The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 128

CASSIAN

The corridors stretched empty before me, lit by dying torchlight.

I walked without direction at first, just moving, just putting one foot in front of the other, trying to outrun the memory of her mouth against mine.

It didn't work.

Lira.

Her name looped through my skull like a curse. The way she'd looked at me when she said then stop protecting me, like she wanted me to hurt. Like she wanted me to leave.

So I had.

And now I was here, wandering my own palace like a stranger, with her dragon hatchling hidden somewhere in the walls and her lies buried beneath my skin.

There were so many things I wanted to do and say to her. But I couldn’t. 

I couldn’t even get myself to bring go the words.

Damn her.

\-————————-

The King's study was still lit when I arrived.

I should have gone to bed. Should have slept. Should have done anything other than walk through that door. 

But as a prince I had inescapable duties. And finding out my father’s state of mind was one of them. 

My father had given an order. And I, unlike some people, still had duties to uphold.

I knocked once. Entered without waiting for an answer.

The Dragon King sat behind his massive oak desk, maps and reports spread before him like a battlefield. His grey hair was disheveled, his jaw tight with exhaustion. He looked up as I entered, and his eyes, my eyes, darker and harder, narrowed.

"You should be searching for that hatchling."

"The guards have searched every room in the palace," I said, closing the door behind me. "There's no sign of a dragon hatchling."

"Then search again."

"Father…” 

"Again." He slammed his palm against the desk. The maps rattled. "Do you understand what's at stake? A dragon, a hatchling, somewhere inside these walls. If it bonds with someone, if it grows, if it chooses…” 

"It was an egg," I lied. "We don't even know if it's hatched. We don’t know. And we can raise an alarm and risk this getting out of the palace walls.” 

The King's eyes bored into mine.

"Taheer sensed something. And Taheer is never wrong."

I said nothing.

My father rose from his chair, slow and deliberate, and walked around the desk until he stood directly before me. I was taller than him, he hated that, he used to be the tallest man I knew, till I grew tall. But his shoulders, they were broader. 

"I built this kingdom with blood and fire," he said quietly. "I will not watch it burn because my son is too soft to do what needs to be done."

My hands curled into fists at my sides.

"I am not soft."

"Then find the hatchling." He stepped closer. "Find it, Cassian. Before it finds someone to wield against us. Remember we have to deal with that other dragon too. The one that escaped.” 

I held his gaze.

"And if it's already bonded?"

The King's expression didn't change. If anything, it grew colder.

"Then you kill them both. The hatchling and the bonded, before word gets out.” 

\-——————————

I left the study with his words crawling under my skin.

Kill them both.

He didn't know, couldn't know, that the "them" he was talking about was Lira. That the dragon was curled somewhere in the darkness, small and white and utterly dependent on her.

That I had held it in my own hands.

That I had helped hide it.

I had committed treason against the Crown. Against my family. All because of Lira. 

What have I become?

\---

The dungeons were cold.

They always were.

I descended the stone steps alone, waving off the guards who offered to accompany me. The Norwyn spy had been moved to the lower cells a few hours ago, away from the windows, away from any hope of rescue.

He was waiting for me when I arrived.

The man was young. Younger than I expected. Dark hair matted with blood, face swollen from questioning, wrists raw from the manacles that bound him to the wall.

He smiled when he saw me.

Broken teeth. Empty eyes. My men had beaten him senseless. 

"Your Highness," he rasped. "Come to ask again?"

I pulled the stool across from him and sat.

"Tell me about the coup your kingdom is planning."

"I told you before. I have nothing to say."

"Everyone has something to say." I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. "You just haven't found the right price yet."

The spy laughed, a wet, ugly sound.

"You think I fear death, Prince? I am death. We all are."

I studied him. The way his eyes flickered when he spoke. The way his hands trembled despite his bravado.

"You're not really from Norwyn," I said slowly.

The laugh cut off.

"What?"

"Your accent. It's all wrong." I stood, pacing the length of the cell. "Trust me I’ve been around Norwyn. Stayed there for a while when I had a fling with their princess. Your accent is not Norwyn. You're from the northern provinces. Near the Vale, if I'm not mistaken."

The spy said nothing. But his eyes followed me.

"So the question isn't who sent you," I continued. "It's why someone from the Vale would betray their own kingdom.” 

Silence.

I turned to face him.

"Or maybe," I said softly, "you're not betraying the kingdom at all. Maybe you're just choosing a different side. Why?” 

The spy's expression didn't change.

But something flickered behind his eyes.

Fear.

Not of me. Of what I might uncover.

I crouched in front of him, bringing my face level with his.

"Tell me about the coup," I said again. "And I'll make sure your family doesn't pay for your mistakes. It’ll only take me a few hours to find them.” 

His breath caught.

Then, nothing.

The shutters came down. The walls went up.

"I have nothing to say," he repeated.

I stayed for another hour. Asked the same questions in different ways. Offered mercy. Threatened pain. Bargained. Begged.

If only Evander were here, he’d have extracted the truth from the spy in no time. 

The spy gave me nothing.

I left the dungeons with blood on my hands and ash in my mouth.

\-————————————

Morning came too fast.

I was in the training yard when the messenger found me, sword in hand, shirt soaked through with sweat, trying to burn off the rage that had nowhere else to go.

"Your Highness."

I didn't stop. The blade swung. Cut through the air.

"Your Highness!"

"What?"

The messenger, a young woman I didn't recognize, flinched at my tone but held her ground.

"Lady Vivienne has withdrawn from the selection. Her carriage departs within the hour. She wanted to bid you farewell. She sent a few of us to find you."

I lowered the sword.

Vivienne.

Confident, tall, strong loud mouthed  but kind Vivienne. I remember how uncomfortable she had made me in the first few weeks asking about duty and the whole purpose of the Queen selection. I remember how intriguing she was, even though my friends and other nobles feared her. She would have made a radical strong Queen, if she had been given the chance. 

She'd never played the games the other girls played, never schemed or plotted or angled for advantage.

She'd just... been there.

She played a good honest game. And now she was leaving. 

"Where is she?"