The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 127

LIRA 

The guards pounded on the door again.

"Lady Lira! Open at once!"

Cassian stood frozen across from me, his eyes locked on mine, waiting. The small white dragon pressed against my chest, trembling, her silver eyes wide with fear.

"Give her to me," he said again, his voice low and urgent.

"No."

"Lira…” 

"I will not." I backed toward the wardrobe, clutching Luna tighter. "I won't hand her to anyone. Not even you."

His jaw tightened. Furious. Desperate. Something else beneath it all that I didn't have time to name.

"The guards are coming…” 

"Then help me hide her here."

"You're going to get yourself killed."

I met his gaze and held it. "Isn’t that my choice to make?” 

The knocking became a demand. The door rattled on its hinges.

Cassian stared at me, really stared, like he was trying to see inside my skull, understand what kind of madwoman would refuse the only lifeline being offered.

Then he moved.

Not toward Luna. Toward the wardrobe.

He shoved the doors open. Gowns swayed on their hooks. His hands swept across the back panel, searching, pressing, until his fingers found the edge of the loose board I'd forgotten about.

The crawl space.

He pulled it open.

"Get her inside. Now."

I didn't hesitate. I crossed the room in two strides, dropped to my knees, and pressed Luna into the darkness. The dragon made a small, terrified sound, but she went.

"Stay," I breathed. "Stay quiet. No matter what."

Her silver eyes glowed in the dark. Then she curled inward, silent as stone.

Cassian shoved the panel back into place just as the door splintered.

\-—————————-

The guards flooded the room like water through a broken dam.

Four of them. Armed. Faces hard with duty and suspicion.

"Lady Lira." The lead guard barely inclined his head. "We received reports of an intruder in this wing. We must search the room."

"By all means," I said, my voice steady despite the hammering in my chest. I stepped aside, letting my arms fall loose at my sides. "I have nothing to hide."

Cassian stood near the window, arms folded across his chest. His face was unreadable,, calm, almost bored.

"The lady was with me," he said coldly. "There is no intruder here."

The guards exchanged glances.

"With respect, Your Highness," the lead guard said, "the order comes directly from the King. Every room in this wing is to be searched."

Cassian's eyes narrowed. "My father…” 

"Will have my head if I disobey," the guard finished. He didn't flinch. "Please your highness. Step aside."

A long, terrible pause.

Then Cassian moved. Slowly. Deliberately. He came to stand beside me, close enough that his sleeve brushed mine. His shoulder was warm. Solid.

A wall I hadn't asked for.

"Do what you must," he said. "But be quick about it. We have urgent matters to attend to.” 

The guards spread out.

They pulled open drawers. Threw back the bedsheets. Checked behind the curtains, under the chairs, inside the empty wardrobe.

One guard lingered near the back panel.

I didn't breathe.

His fingers brushed the wood. Pressed.

Move on, move on, move on…

"She's clear," the lead guard called from the window.

The guard at the wardrobe stepped back.

My heart resumed beating.

They filed out one by one. The lead guard paused at the door.

"Apologies for the disturbance, my lady. His Majesty’s orders."

Then the door closed behind them.

\-————————————-

The silence that followed was deafening.

I stood frozen in the center of the room, my hands shaking at my sides, my breath coming too fast. The adrenaline was crashing, and I could feel the tremors building in my legs.

Cassian didn't move either.

He stood where the guards had left him, still as stone, his back to me.

Neither of us spoke.

Neither of us breathed.

Then I heard it, a soft, frightened chirp from beneath the wardrobe.

I moved.

Crossed the room in three strides, dropped to my knees, and pulled the panel free. Luna launched herself into my arms, trembling violently, her small claws digging into my dress.

"It's okay," I whispered against her scales. "It's okay. You're safe. You're safe."

Cassian turned.

He watched me hold the dragon, watched the way she curled into my chest, the way I pressed my cheek to her tiny head.

"You would have died for her," he said.

Not a question.

I looked up at him.

"Yes."

His expression fractured. Just slightly. Just for a moment.

Then he crossed the room, dropped to his knees in front of me, and took my face in his hands.

His palms were warm against my cheeks. Rough. Desperate.

He kissed me.

Not gently. Not carefully.

Like he was angry at me. Like he was terrified for me. Like he didn't know what else to do with everything he was feeling.

I kissed him back.

Because I was terrified too. Because my hands were still shaking. Because the guards had almost found her, almost found everything, and I didn't know how much longer I could keep lying.

His fingers tangled in my hair. My free arm, the one not holding Luna, wrapped around his neck.

Luna squirmed between us, then slipped free, crawling onto the bed behind me. But neither of us stopped.

I don't know how long we stayed like that.

Too long.

Not long enough.

Then Cassian pulled back. His forehead pressed against mine. His breath was ragged, uneven.

"I can't keep protecting you if you won't let me," he whispered.

I closed my eyes.

"Stop protecting me Cassian.” 

He flinched.

When I opened my eyes, his expression had shuttered. The warmth was gone. The desperation remained, but buried now, locked behind walls I'd helped him build.

He stood.

Straightened his tunic. Ran a hand through his hair.

"Get some sleep, Lady Lira."

He said it like a dismissal.

Like we hadn't just…

Like I hadn't…

He walked to the door.

"Cassian."

He stopped. Didn't turn.

"Thank you," I said quietly. "For helping me."

A long pause.

"Don't thank me," he said. "I didn’t do it for you.” 

Then he left.

The door clicked shut behind him.

I sat on the floor of my room, surrounded by scattered papers and overturned drawers, and held Luna close.

And I wondered if I'd just made the worst mistake of my life.

\---

The next morning

I didn't sleep.

Luna curled at the foot of my bed, her small body rising and falling with each breath. I watched her until the pale light of dawn crept through the curtains.

Then I dressed. Carefully. Meticulously.

I had appearances to maintain.

\---

Elora found me in the garden corridor, her arm looped through mine, her voice low and urgent.

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Lady Vivienne is leaving." She pulled me toward the eastern terrace. "She announced it this morning. Apparently, she requested an audience with the Queen at dawn and formally withdrew from the selection."