POV: Elara
"What's in your blood?"
I froze just inside the war room. The flames in the fireplace snapped behind him, sending shadows across his face. He looked otherworldly, too sharp, too still. His armor was streaked with blood. Not dry, but fresh.
I swallowed, my heart thudding. I… I don't know.
Don't lie to me, he took a step closer. Something woke in you, I saw it in your eyes. The glow, and the fire.
"I didn't ask for it," I whispered. I didn't even know it was there.
He stared at me like he could see past my skin, into my bones. Pour me the wine, he said finally, turning his back away from me.
I blinked. I was confused by the sudden shift, but I obeyed. The metal glass sat beside a dark bottle. My fingers shook as I lifted it and poured the red liquid sloshed dangerously near the edge.
He sat heavily at the end of the long table, where plans of battles were spread like lost memories, his eyes never left me as I gave him the cup.
His fingers brushed mine, too warm, and again… he took a slow sip, then put the cup down.
"Sit," he said.
"I prefer to stand."
His eyes narrowed. That wasn't what I asked you to do.
I dropped myself into the chair across from him, folding my 2 hands in my lap.
Tell me everything, he said.
I looked down at my hands. "You already know the story. Rejected, sold, and they sent me here." So what else do you want to know?
That's not what I mean. His voice was low. When did you first feel it?
"The burning?" I ask
He nodded.
I paused. "Then started talking: that night Luca rejected me when my wolf vanished, something else… cracked open, but it didn't feel like mine. It felt ancient."
Kael leaned back in his chair. "There are only two things that glow like that in our world. Which are the Moon-touched… and dragonbloods."
I flinched. "Dragons are extinct."
Then explain what I saw.
I didn't answer because I couldn't.
He stood suddenly, pacing the room, and his movements were tight, controlled.
"I brought you here for punishment," he whispered. Now you stand in front of me… and I don't know if I'm holding a weapon or a threat I never wanted to be either, I whispered.
He looked over his shoulder at me, and yet you might be both. He said, and suddenly the door creaked open. A guard stepped in. "Your Majesty. The group awaits your choice regarding the new border raids."
Kael's eyes stayed on me for a moment longer.
"Wait outside," he told the guard.
The door closed again.
"You'll stay in your quarters until I call for you again," he said, and I nodded.
"And Elara?"
"Yes?"
He stepped close, leaned in until I could feel his breath against my skin. If you lie to me again, I won't ask next time.
I held his eyes, my jaw tight. "I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be."
I was led back to my cold stone room, but I didn't rest. The moment the guard left me, the door creaked open again, and Nerissa was already stepping inside.
Back so soon? she sneered. Did he get bored already?
I'm not in the mood, I said, moving past her, but she shoved me hard against the wall. The pain flared through my ribs.
Listen carefully, you little mutt, she hissed. You're not special, the king doesn't keep pets… he uses them, and when he's done, he tosses the bones to us.
I pushed her off me. "You touch me again and you will…"
You'll what? Her grin widened, glowing at me. Burn me with your freak skin? Oh wow! That can not be possible… she said, and two more maids entered the room. I recognized one of them from the cooks. The other I didn't know, but her eyes were full of hate.
"I saw her in the throne room," the cooking girl said. "He was looking at her like, "
"Like a man looks at a woman," Nerissa said darkly. "Unacceptable."
They didn't punch me, didn't have to. They grabbed my arms, yanked me to the floor, and forced my sleeve up.
Bruise her, Nerissa demanded. Somewhere, he won't see her again.
A punch landed on my ribs, and then I gasped. Another strike, then another one. The tears burned in my eyes, but I bit my lip to keep from yelling, and they eventually left me.
I lay on the floor, curled up, shaking. When I finally sat up, I reached for the wall and pressed my head against it.
"Why won't you speak to me?" I whispered.
Silence answered. My wolf was still gone… Gone since Luca broke us, gone since the link broke, but I felt something else now… something heavy. A figure I couldn't name. Like a ghost in my soul, watching. Waiting.
You're not her, I whispered. You're something else. A spark of warmth curled under my skin.
Not an answer, but not nothing either.
Later That Day, I was called to clean the king's war room again.
I kept quiet, I didn't look at him this time around, but I felt his eyes on me the entire time.
He said nothing, he didn't move, he just watched until finally, I stood.
"I'm done," I said, but he didn't answer.
"Do you enjoy staring at people, Your Majesty?" I asked, louder than I should've.
His eyes glinted like frost. "Only when they're hiding."
"I'm not hiding anything," I said.
Lying again, he mumbled. You tremble every time I look at you.
I tremble because everyone here hates me.
"Then stop giving them reasons."
I walked toward the door, but before I reached it, he spoke again.
You're not what they say you are, Elara.
I paused, and what do they say I am? I asked, without turning back.
"A freak, a mistake, something unnatural, and you?"
He stepped closer. "I said you're something more.
The next morning, chaos filled the staff rooms. Someone had written a warning on the board.
A royal decree. Every worker rushed to read it, talking and looking at me with a mix of shock and fear.
I pushed through the crowd until I saw it myself.
By order of King Kael Draven: From this day forward, Elara Varyn will be taken from standard servant tasks. She will serve under royal instruction only. No one but the King may call or direct her.
Nerissa stood beside the board, her face pale, her lips tight. She looked at me like I had just stolen her throne. Do you think this means anything? she snapped.
It means you're not touching me again, I said. Her hand twitched, like she wanted to slap me, but she didn't because she couldn't.
That same night, I sat alone in my stone cell, looking at the glowing light, and then I saw it… In the flame.
My reflection in the waxy pool. My two eyes were glowing, not like silver or gold, but red… and behind them…
A dragon was watching me. Breathing heavily, and awake.