The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 34

LIRA

Everyday, the selection dragged on and on. The grand dining hall glittered under crystal chandeliers, the light bouncing off polished silverware and gilded place settings. Eleven of us sat around the long table, the air thick with tension disguised as politeness. I stayed near the far end, where the shadows pooled, where my silence could pass for shyness instead of strategy.

The servants moved quietly, refilling goblets, setting dishes down with careful hands. My eyes, however, kept drifting toward Lady Calista. She was sitting straighter than usual, her lips curved into that faint, triumphant smile she wore when she wanted everyone to know she had already won. I suppose she had something else to boast about this time. Maybe another evening with the Prince.

“Lady Calista,” Amara finally said, her voice sugary sweet, though I could taste the bitterness in it. “That brooch is simply stunning. Wherever did you get it?”

Calista’s fingers brushed the jewel at her chest, a deep green gem rimmed with gold filigree. It caught the candlelight like fire.

“Oh, this?” She let out a small, practiced laugh. “It was a gift from His Highness. He thought it suited me.”

The words cut sharper than any blade. I saw forks pause mid-air. Juliette’s clattered onto her plate with a sharp clang.

The prince gave her a brooch?

Do you see now? The voice coiled inside my head, low and insistent, like smoke curling under a door. She flaunts trinkets, and the others bare their teeth. Petty squabbles. But you… you were not meant for this. You know that.

I pressed my lips together and lowered my gaze, pretending to adjust my napkin. I had been hearing the dragon for days now, always just a whisper at the edges of my thoughts. Sometimes urging, sometimes mocking. I had ignored it, shoved it down, told myself it was nothing but exhaustion or madness. But nights like this made it harder to shut out.

Juliette forced a smile, her voice tight. “How… thoughtful of him.”

“How generous of the prince to single you out,” Amara added, her words sharp as glass. “He must be quite taken with you.”

Around the table, the other girls watched with stiff smiles, their envy poorly hidden.

Look at them. Circling her like starving dogs. Do you wish to be like them? Begging for his crumbs? Or will you take what is rightfully yours?

I shoved the voice back, focusing on the brooch. It wasn’t just a gift, it was a statement. A warning to the rest of us that Prince Cassian had his eyes on Calista. The problem was, that kind of favoritism poisoned the game. It made the others reckless, desperate.

Lenora’s soft voice tried to balance the storm. “It is lovely, but far too flashy for me. I could never wear something so bold.”

Calista gave a small shrug, her smile tightening. “Perhaps. But I wouldn’t read too much into it. A brooch is hardly a coronation.”

A ripple of uneasy laughter followed.

Juliette leaned toward Amara, not bothering to lower her voice enough. “I suppose we should all expect favors now. Or is Calista the only one getting special treatment?”

Amara smirked. “Haven’t you noticed? She’s the only one who gets it. The Crown’s already showing their hand.”

Juliette slammed her goblet down harder than necessary. “If the prince can give her a brooch, then he should give all of us one. That would be fair.”

Calista’s eyes flashed like steel. “Careful, Lady Juliette. Envy is unbecoming.”

“We’re not envious,” Amara said sweetly. “Just curious about how far your charm extends.”

The room went still. The insult was sharp enough to draw blood. For a moment, I thought Calista might snap. Instead, she smoothed her expression and said silkily, “You’re welcome to ask the prince yourself. But I doubt you’ll get far.”

Pathetic. All of them. Fighting for scraps while your fire burns in silence. Why do you hold back from me little fox? Do you fear them? Or yourself?

My hand tightened around my napkin. I could feel the dragon stirring under my skin, its presence like a storm pressing against my ribs. I had been ignoring it for so long, but tonight its whispers slid too easily into my thoughts, feeding on my doubts, my anger.

I didn’t answer it. Not aloud. Not even in my mind.

My eyes stayed down, my silence my shield, but in my chest, the dragon’s voice lingered, restless.

When the plates were cleared and the girls finally drifted off to their chambers, I slipped away unnoticed. While they obsessed over Calista’s brooch and Cassian’s affections, I had something far more dangerous to contend with: the beast inside me that refused to be ignored.

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The night was heavy with silence, the kind that pressed in around me as I slipped past the guards and down the hidden passage I’d found weeks ago. My heart pounded with every step, but not from fear of being caught. No, what had me on edge was what waited at the end of the tunnel.

The whispers had followed me for days. No matter how hard I tried to ignore them, the dragon’s voice coiled tighter around my thoughts, until I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t breathe without hearing it. Tonight, I wasn’t going to run from it anymore.

The tunnel opened into the vast, shadowed cavern. The air was damp, tinged with sulfur, and my footsteps echoed against the stone as I approached. The dragon’s presence filled the space before I even saw him. Massive. Ancient. His scales shimmered faintly in the dim light, like molten gold half-buried in darkness.

His eyes snapped open, glowing embers fixed on me.

“So you finally came,” his voice rumbled, not aloud, but inside me, vibrating in my bones.

I swallowed hard, my fists clenched at my sides. “I want answers. What do you want from me? Why won’t you leave me alone?”

A deep, rolling chuckle filled the cavern. “Leave you alone? No, little fox. I called you because you and I are the same. Hungry. Angry. Waiting for the moment to strike.”

My jaw tightened. “You’ve been tormenting me. Whispering in my head. If you want something, say it plainly.”

His head lowered, teeth glinting like ivory swords as he spoke. “What I want… is revenge. The same thing you crave. Yet you sit quietly in the palace, bowing your head, playing the obedient little contestant while the ones who wronged you sit on their golden thrones.”