Mira's POV
I followed the Dragon King through gates that looked carved from dreams.
The Frostspire Citadel wasn't just a castle—it was alive with magic. Ice sculptures moved on their own, their frozen eyes following us as we passed. Torches burned with blue light that gave off no heat. And everywhere, everywhere, there were dragons.
Some in human form with sparkling eyes and sharp smiles. Some in their true forms, massive and frightening, perched on towers like deadly statues. All of them watching me like I was prey that had walked freely into their den.
Because that's exactly what I was.
"Keep up, little liar," Kaelen called over his shoulder without looking back. "My court is gathered to meet their new queen. Try not to faint."
Queen. The word made me want to laugh madly. I was a servant girl claiming to be a princess, about to be presented to dragons as their queen. This was crazy. This was—
The throne room doors opened.
My breath caught.
The room was massive, with walls of black ice that mirrored everything like dark mirrors. The ceiling opened to the sky where snow fell but never reached the floor—it simply disappeared into nothing halfway down. And in the center, cut from what looked like frozen fire, sat two thrones.
But it was the crowd that made my knees weak.
Hundreds of them. Dragons in human form, all beautiful and terrible and looking at me with eyes that glowed every color imaginable. Gold, silver, red, green—like a meeting of predators wearing human skin.
Kaelen climbed the steps to his seat and turned to face the court. His voice rang out, cold and authoritative. "I present Princess Vivienne Castellan of the Southern Kingdoms. Tomorrow, she will become my bride and your queen. Anyone who wishes to challenge the treaty may speak now."
Silence. Heavy, suffocating quiet.
Then a woman stepped forward from the crowd. She was stunning, with white hair and ice-pale skin, but her eyes were the most frightening thing about her—they glowed bright silver and held nothing but contempt.
"Your Majesty," she said, her voice sharp as broken glass. "With respect, this human smells of fear and deception. Are we really expected to bow to a trembling child who can barely stand in our presence?"
Murmurs of agreement spread through the crowd.
Kaelen's face didn't change. "General Iskra. Always so direct."
"Someone has to be." Iskra circled me slowly, like a wolf studying wounded prey. I forced myself to stand still, to not run screaming like every instinct required. "This is not the Princess Vivienne who visited two years ago. That woman had spine, however rotten her character. This one looks ready to break."
"Maybe the journey changed her," someone in the crowd called out mockingly.
"Or maybe," Iskra stopped directly in front of me, so close I could feel the cold radiating from her skin, "the Southern Kingdom sent us damaged goods. A defective princess."
The word "defective" hit like a slap. That's what I'd always been, wasn't it? The defective kid. The mistake. The one who never should have existed.
But something in me—some tiny, stubborn part that had survived twenty years of being invisible—suddenly sparked to life.
"I may be afraid," I heard myself say, my voice shaky but clear. "I may be trembling. But I'm standing here, aren't I? I didn't run. I didn't beg to go home. I'm here, and I'll do what the treaty demands."
Iskra's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"So you can call me defective or weak or whatever else you want," I continued, my heart pounding but my words steady. "But I'm still here. And I'm not going anywhere."
The throne room went dead silent.
Then Kaelen did something that shocked everyone, including me.
He laughed. A real laugh, not the cold, bitter one from outside. This one held real amusement.
"There it is," he said, standing from his chair. "The spine General Iskra was looking for." He descended the steps and stopped beside me, his presence both frightening and oddly protective. "My bride has had a long journey. She'll rest tonight. Tomorrow, we wed. Dismissed."
The dragons began to leave, though many cast backward glances full of suspicion and interest. Iskra was the last to go, studying me with those silver eyes like she was trying to answer a puzzle.
"Interesting," she muttered, then walked away.
When the throne room finally emptied, leaving just me and Kaelen, my knees nearly gave out. The energy that had kept me standing drained away all at once.
"That was stupid," Kaelen said simply. "Talking back to my General. She could have killed you where you stood."
"I'm sorry, I—"
"But effective." He circled me slowly, just like Iskra had, but somehow more disturbing. "You surprised them. Surprised me. Maybe there's hope for you yet, little liar."
"I don't understand. You know I'm not really—"
"Quiet." His hand shot out, covering my mouth softly but firmly. His eyes had gone completely silver, glowing bright. "The walls have ears here. Never, ever speak of your deception in the open. Understand?"
I nodded quickly.
He removed his hand. "Good. Come. I'll show you to your chambers."
He led me through winding hallways of ice and stone, up a spiral staircase that seemed to go on forever. Finally, he stopped at a door carved with dragons and pushed it open.
The room beyond was beautiful in a cold, frightening way. Massive bed with silver furs. Windows that looked out over the cold wasteland. And—
"That door," Kaelen pointed to a second door on the far wall, "connects to my chambers. It locks from my side only. I'll know if you try to run."
"I won't run," I whispered. "I can't. My mother—"
"Yes, your mother." He studied me with a look I couldn't read. "Tell me, little liar. Does she know they sent you in her daughter's place? Or does she think you're here willingly?"
The question twisted like a knife in my chest. "She knows. She tried to save me. They locked her up for it."
"Hmm." Kaelen moved to the window, his back to me. "The treaty marriage requires one year before either party can claim breach. One year, and if we're both still alive and not actively trying to kill each other, the alliance is permanent."
"One year," I repeated numbly.
"One year," he stated. "During which you will play your role as Princess Vivienne perfectly. You'll learn our customs, our language, our ways. You'll be the bride this treaty demands."
"And if I fail?"
He turned, and his smile was all sharp edges. "Then we'll find out just how many pieces of you I can send back before your kingdom realizes their mistake."
He moved toward the connecting door, then stopped. "Oh, and little liar? Tomorrow when we wed, you'll have to touch me. Skin to skin. Blood to blood. That's when the binding happens. That's when I'll truly know what you are."
My blood ran cold. "What do you mean?"
"Dragon marriage bonds reveal truth," he said simply. "Lies, deception, hidden magic—everything comes to light when two souls are bound. So whatever you're hiding, whatever you really are beneath the fear and the pretending..."
His eyes glowed brighter, and for a moment, I saw his dragon looking at me through those human eyes.
"I'm going to find out."
The door closed behind him with a soft click. I heard the lock slide into place.
I stood frozen in the middle of the beautiful, frightening room, Kaelen's words echoing in my mind.
The binding would show everything. My real name. My shared blood. Every lie, every secret, every truth about who and what I really was.
And I had no idea what would happen when a dragon king realized his bride wasn't just a fake princess—
She was nobody at all.
But there was something else. Something Kaelen said that didn't make sense. "Whatever magic you're hiding."
I didn't have magic. I was totally, painfully human.
Wasn't I?
I pulled off the heavy glove I'd been wearing and stared at my hand. The hand that had bled during the carriage ride, when I'd scratched it trying to escape.
The blood had been red.
Normal, normal red.
But for just a second, just a flash before it dried, I could have sworn...
Had it sparkled? Like tiny crystals of ice catching light?
No. Impossible. I was tired, scared, seeing things that weren't there.
But as I moved my fingers, the temperature in the room dropped suddenly. Frost spread across the window, making patterns that looked almost deliberate.
Almost like someone—or something—was trying to tell me something.
I backed away from the window, my heart racing.
Tomorrow I would marry a dragon king who could smell lies.
Tomorrow, the binding would tell every secret.
And tomorrow, I would finally learn the truth.
About him. About this place.
And most frightening of all—about myself.