Page 15 of The Cursed Queen

"Yeah. There was an explosion of magic I caused in my outburst. It was nothing like I ever felt before. My magic has always been too weak to cast enchantments, but somehow it felt stronger than it'd ever been."

"Your magic felt strong to me when you first entered here, but now it feels as weak as you described," I noted. It didn't occur to me that her pool of magic was unordinary for her. To me, it felt healthy. Average, minus that hint of something buried deep within her core that I couldn't assess. But now I couldn't sense it. Nor could I feel her pool of magic.

"What happened after the explosion?" Virgil asked.

The princess hesitated before looking at the druid knight. "I forgot to take my medicine this morning."

Virgil's eyes widened at her admission, whereas I was left confused. Medicine? What could she need medication for?

My question must've been visible on my face because Virgil looked at me in regard and explained. "Seraphina has been taking a medical remedy since she was born. The queen states a sorcerer infected her with a curse, and only the medicine can contain the side effects."

"What kind of curse?" I asked my mate.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Mother never explained what exactly the curse does, or what the medicine is supposed to do. She simply said it was to make me feel better, and that I needed to take it every morning."

Something in the back of my mind didn't like the sound of that explanation. It sounded too vague for my liking. If it were my child, not only would I tell my dragonling, but I would scour through all Iferia for a permanent cure. I wasn't sure the queen did that for her daughter. Warning signs flashed in my mind's eye.

"My darling, I need you to do something for me," I said.

"What is it?" Princess Sera asked.

"Do not take the medicine tomorrow. Bring it to me as soon as possible. I want to inspect it myself."

"You think it's not really medicine?" Virgil guessed, sounding suspicious.

"I'm not sure, but something's not right about the queen's story." To the princess, I asked, "How did you feel after taking the medicine?"

The princess paused for a bated breath before answering. "Weak," she spoke airily. "Like all the strength within my body was sucked out of me. I could barely stand after taking it. And my magic disappeared entirely."

I cursed under my breath. "Whatever you do, do not drink it tomorrow, understand? Do not drink it ever again!"

Virgil suddenly became wary. "What's wrong? What do you think it is?"

"I'm not completely certain until you guys bring it to me tomorrow. But if my assumptions are right, then no, you haven't been drinking medicine. You've been drinking poison."

The paled expression on my mate's face nearly broke me. By the dragon gods, I hoped I was wrong, but I didn't think I was. The effects told the telltale signs of something I was all toofamiliar with. If that mixture contained what I assumed would be in it, then my certainty would be confirmed. Not just that my mate has been unknowingly drugging herself, but of something else I didn't want to think about. Something that would bring a sleuth of questions to the forefront, and I wasn't sure Sera would have the answers to them.

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We never got the chance to talk about the dragon crowning ceremony last night. Not with the princess distraught by the possibility that her own mother may have been deceiving her. I hated my hypothesis caused her distress, but her health could've been at risk if I hadn't said something. For her sake, I hoped I was wrong.Please, let me be wrong.

I awoke to the clanking sound of bars as the main gate opened and six druid knights flooded the room where I and two of my other brothers were locked up.

"All right, let's get these beasts drugged and pulled into the field," one of the knights ordered.

They each split into two before going to their respective cages. The two who stopped at mine watched me intently. One held a syringe the size of a dagger full of dragonsbane. The dosage of that size would not only weaken me and my magic, but prevent me from shifting. My instincts urged me to fight back, to break through the wards and enchantments and fly as far fromthis place as possible. But then I thought of the princess, my mate. I couldn't leave her behind now that I finally found her.

The knight with the needle stood back while the other undid the wards on the cage and opened the door. The one with the syringe cautiously stepped inside.

"Easy, big guy," he said. "Make this easy on yourself and let it happen. Cooperate, and nothing bad will happen to you."

Somehow, I doubted that was true, but it wasn't as if I could tell him so. With the enchanted restraints on my body, I could not shift. If I tried to attack, the restraints would only tighten around my body until I was writhing on the ground in pain. It killed me having to submit so easily to these bastards, but I reminded myself that I needed to bide my time. I trusted that the princess and Virgil would help us escape somehow.

While I may have been obedient, judging from the frantic cries coming from the opposite side of the room, someone else was being difficult. I looked over to see a black-scaled dragon with red glowing through the ridges of his scales bashing the walls of his cage.

That was Drayce. I was positive now. Which meant his lover was in here too.

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