The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 158

LIRA

I stood transfixed to the spot. Was this their plan? To kill the king? So brazenly? I thought with my mouth agape. 

Was this a Norwyn spy? 

But before I could even form another thought... 

An arrow whistled through the air.

From above.

From the gallery.

From somewhere I couldn't see.

The arrow struck the man in the chest.

He stumbled.

Fell.

Collapsed on the marble floor, the poisoned dagger slipping from his grasp, skittering across the stones.

Blood spread beneath him. Red blood spreading on the white marbled floor like a painting. 

\-————————————-

The ballroom erupted.

Screaming. Shouting. The crash of glass and the thunder of running feet. Women fainted. Men drew swords. Servants dropped their trays and fled.

"Everyone stay calm!" someone shouted. "Stay calm!"

But no one was calm.

No one was calm at all.

I stood frozen in the chaos, my heart pounding, my hands shaking.

The attack.

It's started. My brother,where was my brother? 

Where was Cassian? 

The royal family was moving.

Guards surrounded the King and Queen, hustling them toward a side door. Evander followed, his face pale, his eyes wide. Princess Aveline was close behind, her hand pressed over her mouth.

Then I saw Cassian.

He was standing near the throne, directing the guards, his voice cutting through the chaos.

He's in his element, I thought. Leading. Protecting. Being the prince he was born to be.

And I... 

I need to find Callum.

I need to stop him before... 

Guards blocked the exits.

"No one leaves!" a captain shouted. "The palace is on lockdown. No one enters. No one exits. You will remain here until we have secured the premises. Do not worry! No harm will come to you!" 

People protested.

Shouted. Demanded answers.

The guards did not yield.

I slipped through the crowd, moving fast, keeping my head down, using the chaos as cover.

The side door, I thought. The one near the tapestry. The servants use it to bring in food. No one would be guarding that. I thought. 

If I can get there... 

If I can...

I reached the door.

Pushed it open.

And slipped into the corridor.

\-——————————

The corridor was dark.

Quiet.

The sounds of the ballroom faded behind me.

I leaned against the wall, gasping, my heart pounding. I started moving, started walking towards the hall to find my brother. 

Callum.

I need to find Callum.

I need to warn him that the guards know. That they're prepared. That... 

"Lira."

I froze.

The voice.

I knew that voice.

I turned.

Callum was running toward me, fast, desperate, his face pale, his clothes disheveled.

"Callum!"

He was alive.

He was alive.

I reached for him.

Stretched out my hand.

"Callum, I tried to warn you. I sent a letter, but it didn't..." 

The arrow struck him in the chest.

He stumbled.

Fell to his knees.

"Callum!"

I screamed.

———————————————

He was gone. One moment I was next to my brother, trying to wake him up, my hands and dress soaking the blood. 

One moment Callum was there, bleeding, dying, his eyes fixed on mine, and the next, the guards were there. Hands grabbed him. Lifted him. Dragged him away from me.

"No!"

I lunged after him.

Hands caught me.

Held me back.

"Let me go!! That's my...." 

"Lira."

A voice. Familiar and desperate rushed towards me.

"Lira, stop. You have to stop."

Cassian.

His arms were around me, tight, unyielding. Pulling me away from the blood on the floor. Away from the body disappearing down the corridor. And the guards outside. He was pulling me away from my brother. 

"Let me go!"

"You can't be here. If anyone sees you..." 

"I don't care!"

He didn't listen.

He never listened.

He dragged me down the corridor, past doors, past tapestries, past servants who stared with shock on their faces and guards who looked away. I fought him. Beat against his chest with my fists. Screamed until my throat burned.

"You promised! You promised you would keep him safe!"

"Lira..." 

"You knew he was here! You knew he was in the palace! And you let them shoot him!"

"I didn't..." 

"You let them!"

I was sobbing now. Hysterical. The tears wouldn't stop. The rage wouldn't stop. The grief of losing the only family I had. 

He pushed open a door.

His chambers.

I recognized them. The bed. The desk. The fire that was always burning.

He pushed me inside and locked the door behind us.

"LET ME OUT!"

"Lira, listen to me..." 

"My brother is dying and you locked me in a room!"

"Keep your voice down! Your brother is alive."

I froze.

"What?"

Cassian's face was pale. Exhausted. There was blood on his hands, not his, I realized. Someone else's.

"I said he's alive. I told the guard to take him to the physician. He's being treated."

"You're lying."

"I am not lying."

"You're always lying! Everyone here is always lying!"

I fell to my knees.

The silver dress pooled around me on the floor.

His blood, I thought. Callum's blood. All over me.

All over everything.

'Lira.' Luna's voice was frantic in my mind. 'Lira, what happened? Where are you? I can feel you—you're in pain...' 

I pushed her away.

Couldn't deal with her right now.

Couldn't deal with anything else. The roaring in my head wouldn't stop. 

"Lira." Cassian knelt in front of me. His hands gripped my shoulders. "Look at me."

I looked at him.

At the man I loved. At the man whose family had destroyed mine. At the man I begged to save my brother. I begged him. I begged him to save him and he couldn't even do that for me. 

"He is all I have," I whispered. "After my father died. After my mother. He is all I have left." 

"I know."

"You don't know anything."

"Maybe not." His thumb brushed tears from my cheek. "But I know you're hurting. But you can't let them know. You can't let anyone find out he's your brother. You must go back."

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"Back to your room. Clean up. Rest." 

"I can't."

"You have to."

"My brother is..." 

"I'll check on him. I'll stay with him all night if I need to. And I'll send word as soon as I know something." 

I shook my head. "I want to see him."

"You can't. It's not safe. You know it's not." 

"I want..." 

"Lira." His voice was sharp now. "If anyone sees you like this, covered in blood, hysterical, they'll ask questions. Questions you can't answer. They'll want to know why you're crying for a Norwyn spy." 

"I don't care."

"You have to care."

"Why?"

"Because if they find out who you really are, if they find out about Callum, about Norwyn, about any of it, they'll execute you. Both of you. And my father will probably be very angry as it is he won't hesitate to do that as fast as possible." 

"Then let them."

"Lira."

He grabbed me.

Shook me.

Not hard, just enough to make me look at him.

"Listen to me," he said. "You only have to keep up the pretense until tomorrow. Tomorrow is the Dragon trials. After that..."