Zander ran a hand through his hair and looked up toward the sky. “Hein’s going to rip Coldrath a new one,” he muttered. “They’re not supposed to collide mid-air like that. It’s reckless. Dangerous. It could’ve killed both dragons.”
“I’m sure Coldrath didn’t mean to,” I said, voice tight.
Hisrider, on the other hand…
I left the words unspoken.
The sound of boot steps across stone turned both our heads as a small procession descended from the tower steps. Theron strode at the front, cloak billowing, and his expression thunderous. Inderia walked just behind him, her smile smug, with her gown flowing like water meant to drown.
Zander stood as Theron approached, shoulders squaring.
“What you did was despicable,” Theron snapped, his voice echoing across the Ascension Grounds. “Allowing your dragon to interfere in a sanctioned trial? Favoring your whore over guild structure?”
Zander took a step forward, but I reached up and caught his wrist. His jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscles twitching beneath his skin.
“I warned you,” Theron continued, ignoring me. “I warned you there would be consequences. You’ve made your preference clear.”
He turned to the gathered crowd, raising a sealed scroll as a page stepped forward.
“By decree of the crown, to protect the sanctity of the royal line and the future of the realm, Prince Zander Rayne will marry Lady Inderia of Brosha—effective at the next solstice.”
Gasps rippled through the assembled riders.
My heart dropped.
Zander’s eyes locked on Theron like he wanted to burn him down. “You can’t force this.”
“I can,” Theron said, voice like cut glass. “And Iwill.Choose, Zander. Her… or yourduty.”
The word shattered something inside me.
Because even if he hadn’t chosen Inderia…
He hadn’t chosenmeeither.
Zander stepped forward, the air around him crackling, not with Dark Fire, not yet, but with the kind of fury that lived just beneath the surface of restraint.
“I refuse,” he said.
The words rang across the Ascension Grounds like a blade drawn in silence.
Theron’s eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring. “What did you say?”
Zander didn’t back down. “I won’t marry her. I refuse your decree. You may wear our father’s seal, but you don’t speak for me.”
Gasps rippled again, louder this time. Even the dragons shifted above, wings twitching as if they could feel the tension between the princes.
Inderia took a step forward, her lips still painted with that calculating smile. But her eyes, those cold, clever eyes, flicked quickly between Zander and Theron.
She adjusted her tone instantly.
“My king,” she said, her voice soft and measured, turning her full attention to Theron. “We should not act in haste.”
Theron looked at her, and the change in his expression was almost imperceptible, but I saw it.
Interest. Admiration. The hint of a smirk that hadn’t been there before.
Inderia stepped closer, her hands folded demurely in front of her silk-clad waist. “Zander has been under considerable pressure. He’s still mourning the king’s condition. He’s not thinking clearly.”
