Free Gloria Oliver by Cross-Eyed Dragon Troubles

eight hundred years. Over time, the rooms were given the names of knights who’d studied there and gone on to gain great fame. Lareen told her she herself was only one of a long line of administrators, and had cared for the school for the last five years. The school was one of six teaching the general, rudimentary skills. Specific schools for particular lines of work were seeded throughout the world.
    “School is six days a week. The seventh day is your own, but part of it is to go toward the changing of the water in your tub and the linen on the beds,” Lareen told her. “There’s a bag in your closet for laundry. You just put what needs to be cleaned in there and set it out in the hallway on the way to breakfast. You should find it returned by the next day.”
    Talia tried to commit all this to memory.
    “Do you have any questions?” Lareen asked her amicably.
    Talia sat back and seriously considered if she should ask anything. One of her many questions from earlier came up to the fore. “What is the lottery?”
    “Ah.” Lareen appeared intrigued by her choice of question. “It’s a process we use to assign a knight to a dragon. Every year we have more people than there are dragons available. With the lottery, those who want to participate choose the color dragon best suited to their personality and then numbers are drawn to see who actually will be paired with one.”
    “Is it how Kel got Clarence?” She inhaled quickly, not sure if she’d stepped out of line in asking this. She saw Lareen’s brow rise.
    “Well, as you’ve seen, Clarence does have a certain flying disability. Though he’s spent quite a long time with the guild, he wasn’t normally included as part of the lottery—it was his choice. After Kel won his draw he specifically requested Clarence. Since Clarence agreed to it, it was done.”
    Lareen sighed, a wistful look crossing her face. “Unfortunately, to become a full knight, the rider and dragon must pass a final test once they’ve bonded. Though expectations were high some of Clarence’s deficiencies would be overcome once he and Kel joined, it wasn’t the case—and so the final test proved beyond them.”
    Talia nodded, Lareen’s words explaining a lot. She now understood where some of the jeers came from.
    But why would Kel have chosen Clarence in the first place? Surely both of them were aware there’d be a chance the idea wouldn’t work. And how would Clarence’s deficiencies have been overcome by this anyway? Was there more to the bonding than just getting to know each other?
    “You’ll learn more about all this in your classes,” Lareen went on. “But there is one point I need to make.
    Dragons are not beasts of burden or just mounts, though I’m sure at times they might seem that way.”
    The Administrator’s eyes caught her own. “They’re our partners. Their time with us is a kind of apprenticeship for them. They are as smart if not smarter than humans and have the wisdom of long lives.
    Our partnerships are beneficial to both sides. Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking of them as nothing more than winged horses. They care, they think, they feel. Their bodies are different, but inside we’re very much alike.”
    At Lareen’s words, Talia found herself feeling guilty. She’d already committed the mistake. Though Clarence spoke to her when they first met, she had still just thought of him as Kel’s mount—she’d thought Kel was the only one who was miserable. How much worse was it actually for Clarence? He was the one with the deficiency; he was the one who wasn’t thought of as a true dragon in the first place.
    “Any other questions?”
    She couldn’t bring herself to ask any more.
    “Well,” Lareen said, “if you come up with anything else, just ask any watcher or teacher. They’ll be happy to help. And I’m always available, of course.” The Administrator gave her a warm smile. “One more thing though—I would truly appreciate it if you