The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 160

LIRA

The corridor was quiet.

The physician's wing was always quiet, high ceilings, white walls, the smell of herbs and something else. His apprentices walking around in their white uniforms. 

I found the physician immediately, an old man with grey hair and kind eyes, hunched over a ledger.

"Excuse me."

He looked up.

"My lady?" He stood quickly, bowing. "I wasn't expecting any patients. Are you injured?"

"No. I'm looking for someone."

"Someone?"

"A man. Brought in last night. After the... after the attack."

The physician's expression flickered.

"I'm afraid I can't discuss patients without..." 

"Please." I stepped closer. "I need to know if he's alive."

He studied me.

"Are you the one?"he said slowly. "I heard Prince Cassian said a young lady fell on him. During the chaos."

Fell on him. That's the lie he chose to tell. Not that I was worried about him or trying to wake him up. But fell on him. 

As if he were some piece of furniture. 

"Yes," I said. "I've been so worried. I thought... I thought it was my fault. That if I hadn't..." 

"You're not responsible, my lady."

"Then he's alive?"

The physician hesitated.

"That's... complicated."

"Complicated?"

He sighed.

"The man was brought here last night. His wounds were severe. I had started to examine him and we were preparing his treatments..." 

"But?"

"But the King got wind of it."

My blood went cold.

"The King?"

"He refused to allow treatment." The physician's voice was quiet. Ashamed. "He said the man was a criminal. A traitor. That he didn't deserve the mercy of a physician's touch." 

"And you listened to him?"

"I had no choice, my lady. The Dragon King's word is law."

I pressed my hands over my mouth.

"Is he...is he still alive?"

The physician looked away.

"For now," he said. "But I don't think he'll last the night. His injuries are... extensive. Without proper care..." 

He didn't finish.

Didn't have to.

Callum.

My brother.

Dying in the dungeons.

Because the King refused him treatment. 

"My lady?"

I blinked.

The physician was staring at me, concern in his eyes.

"Are you all right? You've gone very pale."

"I'm fine."

"You're not..." 

"I'm fine."

I turned.

Walked to the door.

"My lady..." 

I didn't look back.

\-——————————-

The corridor spun around me.

I couldn't breathe.

Couldn't think.

Couldn't do anything but walk, fast, desperate, my boots echoing against the stone.

My brother was dying. He was somewhere beneath this castle dying and I didn't know how to save him. And Cassian, he promised he would save him. He promised he would help him. 

He promised to protect him and he lied.

'My dear sweet child. They all lie. They always lie. You cannot trust anyone from the Valemont line. You cannot trust anyone. Except me.' 

Veyraxis's voice slithered into my mind like smoke.

I stopped walking.

Pressed my hand against the wall to steady myself.

Not now, I thought. Not... 

'Oh, but now is the perfect time.' 

Her voice was soft this time. Almost gentle 

'You begged him,' she said. 'You begged your precious prince to save your brother. You trusted him. You believed in him.' 

"I thought..." 

'You thought he would help you. You thought that meant something. You thought he would choose you over his family, his kingdom, his precious crown.' 

"He tried..." 

'Did he?' Her voice sharpened. 'Did he really? Or did he just make promises he never intended to keep?' 

"He said he would send word. He was going to..." 

'And did he?' 

No. He hadn't.

'He lied to you, Lirael. Just like they all lie. Just like they always have.' 

I slid down the wall.Sat on the cold stone floor.

Pressed my hands over my face.

'These are the people you wanted to save', Veyraxis continued. 'The King, who lets innocent men die in his dungeons. The Queen, who schemes and manipulates. The Prince, who makes promises he cannot keep.' 

"They're not all bad."

Aren't they?

"Elora..." 

'The girl, who walked away when she learned your secret. Does she even care if you live or die? Have you seen her today?' 

"No she isn't like that. Cassian isn't..." 

'Cassian, who locked you in a room while your brother bled?' 

I had no answer.

'You see now,' Veyraxis said. 'You see what I have always known. The crown is corrupt. The crown is cruel. The crown does not deserve your mercy.' 

"What do you want me to say?"

'I want you to say yes.'

"Yes?"

'Yes, I will join you. Yes, I will help you burn them down. Yes, I will stop protecting people who do not deserve to be saved.' 

"They don't all deserve..." 

'Are you sure? Does the King deserve to live? Does the Queen? Does Calista, who poisoned you and smiled while you suffered?' 

"No."

'Does Cassian, who promised to save your brother and did nothing?' 

I closed my eyes.

He tried, I thought. He tried.

'Did he try hard enough?' 

I didn't know. But it was Cassian. He would try. I knew he would. 

'I will spare the innocents, as you asked' Veyraxis said. 'The servants. The children. The ones who have no power, no voice, no part in this. But the rest...' 

"The rest?"

'The rest will burn.'

"What? No.... What about Cassian?"

Silence.

What about him?

"Will you spare him?"

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

CASSIAN

The dungeons stank of blood and fear.

I had been down here for hours, questioning prisoners, reviewing reports, trying to piece together the full scope of Norwyn's infiltration and what they had hoped to achieve. The men we had captured were stubborn, trained and they gave nothing willingly.

But they didn't need to speak.

Their weapons told me enough. Norwyn steel. Norwyn poison. Norwyn craftsmanship.

This wasn't a spontaneous attack.

This had been planned for months.

Years, maybe. Even longer than I had anticipated. The tunnels had just sped up the process for them. The tunnels and the hidden passageways that Lira had provided.

"Your Highness."

Captain Rennick approached, his boots echoing against the stone. His face was grim.

"What is it?"

"That Sutton boy," he said. "He's back."

My chest tightened.

"Back?"

"The King ordered him returned to the dungeons. Refused to allow treatment in the physician's wing."

I closed my eyes.

Damn it.

Damn it all.

"Where is he now?"

"The sixth cell. He's... not in good shape, Your Highness."

"I need to see him."

"Your Highness..."

"Now, Rennick."

\---

The sixth cell was at the end of the corridor.

The darkest cell. The coldest. The one that was reserved for prisoners the King wanted to forget.

Callum lay on a straw pallet, his face pale, his chest wrapped in bloody bandages. His eyes were closed. His breathing was shallow.

He looks dead, I thought. He looks like he's already gone.

But his chest rose and fell.

Barely.

"Callum."

No response.

"Callum."

His eyelids fluttered.

Opened.

Focused on my face.

"Prince," he rasped. "Come to watch me die?"

"I came to help you."

"Help me?" He laughed, a wet, broken sound. "Your father threw me in this cell. Your guards dragged me here. Your physician was forbidden from treating me."

"I know."

"And you want to help me?"

I crouched beside him.

"I'm going to get you out of here."

"Sure you are."

"I mean it."

Callum stared at me.

His eyes, so like Lira's, so full of fire and grief... searched my face.

"Why?"

"Because I promised your sister."

"That's not a reason."

"It's the only one I have."

He was silent for a moment.

Then:

"She loves you, you know."

"I know."

"Doesn't deserve to lose anyone else."

"I know."

"Then get me out of here. Please."

I stood.

"I'll do what I can."