Page 7 of The Cursed Queen

If I could laugh, I would have, because the horrified look on her face was rather amusing. So, no playing dirty while in dragon form. I made a mental note of that, for now at least. The lighthearted banter and flirting provided a brief distraction until the reality of my situation returned to me. I was still imprisoned with two of my brethren here with me. This was no joking matter, not when our fate of becoming mindless slaves hung over our heads.

"Princess,"I called to her."I need your help.Weneed your help."I look past her and Virgil over to the cellar across from me. The one containing a dragon shifter with obsidian scales and glowing red ridges. Could that be Drayce? Did he get captured too? What of his lover, Ryu?

"He says he needs my help," the Princess recited out loud.

"Oh please," Virgil scoffed. "Of course, he—it—wants your help. It wants to be set free so it can destroy the kingdom."

"That's a lie,"I roared back."We shifters have never caused destruction aside from you hex-flingers who've continued to invade our den!"

"Wait!" Sera held up her hands to signal us both to stop. "Did you just say shifters?"

"Yes. We're no ordinary dragons, milady. We're shifters, and your kingdom has been capturing and enslaving us so you can steal and use our fire magic."

My mate's silver eyes widened as she took a step back. Able to read her emotions thanks to our bond, I could sense the confusion, horror, and guilt plaguing her.

She turned to Virgil. "Did you know about this?"

"About what?" Virgil asked with an arched eyebrow.

It would've made things a lot easier if he, too, could read my thoughts.

Sera pointed to me. "He's saying he's a shifter. Shifters are part human, are they not?"

"What?" Virgil faced me with a frown, his eyes scanning my form as if trying to find evidence that would reveal my human half to him. "That's ridiculous."

"How so?" Sera asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She hadn't known, had she? Why would the kingdom leave its princess in the dark? The entire dragon shifter race knew the queen held much hate for our kind, but how did the princess fit into all of this?

"Sera, there's no way this thing is a shifter. Shifters are a myth, and dragons have shown no signs of humanity."

"I can prove it,"I pleaded with my mate."If the seals along my body are released, I can shift into my human form and show you."

"You can?" Sera asked me.

"I can."I nodded, hoping beyond hope that she'd release these cursed runes. The battle before my capture left me weakand drained. Shifting back to my human skin would allow me to reignite my fire much faster.

The Princess's eyes roamed my dragon up and down, noticing the glowing runes that etched onto my skin like a brand. The slight furrow of her brow showed confusion.

"These runes, I've never seen an enchantment like this before. What are they?" she asked Virgil.

"They're used to suppress a dragon's magic. It's to keep them from setting us and the stalls on fire."

Sera's eyes glinted, realization dawning in her. "That's not all it's doing. Undo it."

Virgil looked at her incredulously. "What? But Princess—"

"Do as I say," she barked out. "Undo the runes this instant, or I will go to my mother about this right now and demand answers from her. Doing so would raise questions about how I know about this, wouldn't it?"

I wish I could laugh at how pale the knight looked in response to her threat. With white hair, the man could now pass for a ghost.

"Sera, be reasonable," he pleaded. "If I undo the runes, nothing could stop it from attacking us. We'd be taking a gamble that could be perilous to the kingdom."

"He won't," Sera said confidently. "He won't hurt me."

"How can you be sure of that?"

Because we're fated together, I wanted to say, but couldn't. But I knew she felt it too. Deep down, the princess knew I'd do nothing to jeopardize her safety. It was tempting to fight my way out of the cage and fly off, alert the dragon lord of what had happened, and finally convince the old man to fight back. But doing so would also bring harm, not only to my mate, but to my enslaved brethren. As hesitant as I was, I had to put my life and faith in the princess's hands.

"Just do it. Trust me," Sera finally said after a moment of silence.

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