He’s dressed in rich, flowing robes—gold and crimson spilling around him like molten light with his long white beard trailing over his chest.Hisface is lined with age, but his silver eyes are sharp—too sharp for a man who looks this worn.
And thenIsee that he has horns on his head—curving around the golden crown he wears.Myeyes go wide with surprise—he’s aDrake, like me!ThoughI’msure the dragon living inside him is much more respectable.NotanAshDrake, like mine.Thoughmy other half hasn’t been acting like anAshDrakelately…
I push the inconsequential thoughts aside and try to focus.Whatthe fuck is happening here?
A ripple of unease goes through the crowd as he rises from the throne.Advisorsmove at once, reaching for him, but he brushes them off like they’re nothing more than flies.Slowly, deliberately, he makes his way down the steps, the entireCourtfalling into a stunned, breathless silence as he approaches me.
“Rise, lad,” he says when he reaches me.“Youmay stand in the presence of yourKing.”
Warily,Ipush myself to my feet, keeping my movements controlled.Myeyes flick to the guards, to the spears still angled in my direction, and then back to him.
“Look, yourMajesty,”Isay, keeping my voice steady even though my nerves are starting to fray.“Ifthis is about the alarm,Ididn’t take anything.Ihave no need to steal—I’ma smith.Imake my living honestly with my own two hands.”
I hold them out in front of me to show him—callused, scarred, and marked by years of work at the forge.
For a moment, he just looks at them.Then—to my surprise—he takes them in his own.
His grip is firm.Strongerthan it has any right to be for a man his age.Hisfingers close around mine, rough and sure, and he lifts his gaze to my face, searching my eyes like he’s trying to find something buried deep inside me.
And then something strange happens—Ifeel it beforeIsee it.Somethinghappens between us—it’s like two puzzle pieces clicking into place and theKingbegins to change.
It starts in his hands.Theveins beneath his skin begin to glow with a deep, molten light that pulses outward like living flame.Ittravels up his arms, spreading through him in a slow, inevitable tide of dragon fire.
And then it happens to me.
My breath grows ragged as heat flares under my skin, my own veins lighting up in answer—the same burning glow racing through me like it’s been waiting for this moment.
MyDrakeroars inside me and it feels like something in his is changing too.Itfeels like he’s waking up from a long slumber and deep inside meIcan feel his sense of recognition.
“HOME!”he roars and the word echoes through me, deep and undeniable.
“My boy!”theKingbreathes, and whenIlook at him again, there are tears in his silver eyes, so much like my own.“It’strue—blood calls to blood and like to like.Finally…you have returned.”
70
THERON
I stare at theKing, my mind struggling to catch up with what my body already seems to understand.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”Igrowl, yanking one hand free on instinct, thoughIdon’t step back.Ican’t.Somethingin me won’t let me.
“Don’t you see?”he says, his voice thick with emotion.“You’vereturned to me.You’remy grandson—theLostPrince!”
For a heartbeat, everything goes still…then theCourterupts.
Cheers explode around us, voices rising in a thunderous wave as people begin clapping, shouting, chanting.Thesound crashes over me, disorienting and overwhelming.
“TheLostPrincereturns!TheLostPrincereturns!”
I feel likeI’vebeen hit in the head with a hammer.
This isn’t real—it can’t be.I’mjust a blacksmith.Igrew up in a village where the biggest excitement was a good harvest or a bad storm.I’venever set foot in a place like this before today.
This is a mistake.Ithas to be.Andyet…
My gaze drops to my hands andIsee they’re still glowing.
The same fire that runs through theKingburns in me—bright and undeniable.Ican feel myDrakepressing forward, reaching for the oldKing’sDrake—not in challenge, not in dominance, but in something else…recognition…Acknowledgment.
