The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 103

CASSIAN 

The moment I stepped out of the infirmary, the air felt different. Charged.

Like the entire palace was holding its breath.

Servants whispered in corners. Guards stood twice as rigid. Even the torches along the walls seemed to flicker with unease.

The dragon had shaken everything.

And yet, my mind wasn't on the dragon.

It was on Lira 

I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down my face.

"She's hiding something," I muttered to myself.

Not just something. Everything.

And the worst part? A part of me still wanted to believe her.

Still wanted to protect her.

Still... 

"My prince!"

I turned sharply.

A guard was rushing toward me, breathless.

"What is it?"

"Your dragon, Taheer, he has arrived."

My pulse spiked.

"Where?"

"The courtyard, Your Highness."

I didn't wait.

*********************

The courtyard was still buzzing with unease when I arrived, but the moment I stepped into it, everything else faded.

Because he was there.

Taheer.

His wings were half-folded, his head lowered slightly as if listening to something only he could hear.

The moment his eyes found mine, I felt it.

"Cassian," his voice echoed in my mind, deep and steady. "You called."

I walked forward, ignoring the guards who quickly stepped back in reverence.

"Taheer," I said, my voice tight. "She's free."

A pause.

Then, 

"I know."

Of course he did.

"I can feel it," he continued. "The shift in the air. The breaking of something ancient."

My jaw clenched.

"Veyraxis is out there."

Taheer's wings shifted slightly.

"Then we should not be standing here."

I met his gaze.

"You want to go after her."

"Yes."

No hesitation.

No doubt.

"She is not something you let roam free," Taheer added. "Not now. Not after everything."

I didn't argue.

Because I agreed.

"Then let's go."

***********************

The moment I mounted him, he took to the sky.

Wind roared past us as we surged upward, the palace shrinking beneath us in seconds.

The night stretched wide and endless around us.

"Which direction?" Taheer asked.

I scanned the horizon.

"She flew east."

"Then we follow east."

His wings beat harder.

We cut through the sky like a blade.

For a while, there was nothing but the rush of air and the steady rhythm of flight.

Then...

"Do you feel her?" I asked.

Taheer was silent for a moment.

"...Faintly."

My chest tightened.

"Can you track her?"

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"She is masking herself," he said. "Or she is too far."

I cursed under my breath.

"Keep going."

We flew for what felt like hours.

Over forests. Over rivers. Over empty stretches of land that swallowed the light of the moon.

But there was nothing.

No trace of the dragon. 

"She's gone," I muttered.

Taheer slowed slightly.

"Yes."

Frustration burned through me.

"We should have found something."

"She does not want to be found."

"That doesn't mean we stop trying."

"We are not stopping," Taheer said calmly. "We will try again another time."

I clenched my jaw.

Silence stretched between us again.

Then...

"She will not attack yet," Taheer said.

I frowned.

"How do you know?"

"She is still weak."

I blinked.

"Weak?"

"Yes. Whatever held her bound for so long would have drained her. Freedom does not restore strength immediately."

"So she's vulnerable."

"Yes."

"Then we should find her now," I insisted.

"No," Taheer said firmly.

I stilled.

"No?"

"She will be gathering her strength," he continued. "Hiding. Recovering. We won't be able to find her until she is on the move again."

My chest tightened.

"And what happens when she is?"

Taheer didn't answer immediately.

"...That depends on what she wants."

Revenge.

The word echoed in my mind unbidden.

I exhaled slowly.

"...Then we go back."

**************************

The flight back to the palace felt longer.

Because now I wasn't just thinking about a dragon.

I was thinking about her.

Again.

Always her.

By the time we landed back in the courtyard, the palace had grown even quieter.

More tense.

Like it was waiting for something bad to happen.

I slid off Taheer, my boots hitting the stone with a dull thud.

He lowered his head slightly, studying me.

"You are troubled."

I let out a short laugh.

"That obvious?"

"Yes."

I hesitated.

Then said it.

"It's Lira."

Taheer didn't react immediately.

But I felt his attention sharpen.

"Tell me."

So I did. I told him everything. 

"...She said she didn't know what she was doing," I finished. "That she just gave it her blood."

Taheer was quiet for a long moment.

Then.. 

"She is either lying," he said, "or she does not understand the full extent of what she has done."

"I don't think she understands," I said, frowning. "She looked... confused. But also..." 

I stopped.

"Also what?" Taheer pressed.

"...Relieved."

That felt important.

Dangerously important.

Taheer hummed low in his throat.

"Then she knows more than she is saying."

I exhaled sharply.

"I figured as much."

Silence stretched again.

Then Taheer spoke.

"Cassian."

"Yes?"

"The dragon could not have been freed by her blood alone."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"The binding required specific bloodlines. Power. Intent."

"I know that."

"Then you must also know that breaking it would require the same."

My chest tightened.

"...Go on."

Taheer's voice grew quieter.

"Your blood."

I stilled.

"My blood?"

"Yes."

"That's impossible."

"Is it?"

"My blood hasn't been spilled in ages."

"Not consciously."

Something cold slipped down my spine.

"What are you saying?"

Taheer's gaze didn't waver.

"I am saying that your blood may have reached her."

My mind raced.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Think carefully."

I opened my mouth to argue, 

And then stopped.

Because something clicked.

Something small.

Something I hadn't wanted to examine too closely.

My breath slowed.

"...No."

Taheer said nothing.

I swallowed.

Images flashed through my mind.

That night.

The bed.

Her hands gripping me.

Her nails digging into my back. The scratches deep enough to bleed.

My pulse spiked.

"No..."

"And after that?" Taheer pressed.

I felt it now. Our bodies were skin against skin.

Blood against...

My chest tightened.

"...Our blood," I whispered.

Taheer's silence confirmed it.

My stomach dropped.

"She took it."

"She knew."

Or at least.... 

She knew she needed it.

Every moment replayed in my head now with a different meaning.

Her urgency.

Her desperation.

The way she had clung to me.

The way she had left before I woke.

Not fear.

Not regret.

Purpose.

Cold realization settled over me.

"...She used me."

The words tasted bitter.

My jaw clenched.

"And I let her."

Taheer watched me carefully.

"There is more," he said.

I looked up.

"What?"

"The dragon chose her."

I frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"It means she is not ordinary."

"I figured that much."

"No," Taheer said. "You do not understand."

A pause.

"There is something in her blood."

My chest tightened.

"Something ancient," he continued. "Something that allows her to hear what others cannot. To be called. To be chosen."

My mind raced.

"The Vale bloodline," I muttered.

"No. Something even older..."

"The blood of the old. The blood of the first true magic wielders. Even older than the first pact."