Zander’s gaze darkened with something like memory. “I mean… he raised us. Not in the way the court pretended to, but in the way that mattered. He taught me what it meant to be loyal. And he’s the only one Elara ever turned to besides me.”
I looked after the towering shadow of the dragon and the girl who held his heart.
Whatever her power was?—
She was already more than she understood.
And Siergen seemed to know it better than anyone.
I turned back to Zander, still watching the place where Siergen had disappeared into the castle with Elara. “What do you mean Siergen raised you?”
Zander’s jaw tensed. For a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to answer. But then he sighed and looked down at his boots, as if the memory weighed him heavier than anything else ever had.
“My father was… hard on me. Even when I was young.” His voice was quiet. “He never told me why, but now… now we both know the truth.”
“How was he hard on you?” I asked carefully.
Zander’s gaze flicked to Hein, who stood behind him like a statue carved from flame and scale. “He got rough when he drank. One night, he decided I needed to learn how to fight.”
The air around us stilled.
Zander’s voice dropped. “The session ended with my leg broken. And both of my wrists. I was lying on the floor of my room, spitting out blood through my tears. I couldn’t move. I remember wondering if I was going to die right there and if anyone would even care.”
Hein let out a low, guttural growl. The sound vibrated through the ground, his wings flexing as if the memory physically pained him. It was obvious he’d never heard this story.
“What happened?” I asked softly, barely able to speak.
“I was so tired,” Zander said. “And I remember whispering to the dark… asking if my father was going to kill me for being weak.”
His smile was faint, crooked with old pain. “That’s when Siergen appeared.”
I inhaled sharply. “What did he do?”
“He walked in like he knew everything about me. Looked at me with those cold golden eyes before he lay down beside me.”Zander paused, his expression distant. “He told me to get on his back.”
My breath caught.
“He carried me to the healers’ quadrant. Quietly. Carefully. He talked the whole time, telling me stories about ancient riders and the first guilds, about how I was destined to be one of them. My hand was on his scales, and they were so warm. I remember whispering, ‘Will you be my dragon?’”
I smiled faintly. “And he said no?”
Zander’s eyes softened. “He said,No, little prince. You are meant for a dragon far greater than I. He will be powerful. A bit unruly and slightly grumpy.”
From behind us, Hein snorted so hard a puff of smoke escaped his nostrils.
Zander chuckled under his breath, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “But Siergen always returned to check on me and later Elara. I don’t know what he did, but my father never touched me again. In fact, he seemed afraid to go near me.”
I reached for his hand, fingers sliding into his without a word. His grip was strong, but there was a tremble there too.
And I knew—Zander hadn’t just grown into a leader.
He’d been forged.
Chapter
Fifteen
Zander squeezed my hand once more, then brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. His eyes were heavier than before, shadowed and glassy.
