The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 137

CASSIAN

The tomb was small.

Marble, white and cold, set beneath an ancient oak tree at the edge of the estate. The grass around it had been kept clear, the only sign of care in this entire crumbling place.

Lady Lira Marie Vale.

Beloved Daughter. Lost Too Soon.

I stood before the grave and felt the weight of everything pressing down on me.

The servant had followed me outside, wringing her hands, her face pale with worry.

"It's so sad," she said. "She was so young. Barely fifteen. The fever took her in three days."

"Three days," I repeated.

"Yes, Your Highness. Lord Vale never recovered. Not really. He loved her so much."

I turned to face her.

"The girl who lived here, the one they called Lira. Lirael Sutton. Did you know her?"

The servant's expression flickered.

"She was a sweet girl, Your Highness. Quiet. Hardworking. Never complained, even when things were difficult." She paused. "She looked after Lord Vale, after his granddaughter died. Sat with him, read to him, made sure he took his medicine. She was good to him. She helped out around the estate too." 

"Did you ever see a picture of her?"

"A picture, Your Highness?"

"A portrait. A sketch. Anything that shows what she looked like."

The servant shook her head.

"She didn't like having her picture taken. Said she was too shy." She frowned. "I always thought that was strange. She wasn't shy. Not really. She just... didn't want to be seen."

Didn't want to be seen.

Because if someone saw her, if someone recognized her, the whole lie would fall apart.

"Does the Vale estate get any news from the palace?" I asked.

The servant laughed, a short, surprised sound.

"News? Your Highness, we barely get supplies. The palace might as well be on the other side of the world. Whatever news we hear comes through Callum, he receives all the letter and he only tells us what he thinks we need to know."

"So no one here knows about the Dragon Queen Selection going on?" 

"The Selection?" The servant tilted her head. "You mean the Dragon Queen Selection? We heard about that, of course. Everyone's heard about it. But we don't know what's going on there. Callum mentioned it once." 

"Callum mentioned it?"

"He said Lord Vale had received an invitation. That we should be proud." She shrugged. "I thought it was strange he mentioned it. Since the Vale family wouldn't be in attendance. But Callum knows more about these things than I do. I didn't question it."

"And who is this Callum you speak of?" 

"He's her brother. You know. They're the children of a..." The servant hesitated. "Of a disgraced lord. Lord Sutton I believe. Lord Vale took her in. Her and her brother. After their father was executed and their properties confiscated by the Crown." 

My blood went cold.

"Executed?"

"For treason, Your Highness. Or so I was told." The servant wrung her hands. "I don't know the details. I'm just a maid." 

"And her name was Lirael?" I asked.

"Lirael, Your Highness. But everyone called her Lira."

The world tilted.

I gripped the edge of a nearby table to steady myself.

"Lira," I repeated.

"Yes, Your Highness. It was what her parents and brother called her. Before..." The servant stopped. Swallowed. "Before everything."

\-———————

"Where is Callum now?" I asked.

The servant shook her head. "I don't know, Your Highness. He left a few weeks ago. Said he had business to attend to. He took a carriage and some supplies and just... disappeared."

"Did he say when he'd be back?"

"No. But he always comes back. This is his home now. His sister's too, wherever she is."

His sister.

Lira.

Lirael Sutton.

The daughter of a traitor.

The woman I had held in my arms.

The woman I had kissed.

The woman I had protected.

The woman who had been lying to me from the very first moment.

I closed my eyes.

Taheer's voice brushed against my mind, gentle, probing.

Cassian. What have you found?

The truth, I thought. I've found the truth.

And what will you do with it?

I didn't have an answer.