Page 24 of The Cursed Queen

If only I could tell her what I thought of her. "No, Mother. My apologies once again. I guess I can't stop thinking about the ceremony. Thank you so much for doing this for me. You're the best mother ever."

I almost vomited at that last statement, but knew it would brush her ego and forgive me faster.

I was proven right when she plastered a satisfied smirk on her face. "That's more like it. I'm glad you can appreciate all that I do for you. Don't worry, my dear. Even though you won't become queen, you can still help me rule the kingdom. I'm sure we can find something best suited for your condition."

Oh, I'm sure you will. I rested the urge to roll my eyes.

The rest of the carriage ride was quiet, thankfully. When we arrived at the large coliseum, the crowd dispersed and cheered for our arrival. To think I would've loved this before learning the truth. The idea of seeing dragon riders arriving and sparring with one another, displaying their strength to me for my birthday. To watch Virgil become a dragon rider himself. Now I hated everything about it—hating what they were forcing the dragons to do. I'd never understand how I was so blind from the truth of it all.

A set of guards led Mother and me out of the carriage and into the coliseum. We were escorted to the right corridor towards the podium, where we'd have a full view of the action. Two thrones sat at the top, with a little table between them. A tray with a teakettle and cups sat atop, waiting for us.

"Isn't this lovely, Seraphina?" Mother asked, as we both took our seats. "All of this is for you. Happy birthday, my child."

"This is lovely, Mother. I can never thank you enough," I said with a faux smile plastered on my face.

The next part of my plan began. Mother and I sat and chattered as dragon riders flew to the open arena, the crowd cheering as they all gathered and prepared themselves for the ceremony. After a moment, Mother stood from her seat and raised her hands to silence the crowd.

"People of Atheynia, welcome to this year's Dragon Crowning Ceremony!" She announced, the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand. "I want to thank you all for being here to celebrate this momentous occasion, and to celebrate the birth of your princess. This is Princess Seraphina's twenty-first birthday, and to celebrate, we moved the ceremony early to honor her. In a few moments, we will begin promoting our talented knights to the title of dragon rider. They will then select the dragon of their choice and join the ranks of our mighty army."

The crowd erupted as the excitement of the events to come hung in the air. I clapped to play my part and watched as Mother sat back down. "Isn't this exciting? You get to watch our fierce dragon riders in action, finally."

"Very exciting," I agreed. "But I have one question, if you don't mind."

"And what's that, darling?"

"When are you going to tell these people that we're kidnapping and forcing dragon shifters to submit to our kingdom?"

Sera

The tension between my mother and me was thicker than a dragon's breath. My question now hung in the air, awaiting her response. The lack of an answer was killing me, but after what felt was an eternity later, Mother surprised me by laughing. I gritted my teeth and balled my hands into fists on my lap, trying to sustain my anger.

"Oh dear, Seraphina. What an adorable imagination you have. Dragonshifters, how preposterous," she cackled, as if I told her the funniest joke.

"It's not preposterous, and you know it," I retorted. "I know, Mother. I know everything. Not a single dragon in this kingdom is a pure dragon. They're all half-human, aren't they?"

I had to give her credit. Mother's acting was remarkable. With my heightened magic free, I could sense the rapid increase of her heartbeat, but she carried on as if she was ignorant about what I uncovered. "That's enough, darling. You're only embarrassing yourself. There's no such thing as dragon shifters. Now then, have some tea."

As she leaned over to her right to pour me a cup, I centered myself so as not to blow up at her. I winced as the pain in my chest returned, but I forced it back. Now was not the time for this.

"So, you want to keep pretending that I don't know what I'm talking about? Fine. Then how about you explain why you've been feeding me a remedy that wasn't a cure for a make-believe curse, but to sustain my magic all these years?"

Mother frowned as she handed me the cup. "Honestly, Seraphina, where are you getting these ridiculous accusations from? Is it that boy, Virgil? Is he filling your head with such nonsense? I will have him arrested and put on trial for this."

"Virgil didn't tell me anything."

"Then it must be that servant girl of yours. Vivienne? I should've known. I knew she'd be nothing but trouble from the minute I laid eyes on her."

"Vivienne doesn't know anything about this, Mother!" I shouted, feeling the heat of my rage rising.

Right as the words left me, I heard a crack followed by pain coming from my cheek. Mother had slapped me, her eyes narrowed, and a frown was plastered on her face.

"You will not use that tone with me, you ungrateful, worthless little worm. You will respect me. Now do as I say. Sit down, keep your mouth shut, and drink your tea. You'll feel much better afterward."

I opened my mouth to protest, but froze when every warning sign went off in my head. She seemed so insistent on me drinking the tea. Why? Eyes narrowing, I brought the cup up to my nose to take a whiff and was hit with the all-too-familiar aroma of heavy spice and chilled mint.

Dragonsbane.

Mother was trying to secretly drug me and suppress my magic again. She was trying to revert me to my weak and vulnerable state so she could overpower me.

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