ELARA'S POV
I couldn't breathe.
The guard's words echoed in my head: *Princess Seraphine has arrived. With an army.*
My legs shook as I stumbled out of the Dragon's Heart. The fire had shown everyone my truth—my lies, my fake identity, everything. And now the real princess was here to take my place.
I was dead. I had to be dead.
"Elara." Kael's voice cut through my panic. "Look at me."
I forced my eyes up. His face was hard, unreadable. After what the Heart had revealed—his role in the curse, his buried pain—I didn't know if he'd protect me or throw me to the wolves.
"The army," I whispered. "How many?"
"Two hundred soldiers," the guard said. "Flying the Veridian banner. They're camping outside our gates, saying they come in peace."
"Peace." Theron laughed bitterly. "With two hundred armed men? That's not peace. That's a threat."
Kael's amber eyes blazed gold. His dragon was rising. "Where's Cassian?"
"Still missing, Your Majesty. We think he escaped through the old tunnels."
"Find him." Kael's voice was deadly calm. "And bring Princess Seraphine to the throne room. Alone. If she wants an audience with the Dragon King, she gets one on my terms."
The guard bowed and ran.
I grabbed Kael's arm. "You can't meet her. Not yet. We need to—"
"We need to what?" His eyes met mine. "Hide you? Pretend you're still the princess? Elara, everyone just saw the truth. The whole court knows you're a fake."
The words hit like a slap. Fake. That's all I'd ever be.
"Then kill me," I said quietly. "Execute me for treason. But don't let her in. Please. Something's wrong. I can feel it."
"Your feelings aren't proof."
"The note said 'the real will arrive with dawn.'" I pulled out the burned message from my pocket. "Someone planned this. Cassian's escape, Seraphine's arrival—it's all connected."
Kael studied the paper. For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then Lyra stepped forward. "She's right. This timing is too perfect. Whoever wrote that note wanted chaos."
"Or wanted Elara dead before the real princess arrived," Theron added. "Think about it. If Elara had died in the Heart test, Seraphine would arrive to a convenient tragedy. No competition. No questions."
"But I didn't die." I touched my marked hand. The dragon scales still glowed softly. "The Heart accepted me. That has to mean something."
"It means you have tamer blood," Kael said. "Not that you're trustworthy."
His words stung, but I understood. After everything the Heart revealed—his past betrayal by a human princess—why would he trust another one?
"Let me help," I said desperately. "I know Seraphine. I grew up thinking she was hidden for protection, but what if that was a lie? What if she was hidden for a different reason?"
"What reason?"
"I don't know. But Queen Isolde always said Seraphine was 'special.' That she had gifts I didn't. What if those gifts are dangerous?"
Before Kael could respond, another guard burst in. "Your Majesty! Princess Seraphine isn't waiting. She's at the gates now, demanding entry. She says..." He swallowed hard. "She says she's your fated mate and the curse-breaker. And she has proof."
The throne room went silent.
Fated mate. The words every dragon feared and hoped for. The one person who could break the curse killing them all.
If Seraphine really was Kael's mate, I was nothing. Less than nothing.
"Proof?" Kael's voice was dangerous. "What proof?"
"A dragon egg, Your Majesty. She's carrying a dragon egg. And it's glowing for her."
Impossible. Dragon eggs only glowed for tamers or true mates. If Seraphine could make an egg glow—
"This is bad," Lyra whispered. "Really, really bad."
Kael turned to me. "Did you know about this? About her having tamer abilities?"
"No! I swear, I didn't know anything. They told me she was just a normal princess."
"Then how does she have an egg?" Theron demanded. "Dragon eggs are hidden, protected. The only way to get one is—"
"Theft," Kael finished. His face went pale. "Or someone gave it to her. Someone who wanted her to look like a legitimate mate."
"The person who wrote the note," I said. "They're helping her. Setting this up."
"But why?" Lyra asked. "What's the endgame?"
Before anyone could answer, the throne room doors exploded open.
A girl walked in, and my heart stopped.
Seraphine looked exactly like me. Same auburn hair, same green eyes, same delicate features. We could have been twins.
But where I looked tired and scared, she looked radiant. Powerful. Her dress shimmered with silver thread. Her hands glowed with soft magic. And cradled in her arms was a dragon egg, pulsing with golden light.
"Hello, little sister," she said sweetly. Too sweetly. "Did you really think you could steal my life forever?"
Every eye in the room turned to me.
"I didn't steal anything," I said. "I was a baby when they swapped us."
"But you knew." Her smile was sharp. "You knew you weren't the real princess, and you came here anyway. You tricked my poor Kael into thinking you were his mate."
"I never claimed to be his mate."
"Didn't you?" She walked closer, the egg glowing brighter. "Didn't you let him believe? Let him hope? And all along, you knew the truth would destroy him."
Kael's hand touched my shoulder. A warning or comfort, I couldn't tell.
"That's enough," he said coldly. "State your business, Princess Seraphine."
"My business?" She laughed. "I'm here to break your curse, Dragon King. I'm here to save your dying kingdom. And I'm here to take my rightful place as your mate and queen."
"The throne is currently occupied."
"By a fake." Seraphine's eyes flashed. "By a common girl who doesn't belong here. But don't worry, Kael. I forgive you for being fooled. Now that I'm here, everything can be as it should."
She stepped forward and the dragon egg pulsed.
Every dragon in the room felt it. I saw them react—heads lifting, eyes glowing, wings rustling.
The egg was calling to them.
"You see?" Seraphine smiled. "Even your dragons know I'm real. They recognize their true queen."
"Or they recognize stolen magic," Lyra said sharply. "That egg shouldn't be responding to you. Not unless—"
But she never finished.
Because suddenly, Seraphine's eyes turned completely black.
Not just the pupils. The entire eye, like pools of darkness.
And her sweet voice changed into something ancient and terrible: "Hello, Kael. Did you miss me? It's been five hundred years since you killed me. But death couldn't keep me away from you. Nothing could."
My blood turned to ice.
Because I recognized that voice.
Everyone did.
It was the voice of the princess who'd cursed the kingdom five centuries ago.
The one Kael had killed with his own hands.
Somehow, impossibly, she was back.
And she was wearing my sister's face.