Page 25 of The Lost Princess

A sense of loss overcame me, then dread and fear. Gods, if my father found out another man had put his hands on me … especially that it had been some kind of draken-man, who knows what he would do.

He won’t know because you won’t see him again.

I wouldn’t cry. Nothing was bound to change if I shed a few tears here and there. And if I did? What would father think of me?

Being caught between fear of my father’s judgment and fear over what was happening to me with Nasi was all too much to handle. My mind warred with itself, trying to argue past the delusions.

If it was a trick, why did you need the blood washed off you? Who do you think caused those gaping wounds in his neck? Why do you think you can heal each other with your blood? Your father doesn’t want you back. He doesn’t love you. If he did, he’d fight for you, contracts with other kingdoms be damned.

The truth was staring me in the face, yet I resisted accepting it. I resisted accepting Nasi, and the fact that my father might not want me back. Why continue to delude myself?

Because I wasn’t ready to lose everything. Not yet.

And that was the kicker, wasn’t it? If I was this … female draken, then my father wasn’t my father. My mother wasn’t the late queen. I likely wasn’t even a real princess. It was all a lie.

I wanted Nasi back. I wanted him to surround me in his arms and tuck me back into his chest, reassuring me that it would be alright. I wanted—needed—his scent around. Maybe he would even kiss me again.

Nasi had done more to protect me than my father, and both had wildly different views of what ‘protection’ actually meant. It made my blood run cold when I tallied it up in my mind. Nasi had saved me from the elements, given me shelter, healed me, and took off my cuff and ensured I had water.

Urgh, maybe I was just a spoiled, selfish princess.

No, not entirely true. At the castle I’d been just that. But here? I was someone else completely. I was dirty and had …relationswith a male. There were no fine things, but I still managed to keep Nasi alive. I even kept him sane, according to him. For the first time in my life, I had a purpose. It was exhilarating, but every new experience here was more distance between who I was, and who I was becoming.

My father would disown me if he knew.

An odd, sad warble left my throat, echoing around the cavern. It seemed impossible that just minutes ago my back had been ablaze in agonizing pain. Reaching back with one hand, I met unblemished skin.

I’d bitten Nasi. Deeply, if the wounds on his neck were anything to go by. How had I done that? I blinked away tears, sad for some reason that I couldn’t pin down. He’d done what anyone would have done if bitten on the neck. He’d pushed me away. He’d even been quite polite and gentle about it, which I was thankful for. I hadn’t even realized what I’d been doing.

I wondered if this was a touch of the feral that Nasi had mentioned.

Regardless, the rejection hurt. When I bit him, I’d felt something.

The moment I thought about sinking into his throat, my mouth pinched and two fangs erupted from my gums. My eyes watered at the pain, but it didn’t hurt as badly as it had the first time.

Fangs. I had fangs.

Cautiously, I wrapped my tongue around them, getting a feel for how they felt in my mouth. I was sorry for biting Nasi. It had probably hurt, since now I had two mini daggers dangling from the roof of my mouth.

And what about the wings?

I yelped anew as they broke through my back again at a mere thought, cutting through the water and sending large ripples across the pool. I should have known it would be impossible not to think about my wings. At least in the hot bath, the pain wasn’t as bad. Already it worked to soothe the sore muscles, and diminish the throbbing.

Ok, so I was a draken. Fine.

My skin immediately changed, paling further from my light complexion to pure white, iridescent scales. I stared at my own hand, watching in admiration as hues of purple and green flashed where bits of moonlight bounced off the white scales. Black claws peeked out from my nail beds, sharp and deadly. Scales dotted all over my body.

I tried to lift my wings, and flare them like I’d seen Nasi do. I couldn’t. They were so heavy! How in the world did Nasi manage? I craned my head to the side, trying to get a good look at them.

Leathery, white skin stretched above me, with thinner membranes covering the space between each wing. Like the rest of my body, the scales were white—untouched and pure.I put a hand on my back, but felt nothing but smooth skin. Perhaps only male drakens had back spikes?

I shook my head. I had to focus on the bigger issue: why had my father lied to everyone, me included? Did he even know the full truth? Perhaps he did simply think I was different—a true gift from the gods, and we all were ignorant, including him.

My shoulders deflated, realizing Iwasn’tspecial. I was just a creature. Something shriveled and died inside of me, an overwhelming sense of loss lodging in my chest. It didn’t matter if everyone back at court embraced me and treated me like nothing was different.

What if my fatherdidknow?

Goosebumps broke out along my skin as I thought about it.He’s lied. Nasi doesn’t lie.

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