Wingborn by Becca Lusher Page A

Corin.
    “Mine.”
Ulla.
    “Lyrai.”
Mouse.
    “Rees.”
Harlan.
    He divided the
group in front of Mhysra, before coming back to her. “Lyrai.”
    Her heart sank and she trudged towards her
group. The lieutenant was expressionless, despite the eight
students chattering behind him. She joined Mouse, who was pitifully
pleased to see her. A couple of lines over, Derrain made a sad
face, though he had nothing to complain about with Stirla. It was
just her luck to end up with the man she already knew
didn ’ t like her.
    When Hethanon finished, she looked at
Lyrai ’ s group and
suppressed a sigh: she was the only girl. Stirla and Honra had two
each, Hethanon had three. There were none in Rees ’ line.
    “Great.”
    Mouse smiled shyly. “ Bet I ’ m the last person you wanted to be with, but
it ’ ll be good,
you ’ ll see. But if it
does get bad we can always thank Heirayk we ’ re not stuck with Sergeant
Rees. ”
    “ There’s
a bright side,” she agreed, morosely studying the other boys in
their line. Two were highborn and showed it. Four were friends
already, while the remaining two didn’ t seem to know anyone.
One was even smaller than Mouse. He was shaking and she doubted he
would last long. The other was tall and calm, looking around
curiously at all the fuss. Catching Mhysra ’ s eye, he smiled.
    “ All
right, everyone.” Lieutenant Lyrai clapped his hands for their
attention. “ I ’ m
going to teach you some exercises to build up your strength and
keep you warm, then we ’ ll do more to improve your fitness. The Rift Riders
are about more than flying pretty birdies. ” He caught Mhysra ’ s eye, and she could have sworn there was
a hint of a smile as he referred to the day she ’ d forced her way into the Riders. Then his
gaze passed on and he was as cold as ever.
    “ I’ m sticking with you, ” Mouse whispered as Lieutenant Lyrai began pairing
people off, telling them about Rider life – it wasn ’ t easy, they had to be fit and
willing to fight at any moment, and so on. Reaching them, he
pointed Mhysra to the far side of the line and positioned Mouse
next to her.
    Mhysra bit back a smile as Mouse groaned: he
hadn ’ t got his wish.
Standing opposite her was the calm lad who ’ d smiled earlier. Mouse was paired with
the timid boy. It was obvious why the lieutenant had done it, since
they were of a similar size. And twitchy temperament.
    “ I’ m Dhori, ” the lad facing her said, as tall as she was and
just as lightly built.
    “Mhysra.”
    That was all they had time for, because the
lieutenant was talking again, demonstrating stretches, jumps,
pattern steps, blocks and holds, some of which required two people,
hence the pairings. A quick glance around showed that everyone else
was doing similar exercises. So she smiled at Dhori and started
counting star jumps, followed by tucks. It looked daft, but at
least she wasn ’ t alone
in her folly. Derrain and Ulla had said it right earlier – this
wasn ’ t what
she ’ d expected. Not at
all.
     
    THEY TRAINED UNTIL noon, then were shown the bathing chambers beneath the Rider
offices. Fresh uniforms waited and, once clean and changed, they
ate in the hall. Afterwards, they were divided into those who were
literate and those who weren ’ t. Since there were only twelve who
couldn ’ t write, the
remaining thirty-two were split again into two groups. This time
Mhysra managed to stay with Derrain. They were joined by Harlan,
Mouse, Corin and Dhori, while Ulla, who could read a little but not
write at all, was taken elsewhere.
    Though the students ’ mornings might belong to Armsmaster
Hethanon, their afternoons would lie in the hands of the clerks. It
would be up to them to the students ’ literacy and arithmetic, as well as teaching them
geography, history and languages. The lieutenants would instruct
them about life in the Riders later in the term.
    Mhysra tried to take in all the things being
said, schedules being made and plans