The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 130

CASSIAN

The eastern courtyard was quiet when I arrived.

Vivienne stood beside her carriage, wrapped in a travelling cloak of deep blue, her black hair braided back from her face.

She saw me coming and smiled.

Not the sharp, practiced smile of the selection. Something real. Something tired.

"Your Highness," she said, curtsying. "I didn't expect you to come."

"Neither did I. I'm away for a few hours and now I hear talk of you leaving. What is this?" 

She laughed at that, a genuine sound, warm and unguarded.

"It is true."

I stopped a few feet away, unsure what to say. Unsure why I'd come at all.

"You're leaving," I said finally.

"I am."

"Is it because of everything going on in the palace recently. Do you feel unsafe?" 

She tilted her head, studying me. "Partly. Yes." A pause. "Also because I'm tired, Your Highness. Tired of pretending I want something I'm not sure I want."

"The crown?"

"Yes, the crown. The prince. The fairy tale of being your queen." She shrugged. "I came here because my family told me it was my duty. To represent my family in the Dragon Queen Selection like House Trevanne always have. I don't think any one of them expected I'll make it this far. But I'm leaving because I've decided my happiness matters more."

I should have argued. Should have asked her to stay. Should have said something, anything, to convince her that the selection still mattered.

I wish I could find the words to say, but I couldn't. 

Instead, I said: "Lady Vivienne, I hope you find it. I hope you find genuine happiness. I will write you a letter of support, speaking of your wonderful performance in the selection and how I would have been lucky to have you as my Queen if you had stayed and passed the Dragon trials." 

Vivienne's smile softened.

"Thank you, Cassian."

Not Your Highness. Just Cassian. Probably the first time I've heard her use my name. 

She climbed into the carriage. The driver snapped the reins.

And as the wheels began to turn, she leaned out the window one last time.

"Be careful," she said. "There are people in this palace who would burn the whole world down to get what they want."

The words echoed something I'd heard before.

I nodded.

The carriage rolled through the gates.

And Vivienne, Lady Vivienne of House Trevanne, disappeared from my life forever.

\---

I stood in the courtyard long after she was gone.

The morning sun climbed higher. Servants hurried past with baskets and linens. Guards changed shifts at the gates.

And I thought about what she'd said.

I've decided my happiness matters more.

What must that be like? To choose yourself? To walk away from duty and expectation and simply... want?

I didn't know.

I'd never known.

From the moment I was born, my life had been planned. The crown. The kingdom. The selection.

The burden.

And now, Lira. 

With her sharp tongue and sharper lies. With her dragon and her secrets and the way she looked at me like she wanted to hurt me and save me in the same breath.

What am I supposed to do with you?

The question had no answer.

\---

"Cassian."

I turned.

Evander stood at the edge of the courtyard, still in his riding clothes, dust clinging to his boots.

He must have just returned.

"Brother," I said carefully.

Evander didn't smile. Didn't approach. Just stood there, hair catching the light, blue eyes fixed on mine.

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

He held my gaze.

"About the situation at the border. It's worse than I thought."

The air between us changed.

Grew heavier. Sharper.

"That can wait. I have a task for you. We found a Norwyn spy. I need you to use your powers and extract the truth from him." I asked.

\---------------

The dungeons were colder at night.

I descended the stone steps for the second time in as many days, Evander close behind me. His boots echoed against the ancient floor, steady, measured, unhurried.

He hadn't asked hesitated when I asked for his help. 

Hadn't questioned the urgency in my voice or even stopped to take off his clothes or announce his arrival to the King and Queen. 

"You're certain he knows something?" Evander had asked.

"No," I'd admitted. "But he's the only lead we have."

Now we walked in silence, past cells that held nothing but shadows, until we reached the lower level.

The spy's cell.

The guards straightened as we approached.

"Your Highnesses." The senior guard, a grizzled man named Corvin, stepped forward. His face was pale. "There's been... an incident."

My stomach dropped.

"What kind of incident?"

Corvin didn't answer. He just opened the door.

\---

The spy hung from his manacles.

His body was slumped forward, held upright only by the chains around his wrists. His face was gray. His lips were blue.

And there was foam, dried, crusted, at the corners of his mouth.

"Dead?" I asked. Though I already knew.

"A few moments ago," Corvin said. "Maybe two. The night guard didn't hear anything. No struggle. No noise."

"How?"

Corvin hesitated. Then he crossed to the corner of the cell and retrieved a small leather pouch.

"One of my men found this. Hidden in the seam of his boot."

He held it out to me.

I opened it.

Inside, a fine white powder, almost invisible against the leather.

"Fast-acting," I said. "He would have been gone within minutes."

"Yes, Your Highness."

I stared at the body.

At the spy who had smiled at me with broken teeth. Who had laughed when I threatened him. Who had looked me in the eyes and said I am death.

He hadn't been lying.

"What did he take?" Evander asked from the doorway.

"Something foreign, by the look of it." I handed the pouch to Corvin. "Have the royal physician examine it. I want to know exactly what killed him."

Corvin bowed and left.

Evander stepped into the cell. He walked a slow circle around the body, head tilted, expression unreadable.

"There's nothing left to question," he said.

"No."

"He took the truth with him."

"Apparently."

Evander stopped in front of me. His blue eyes searched my face.

"You're angry."

"I'm furious." I turned away from the body, couldn't look at it anymore. "My men searched him. Stripped him. Went through every inch of his cell. And they still missed the poison."

"Cassian…” 

"He was our only connection to Norwyn. Our only chance to understand what they're plotting. And now…” I slammed my palm against the stone wall. The impact sent the stone wall cracking. "Now we have nothing."

Evander said nothing.

He just stood there, watching me unravel.

I hated him for it.

I hated that he was calm. That he was composed. That he had never once looked at this prisoner and seen anything other than a dead man walking.

"Perhaps if I was at home. If I wasn’t sent to the northern border I might have questioned him sooner. But you made that call." Evander said quietly.

"What do you mean…” 

"Your men did what they could. But you know I could have pulled the truth from his mind before he had a chance to swallow poison."

I turned to face him.

"You don’t know that.” 

"No," he admitted. "But now we'll never find out."

We left the cell together.

The guards lowered the body as we passed.

I didn't look back.

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