The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 159

LIRA

"After that, what?"

"After that, you leave. You and your brother. I'll make sure of it. Remember what I told you before. I have a house far away where both of you can live in peace and stay there." 

"You can't promise that."

"I am the Crown Prince. I can promise whatever I want."

I laughed, a broken, bitter sound.

"The Crown Prince," I repeated. "Of course you are..."

"Lira..." 

"Don't." I pulled away from him. Stood on shaking legs. "Don't try to comfort me. Don't try to fix this. You can't. What will the do to my brother after treating him? Throw him into the dungeons?" 

"Lira...."

"Cassian why are you still helping me?" 

He looked at me.

His eyes were dark. Tired. Full of something I didn't want to name.

"Because I love you," he said. "Even now. Even after everything."

I closed my eyes.

The tears kept falling.

"I don't want to be her anymore," I whispered.

"Who?"

"Lady Lira of the Vale. That poor girl whose name I have taken over. The noblewoman. The pretend. I just want to be Lira Sutton again." I pressed my hands over my face. "I'm tired, Cassian. I'm so tired. I just want to go and see my brother. I don't care about the consequences. I don't care about revenge. I don't care about anything anymore." 

"There is nothing left for me here."

"Stop it. There is Lira."

I looked at him.

"You can't save me Cassian. I've gone too far." 

"At least let me try."

\-———————-

He gave me a cloak.

Dark. Heavy. It covered the blood on my dress, the diamonds at my throat, the tears on my face.

"Keep your head down," he said. "Don't speak to anyone. Don't look at anyone. Just go straight to your room. Hide the bloodied dress, go to bed. The might do a headcount later on to make sure you girls are safe." 

"What if someone sees me?"

"They won't. If they did tell them you got lost in the chaos, fell into the blood and got disoriented. But they won't ask." 

He unlocked the door.

Checked the corridor.

Took my hand.

And led me through the darkness.

\---

The corridors were quiet.

The chaos of the ballroom had been contained. I didn't know. I didn't care. 

All I could think about was Callum.

His face.

His voice.

The blood.

So much blood.

Cassian stopped outside my door.

"Go inside. Lock the door behind you. Don't come out until morning."

"My brother..." 

"I'll send word as soon as I know something."

"Promise me."

He hesitated.

Then:

"I promise."

I reached for the door handle.

"Lira."

I turned.

Cassian stepped closer. His hand cupped my face. His thumb brushed my cheek.

"Whatever happens tomorrow," he said, "whatever happens after, I don't regret meeting you. I don't regret any of it." 

"Cassian..." 

"I don't regret loving you."

He kissed my forehead.

Soft. Gentle.

Then he was gone.

\---

I went inside.

Locked the door.

Pressed my back against the wood and slid down to the floor.

'Lira.' Luna crept out from beneath the bed, her eyes wide, her small body trembling. 'Lira, what happened? I felt everything, the pain, the fear, I tried to reach you but you pushed me away...' 

"I know."

'Your brother...' 

"He's alive. Maybe."

' Lira.'

"I can't talk about it right now."

She crawled into my lap and pressed her tiny head against my chest.

'Then don't talk,' she said. 'Just let me stay here. With you.' 

I held her close.

The blood on my dress stained her white scales.

She didn't complain.

Neither did I.

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

The morning light was grey and cold. I had not slept. Could not sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Callum's face. His blood. His voice, whispering my name.

I was still wearing the silver dress.

The blood had dried, brown now, crusted, flaking off the fabric like rust. I hadn't bothered to change. Hadn't bothered to do anything except sit on the floor with Luna curled in my lap, staring at the wall.

'Lira.' Luna's voice was soft. 'The sun is rising.' 

"I know."

'You should rest.'

"I can't."

'You have to. The trials are today.'

I laughed, a hollow, broken sound.

"The trials. I forgot about the trials."

'Lira...' 

A knock at the door.

I froze.

Hide, I thought.

Luna slid off my lap and disappeared beneath the bed.

"Lady Lira?" A voice. Female. Familiar. "It's Lady Marcheline. May I enter?"

The instructor. The head instructor.

Why is she here?

I looked down at my dress, at the blood, the wrinkles, the evidence of everything that had happened.

Too late to change, I thought. Too late to hide.

Too late for anything.

"Come in," I called.

The door opened.

Lady Marcheline stepped inside, grey-haired, sharp-eyed, her expression shifting from professional to alarmed the moment she saw me.

"My lady." She crossed the room in three swift strides. "What happened? You're covered in..." 

"I fell."

"Fell?"

"During the chaos. Last night. Someone pushed me, and I fell." I gestured vaguely at the blood. "Onto... onto the floor. Where the man..." 

I stopped. Couldn't finish.

Lady Marcheline's face softened.

"Oh, my dear." She reached for my hands. "You poor thing. That must have been terrifying."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You're pale. You're shaking. You're covered in blood. Would you like to see the physician?"

"I said I'm fine."

She looked at me for a long moment.

Then she nodded.

"The servants will be here soon to prepare you for the Dragon Trials," she said. "I know it's soon, especially with everything that happened yesterday. But the King and Queen want to get it all over with, it is the last challenge after all and everything is ready. After last night..." 

"The attack."

She hesitated.

"A minor skirmish," she said carefully. "Nothing to worry about, my dear. The palace is secure."

A minor skirmish.A man was killed in front of the throne. My brother was shot. And they're calling it a minor skirmish. They're sanitizing it. Hiding the truth. Just like they always do.

"Of course," I said. "A minor skirmish."

Lady Marcheline squeezed my hands.

"The servants will be here shortly. We also sent word to your grandfather about if he'll be in attendance, we have heard nothing from him yet. So I suppose that means he won't be in attendance..." 

My heart skipped a beat. 

"You sent word to Lord Vale?" I asked. 

She nodded. 

"Yes, but we haven't received a reply. His last correspondence was to the King. I suppose that means he's not coming is he?" 

She looked at me hopefully. 

"He's old and frail. He can't make the journey." I managed. At least that was the truth. I wasn't lying. 

She paused at the door. "Oh I understand. Lady Lira?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad you're all right." 

Then she was gone.

\-—————————

The servants arrived within the hour.

They gasped when they saw my dress.

Tutted and clucked and exchanged worried glances as they helped me undress, as they scrubbed the blood from my skin, as they washed my hair and braided it away from my face.

No one asked questions. They thought they knew the answers. Apparently word around was that I had fallen over the body of the bleeding man. 

They dressed me in practical riding clothes, leather breeches, a fitted tunic, boots that laced to the knee. Practical. Functional.

Armor, I thought. They're dressing me for battle.

Because that's what the dragon trials are.

A battle.

"You look lovely, my lady," one of the servants said.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

She was right. I did look lovely, if you weren't looking at my dark eyes or my pale lips.

"Thank you," I said.

\-————————-

The great hall was across the palace.

I was supposed to go there for the final briefing, the Queen's address, the instructions for the trials, the last chance to back out before the real tests began.

I walked in that direction.

Past the tapestries.

Past the guards.

Past the servants who bowed and curtsied and didn't look at my face.

Keep walking, I told myself. Keep pretending. Keep lying.

Just a little longer.

Just until the trials are over.

Just until.... 

I stopped.

The corridor split here, one path leading to the great hall, another leading to the physician's wing.

Callum.

I haven't heard anything.

Cassian promised to send word.

But he hasn't.

What if... 

What if something had happened to him? 

I turned left.

Towards the physician's wing.