Page 6 of The Cursed Queen

"What is it? Is something wrong?" the man she was with asked, sounding concerned. My dragon let out a growl of warning, not liking his proximity to someone who was ours.

My attention was on her. Something spooked her, and I wasn't sure what it was.

The princess kept her eyes on me, even as they narrowed, her head cocked to the side in confusion.

"I don't know," she answered. "I thought I heard something."

The knight's head whipped around as if trying to catch someone sneaking up on them. "Where?"

She shook her head. "No, like something was said in my mind."

My spine stiffened at her words. She couldn't have heard my dragon's thoughts, could she? My dragon also seemed bewildered by the notion. She may have been fated to be mine, but I didn't think she could hear our thoughts through her mind. Only dragon shifters like me could speak to one another telepathically while we were in dragon form.

The knight seemed to be just as confused. "You mean you heard your thoughts."

"No, you dolt," she said with a scowl. "It wasn't my thoughts, it sounded like someone else's."

The princess now looked at me strangely, like I suddenly sprouted a second head. Tentatively, she stepped forward and reached out her hand, once again resting it on my snout. Iwaited with bated breath to see what would happen. After a few moments, her face sunk with disappointment.

"Maybe I was just hearing things," she whispered lightly.

She heard nothing this time, but my thoughts were also silent. Which meant she must've heard my dragon before. To confirm it, I communicated mentally, hoping it would reach her."Don't be sad, Princess."

Her eyes widened right as I thought the words, her mouth agape. "Oh, my stars. I-It's you, isn't it?"

"Can you hear my thoughts?"I asked, not wanting to get my hopes up too soon.

She nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yes, I can hear you!"

"Sera?" The knight shook his head, completely lost to what was going on.

She grabbed the knight by his upper biceps, giving him an eager shake. "Virgil, I can hear him. The dragon. I can hear his thoughts!"

I was just as excited as she was, but still confused by how this was possible. Maybe the mate bond was giving her the ability to hear my thoughts? She was a druid, so perhaps it worked differently for her since she wasn't born a dragon shifter. Or maybe there was something that we weren't seeing yet.

Could she be...?

No, it couldn't be...

"That's impossible," the knight—Virgil—protested. "It's a dragon. They're not capable of thoughts."

"We're plenty capable and have more intelligence than you hex-flinging druids,"I shot back in thought, knowing the Princess could hear me.

"Are you calling me a liar?" the princess challenged, then looked my way. "And hex-flinging?"

I chuffed out a snort."My apologies, my darling. I did not mean you."

"Oh, so I'm your darling now?" The corner of her lip curved up in a smirk.

"Oh, my sweet, beautiful princess, you're so much more than that. You're my mate. My fire. My heart. If not for this blasted seal and cage, I'd show you just how dedicated I am to you."

I practically purred as her cheeks tinged a lovely shade of red. "Well, aren't you quite the charmer?"

"You have not seen charm yet, my princess."

"What is going on here?" Virgil's head continuously whipped back and forth, and for a moment, I thought he too could hear my thoughts, but I was certain he would've mentioned it if he had. While my words were only spoken from my mind, Sera's words were loud and vocal. "Sera, are you flirting with a dragon? Do you have some strange fetish I know nothing about?"

"How dare you," the Princess says appallingly.

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