CHAPTER FIVE: THE DRAGON'S CLAIM

~~LUCY'S POV~~

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a ceiling I could never have afforded to look at.

It rose impossibly high, veined with gold that caught the morning light and held it, as if the whole room were breathing. Heavy curtains hung beside windows taller than my front door. The air smelled of cedarwood and smoke, and beneath it something warm and strange, something that made my skin prickle.

For several seconds, I didn't move.

Then the memories hit me like a fist.

The bridge.

The black glass spreading beneath my feet.

The silver light ripping through it.

And the dragon, vast as a storm, dropping out of the sky.

His voice still rang in my skull, low enough to rattle my bones. *Who dares to touch my mate?*

I bolted upright. The room swung sideways, and I clawed at the sheets until the dizziness drained away, leaving my heart pounding.

Where was I?

The bed could have swallowed three of me, its linen softer than anything I had ever touched. A fire murmured in the hearth. Every piece of furniture looked like it had cost more than my mother's hospital bills. Nothing here was mine. Nothing here was safe.

"You're awake."

I whipped toward the voice.

A young woman stood beside the bed with a tray in her hands, brown hair pinned neatly at her nape, her uniform finer than any dress I had ever owned.

"Who are you?"

"Elara, miss. I'm one of the palace maids."

"Where am I?"

"His Highness's private chambers."

The breath left my lungs. "*His* chambers?"

"He carried you here himself, after the incident on the Moon Bridge."

Carried me. The prince had carried me through his palace while I lay limp in his arms.

I threw back the covers and swung my legs over the edge.

"Where are you going?" Elara asked quickly.

"Out."

She flinched. "I'm afraid His Highness ordered that you remain here."

My feet froze an inch above the floor.

"Ordered."

"Yes, miss."

I looked at the door. Then at her. "Then tell him I want to see him."

Her fingers tightened on the tray. "I'll let him know you've woken."

She set it down and slipped out. The door closed with a soft click that sounded far too much like a lock.

I stared at it, my pulse roaring.

Yesterday, a bridge had tried to kill me. Then a prince had torn himself into a monster and claimed me in front of the entire court. Now I was sitting in his bed, in his rooms, behind a door I wasn't allowed to open.

I pressed my palms to my face.

I just wanted to go home. I wanted to see Molly, to hear her cough and know it was getting weaker. I didn't belong in a palace. I certainly didn't belong in the middle of whatever war was being fought behind these golden walls.

The door opened.

My hands dropped.

He walked in, and the room shrank around him. His dark hair was slightly dishevelled, the only crack in a flawless, frightening composure. His jaw was set. His golden eyes moved over me, slow and unhurried, then settled on my face and stayed there.

"You're awake."

I said nothing.

He crossed to the table and lifted a glass of water. "Drink."

"I'm not thirsty."

His eyes lifted to mine. "That wasn't a question."

I almost refused out of pure spite. Then my throat burned, and I snatched the glass from his hand and drank, hating that he had been right.

He clasped his hands behind his back. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying."

"Then why were you unconscious?"

"Maybe because I nearly died on that bridge."

His eyes narrowed. "Watch your tone."

I exhaled slowly. Talking to this man was like standing in an interrogation room with the door locked.

"Why did you choose me?"

"Because I wanted to."

"That's not an answer."

"It is the only one you're getting."

My grip tightened on the glass. "Your Highness, I don't understand any of this. You told the whole court I was your mate, and I don't even know what that means."

He studied me for a long, unsettling moment. "The Moon Goddess has marked you as mine. That is what it means."

"Mine?"

"You're my mate, little rabbit."

Heat flooded my face. "Stop calling me that."

One dark eyebrow arched. "Would you prefer another name?"

"My name is Lucy."

"I know your name."

"Then use it."

He didn't.

I set the glass down before my trembling hand could betray me. "About the bridge."

"What about it?"

"Why did the glass turn black under my feet? And why did it change?"

His gaze sharpened, and suddenly I felt like something pinned beneath a lens. "Did you know what the bridge was testing?"

"No."

"Did you know it was meant to reveal whether a contestant was worthy of the royal selection?"

"I knew it was a test. I didn't know how it worked."

"Did you know what it would reveal about you?"

"Your Highness, I knew nothing about that bridge before I stepped onto it."

He searched my face as though the truth might be written there. "Yet you passed."

"I didn't *do* anything. It changed on its own."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

Frustration climbed my throat. "Believe whatever you like. I'm telling you the truth."

His stare held me a heartbeat longer. Then he looked away, as if I had stopped being worth the effort.

"Rest. The physician will examine you."

"I don't need a physician."

"That wasn't a suggestion."

I swallowed the words burning my tongue. "Can I go home?"

He turned back. "Why?"

"My sister is sick. I need to see her."

Something flickered across his face, gone almost before I could name it. "Is that why you accepted the money?"

My gaze dropped.

His voice turned to ice. "And you thought selling yourself was the only way to get it?"

My head snapped up. "Don't speak to me like that."

"Be careful, Lucy."

"No. You don't get to judge me."

His expression hardened. "You are in no position to challenge me."

"You paid me for that night," I said, my voice shaking despite everything I did to hold it steady. "You knew exactly what you were asking for, and I knew exactly what I was accepting. You have no right to stand there and look down on me now."

The silence that followed was razor thin.

His golden eyes burned into mine, but his face gave nothing away.

"You're forgetting who you're speaking to."

"No, Your Highness." I lifted my chin. "I know exactly who I'm speaking to."

He stared at me.

Then he turned and walked to the door.

"Rest. I'll consider allowing you to send a message to your sister."

I opened my mouth to ask what that meant, but he was already gone.

The door shut behind him, and the silence rushed back in. The room that had felt merely strange now felt like a cage, gilded and beautifully made.

And somewhere beneath my ribs, where his golden eyes had touched me, something warm and unwelcome refused to go quiet.