The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 145

CASSIAN

I stood.

The room swayed slightly, too much wine, too little sleep, but I forced myself to focus.

"The secret passageway and the tunnels," I said. "Seal them. Guard them. I want men stationed at every entrance, every exit, every crack in the wall. No one gets in or out without my permission."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"And Rennick."

"Sir?"

"The ball. The Dragon Trials." I met his eyes. "If they're going to attack, that's probably when they'll do it. The palace will be vulnerable. Open. Full of nobles and guests and tons of distractions."

Rennick's jaw tightened.

"I agree, Your Highness."

"I'll talk to the King's Guards. But for now, talk to the Captain, prepare a team. My best men. Men I can trust." I began to pace, my mind racing despite the fog of wine. "I want them scattered throughout the palace on the night of the ball. Disguised as nobles. Watching. Ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To sabotage whatever Norwyn is planning." I stopped pacing. "To protect the palace. To protect the people inside it."

"And Lady Lira?"

The question hung in the air.

I didn't answer.

Couldn't.

What do I do about her?

Turn her in?

Protect her?

Kiss her?

Kill her?

"I'll handle Lady Lira. Tell no one about her involvement in this," I said finally.

Rennick nodded.

He didn't ask questions.

That was why I trusted him.

\---

After Rennick left, I stood alone in my study.

The fire had died completely. The room was cold. Dark.

And I was drunk.

Not drunk enough.

Never drunk enough.

I thought about Lira, meeting strangers in the dark. Plotting with Norwyn. Planning an attack on the palace where she slept, where she ate, where she had looked me in the eyes and sworn she wasn't lying.

She was always lying. She was a liar. 

From the beginning.

The letter. The name. The visions.

All lies.

All of it.

I picked up the decanter.

Drank from it directly.

The wine burned.

It didn't help.

Nothing helps.

Nothing ever helps.

I set the decanter down and walked to the window.

The gardens stretched below, dark and silent. Somewhere out there, beneath the old oak, beyond the crumbling wall, outside the tall palace walls, men were plotting to destroy everything my family had built." 

And she was helping them.

Lira.

Lirael.

Why?

But I knew why.

I had seen the estate. The decay. The grief that clung to the walls like rot.

I had seen Lord Vale's face when he said my granddaughter has been dead for years.

I had seen the portrait of the girl who should have come to the Selection, the plain looking  girl with the brown hair, defiant eyes, the gentle smile and the life that had ended before it truly began.

Lirael Sutton.

Daughter of a traitor.

Daughter of a man my father executed.

She came here for revenge.

She came here to burn us down.

And I—

I let her.

I held her.

I kissed her.

I wanted her.

I pressed my forehead against the cold glass.

"What am I supposed to do?" I whispered.

No one answered.

The wind howled.

The darkness stretched.

And somewhere in the palace, the woman I couldn't stop thinking about was probably already asleep.

Dreaming of revenge. Dreaming of anything but me.

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

The tunnels smelled of damp stone and old magic.

I stood in the darkness, torchlight flickering against the walls, sweat dripping down my back despite the cold. Behind me, a team of my best men waited in silence. Before me, the passage that led beneath the palace walls. The passage that Norwyn had been using to infiltrate my home.

The passage that Lira had told them about.

I pushed the thought away.

Focus.

You can fall apart later.

"Your Highness." Rennick stepped forward, his voice low. "The charges are set."

"How many?"

"Twelve. Spaced evenly throughout the main tunnel. Enough to collapse the ceiling without bringing down the entire structure."

I nodded.

"Light them."

\-————————-

The explosions were deafening.

Stone cracked. Dust billowed. The ground trembled beneath my feet. I raised an arm to shield my face as debris rained down from above.

When the noise faded, the tunnel was gone.

Blocked. Sealed. Impassable.

One entrance down, I thought. A dozen more to go.

"Next passage," I said.

My men didn't question me. They never did.

\---

We worked for hours.

Collapsing tunnels. Setting traps. Fortifying walls. I moved through the underground like a ghost, my magic pulsing beneath my skin, helping me sense the weak points in the stone, the places where the earth had been disturbed.

There, I thought, pressing my palm against a wall. Behind this. A passage someone tried to hide.

I closed my eyes.

Breathed.

And pushed.

The stone groaned. Shifted. Sealed itself beneath my hands, the cracks knitting together like wounds healing.

Behind me, one of the younger guards muttered a prayer.

I ignored him.

Keep going.

Keep working.

Don't stop.

If you stop, you'll think about her.

And if you think about her….. 

I pushed harder.

\---

By nightfall, I was exhausted.

My hands were raw. My head pounded. My magic felt like a muscle that had been stretched to its breaking point and then stretched again.

But the tunnels were sealed.

Every entrance, every exit, every crack and crevice that could have admitted an intruder, blocked, guarded, or booby-trapped.

If Norwyn wants to get into the palace, I thought, they'll have to come through the front gates. That is if they weren’t already in the palace. There were hundreds and hundreds of rooms in the palace, finding them itself would be an impossible task that would take days. 

But at least more of them couldn’t come in. And if they tried…

The front gates are ready for them.

"Your Highness." Rennick appeared at my elbow. "The perimeter is secure. I've posted extra guards on every wall. The watch rotation has been doubled."

"Good."

"The traps in the gardens are set. Anyone who tries to cross after dark will trigger them."

"Good."

"The kitchens have been instructed to inspect all food deliveries. The wine cellars have been locked. The servant quarters have been…” 

"Rennick."

He stopped.

"You've done well," I said. "Get some rest."

"With respect, Your Highness…” 

"That's an order."

He held my gaze for a moment. Then he nodded.

"Yes, Your Highness."

He disappeared into the shadows.

I stood alone in the courtyard, surrounded by guards I couldn't see and traps I couldn't feel, and tried to remember the last time I had slept.

Two days ago? Three?

Does it matter?

I'll sleep when this is over.

If I'm still alive.

\-——————-