Seraphina's POV
"She's a criminal and a liar!"
The Royal Guard captain's shout jolted me from my shock. I was still in the filthy servants' quarters, still wearing rags that smelled like old soup, still trying to understand how my entire life had shattered in three hours.
"I didn't lie about anything!" I scrambled backward as two more guards pushed into the tiny room. "I didn't know about my mother—"
"Silence!" The captain grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. His grip was iron-tight and bruising. "By order of King Theodore, you are charged with fraud and deception against the noble houses of Astoria."
My heart slammed against my ribs. "What? No, that's insane—"
"The punishment is death by execution at dawn." His words were casual, like he was discussing the weather. "Unless..."
That single word hung in the air like a noose.
"Unless what?" My voice cracked.
The captain's smile was cruel and satisfied. "Unless you volunteer for a special mission. The Dragon King in the Obsidian Mountains has been poisoned. Our healers can't save him. If he dies, every dragon in the realm will burn our kingdom to ash." He leaned closer, his breath hot on my face. "You're going to heal him."
Ice flooded my veins. "That's... that's a death sentence too! Everyone knows the Dragon King kills every human who gets near him!"
"Then you'd better be very good at healing." The captain shrugged. "Die tomorrow at dawn, or maybe—maybe—survive long enough in dragon territory to prove useful. Your choice."
It wasn't a choice. It was cruelty wrapped in false hope.
"I need time to think—"
"You have ten seconds." The captain pulled out a pocket watch. "Ten... nine... eight..."
My mind raced frantically. Execution tomorrow or probable death in the mountains. Both paths led to the same dark end, but one gave me a sliver of a chance. A tiny, microscopic possibility that I might survive.
What would Mama do?
"Three... two..."
"I'll go!" The words burst out of me. "I'll go to the Dragon King."
The captain snapped his watch closed with a satisfied click. "Smart girl. We leave at first light. Get some rest—it's a three-day journey, and the roads through the Dark Forest aren't kind to weaklings."
They left me alone in the dark room, the door slamming shut with a finality that made my knees buckle.
I collapsed onto the thin mattress and finally let the tears come.
Everything was gone. My name, my future, my father, Damien, even my mother's necklace—Elena had stolen it right off my neck. The memory of her triumphant smile made my stomach twist with helpless rage.
She planned this. She planned all of it.
How long had Elena been plotting my destruction? Weeks? Months? While I'd been dreaming about my wedding, she'd been gathering documents and proof. While I'd been falling in love with Damien, she'd been...
Wait.
Damien.
He'd proposed to Elena less than five minutes after breaking our engagement. Like it was rehearsed. Like he'd already decided before tonight.
A new, horrible understanding crashed over me.
He knew. He knew the whole time.
Damien had courted me, kissed me, promised me forever—all while planning to marry Elena instead. The engagement party wasn't about love. It was a stage for my public humiliation.
They'd both been playing me like a puppet.
Fresh tears burned my eyes, but this time they were hot with fury instead of grief.
A soft scratching sound came from the door.
I froze, terror spiking. Had the guards come back to change their minds? To just execute me now and save themselves the trouble?
The door cracked open slowly.
"Miss Seraphina?" Lyria's familiar voice whispered through the darkness. "Are you awake?"
Relief hit me so hard I nearly sobbed. "Lyria!"
My maid—my only real friend—slipped inside carrying a small bundle. Even in the dim moonlight, I could see tears streaming down her round face.
"I heard what happened," she whispered, rushing to sit beside me on the mattress. "The whole castle's talking about it. Lady Elena and Lord Damien are celebrating downstairs like it's a festival." Her voice turned bitter. "They're drinking champagne and accepting congratulations while you're—" She looked around the awful little room and her face crumpled. "Oh, miss. I'm so sorry."
I grabbed her hands, desperate for any scrap of human kindness. "It's not your fault."
"I brought you something." Lyria thrust the bundle at me. Inside was a piece of bread, some cheese, and a small water flask. "It's not much, but you need to eat. You'll need strength for the journey."
"You know about the Dragon King?"
