Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles) Read Online Free

scimitar was different. I could feel it right away. Something about the way it fit into my hand, even if it was still way too big, just seemed right. It felt comfortable in my palm, and I liked the way the light danced over the unique curved shape of the blade.
    I put the scimitar back into the sheath, and set it aside to keep going through the trunk. Roland had been keeping his savings from working odd jobs around the city in a leather purse. I counted out twenty gold pieces, ten silver, and fifteen coppers. I had never seen that much money in my life. As wrong as I knew it was to take his life’s savings without asking, I needed to buy food. I would have to pay him back later. Eventually, though probably not anytime soon, I would start getting paid for my work as a dragonrider.
    The only other item buried in the trunk was a leather-bound book. I untied the strings that held it closed, and discovered it was a journal. Immediately, I closed it and put it back into the trunk without reading a single word. Maybe I’d borrow his savings, and keep the scimitar, but I drew the line at that. I wasn’t going to rifle through his personal thoughts. It felt wrong to even hold the thing.
    Picking up the purse of coins and the scimitar, I shut the trunk again and looked around the room. I couldn’t shake that eerie feeling I got from standing in there. Roland and I had never been close. We’d only exchanged a handful of words in three years. We were basically strangers, but he must have found some reason to reach out to me. He was the last person in the world I had expected that from. It was a humbling surprise to know that he even thought about me.
    I turned around to leave the room with my new treasures in my hand, and almost smacked right into Katty. She was standing in the doorway watching me. She hadn’t made a single sound. It scared me to death.
    “What are you doing here?” I asked, doubling over to recollect my nerves. For a moment, I’d thought she was Ulric or Serah about to catch me going through Roland’s stuff.
    She had her arms crossed, and her golden curls bounced around her face when she shrugged. “Momma sent some food for you. I told you she would last night.” Her tone was sharp, and I noticed she was scowling a little. I was about to ask why, but she beat me to it. “I know you saw me with Bren last night. Momma said you went out to the shop, so I know you saw. Don’t try to deny it. Tell me the truth, is that why you’re acting so weird?”
    That caught me off guard. I stared up at her, since she was now several inches taller, and fumbled for words. “I’m not acting weird.”
    “Yes, you are. I’ve seen you hurt, sad, and upset because of your family plenty of times. But you’ve never been this way toward me.” She took a demanding step in my direction. “You’ve never not wanted me around. So why don’t you go ahead ask me what I know you want to ask?”
    I frowned hard. “There’s nothing I want to ask.”
    She matched my firm look with an even angrier one of her own. “Fine. Be stubborn, then. I’ll tell you, anyway. My father took Bren on as an apprentice at the same time I started. We’ve been working together every day since then.”
    “Great,” I growled back through clenched teeth. I was starting to feel that furious heat rising up in my chest again. “I’m sure he’s a swell guy, too.”
    “He is!” She snapped. “And it just so happens that I like him!”
    “Good!” I yelled as I stormed past her. I was so angry my hands were shaking. I wanted to get away from her. I stomped down the stairs to the kitchen and started heading for the front door. I’d almost made it there when she grabbed me by the back of the shirt and yanked me to a halt.
    “Jaevid, talk to me about this!” She started shouting, too. “I know you’re jealous. But can you blame me? He’s going to be a blacksmith, too. He’ll be able to help me take over my father’s business. He comes from a