5 - The thirteen roses

CASSIAN

She smiled sweetly. "I was, Your Highness. But my poor husband, may the gods rest his soul, died before our union was ever consummated."

I arched an eyebrow. "Ah. I'm sorry to hear that."

"A tragic loss," she said, her voice coy. "But I find comfort in the opportunity it brought me. To be here. To stand before you."

I gave her a tight smile. "Thank you," I said, and excused myself as fast as I could.

As the night dragged on, my patience thinned. Every girl seemed the same. The same smile. The same curtsy. The same desperate gleam in their eyes like they were all auditioning for a role they didn't even understand.

My friends were still talking, still ranking the girls like they were horses at an auction.

I leaned closer to Lord Hawke and muttered, "Do you really think any of them are ready to ride a dragon? Do you think half of them have even seen one up close?"

He chuckled, but his tone was more serious than usual.

"Maybe Lady Trevanne won't flinch. But Lady Elora? I can't imagine her mounting a dragon without fainting. You're not just choosing a wife, Cassian. You're choosing a rider. A ruler. You have to pick someone strong enough to carry the weight of this kingdom."

I stared out over the glittering ballroom and felt a knot twist in my chest.

"Duty," I muttered bitterly.

The word tasted like ash. "I know my duty. I've been reminded of it every day of my life. But tell me, how am I supposed to choose the right one when every girl here is pretending to be something she's not? How can I know who she really is when all I see is a performance?"

None of them felt real. None of them felt... right.

And that scared me more than I wanted to admit.

"All that matters is that at the end of the Selection, there will be a woman by your side, and she will be your Queen. Is that not enough?" Reginald asked, raising a glass to his lips.

"Enough?" I scoffed, the word bitter in my throat. "And what if she isn't who she pretended to be?"

He let out a dry laugh and patted my shoulder. "Are you telling me you really care about that, Cassian? Because we both know you do not. Do you even care about getting married?"

I didn't answer.

Because he was right.

As the ball continued around me, dresses swirling, laughter echoing off the vaulted ceiling, the smell of wine and roses hanging heavy in the air, I felt nothing but a slow, gnawing weight at the base of my spine.

The crown. It's a burden. The expectations I never asked for.

I never wanted to be king.

And I sure as hell didn't want a wife who was just another well-placed piece in the royal puzzle.

But my father's voice haunted every decision. Secure a bride. Choose a strong match. Strengthen the bloodline. He'd made it perfectly clear.

So I stood there, like a puppet with a gilded smile, going through the motions.

My eyes drifted again toward the sea of girls. I'd spoken to most of them already, offered rehearsed greetings, and nodded at all the right times. They were beautiful, each of them polished and perfect, with gowns meant to impress and voices softened to please.

Then something shifted.

Or maybe it was just me.

Across the ballroom, a figure caught my eye, someone I hadn't noticed before.

She wasn't like the others.

Modest green dress. No jewels. No painted smile. Her hair was braided, but not the elegant kind my mother preferred.

It looked like it had been tied back in a hurry. She wore no necklace, no earrings, just a single gold ring on her finger that glinted when the chandelier light caught it.

And she wasn't looking at me. Not even trying.

She was talking to another girl, her shoulders relaxed, her body language unreadable. She didn't seem nervous. She didn't seem impressed. In fact, she looked... bored.

"Who's that girl?" I asked Reginald, nodding toward her.

He followed my gaze and squinted.

"Oh, I don't know. I assume she's one of the lesser lord's daughters..."

I kept watching her. Something about her made the rest of the room feel muted.

"Do you know who she is?" Reginald asked the others nearby.

They all shook their heads.

"We don't have the slightest idea who that is," one of them said with a shrug.

"Well, someone has to know her," I muttered, more to myself than them.

She wasn't trying to be seen. She wasn't chasing my attention. And yet, she had it.

There was something in her, something sharp beneath the quiet. A flicker of fire behind her amber eyes. She wasn't playing the game like the others. In fact, she didn't seem to care about it at all.

I narrowed my eyes.

Who the hell was she?

I didn't know her name, not yet. But as I stood there, watching her across the room, I knew one thing for certain.

She was different.

I forced myself to look away, turning my attention back to the conversations at hand. But the image of her lingered in my mind like smoke that refused to fade.

I would play the game. Just like everyone else.

LIRA

The throne room of the Valemont palace was even grander than I imagined, huge arches rising like spires toward the ceiling, golden banners hanging from every wall, glowing in the soft sunlight that streamed through stained glass. I stood with the other twelve girls in a neat row, my back straight, heart thudding so loudly I was sure someone could hear it.

Everything felt too polished. Too perfect. It didn't belong to girls like me.

We had been called here to meet the queen. The Queen Seraphina, the ruling Dragon Queen, mother to the brooding prince who barely looked at any of us.

She had once been in our position. But I doubted she had walked into this palace in borrowed shoes, wearing a dress that had been patched three times at the seams.

The room was silent except for the rustling of gowns. Silk and satin and gemstones shimmered around me.

My own green dress looked plain, even dull in comparison. But I kept my chin up.

The royal instructor spoke first, his voice loud and full of pride.

"Each of you are aware of the weight of this moment," he began. "To become a Dragon Queen is the greatest of ambitions. It is the reward for years of preparation in magic, charm, and duty."

His words were meant to impress. Maybe even scare us. But I had heard worse growing up. Words didn't scare me. People did.

"Many of you will fail," he said. "But if you make it to the dragon trials, you will be remembered with great respect."

Failing wasn't my biggest concern.

I kept my face blank, eyes forward, pretending like the others. But inside, I was doing what I always did, watching. Calculating. Measuring the risks.

Cassian sat nearby, slouched in his seat like he couldn't be bothered. His face gave nothing away, but I caught the flicker in his eyes. He was paying more attention than he let on. I didn't know what he thought of all this, but he hadn't looked at me once.

Good.

The queen stepped forward next, graceful and strong. The room seemed to still around her. She spoke with power, but not anger. More like someone who didn't need to raise her voice to be feared.

"My dear ladies," she said. "You are here not only to win the favor of the Crown Prince but also to prove you are worthy enough to bond with a dragon."