Lyria nodded, her expression grim. "Everyone knows. They're sending you to die, miss. The Dragon King... they say he's a monster. Ten feet tall with claws like swords and eyes that glow like hellfire. He's been killing humans for two hundred years to avenge his murdered family." She gripped my hands tighter. "You can't go. We should run. Right now. I'll help you escape—"
"They'll execute me if I run. At least in the mountains, I have a chance."
"What chance?" Lyria's voice rose with panic before she caught herself and whispered again. "Miss, please. I can't lose you too."
Her words wrapped around my broken heart like a warm blanket. In a world where everyone had betrayed or abandoned me, Lyria remained loyal.
"I have to try," I said softly. "It's the only option I have left."
Lyria was quiet for a long moment. Then she straightened her shoulders with determination I'd never seen before.
"Then I'm coming with you."
"What? No! Lyria, it's too dangerous—"
"You think I'm staying here to serve her?" Lyria spat the word like poison. "Lady Elena already told the staff that I'm to be her personal maid now. She wants me to brush her hair and lace her corsets and listen to her brag about stealing your life." She shook her head fiercely. "I'd rather face a thousand Dragon Kings than spend one day serving that snake."
Despite everything, I felt a tiny spark of warmth in my chest. "You'll probably die."
"Then I'll die free and loyal to someone who deserves it." Lyria squeezed my hands. "We're in this together, miss. Like always."
I hugged her tightly, this brave, foolish, wonderful friend who refused to abandon me even at the gates of death itself.
We spent the rest of the night talking quietly, sharing the bread and cheese, pretending that tomorrow wouldn't come. That we wouldn't be loaded into a prison wagon and sent to the most dangerous place in the realm.
But dawn came anyway, cold and merciless.
The guards returned just as pale light crept through the tiny window.
"Time to go, healer." The captain's voice held dark amusement. "Your new patient awaits."
They clapped heavy iron shackles on my wrists—like I was a dangerous criminal instead of a terrified girl. Lyria walked beside me without chains, but the guards watched her with suspicion.
As they led us through the castle toward the waiting wagon, we passed the grand ballroom where my engagement party had been last night.
The doors were open.
Inside, I could see servants cleaning up broken champagne glasses and wilted flowers. The beautiful decorations that had celebrated my future now looked like funeral arrangements.
And there, in the center of the room, stood Elena and Damien.
They were kissing.
Elena's hands tangled in Damien's hair, my mother's moonstone necklace glittering at her throat like a trophy. When they broke apart, Damien whispered something that made Elena laugh—bright and cruel and victorious.
She looked up and saw me watching.
Our eyes met across the ballroom.
Elena smiled slowly, then lifted her hand—the one wearing the engagement ring that had been meant for me—and waved.
Goodbye.
Something inside me crystallized into cold, hard steel.
I will survive this, I swore silently. I will survive, and I will come back. And when I do, you'll regret ever crossing me.
The guards shoved me forward, breaking the moment.
We were loaded into a cramped prison wagon that smelled like old hay and fear. Through the barred window, I watched the castle disappear behind us as we rolled toward the Dark Forest.
Lyria held my shackled hands tightly. "What are you thinking about, miss?"
I touched the spot where my mother's necklace used to rest.
"Revenge," I whispered.
The wagon jolted over rough road, carrying us toward the mountains where the Dragon King waited.
Three days to prepare myself for death.
Three days to figure out how to survive a monster.
Three days before everything changed forever.
On the second night in the wagon, strange sounds echoed through the Dark Forest—howls that didn't sound quite human or animal. The guards looked nervous.
"What is that?" Lyria whispered, her face pale.
Before anyone could answer, something massive crashed through the trees beside the road.
The horses screamed in terror.
And then I saw them—rogues. Wild, savage wolves with red eyes and foam dripping from their jaws.
The wagon's door burst open.
A rogue lunged straight at me, claws extended.
I threw up my shackled hands uselessly.
This was it. I wouldn't even make it to the Dragon King.
I was going to die right here on this dark forest road.
The rogue's jaws opened wide—
And then the entire world exploded in black flames.