The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 48

LIRA

A letter bearing the embossed crest of the Vale family, an elaborate “V” curling like thorns around itself arrived for me. One of the messengers delivered it.

Elora's eyes narrow on it.

“Another letter?” she asked, arching a brow as she plays with the ribbons on my bed. “You’ve been getting quite a few.”

“Just one,” I lied easily, snatching it from the bed.

The Vale crest was nothing more than a cover. A way for my brother to communicate with me. Letters coming and leaving the palace were always screened. So my brother had to keep up the pretence that Lord Vale was still hale and hearty.

My pulse flickered, heavy in my throat.

I waited until Elora excuses herself to fetch more thread before I slid open the envelope.

The coded message was disguised as polite, meaningless pleasantries, how the family estate is faring, how the weather has turned cold, how they hope I’m making friends in the palace.

But the real message was in the first letter of each line.

I line them up silently, tracing each initial with my fingertip:

I AM NEARING THE CAPITAL. SEE YOU SOON.

My stomach drops.

My brother was coming.

I had been ignoring his letters. The few times I sent words, it was only a few lines at most, nothing of our plans together.

I read it again, hoping I misinterpreted the spacing. I didn’t. Callum was coming and I knew he was coming for some information.

When Elora returned, she didn't question the way my hand trembled slightly as I folded the paper.

“Bad news?” she asked gently.

“No,” I answer. “Just… a small reminder.”

“Of what?”

“That I shouldn’t get distracted in this Selection.”

She frowned but didn't pry. Elora was good like that, kind in a way that didn't demand things in return. Which made the lie ache more than it should.

....................

Dinner that night tasted like ash. Even the roasted duck, usually a palace delicacy, might as well have been dust between my teeth.

The girls chatter, but not with their usual sharp-edged excitement. There was a tension in the dining hall I could feel crawling up my skin.

The instructor, Madam Rowan, stood at the end of the hall, her posture stiff, mouth pulled into a tight line.

“Ladies,” she began, “there is an important announcement.”

All the murmurs died instantly.

“Lady Lenora Hawthorne has chosen to withdraw from the Queen’s Selection and she departed the palace this evening.”

The reaction is immediate.

“What?!"

“She left?”

“Without even saying goodbye?”

“Oh gods… after what happened…”

A few girls gasped, some exchanging guilty look, as if they were wondering whether they wished too strongly for competitors to drop.

Elora’s face crumpled with worry.

Saphira muttered something under her breath about weakness.

Calista only sar straighter, chin lifted, a faint flicker of satisfaction in her eyes.

I swallowed hard.

Lenora was kind. Quiet, yes, maybe a little naive, but she was one of the best of the bunch. What happened to her, was truly horrible. I supposed I should be relieved I wouldn't be leaving the palace for another week, Instead I feel a pit forming in my stomach.

Madam Rowan continued, voice clipped. “Lady Lenora is stable and recovering in the care of her family. That is all.”

That is all. As if a girl had not nearly died. As if the palace halls weren’t humming with whispered fears and suspicions.

As if something wasn’t spiraling out of control.

I stared mindlessly at my plate.

My brother was coming and I didn't have news for him.

What would I even tell him? That a dragon beneath the palace was helping me find the truth of what happened to our father?! He wouldn't believe me!

The dragon started calling to me the moment I lifted my goblet.

A soft pull at first.

A whisper.

A breath against the edges of my mind.

Lira…

I tensed, choking slightly on my sip of wine.

Not now. Please, not now.

Lira… come to me.

The voice coiled like smoke around my ribs, persistent, ancient, familiar in a way that should terrify me.

I focused on my breathing.

I gripped the edge of the table.

It didn't stop.

Come.

Elora touched my arm slightly. “Lira? Are you alright? You look pale.”

She was always so observant. So attentive to me.

“I’m fine,” I whisper, though my pulse is hammering, my palms slick.

I stood abruptly.

The girls looked at me with varying degrees of annoyance, curiosity, or suspicion.

“Excuse me,” I said, bowing my head slightly.

Madam Rowan narrowed her eyes. “Is something the matter?”

“I just, need some air.”

She studied me too long, but eventually nodded

The dragon’s pull strengthened the moment I step into the corridor, sharp, insistent, as if tugging at the center of my chest.

I walked faster.

Then faster still.

By the time I reached the tapestry that concealed the entrance to the secret tunnel, my breaths were short and shallow.

“Lira!”

Elora’s voice echoed down the corridor.

I froze.

She rounded the corner, skirts swirling around her feet, worry written all over her face.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.