The Cursed Queen (Dragon’s Curse #1)

Sera

The tension between my mother and me was thicker than a dragon's breath. My question now hung in the air, awaiting her response. The lack of an answer was killing me, but after what felt was an eternity later, Mother surprised me by laughing. I gritted my teeth and balled my hands into fists on my lap, trying to sustain my anger.

"Oh dear, phina. What an adorable imagination you have. Dragon shifters , how preposterous," she cackled, as if I told her the funniest joke.

"It's not preposterous, and you know it," I retorted. "I know, Mother. I know everything. Not a single dragon in this kingdom is a pure dragon. They're all half-human, aren't they?"

I had to give her credit. Mother's acting was remarkable. With my heightened magic free, I could sense the rapid increase of her heartbeat, but she carried on as if she was ignorant about what I uncovered. "That's enough, darling. You're only embarrassing yourself. There's no such thing as dragon shifters. Now then, have some tea."

As she leaned over to her right to pour me a cup, I centered myself so as not to blow up at her. I winced as the pain in my chest returned, but I forced it back. Now was not the time for this.

"So, you want to keep pretending that I don't know what I'm talking about? Fine. Then how about you explain why you've been feeding me a remedy that wasn't a cure for a make-believe curse, but to sustain my magic all these years?"

Mother frowned as she handed me the cup. "Honestly, phina, where are you getting these ridiculous accusations from? Is it that boy, Virgil? Is he filling your head with such nonsense? I will have him arrested and put on trial for this."

"Virgil didn't tell me anything."

"Then it must be that servant girl of yours. Vivienne? I should've known. I knew she'd be nothing but trouble from the minute I laid eyes on her."

"Vivienne doesn't know anything about this, Mother!" I shouted, feeling the heat of my rage rising.

Right as the words left me, I heard a crack followed by pain coming from my cheek. Mother had slapped me, her eyes narrowed, and a frown was plastered on her face.

"You will not use that tone with me, you ungrateful, worthless little worm. You will respect me. Now do as I say. Sit down, keep your mouth shut, and drink your tea. You'll feel much better afterward."

I opened my mouth to protest, but froze when every warning sign went off in my head. She seemed so insistent on me drinking the tea. Why? Eyes narrowing, I brought the cup up to my nose to take a whiff and was hit with the all-too-familiar aroma of heavy spice and chilled mint.

Dragonsbane.

Mother was trying to secretly drug me and suppress my magic again. She was trying to revert me to my weak and vulnerable state so she could overpower me.

"No," I declared, before crushing the cup in my hand. The remnants of the tea plus droplets of my blood from the sharp fragments stabbing into my skin dripped from my clenched fist to the ground.

"I'm growing tired of you feigning ignorance, Mother. I want the truth!"

As if my outburst was a signal, an explosion sounded, causing the ground beneath our feet to rumble. The crowd's cheering died down, replaced with confusion and panic. Mother rose to her feet and looked off as guards ran out of the arena to find a solution to what had happened. But I knew. The confusion hadn't lasted long before three dragons soared through the sky and circled the arena, Andriel leading them. I smiled as the dragons shot flames across the field. The crowd dispersed and ran out of the stands as fast as they could to get away from the destruction. My mother was trying to bark orders for the dragon riders to do something.

Meanwhile, I calmly stood from my seat and turned to leave so I could regroup with Andriel and get them all back to their home.

"Hold it right there, young lady," Mother growled at me.

I stopped but didn't bother to turn back to face her.

"You did this, didn't you?"

"I did," I simply said. "And as much as I'd like to stay and demand you answer some questions, I have somewhere else to be."

"You're not going anywhere, you bitch!"

I heard Mother's footsteps coming to me. I turned and waved my hand out, releasing my magic and creating a wall of amethyst flames to shield me from her. Mother shrieked and backed away.

"I don't think so," I growled.

"How dare you? After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me?" Mother asked, like I had the audacity to be appalled by her actions.

"Drugging me my whole life? Lying about enslaving shifters for your own selfish purposes? Playing the victim while ruining several lives? You're right, Mother, how rude of me not to be on my knees thanking you for all your sacrifice." I shook my head. "How could you? How could you toy with people's lives? I may not have the power to undo all the wrongs you have committed, but I promise you this, Queen Verania, you will never capture another dragon shifter again. I shall see to it."

"Impudent child!" my mother spat with venom. "You care more for those tenacious beasts than you do for your own family. You're no better than your father."

"What?" I gaped at the mention of my father. "My father? What are you talking about?"

I heard nothing about my father before, other than he passed away after I was born. But why was she bringing him up now, and what did she mean when she said I was no better than him?

My mother smirked devilishly. If she were a fisher, she would've already hooked me with a bait like that hoisting me out of the water, gasping for oxygen.

"Oh, so there are things you still don't know," she said, taunting me.

I growled and stepped closer to the flames. "What don't I know? Tell me!"

