Jallis out of the stall, then went to join Lessie.

“At least it sounds like Traggar hasn’t gotten its hands on the new cannons,” I told her as I settled in next to her for a snuggle. I wasn’t sure if it was “proper” for riders to snuggle with their dragons when on active duty, but frankly I didn’t care. “Maybe that means their alliance with Zallabar isn’t as solid as we’ve been led to believe.”

“Very possible,” Lessie agreed. “As far as blowing up that armada, I think we could do it on a foggy night, when the Traggarans are unable to see well enough to use their cannons effectively. We do not need the same level of visibility to set the ships on fire—we merely need to get close enough and aim in the general direction.”

“That’s an idea,” I said, though I wasn’t as confident about it as Lessie. After all, the dragons could easily get hurt by crashing into buildings or impaling their fragile wings on masts.

“You should talk to the colonel about it,” Lessie said eagerly. “The sooner we can get the others on board, the sooner we can try it out.”

“Whoa, there.” I stroked Lessie’s side, a little alarmed at her enthusiasm. "We're not officially at war yet, remember? Besides, the colonel will dismiss the plan as reckless and foolhardy. We'll just have to wait for a good opportunity to make a difference."

Lessie grumbled at that, but she didn’t argue. We cuddled for a little longer before I turned in for the night, trudging back to the barracks so I could lay my bedroll out on the hard bunk. A few soldiers were already tucked in, snoring away, and I gritted my teeth, wishing I’d thought to bring earplugs.

Better get used to it, Zara, I told myself as I tried to tune it out. I valued my privacy more than almost anything else, but I realized as another soldier moved about the space, stark naked, that privacy was quickly becoming a thing of the past.

This is going to be a loooooong night.