The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 122

LIRA 

A hush fell over the courtyard. Great.  Calista stepped forward slowly.

**“Well,” she said, smiling faintly, “this should be interesting.”**

**I tightened my grip on the blade.**

**‘Be careful’, Luna warned.**

**“I will,” I whispered.**

**“Begin!”**

**Calista didn’t hesitate. Fire bloomed in her palm instantly.**

**She lunged. I barely had time to dodge.**

**Heat scorched past me. Too close. Far too close. It missed me only a little.** 

**“You’re slower than I expected,” she said calmly.**

**I didn’t respond. I was too busy trying to evade her attacks.**

**She attacked again. And again. Each strike faster than the last.** 

**‘Move.’** 

**I moved.**

**‘Block.’** 

**I blocked. Barely. I was slow. Too slow.** 

**Her fire grazed my arm, pain exploded through me.**

**I gasped, stumbling back.**

**The scent of burned fabric, and skin, filled the air. I had no time to look at the wound. I had to focus on the fight.** 

**“Careful,” Calista said mockingly. “You might actually get hurt.”**

**I gritted my teeth.**

**Pain pulsed through my arm.**

**‘Ignore it,’ Luna urged.**

**“I’m trying,” I hissed under my breath.**

**Calista advanced again.**

**This time, I didn’t retreat. I stepped forward.**

**Through the pain, through the fear. And I struck her hard.** 

**She didn’t expect it.**

**Her eyes widened, slightly.**

**I twisted, knocked her balance off, and drove my blade forward.**

**A clean hit.**

**Silence fell.**

**Then…**

**“Match concluded.”**

**For a moment, neither of us moved. Then Calista smiled.**

**“Well done,” she said quietly.**

**But there was no warmth in it.**

**Only warning.**

_________________

We stood in a line as the results were announced.

“First, Calista Harthwell.”

No surprise there. Even if she had done poorly she would still be the first. The rest would be left to scramble with whatever was left. 

“Second, Vivienne Trevanne.”

Vivienne beamed.

“Third, Elora Dorne.”

My breath caught slightly. I breathed in relief. Happy that Elora helping me hadn’t cost her her  spot. I was the only one she didn’t use her magic against. 

“Fourth, Lira Vale.”

Elora smiled at me.

“Fifth, Amara Fenwick.”

Amara stiffened.

“Sixth, Evadne Vexley.”

“Lady Amara Fenwick and Lady Evadne Vexley,” the instructor said, “you are dismissed from the Queen’s selection.”

Amara’s face went pale.

“What?” she snapped. “No, that’s not…” 

“You have come this far, but you have failed to meet the required standard.”

Evadne said nothing, she kept staring in shock. 

The instructors left after encouraging Evadne and Amara and thanking them for coming this far. 

And then the  tension broke.

Violently.

“You promised me!”

Amara’s voice rang through the courtyard.

Everyone turned.

She was staring at Calista.

Fury blazing in her eyes.

“You said you’d help me stay!”

Calista tilted her head.

“I gave you only one condition.”

Amara stepped closer. “You said…” 

“That you had to be good enough to stay,” Calista finished smoothly.

Amara’s hands shook. “I am good!”

Calista laughed softly.

“Then why,” she said, her voice turning sharp, “couldn’t you even win? You managed to do even worse than her.”

Her gaze flicked to me.

Amara’s face twisted with rage.

And then,  she lunged.

Gasps erupted around us.

They crashed into each other. Amara tore at Calista’s hair, slapped her face. Calista equally matched her. Also holding on to her and and trying to pull her off her. 

“Stop!” someone shouted. Vivienne dived in trying to pull then apart. 

But it was too late. Fire flared.

Calista’s hand shot forward, and flames engulfed Amara’s entire left arm.

A scream tore through the courtyard.

Amara dropped to her knees, clutching her arm as fire consumed it.

“No, no, make it stop!”

The smell, Gods.

The smell of burning flesh. It was horrible.

“Water!” someone shouted.

No one moved.

Frozen.

Horrified.

I didn’t think.

I grabbed the nearest goblet of wine. 

And threw it over her arm.

The flames hissed.

But the damage, it was already done. 

Amara sobbed, cradling her arm, her skin blistered and blackened.

“You…” she choked, looking up at Calista with pure hatred in her fear filled eyes.

“You will pay for this.”

Calista, still mildly recovering from the fight, cleaning the blood from her nose. Stood transfixed to the spot without a word from her mouth.

__________________

CASSSIAN

I leaned back in the chair, staring at the man bound before me.

He hadn’t spoken a word.

Not when they dragged him in. Not when they stripped him of his weapons. Not even when one of my guards had driven a fist into his ribs hard enough to make him cough blood onto the stone floor.

He simply sat there silently. It was unnerving. If my brother were here, he woukd have pulled the truth out from him with his powers. But he wasn’t. And I couldn’t wait. 

“Your silence is not impressive,” I said coolly, folding my arms. “It is predictable.”

No response.

I tilted my head slightly, studying him. His clothes were plain, servant-like, but the stitching was too precise, the fabric too durable. Not a servant. Not truly.

A spy.

Norwyn, if my instincts were right.

“You were seen meeting with others,” I continued, pacing slowly around him. “Speaking in hushed tones. Passing information.”

Still nothing.

I stopped in front of him again.

“Do you know what happens to spies in Aurelia?”

I crouched down so we were eye level.

“Let me make this simple,” I said quietly. “You tell me who sent you… and I might let you keep your tongue.”

He met my gaze.

And then, he smiled.

A slow, deliberate, infuriating smile.

“I think,” he said at last, voice rough but steady, “you already know.”