POV: ELARA'S
I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Cassian's face. The hate in his eyes. The blade in his hand.
My childhood friend had tried to murder someone. And I'd stopped him.
I paced my tower room, my newly healed ankle supporting me perfectly. Lyra's magic was incredible—no pain, no bruising, nothing. Like I'd never been hurt at all.
But inside, I was bleeding.
"He called them monsters," I whispered to the empty room. "He really believes it."
Did everyone back home believe it too? Did Isolde? Did my real parents, wherever they were?
Were dragons really the monsters in this story?
A knock on the door made me jump.
"Princess?" Mira's voice, scared. "I brought you something to help you sleep. Tea with... with sleeping herbs. The King ordered it."
I opened the door. Mira stood there with a tray, but she wouldn't meet my eyes.
"He thinks I'm part of the conspiracy," I said quietly. "Doesn't he?"
She nodded miserably. "Everyone's talking. They say your friend was sent to kill the King. They say maybe you were the distraction. That you climbed down the tower to get the King out on his balcony where the assassin could reach him."
My stomach dropped. "I was trying to save him."
"I know. I saw you." Mira finally looked up. "But they don't believe it. They think you're a liar."
The word hit like a slap.
Because I was a liar. Just not about this.
"Drink the tea," Mira said softly. "It'll help. And Princess? Be careful. The court is watching you now. If you make one wrong move, they'll..." She didn't finish. Didn't have to.
She left quickly, like staying too long would curse her.
I stared at the tea. Steam rose from the cup, smelling of herbs and honey.
Sleeping herbs. Or poison?
Did Kael want me to sleep peacefully, or sleep forever?
I walked to the window and poured it out. Watched the liquid splash on the stones far below.
I wasn't drinking anything I didn't prepare myself. Not here. Not when everyone thought I was a traitor.
The moon was still high. Hours until dawn.
I was alone with my thoughts and my lies and the mark on my palm that wouldn't stop glowing.
The golden pattern pulsed with warmth. Like it was alive. Like it was trying to tell me something.
"What are you?" I whispered to my hand.
No answer. Just the steady glow and the warmth that spread up my arm.
Dragon tamer. That's what Lyra had called it.
But how? My real parents were commoners. Just farmers or merchants. Nothing special.
Unless Isolde had lied about that too.
I was so tired of lies. Tired of not knowing who I really was. Tired of being a piece in someone else's game.
I needed answers. Real ones.
And there was only one place I might find them.
---
The hallway outside my room was empty.
Kael had said to double the guards, but maybe they hadn't arrived yet. Or maybe they were watching from shadows I couldn't see.
Either way, I had a choice: stay locked in this tower wondering who I was, or find answers.
I chose answers.
I moved quietly through the halls, my heart hammering. Every shadow looked like a guard. Every sound made me freeze.
But no one stopped me.
The citadel was massive—towers and corridors and rooms that twisted like a maze. I got lost twice before I found what I was looking for.
The library.
It was huge, filled with books that looked older than kingdoms. Shelves reached toward the ceiling. The smell of old paper and magic filled the air.
And in the corner, on a pedestal, sat a dragon skull.
Real. Ancient. Massive.
My feet carried me toward it before I could think.
The skull was beautiful in a terrible way. Sharp teeth. Empty eye sockets. Bones that once held something powerful and alive.
I reached out slowly. My fingers trembled as they got closer.
"Don't," I whispered to myself. "Remember what happened last time."
But I couldn't stop. Something pulled me forward. Something deeper than thought or fear.
My palm touched the skull.
Fire exploded through me.
Not pain this time—connection. Like touching a living thing. Like holding lightning. Power rushed up my arm and into my chest and filled every part of me until I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't—
*Welcome, child of flame.*
The voice wasn't mine. Wasn't human. It echoed inside my head like thunder.
*You carry the old blood. The tamer blood. The bond that was broken.*
Images flashed through my mind—not my memories. Someone else's. A woman with auburn hair like mine, standing among dragons. They landed around her, peaceful and calm. She spoke to them in a language I didn't know, and they listened.
*Your mother's mother's mother,* the voice said. *The last of the tamers. She died protecting us from the humans who hunted us. She died with our secret in her blood.*
"What secret?" I gasped out loud.
*That we are not enemies. That the bond between dragon and human was sacred once. Before the curse. Before the lies.*
"What curse? What lies?"
But the voice was fading. The connection was breaking.
*Beware the false mate,* it whispered. *Beware the one who wears stolen truth. The real danger comes with a crown of light and a heart of shadow.*
The skull went cold under my hand.
I jerked back, gasping. My whole body shook.
The mark on my palm blazed gold—brighter than before. And when I looked down, I saw new patterns spreading up my wrist. More scales. More proof of something I didn't understand.
