POV: ELARA'S
My hand was on fire.
Not burning—not exactly. But something was happening under my skin. The golden pattern pulsed with warmth, like a heartbeat that wasn't mine.
I stared at it, my mind blank with shock.
"What did you do to me?" I whispered.
Kael still held my arm, his grip gentle but firm. His amber eyes were wide with something I couldn't name. Shock? Fear? Hope?
"I didn't do anything." His voice was rough. "You did this."
"I don't understand." My voice broke. "I'm just a princess. I'm just—"
*A lie. A commoner. Nothing special.*
But the mark on my hand said otherwise.
Lyra stepped closer, her amber eyes bright with excitement. "Dragon tamer magic responds to dragon scales. It creates a bond. A mark." She grabbed my wrist, studying the pattern. "This is real. This is ancient magic. You're a dragon tamer."
"That's impossible." My heart hammered so hard I felt dizzy. "I'm human. Just human."
"Dragon tamers are human," Theron said from behind me. "But with rare blood. The ability runs in families. It's passed down." His purple eyes narrowed. "Who were your parents, Princess?"
I froze.
*Your real parents are alive. They live in a village called Millbrook.*
Isolde's words echoed in my head. My real parents. The ones I'd never met. Could they have been dragon tamers?
But I couldn't say that. Couldn't reveal I was a fake princess. Isolde would kill them.
"My parents are Queen Isolde and King Aldric," I said. The lie tasted like ash. "They're human. Just human."
Kael's grip on my arm tightened slightly. "Your heartbeat changed."
"What?"
"When you said that. Your heartbeat changed." He leaned closer, his eyes searching mine. "You're lying about something."
Terror shot through me. He could hear my heartbeat. Could tell when I lied.
How was I supposed to survive three months here when he could hear the lies in my blood?
"I'm not lying." Another lie. My heart hammered faster. "I don't know anything about dragon tamers. I don't know why this happened."
That part, at least, was true.
Kael studied me for a long moment. Then he released my arm and stepped back.
"Lock her in the guest tower," he said coldly. "No one sees her. No one talks to her. Until I figure out what she is."
"What?" Panic clawed up my throat. "You can't lock me up. I'm supposed to be your bride—"
"You're supposed to be many things, Princess." His eyes were ice. "But I don't know what you are. Human? Dragon tamer? Spy? Until I know the truth, you're too dangerous to roam free."
"I'm not dangerous!" My voice came out desperate. "I'm just—"
"Just what?" He moved so fast I didn't see him coming. Suddenly he was right in front of me, his face inches from mine. "Just a princess with dragon tamer blood who didn't know it? Just a human who makes my dragon roar *mine* when you're not my mate?" His voice dropped to a growl. "You're a mystery. And mysteries get people killed."
He turned away. "Theron. Take her to the tower. Post guards. No one in or out without my permission."
"Kael, wait—" Lyra started.
"That's an order."
The court was silent. Every eye watched as Theron took my arm—gently, apologetically—and led me toward the door.
I wanted to fight. To scream. To demand they treat me like a princess.
But I wasn't a princess. And everyone in this room could probably kill me without trying.
So I walked. Head high. Princess mask in place.
Even as my world crumbled for the second time in two days.
---
The tower was tall and cold and isolated.
Theron led me up endless spiral stairs. My legs burned by the time we reached the top.
"I'm sorry about this," he said, his voice actually kind. "The King is... cautious. After what happened five hundred years ago, he doesn't trust easily."
"What did happen?" I asked. "Everyone keeps mentioning a curse and a betrayal, but no one says what it was."
Theron hesitated at the door. "A human princess came North. She claimed to be Kael's fated mate. He believed her. Trusted her. Almost loved her." His expression darkened. "She used dark magic to poison our bond with our power. The curse spread through our entire kingdom. For five centuries, we've been dying. Magic fading. Dragons weakening. All because Kael trusted a human who lied."
My blood turned cold. "And he thinks I'm lying too."
"Aren't you?"
The question hung in the air between us.
I was lying. About everything. About who I was. About why I was here. About the mission to seduce him and step aside when the real princess arrived.
But I couldn't tell him that. Couldn't tell anyone.
"I'm not here to hurt him," I said quietly. "I just want to survive."