She never got the chance to tell me before another explosion sounded. This time, the ground quaking was strong enough to knock me off my feet.

" Princess, " Andriel's voice rang in my head. " We must leave now. "

Damn it, I was wasting time. As much as I wanted to force my mother to tell me what she knew about my father, Andriel and his group of dragons needed to escape more. From where I sat, I could already see a battalion of dragon riders taking to the sky to subdue the escaped dragons.

Mother also looked behind her at the rising number of dragon riders and began laughing. "You may as well surrender now, phina. Your new friends have been captured once, and we can do it again. For once in your life, do as you're told and give up this ridiculous plan of yours."

I didn't bother to respond. I merely pushed myself back to my feet, pulled off the tiara from my head and tossed it to the ground, watching as it slid to mother's feet. My time as the Zeffari Kingdom's princess was at an end. I refused to be part of this. Now I would do everything in my power to see that the dragon shifters would never fall into captivity again.

I didn't even say as much as a goodbye before turning and running out the door. I could hear my mother screaming for the guards to stop me as I ran down the steps. As I was heading down, a group of knights were running up to aid the queen and stop me. While I may have had some combat experience, even when I was still believing I was cursed, one versus many were still not good odds. Referring to my next plan and praying to the gods that my slow-growing magic wouldn't fail me now, I recalled a flash bomb enchantment from my studies. Holding my hand out, I cast the enchantment and reveled in my success before the narrow corridor was illuminated by white flashing lights.

Several guards groaned and shouted, covering their eyes, and backing away, trying to regain their sight. I guess they were still expecting me not to use enchantments. I cast another enchantment and dashed past the guards, still in a stupor. Once I was past them, I jumped off the wall and landed back on the ground before running the rest of the way down the steps. Two guards had already regained their sight and continued in their pursuit of me. Waving my arm behind me, I cast another wall of fire to stall them longer.

Finally, I made it outside where hundreds upon thousands of people were still running mad. Up in the sky, I could spot two of the dragons Virgil released, trying to lose three dragon riders following behind them. Enchanting flames spewed from their mouths, but the riderless dragons scattered to avoid a direct hit.

" Where are you? " I mentally called out for Andriel.

Worrying that Andriel had been captured when there was no answer, I felt the sudden sting in my skull, then heard his voice. " Head for higher ground. I'm coming to get you. "

Higher ground? I looked around before spotting the closest spire for me to run up to. Unfortunately, I had to shove my way through a crowd of panicked spectators, but I had no choice. Before I was in the clear, I muttered an invisibility enchantment under my breath, feeling a cool sensation running over my body as it went into effect. So, this was what it was like to freely cast enchantments. I could get used to it.

Now it no longer mattered when I broke free from the crowd. Nobody could see me running to the spire. I stole a quick glance behind me, seeing the knights frantically searching for me. I smirked before running in the opposite direction and heading for the entrance to the spire. The dragon's noise had distracted the guards, so I opened the door and paused for a second.

I was really doing this. In a few moments, Andriel would come for me, and we'd escape together. I'd be leaving the Zeffari Kingdom behind me. The princess side of me was chastising me for betraying and abandoning my kingdom, but the other side of me felt I didn't belong here. I belonged with Andriel, with the dragons. This wouldn't be permanent, not until every single dragon was free from their control, and my mother was no longer in control.

I could do this.

I had to do this.

Steeling myself, I took one step forward before crying out in agony; the pain breaking my focus on the invisibility enchantment, causing it to dispel and making my form visible again. The pain was getting worse, and I didn't know what it could mean. Was it a side effect of my magic being suppressed for too long? Was my body struggling to adjust to the changes?

"Princess?" I heard someone up the stairs calling for me.

Not knowing if they were friend or foe, I leaned against the wall to keep myself up, preparing to unleash another flash bomb or a wall of fire. Whichever I could do first. It wasn't till someone came around the corner to reveal that it was Vivienne. I dropped my hand, feeling unsteady, but relieved that she was unharmed. Before I could collapse, Vivienne got to me in time and held me up.

"There you are. I was so worried. Now hurry. You need to get up to the balcony. Your dragon friend is waiting," she explained as she helped me up the steps.

My stomach felt as if a sword was stabbing through my gut repeatedly, every pierce worse than the previous one. "S-Something's wrong with me," I got out through gritted teeth, wincing with each step.

"It'll be okay, I promise. As soon as you're away from here and back at Dragons Peak, all will be explained."

"What will be explained?" I asked seconds before her words sank in. "Wait, you knew they were shifters?"

Vivienne nodded. "I know a lot more than that, but , you must understand that I had no part in their captivity. Nor was there anything I could do to set them free. There's a lot more to this than you realize, but we don't have a lot of time to talk about it."

So many questions were running through my mind, but as much as I wanted to ask them all, Vivienne was right. My time was limited, and I needed to leave with the dragons now. There was one thing I needed to know first. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because your father asked me to watch over you," was all she said.