"What's happening to me?" My voice cracked.
"That's what I'd like to know."
I spun around.
Kael stood in the doorway, his amber eyes glowing in the darkness. He was supposed to be resting. Recovering from dragonbane.
But he was here. Watching me. And his expression was cold.
"How did you get out of your tower?" His voice was deadly quiet.
"I... the guards weren't there."
"There were six guards. All fae. All trained to hear a mouse breathe." He stepped into the library. "So how did you get past them without being seen or heard?"
I had no answer. Because I didn't know.
"What were you doing with that skull?" He moved closer. "What did you hear?"
"Nothing. I just—"
"Don't lie to me." His eyes flashed gold. "I can hear your heartbeat. It's racing. You heard something. Saw something. What did the skull show you?"
Panic clawed up my throat. If I told him the truth—about the voice, about the warnings—would he believe me? Or would he think I was crazy?
Worse, would he ask more questions I couldn't answer?
"I don't know what I heard." That was true, at least. "Just... whispers. Voices. Things I didn't understand."
His jaw clenched. "Dragon skulls only speak to tamers. And they only speak the truth." He grabbed my wrist, holding up my marked hand. The new patterns glowed between us. "This is growing. Spreading. You're awakening something ancient and powerful and you claim not to know anything about it."
"I don't!" Tears burned my eyes. "I don't know what's happening to me. I don't know why I can hear dragons or why this mark keeps growing or why any of this is real. I'm just a princess who—"
I stopped. Almost said it. Almost told him I wasn't even really a princess.
"A princess who what?" His grip tightened slightly. "Finish the sentence."
"A princess who wants to understand." I met his eyes. "Please. I'm not your enemy. I'm not part of whatever Cassian was planning. I just want to know who I am."
"So do I." He released my wrist. "Because right now, Princess Elara, you're either the key to breaking my curse or the weapon someone's using to destroy me. And I can't tell which."
"I'm not a weapon."
"Everyone's a weapon if you hold them right." He turned toward the door. "Come. We're going somewhere you can't lie."
"Where?"
"To see the Oracle." His smile was sharp. "She sees truth in all things. If you're innocent, she'll prove it. If you're guilty..." He didn't finish.
He didn't have to.
---
The Oracle lived deep under the citadel in caves that twisted like veins.
Theron and Lyra flanked us as we descended. Neither spoke, but I felt their eyes on me. Judging. Waiting.
The air grew warmer as we went deeper. Strange light glowed from the walls—blue and green and gold, like captured stars.
Finally, we reached a chamber.
A woman sat in the center. Ancient and young at the same time. Her eyes were white—completely white, no pupils. But I felt her gaze on me like weight.
"Dragon King." Her voice echoed. "You bring me the child of two worlds."
"Can you see her truth?" Kael demanded. "Is she innocent or guilty?"
The Oracle tilted her head. "Come closer, child."
I stepped forward on shaking legs.
She reached out and pressed one finger to my forehead.
The world exploded.
Images crashed through me—too fast, too much, too real. I saw myself as a baby being carried through streets. Saw Isolde making a deal with someone in shadows. Saw Cassian talking to hooded figures. Saw a woman with my face but wrong—wearing silver and smiling coldly.
Saw dragons burning. Saw kingdoms falling. Saw Kael dying with a blade in his heart.
I screamed.
The Oracle released me and I collapsed. Kael caught me before I hit the ground.
"What did you see?" he demanded.
The Oracle's white eyes fixed on me. "She is innocent of the assassination attempt. She knew nothing of the plot."
Relief crashed through me.
"However." The Oracle's voice turned cold. "She is guilty of lies. Great lies. Lies that will break kingdoms."
Kael's grip on me tightened. "What lies?"
"That is for her to confess." The Oracle looked at me. "But know this, Dragon King: the girl you hold is not who she claims to be. Her blood is real. Her heart is true. But her name..." She smiled sadly. "Her name is stolen."
The room went silent.
Kael looked down at me, betrayal already forming in his eyes.
"What does she mean?" His voice was soft. Dangerous. "What is your real name, Princess?"
I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe.
Because if I told him the truth—that I wasn't really Princess Elara, that I was just a commoner's daughter, that I'd been sent here to seduce him and betray him—he would kill me.
Or worse, he'd let me live knowing I'd destroyed his last chance at breaking the curse.
"Answer me." His eyes blazed gold. "What. Is. Your. Real. Name?"
The Oracle spoke before I could. "Her name is Elara. That much is true. But she is not the princess you were promised."
Kael's face went white. "Then who is she?"
"She is the fake."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
And in that moment, watching Kael's expression shift from confusion to understanding to rage, I knew my mission was over.
My lies were exposed.
And I was dead.