The Dragon Queen Selection Chapter 69

CASSIAN

“You had no authority,” King Eldric Valemont said coldly, his voice carrying easily through the vast stone hall. “None. You do not command the dragons. You do not command the defenses of this kingdom. And yet you thought yourself entitled to make that decision.”

I stood my ground, fists clenched at my sides.

“They were killing each other,” I snapped. “Two dragon keepers are dead. Aveline could have been next.”

“That is the cost of power,” my father shot back. “The cost of rule.”

I laughed, a short, humorless sound. “Easy words for a man who hasn’t stepped foot in the keep in seven years.”

His eyes darkened. “Mind your tone.”

“No,” I said, my voice rising despite myself. “I’m done minding it.”

The courtiers lining the walls stiffened. A few inhaled sharply. No one ever spoke to the king this way , not openly, not without rehearsed humility.

“You chained them,” I continued, anger spilling free now. “You starved them of sky and stone and fire, and now you’re surprised they’re restless? Dragons are not ornaments, Father. They’re not weapons you hang on a wall until you need to remind the world you’re feared.”

“They are ours,” he roared. “They are the symbol of this Kingdom's dominance!”

“They are living beings,” I shot back. “And they are dying.”

Silence fell.

My father rose slowly from the throne. When he descended the steps toward me, the weight of the crown seemed to grow heavier with every step

“You think sending them to their mountain home absolves you?” he said quietly. “You think sentiment makes you wise?”

“No,” I said just as quietly. “I think cruelty makes you blind.”

His hand came fast again.

The slap burned across my face, sharp and humiliating. Gasps erupted around us.

“For this,” he hissed, “you will answer.”

“I already have,” I said. “Just not to you.”

I turned and walked out before he could say another word.

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

I could barely rest or sleep after that encounter, I had to spend a few hours outside to clear my head. When I saw Lira, when I had the chance to dance with her alone in the open fields, that helped. That short moment granted me so much peace.

I was barely back into the palace and into my normal clothes when my duties called.

The guards caught up to me in the outer corridor.

“My prince,” one said urgently, falling into step beside me. “We’ve found something. A lead on the poison.”

That stopped me cold.

“Now,” I said. “Talk.”

They led me through service halls and out into the lower capital in a disguise, to a narrow shop tucked between a cooper’s guild and a shuttered apothecary. The smell hit me first m, bitter herbs, rot, and old smoke.

The man inside was thin, nervous, and sweating through his tunic.

“I told your men everything I know,” he said quickly when he saw me. “I don’t want trouble, your highness.”

“You already have it,” I replied flatly. “The only question is how much.”

He swallowed. “I didn’t see their face."

“Their?” I asked.

“The buyer,” he corrected. “The one who came for the poison. Cloaked. Careful. Paid in gold."

“You’re certain he was the one who sold the iridaxin?” I pressed my guard. He nodded his head in response.

"Yes your highness."

“So who bought it?”

“I don’t know,” he insisted. “But the voice was a woman’s. Soft. Educated. Not a servant’s accent.”

“But you told my men she looked like a handmaiden,” I said.

He hesitated. “Dressed like one. But she wore something… out of place.”

I leaned forward. “What.”

“A brooch,” he said. “Red and black. Enamel. Gold-edged. Expensive craftsmanship. I noticed because it didn’t belong on a servant.”

My jaw tightened. “Can you draw it.”

He did, hands shaking, scratching charcoal onto parchment. When he was finished, my chest went cold.

Red and black.

Harthwell colours. But, it could just be any ordinary brooch. I didn't want to jump into conclusions.

I handed the drawing to my guard. “Find it. Anyone in the palace or capital who owns a brooch like this. I don’t care how many doors you have to break.”

“Yes, my prince.”

As we stepped back into the palace an hour later, another figure approached, one of my palace informants.

“Your highness,” she said softly. “You asked me to come to you if anything untoward happened in the Selection."

"Speak."

Lady Saphira has been eliminated from the Queen’s Selection.”

I froze.

“Eliminated?” I repeated. “On what grounds?”

“They said she didn't pass her lessons for the week,” the spy said. “But the strange thing is, there have been servants in her room since dawn packing her belongings for her, hours before her elimination was announced."

Gone.

The word echoed unpleasantly.

I thought everything was fine. That was why I hadn't checked up on her. The last message I’d received from the physician had claimed she was not with child. I had accepted that with relief, and shamefully, with ease. But her sudden elimination said otherwise.

“When?” I asked.

“Within hours,” the spy said. “Quietly. Orders came from the Queen.”

My stomach twisted.

“Where is she now?”

“She has been taken out of the palace. The Queen arranged a carriage to send her home immediately."

I turned on my heel and to my mother's chambers.

My mother was waiting.

She dismissed her attendants with a flick of her fingers the moment I entered her solar.

“You sent her away,” I said without greeting.

The Queen folded her hands calmly. “I resolved a problem.”

“Why did you do that,” I snapped. “Has she even done anything wrong to you?"

“She was a ticking time bomb,” my mother replied coolly. “And so are you, when you refuse to think.”

I laughed bitterly. “So she was with child. Wasn't she? Is that why you sent her away quickly?"

Her gaze sharpened. “Lower your voice.”

“Answer me.”

She stood. “She wasn't with child. I only sent her away to protect you. To protect this family."

“You're lying. She was carrying my child,” I said, my voice cracking despite myself.

“It really couldn't have been yours. How are you so sure it's yours? Besides, she was at least a few weeks gone. She was carrying a scandal,” my mother said. “And I had to do what was best for the kingdom.”

The words struck harder than my father’s slap.

“You don’t get to decide that,” I said hoarsely.

“I do,” she replied. “Because you refuse to.”

I stepped back, the weight of it crashing down on me all at once, the dragons, the poison, Saphira, the lies layered so thick I could barely breathe.

“You cleaned up my mess,” I said slowly. “No. You created it.”

Her expression hardened. “You will thank me one day.”

“No,” I said. “I won’t.”