"Oh, for fuck's sake," Bellatrix snapped, venom thick. "I've never heard of Frostborne. More lies."
"Serena was the firstborn heir of the late Frostborne Alpha King," Elara interjected, cutting into the conversation. "And my father was Frostborne's Beta."
She turned to Bellatrix, her stare frost-sharp. "She unnerves you. Why?"
King Tiberon looked up from his wine, brows raised, clearly intrigued now.
Bellatrix scoffed.
"She does not unnerve me. Please," she dismissed with a theatrical roll of her eyes. "And if she truly grew up as a princess, then she would at least be able to read and write."
Silence. Thick, stunned, suffocating.
No one moved.
Then Gavriel burst out laughing. Loud, shameless, wheezing. Hale let out a full-body cackle, turning it into a cough. Elara snorted into her goblet.
Serena tried to hold it in but failed, her shoulders shaking. That's when Dex lost it.
Even Hyran's lips twitched.
"What is so funny?" Bellatrix demanded, eyes wide with indignation. "You don't think reading and writing are important?"
That only made it worse. The table nearly collapsed from the weight of barely suppressed laughter.
Bellatrix misunderstood completely, glaring around like the room had lost its mind.
"What about chastity then?" she barked, slamming her fist on the table hard enough to rattle the silver. "If she conceives a child, we won't even know who the father is."
She turned toward Hale. "The redhead omega too. Does that not concern you? You would be passing your family name to another man's child."
Serena and Elara locked eyes across the table. Both of their faces were red. But not for the reason Bellatrix thought.
Serena had sex twice, and both times ended with her unconscious. Elara was marked in front of half the table, followed by unsuccessful sex after.
Hyran refilled his wine, mumbling, "I need something stronger than this."
"Oh, does that unnerve you?" Bellatrix demanded, leaning over the table with a triumphant sneer.
"That's enough," Hale cut in. "We will be leaving if this topic continues. It's disrespectful to both of them. And by extension, to myself and Dexmon."
Bellatrix opened her mouth again—of course she did—but Dex had reached his limit.
"Let me be clear," he stated sharply, jaw tight. "Serena was a virgin. I would know. So cut the crap."
The table went completely silent.
Serena's face turned a deep, mortified scarlet.
Was. Past tense. Meaning she's not anymore.
She and Dex had sex, in case anyone was wondering.
She stared at her plate, debating if she should just excuse herself, find a quiet corner, dig a shallow grave, and lie down in it.
Elara reached for her goblet, muttering under her breath. "Burn me now, gods. Just burn me now."
"Frostborne," Hyran said, swirling his wine and leaning forward slightly. "Tell me about that."
Serena jumped on this chance to change the topic and answered immediately. "Frostborne is an ice kingdom in the Crythian Expanse."
Bellatrix burst out laughing, sharp and shrill. "Crythian Expanse? That's an uninhabited continent!"
Serena didn't flinch, meeting Bellatrix's sneer with grace.
"Many believe it to be uninhabited. But it's not. You'll find references to ice kingdoms in your library, and Frostborne is included."
Bellatrix gave a cold laugh.
"Convenient. And you two just happen to be the only survivors? With those fighting skills? Both of you got yourselves stabbed, so forgive me if I find the fairy tale hard to believe."
Elara's expression sharpened instantly. "You mean while you hid? And you were stabbed too, remember? Serena saved you."
"Yes, but I'm not claiming to be the sole survivor of a kingdom," Bellatrix sneered, flashing that smug, triumphant grin like she'd finally cornered them.
"Elara and I were sent away before the ambush. With our Gamma's son, Garrett."
"And where is this Garrett now? Do tell the table," Bellatrix pressed.
"We lost him," Serena answered, voice cracking at the end.
Dex gave her hand a squeeze and surged calm into her. She might've looked composed on the surface, but her emotions were screaming under the stillness, and that voice crack was the tip of the iceberg.
Elara broke the silence. "We were lucky. Serena was twelve, and I was thirteen. Garrett was fifteen."
"Elara's bonded is an ice dragon. Were those prominent in Frostborne culture?" Hyran inquired, leaning forward.
"Yes," Elara answered, her tone now calm, measured, and fully in command. "But seen as mythical, said to have died out thousands of years ago. We didn't know dragons were real until we saw them here."
King Tiberon tilted his head.
"Yes, I heard about your bonding. That makes you one of four true bondeds in Drakenfell. And you are the only ice dragon bond. The last one died centuries ago."
"I didn't know that," she replied. "I'm honored to be one of four."
Dex glanced at Hale, who seemed to be realizing that he hadn't explained anything to Elara.
"Crythian Expanse," Hyran mused, interrupting this exchange. His eyes narrowed at Serena. "That does explain how Serena knows Morbian Vellum."
Elara glanced at him, surprised he connected that.
"Yes, that is one of the core languages spoken there," she confirmed. "In Frostborne, it was standard to be learning three to five languages, with mastery expected before age ten."
Her gaze flicked to Serena, lips curving slightly. "But Serena is an anomaly even by Frostborne standards. Her tutors didn't know what to do with her."
She paused, then let out a soft laugh.