Theron studied me with those ancient purple eyes. "Funny thing about survival. Sometimes it requires honesty. And sometimes it requires secrets." He opened the door. "The King will send for you when he's ready. Until then, stay here. Don't try to escape. The dragons guard this tower, and they're not as understanding as I am."
He closed the door. I heard a lock click.
I was alone.
The room was simple—a bed, a window, a small fireplace. Cold stone walls and colder silence.
I walked to the window and looked out.
The view stole my breath.
Mountains stretched forever, their peaks white with snow. Dragons circled in the distance, dark shapes against the dying light. The citadel sprawled below me, towers and courtyards and places I'd never see because I was locked in a tower like a criminal.
Or a prisoner.
Or a fake.
I sank onto the bed, my hand still tingling with warmth. The golden pattern glowed faintly in the dimness.
Dragon tamer. They thought I was a dragon tamer.
But how? My real parents were commoners. Farmers or merchants or something normal. Weren't they?
Unless they weren't. Unless they'd been hiding too.
A soft knock made me jump.
"Princess?" A girl's voice, young and nervous. "I'm Mira. I'm supposed to bring you dinner and... and help you if you need anything."
I opened the door. A girl about my age stood there with a tray. She had brown hair and warm eyes and looked terrified.
"You don't have to be scared of me," I said gently. "I'm the one locked in a tower."
"I'm not scared of you." She set the tray down. "I'm scared for you. Everyone's talking about what happened in the throne room. About the mark." She glanced at my hand. "Is it true? Are you really a dragon tamer?"
"I don't know what I am anymore."
The words came out more honest than I meant. But Mira's expression softened.
"Well, for what it's worth, I hope you're his mate. We need hope." She headed for the door, then paused. "Oh, and the King said to tell you something. He said: 'If you're innocent, you have nothing to fear. If you're guilty, pray to whatever gods you have.'"
She left before I could respond.
I stared at the closed door, my appetite gone.
*If you're guilty, pray.*
I was guilty. Of lies. Of deception. Of being a fake princess sent to seduce a king who could hear my heartbeat change when I lied.
I was so dead.
---
I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kael's face. His amber eyes burning into mine. His voice saying *mystery* like it was a death sentence.
Around midnight, I gave up and walked to the window.
The moon was full and bright. It painted everything silver—the mountains, the towers, the dragons sleeping on the spires.
And then I saw him.
Kael stood on a balcony below, his face tilted toward the moon. Even from here, I could see the tension in his shoulders. The weight he carried.
He looked... tired. Not physically tired. Soul tired.
Like someone who'd been fighting for eight hundred years and wasn't sure he could fight anymore.
My chest ached with unexpected sympathy.
He was trying to save his people. Everything he did—the cold words, the suspicion, the tests—it was all because he'd been betrayed before. Because he was desperate and dying and this was his last chance.
And I was lying to him.
The weight of it crushed me. How was I supposed to make him fall in love with me when every word out of my mouth was a lie? When he could hear my heart betray me?
Movement caught my eye.
A figure in a dark cloak slipped through the courtyard below. Moving fast. Moving toward Kael's tower.
Everything in me screamed danger.
I didn't think. I just moved.
I grabbed the bed sheet and tied it to the window frame. It wouldn't reach the ground, but maybe—
"What are you doing?"
I spun around. Mira stood in the doorway, her eyes wide.
"There's someone down there," I said quickly. "Moving toward the King's tower. Something's wrong."
"You can't leave. The King ordered—"
"If something happens to him, we're all dead." I tied the last knot and threw the sheet out the window. "Tell the guards. Tell someone. I'm going."
I didn't wait for her response. I climbed out the window and started down the sheet, my hands burning as I slid.
The sheet ended twenty feet from the ground. I closed my eyes and let go.
I hit hard, my ankle screaming in pain. But I pushed up and ran toward Kael's tower, limping and desperate.
The cloaked figure reached his balcony first. I saw the gleam of metal. A blade.
"KAEL!" I screamed his name with everything I had. "BEHIND YOU!"
He spun around just as the assassin lunged.
The blade flashed in the moonlight, aimed straight at his heart.
And then I saw the assassin's face as his hood fell back.
Cassian.
My childhood friend. The only person who'd ever been kind to me.
Was trying to murder the Dragon King.