LOGINHe was occupied with the True Queen, and I shouldn’t seek him out.His absence should have relieved me.After everything that had happened, a few days without the King’s temper should have felt like a blessing. Instead, I found myself worrying about him.I had seen the black dragon only once during
Zarek’s POVElin’s heel came down on my foot again.Even through my heavy boot, the impact made me stop mid-step. Elin let out a frustrated breath and pulled away, her whole body tensing. It wasn’t the first time she had stepped on me, and at this rate, it wouldn’t be the last.Lady Elizabeth silenc
Ryker’s mouth curled upward, and another dark chuckle left him.The chamberlain stormed toward us. I hadn’t realized tears had filled my eyes until he came into view, his figure blurred and distorted.“Release her,” he ordered, his expression dangerous.Ryker let go and stepped away.“I was only tea
Lyra’s POVThe book slipped from my fingers.It struck the table with a thud that seemed to echo through the room. I stumbled back as if the pages had burned me, but it was too late. The King’s gaze remained fixed on the book for one horrifying second before shifting to me.His eyes narrowed.“Sorry
Lyra’s POVThe package seemed to grow heavier with every step I took toward the King’s study.It wasn’t particularly large. Just a simple wooden box wrapped in brown paper and sealed with black wax.The guard in the post room had handed it to me without question, though his eyes lingered on the cuff
The memory of the previous night had not left me.The cave.The vault.The silver vase.My dragon had never taken anyone into that chamber. He guarded it more fiercely than he guarded the palace, and not even I understood every object he had collected over the centuries.Yet he had brought Lyra ther
Lyra The chamberlain led us out of the chamber in single file. The stone in the corridor was cool under my feet, and my dress still clung damply to my back.He stopped at the foot of a wide staircase and counted us with a slow finger.Eleven. Less than half of what had walked into the chamber that
Lyra The lock clicked behind me, and the pretending stopped.I don't remember how I got to the bed. The bed was something I was just suddenly on — sitting at first, then sliding sideways until my back was against the frame and my cheek against the cool wood. The blood on my knee had dried into a ha
Lyra The carriage stopped.I did not know how long we had been moving, only that the road had gone smooth enough to mean we were inside the inner walls. I held the necklace through my dress and tried to remember my promise: I was coming back alive.The dragon-livery man opened the door.I climbed d
Lyra "Lyra Walker."The herald's voice cut across the square like a blade, and my own name turned my legs to water. He was reading from a long roll of parchment. The tribute list. The names of the girls the Dragon King would take this year.I knew what that list meant. Every five years, the Dragon







