Sera's POV
The scream came from somewhere in the palace.
I bolted upright in bed, my heart hammering against my ribs. The silk sheets tangled around my legs as I struggled to free myself. For a second, I forgot where I was—then reality crashed down like cold water.
I was in Kade's palace. The Dragon Lord's fortress. And someone had just screamed.
I pressed my ear against the heavy wooden door, barely breathing. Footsteps thundered past my room—boots on stone, moving fast. Soldiers. Then silence dropped like a curtain, thick and suffocating.
My hands shook as I backed away from the door. This is what you wanted, I told myself. You asked to come here. You chose this.
But choosing something and living with it were two totally different things.
I moved to the window, desperate for fresh air. The glass felt cool against my forehead as I stared out at the training grounds below. Even though it was past midnight, torches blazed everywhere. Soldiers ran drills in perfect formation, their swords flashing in the firelight. They trained like machines—no breaks, no rest, no mercy.
These are the people who destroyed my village.
The thought made my stomach twist. Somewhere down there might be the exact soldier who set fire to Mrs. Chen's bakery. Or the one who laughed while families ran for their lives.
A soft tap-tap-tap made me jump.
I spun around, searching my room. Nothing. The sound came again—from the window.
My breath caught. A small pebble hit the glass, then another.
I cracked open the window, and a familiar voice whispered up from below.
"Finally! I've been throwing rocks for five minutes!"
"Lyra?" I leaned out, spotting her in the shadows beneath my window. "What are you doing here? If someone sees you—"
"They won't." She grinned, already climbing the wall like a spider. Her fingers found invisible holds in the stone, and in seconds, she swung herself through my window.
I grabbed her arm, pulling her inside. "Are you crazy? There are guards everywhere!"
"Guards don't look up." She brushed dust off her dark clothes. "Besides, we need to talk."
"About what?" But I already knew. The knot in my stomach tightened.
Lyra's eyes turned serious. "The rebellion needs your help, Sera. Real help."
"I told you I'd try to learn things—"
"We need more than 'try.'" She pulled a folded paper from her pocket. "Kade is planning something big. We don't know what, but there's a meeting tomorrow night in the war room. Important generals are coming from across the kingdom."
I took the paper with trembling fingers. Names and times covered it in Lyra's messy handwriting. "You want me to spy on them?"
"We want you to save lives." Lyra's voice softened. "Sera, whatever Kade's planning, it will hurt people. Maybe people like your neighbors. Like your friends. You're the only one who can get close enough to find out."
My throat felt tight. "I'm just a baker's daughter. I don't know how to spy. I don't know how to—"
"You know how to listen. You know right from wrong." She squeezed my shoulder. "That's enough."
A door slammed somewhere down the hall.
We both froze.
Heavy footsteps approached—slow, deliberate. Not soldiers running. Someone walking with purpose.
"Hide the note!" Lyra whispered, already moving toward the window.
I stuffed the paper under my mattress just as the footsteps stopped outside my door.
Lyra was halfway out the window when the door handle turned.
"Go!" I mouthed.
She disappeared into the darkness as my door swung open.
Kade stood in the doorway.
My heart stopped. He wore simple black clothes instead of his usual armor, and his silver hair hung loose around his shoulders. Without the dragon helmet, he looked almost... human. But his eyes—those cold, dragon eyes—saw everything.
"Can't sleep?" His voice was quiet. Dangerous.
"I heard a scream." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "It woke me up."
"A servant had an accident in the kitchen." He stepped into my room, and suddenly it felt much smaller. "Nothing to worry about."
I didn't believe him. Neither did he expect me to—I could see it in his face.
His gaze swept across my room, taking in every detail. The rumpled bed. The open window. The way I stood frozen in the middle of the floor.
"You should close your window," he said. "It's dangerous to leave it open at night. Things can get in."
Did he see Lyra?
"I needed air," I said. "It's stuffy in here."
"Is it?" He moved to the window and looked down. My heart hammered so loud I was sure he could hear it. If Lyra was still climbing down, if she made even one sound...
Kade pulled the window shut with a firm click.
"There." He turned back to me. "Much safer."
We stood there in the dim candlelight, sizing each other up like chess players before a match. I was in my nightgown, barefoot and vulnerable. He was the most powerful man in the kingdom, standing in my room at midnight.
"Tomorrow, you start your real training," he said. "I'll teach you what you need to know."
"About what?"
His lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "About surviving in a dragon's lair, little baker."
He walked to the door, then paused. "Oh, and Sera? If you have any questions about the palace—about anything at all—come to me. Don't trust strangers bearing gifts or promises."
The door closed behind him with a soft click.
I stood frozen, my mind racing. He knew. He had to know.
I pulled Lyra's note from under the mattress with shaking hands. The names blurred before my eyes. Tomorrow night. The war room. A meeting that could change everything.
And Kade would be watching my every move.
I was about to hide the note again when I noticed something that made my blood run cold.
There was writing on the back—writing that hadn't been there before.
In handwriting that definitely wasn't Lyra's, someone had scrawled:
"The dragon keeps secrets in his tower. Third floor. Midnight. Come alone—or people die."
My hands started shaking so badly I almost dropped the paper.
Someone else had touched this note. Someone who knew I had it. Someone who was giving me a choice that wasn't really a choice at all.
Outside my door, I heard footsteps again.
Closer this time.