"She had a habit of stumbling onto ancient artifacts, abandoned rune-temples, or hidden tunnels sealed for centuries. Entire legends began with the phrase, 'Serena wandered off again.' Usually before breakfast."
"So much mischief, in fact, that her father began having her shadow him before she turned ten, to keep track of her."
"Why am I not surprised," Hyran remarked, lips twitching.
Serena grinned and shook her head.
"Elara is conveniently forgetting that she was right beside me in all of those runes and hidden tunnels."
"In fact, I distinctly remember her telling me once that a magical artifact would only explode if I hesitated when I touched it."
Serena paused. "She was wrong."
Elara laughed. "Serena is forgetting the part that we were already running for our lives because everything behind us was on fire."
"A tactical exit," Serena countered. "You were screaming too loud to notice."
"I was screaming because you were smiling," Elara replied dryly.
"I was smiling because we got one of the artifacts we came for. Even if its counterpart exploded."
"We had to write 'I will not enter ice caves without permission' in Morbian Vellum for two weeks," Elara recalled. "Worth it."
"Debatable," Serena countered.
Dex, Gav, and Hale were all highly amused by this conversation, though not surprised in the slightest.
Queen Bellatrix looked dazed, like someone had cracked open her reality with a crowbar. She stared at Serena like she was watching a ghost retell history she hadn't lived but should have.
Princess Agnes sat stiff, eyes narrow. She was not pleased.
King Tiberon commented after a moment, also looking amused.
"What was your father's full name?"
"Haldor Lumiere Frostborne."
King Tiberon stilled for a breath, then spoke with certainty. "I've met him."
He sat back with his goblet. "It makes sense why you two are fated mates. Thousands of years ago, it was said our peoples intermingled, traveling between lands by dragon."
That was the matchstick.
Agnes laughed sharply, the sound brittle and mocking.
"You lied," she snapped, pointing at Serena like the room had become a courtroom. "You knew you were fated mates. You knew. And you told me you didn't even recognize his dragon."
Serena blinked, stunned for a heartbeat. "I didn't know Velkaris was Dexmon's dragon until you told me. And I didn't know that we were fated mates."
"You would have known," Agnes accused with disgust. "Funny how one week later, you are in his bed."
Dex cut in, voice like stone. He'd had enough.
"She didn't know." He looked directly at Bellatrix, then at Agnes. "Dragon bonds are chosen by the dragon, before birth. It's soul-deep. And she didn't know we were fated mates until I told her. After you both poisoned her."
Bellatrix's face went bright red, her mouth tightening like a vice.
"She did no such thing," she snapped. "Those accusations are dangerous and exactly the types of accusations that cause war. Tread carefully."
Elara sat forward, eyes blazing.
"Quit trying to kill her, then." Her voice was sharp and deadly. "The dress that was cut down the back—by you, Princess Agnes? Serena asked if she could have it repaired. Imagine this. The repaired seams were laced with contact poison. We had to burn it."
Serena's breath hitched, heart skipping. That—that was new. Her eyes flicked to Dex. He looked as shocked as she felt.
Her mind reeled, trying to keep pace. Why? Why did they keep trying to kill her?
A rash, red and angry, crawled up Serena's neck. Stress-born and rising fast.
That did it.
Dex felt it in his own neck through their matebond, then realized it was hers the second he saw it.
He wasn't aware she was prone to stress rashes. A reminder that her composure was just that, and she held it.
He was already moving, ready to stand, to get her out of this entire disaster of a dinner—
But Agnes moved first.
She stood so fast her chair screeched across the stone, loud enough to make everyone flinch.
"I did no such thing! I will not stand to be insulted!" she shrieked.
And then—
She grabbed her goblet of red wine and hurled it at Serena.
It splashed across Serena's chest and across the front of Dex's tunic, streaks of red across white like a war banner.
Before anyone could react, Agnes seized Gavriel's untouched wine, turned, and dumped it over Elara's head in one smooth, furious motion. The wine soaked her curls, dripping down the back of her dress.
"That was my wine," Gavriel observed to no one in particular.
Agnes stormed out, furious, unhinged.
Bellatrix stood immediately after.
"If you're a Beta's daughter, then act like it!" she barked at Elara. "You should know better than to speak to visiting royals like that. Diplomacy."
And then—because clearly tonight required a dramatic encore—she picked up her own wine, marched past the table, stopped right across from Serena—
And threw it. Goblet included.
Dex stepped in instantly, his arm blocking the goblet. The splash caught his sleeve and shoulder, red soaking in fast.
"And that was mine," Hyran added dryly.
Bellatrix stormed after Agnes without another word.
There was a pause.
A heartbeat.
Two heartbeats.
And then Hale lost it.
A high-pitched laugh exploded from his chest—too loud, too high, and completely unmatched to his usual tone. It echoed off the stone like a wounded bird.
"What was that sound?" Gavriel demanded, delighted. "Do that again."
"Shut up," Hale wheezed, which only made it worse.
Elara blinked, dripping red, and then cracked. Serena, still wine-soaked and dazed, followed a second later.
Laughter took the table like a wave. Gavriel was wheezing. Hyran finally gave in, snorting into his goblet.
Even King Tiberon smiled, shaking his head.
"Well," he remarked, surveying the carnage of wine-stained nobles and dripping hair. "That went about as expected."