Chapter 5

Lyra’s POV

Heart pounding in my ears, I slipped back into my dormitory, practically throwing myself into bed and shucking my shoes to pretend I had been sleeping the whole time. None of the soldiers or guards had noticed me on the way in.

I must have gotten away with it.

Stilling my harsh breathing to fake sleep, eventually, I fell asleep for real.

At dawn, we awoke to a chaos of running servants and stone-faced guards.

One servant slipped into our room, shaking Abigail awake and meeting my gaze with wild eyes.

“You all must get up and out into the hall,” she babbled frantically as she all but pulled Abigail out of bed. “The King is furious. Someone- he’s looking for a tribute. Someone must have angered him last night. Get up. Up, up, up.”

She nearly fell, trying to dash out of the room, but I caught her by the arm so she wouldn’t hit the ground.

“Are you alright?” I asked, steadying her before I let go.

“Alright?” she echoed, voice tight, “The last time the king lost his temper, he killed thirty people. Thirty! And one of you fresh tributes had to go and…” She took a deep breath, “Just get into the hall. The soldiers traced the search to this section of the dormitory.”

Ducking her head, she hurried out and to the next room, rousing the girls within with the same terrified fervor.

I might have left the dormitory last night, but I hadn’t run into the Dragon King. It probably wasn’t me. Still, I felt queasy for whoever was going to be dragged away.

None of us deserved this.

As we lined up with the others, Abigail shot me a strange look, her hazel eyes narrowing on me while we stood against the wall. I could just see Mirabelle for a moment, standing further down the line. She caught my eye, nodded quickly, and looked away.

She wouldn’t be giving me up today.

Even as my stomach curdled with fear at whatever was happening, I felt something warm in my chest at the solidarity. We were all tributes together, after all.

I only wished I could protect the rest of them as Mirabelle was protecting me.

One of the soldiers separated from the rest, stalking along the line of girls with barely contained violence in his frame.

He wore the crest of a captain in the King’s order, a rearing gold dragon on a black background, surrounded by a single circle. The pin nestled in the black cape snapping with his every sharp move.

His eyes darted from girl to girl, searching for something. Guilt, maybe. Or he was working off some kind of description the King had given him.

Whatever it was, he didn’t seem to find it.

“Alright, tributes,” he called out. “One of your lot has crossed the honorable Dragon King. But if you cooperate, if you are innocent, he may have mercy.”

He turned at the end of the line, striding back to the middle to glare at everyone with an anger tinged in fear, “Now, then. Did any of you notice anyone leaving the dormitory last night?”

“She did!” Abigail stepped forward, pointing at me with tears in her eyes. “I saw her sneak out late last night. Please, please, take mercy on me; I didn’t have anything to do with it!”

“Is that so?” The soldier turned and whistled sharply, eyes on me. His fellows seized me by the arms before I could even take a breath to explain.

“I’ve never even seen the Dragon King,” I protested. Their armored gauntlets pressed into my arms, much harder than my own fathers’ men had treated me. “I can’t have angered him – I’ve never so much as been in the same room as him!”

“She- she was visiting me! She didn’t really leave!” Mirabelle cried out suddenly, eyes sparkling with tears.

“Really?” The soldier turned back to me, lips in a thin line. Would he believe her lie and let me go? “So, she’s involved, too?”

My heart stopped as he stared at me, waiting for an answer. For a moment, I felt like I could almost hear him telling me to deny it. To keep her out of it.

“No, she’s not involved,” I whispered. “She was just dreaming.”

The soldier nodded approvingly and made a sharp hand movement to the other guards, all adorned in black armor rimmed with gold. They began to march me down the halls.

Once we left the hall, I tried again, my voice stronger now that the other girls were out of danger, “He’ll be angrier that you’ve brought him the wrong girl than bringing him no girl, don’t you think?”

“Look,” the soldier in charge turned to me now that we were alone, eyes bright with fear and shoulders high and defensive. “A tribute angered the Dragon King, so the Dragon King gets a tribute.”

“Better you than us,” one of the men holding my arm muttered.

“Are you joking?” I cried. “I’m innocent!”

“Innocent or not,” the captain set his jaw grimly, “I can’t let my men die for one tribute. Keep moving.”

It was surreal, like being betrayed by my father all over again. How many times would I be dragged to my doom before it stuck?

My breath came quicker and my stomach churned as they brought me closer and closer to the King’s chambers. Soon enough the door loomed before us. The same door I thought I’d bought time to escape from last night.

But I couldn’t have just let that man die for my freedom. And I couldn’t let another girl take my place. So this was the price I’d pay, it seemed.

I took a deep breath just as the soldiers threw me in, slamming the door behind me.

But the Dragon King wasn’t there.

Instead, there was an actual dragon.

The breath caught in my throat.

Black as night, he had sharp, curved horns, vast wings, and a long powerful tail. His golden eyes turned toward me before I could twitch a finger. Something predatory in his gaze pinned me like an insect.

When I finally broke free of the spell it had on me, tensing to run, the beast lunged.

It tackled me down onto the bed, claws piercing the mattress above my shoulders. I raised my hands between us, hoping against hope I could protect my neck, my heart from being ripped apart.

What was a dragon doing here? A real dragon?

It didn’t matter. He was going to tear me open or burn me to ash. I could only hope I’d die quickly.

His scorching breath spilled across my neck. It felt like I was going to be set ablaze by the heat of it alone. He wouldn’t even need to breathe fire to burn me.

I was going to die on the very bed I’d feared, at the claws of an animal that didn’t even know who I was. Alone.

I closed my eyes, praying to the other side, I’m sorry, Mom.

At least I’d see her soon.

The dragon’s snout butted against my chest. A single tear leaked from my tightly shut eyes.

And the great beast… nuzzled me?

I opened my eyes. The dragon had settled down above me on the bed. His head nestled into my arms, nuzzling my chest and stomach like a large cat.

For a moment, I could only stare, the adrenaline in my blood not having caught up with the reality of the situation.

What in all the hells was this?