My father. Twice now, he was mentioned. He must've had connections with the dragons, but what was it?

Halfway up the steps, the world shook again, causing dust and debris to rain down on us. Vivienne urged me to keep moving, so I did. We reached the top just as we heard commotions coming from down below. Cursing under my breath, Vivienne and I made it outside onto the balcony. Closing the door, I enchanted a lock spell on the door to buy us more time. The dragon riders were still going at it while trying to apprehend two of the dragons. One was missing, and my heart sank to the pit of my stomach when I noticed who was absent.

"Andriel!" I screamed for him, looking around but not seeing him.

My eyes burned with unshed tears as panic festered, thinking about the worst-case scenario.

"!" I heard the faintest sound of my name from a distance, so I hobbled to the metal rails and looked out. It sounded like Virgil, but where was he? My answer came for both him and Andriel when I saw my mate diving through the clouds like an arrow, narrowly avoiding bursts of dragons' flames. Virgil was riding on Andriel's back like a naturally trained dragon rider, only Virgil wasn't using magic to control Andriel. No, Andriel was in control, whereas Virgil was merely a passenger, and acting as an extra set of eyes while Andriel was flying.

Now that was a true dragon rider.

"Over here!" I shouted, raising my arms up.

Andriel looped over a volley of flames, narrowly avoiding contact. Flipping himself around to right himself up, he tackled the dragon rider, who tried to hit him. Meanwhile, Virgil unsheathed his sword and jumped off Andriel, shakily making it on top of the enemy dragon. The knight barely had time to draw his own sword before Virgil pierced through the man's armor and stabbed straight through the heart. I watched as the faint glow of magic fogging the enemy dragon's eyes faded. With the druid knight dead, the spell over the dragon was gone.

Virgil kicked the now-dead druid off his sword, letting the corpse fall from the sky and onto the ground. Now free from the mind control, Andriel released the dragon he'd been fighting with just as Virgil jumped back onto his back. I was so enraptured by what was happening with them I was startled by another dragon rider, this one hovering in front of me. I gasped as Vivienne and I stepped back. Vivienne put herself in front of me despite my protest.

"Sorry, Princess, but I have to follow orders," the druid rider said before muttering another enchantment. The dragon he was on whined and shuddered, but then opened its elongated mouth as he readied to breathe fire over us.

"No!" I tried to get Vivienne to move out of the way, but she held firm in trying to protect me. If she took the full force of a dragon's fire, she'd die. I didn't want to lose her. Not when we were this close to freedom.

The dragon reared its head back, ready to fire, but another dragon tackled it from the side. I recognized my savior as the slim, blue-green dragon who was unconscious the morning he and Andriel were brought to the castle. He was in the same stable as Andriel's, but I hadn't paid him nearly as much attention as I should've. I would have to rectify that once we were free and away from here.

"Princess!" Virgil and Andriel finally made it over to it, hovering low enough for Vivienne and me to jump on top of Andriel's back.

"Come on, we must leave now." Virgil stuck out his hand to me.

"Go. You go first." Vivienne urged me forward.

I shook my head while grabbing hold of Virgil. "What about you?" I asked as Virgil helped me up.

"I'm right behind you, don't worry—" But before Vivienne could finish what she was saying, she and I both heard loud thumps coming from behind us. We turned to see the door rattling as someone tried breaking through it. My lock spell was holding on, but it wouldn't last forever.

"Shit," Vivienne cursed, then gestured for us to leave. "Go! Hurry!"

"No!" I gasped. "I won't leave you!"

"Yes, you will. You must!"

Another bang sounded, and the magic barricading began cracking from the force of the impact. Another slam and the wood began splintering. A few seconds and we would meet whoever was coming for us. I could have Andriel fry whoever it was, but Vivienne would get hurt in the crossfire. Virgil and I could hop down and fight them off. We could take them.

"Go!" Vivienne screamed at us once again.

"Andriel, fly," Virgil said.

"What? No, we can't!" I made to jump off Andriel's back, but Virgil wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I growled and tried to break free from his hold, but even with my growing physical strength, it was no match for Virgil's hard muscles. "Release me at once. We can't leave her like this."

"We don't have a choice," Virgil argued, then to Andriel, he said, "We need to leave now."

I was already crying, praying to any god who could hear me to not let this happen. I couldn't lose the only person who truly loved me. Who spent my entire life watching over me. She was the first friend I ever made before Virgil.

I cried and screamed as Andriel flapped his massive wings to take to the sky. At that moment, the door finally flew open, and the guards rushed out swarming the balcony, swords and spears drawn. Vivienne pulled out a dagger before turning to face them. I struggled harder to break free, but it was too late. We were already high in the sky, and the sight of Vivienne grew smaller and smaller from the distance. I screamed her name one last time before she was completely out of sight, and likely dead now.