The Cursed Queen (Dragon’s Curse #1)

Drayce

I stared in shock as the princess I knew to be my mate screamed and contorted until her body transformed before us. I didn't know what was happening to her, but I knew what my dragon sensed inside her.

Another dragon.

One that I didn't detect fully, but only caught minor glimpses of an inner fire growing within her. How was it possible? Did this mean the princess was a dragon shifter, too? The pain she felt eventually became too much for her and she passed out when her wings erupted from her back. The flames surrounding her extinguished, and Andriel and the druid knight that accompanied my mate rushed to her aid. So did Ryu, which left an ache in my chest.

She was also his mate, which would now complicate my relationship with him. I knew this day would eventually come, that there would be a time when one or both of us would find our fated mate, and the love we shared for one another would have to end. I just didn't think we would find our fated mate this way, or that we would have the same one. What did that mean for us?

I never heard of more than one shifter being fated to the same person. As far as I knew, we only had one fated mate, and that was the person the dragon gods deemed worthy of being our love for all eternity. So how was it that the princess had four fated mates?

Get it together, . Now wasn't the time to worry about that.

I shook the thoughts from my head just as the medical team rushed over to Seraphina. Freya, the head medical shifter, turned the princess on her back, checking her pulse, then rested a hand over her heart. Magic sizzled from her palm and rippled through my mate's unconscious body. She looked sickly pale. Her body, half soft flesh, and half scales, had an amethyst glow along the ridges.

"What can you tell us, Freya? What's happening to the princess?" Lord Igneel asked, taking a step closer to Freya.

Freya pulled back her hand and frowned down at the princess. "There's no mistaking it. There's a dragon inside her, which makes her a shifter, but she's also a druid."

"A hybrid," Lord Igneel breathed out, as if saying it out loud was too much for the aging dragon lord.

My brothers and I looked at one another in confusion. This wasn't the first time we'd heard of a dragon hybrid—since Ryu was one too—but this was the first time we'd come across one who was half-druid. When did a dragon shifter and a druid get together?

"Is there anything you can do about her current condition? She looks as if her dragon's trying to shift but is stuck halfway," Andriel said, holding one of the princess's hands between his. The druid knight that accompanied the princess held the other. My dragon wanted to snatch him away from our mate. How dare he be so close to someone who was ours and think he could get away with it?

As if sensing my unease, Ryu turned his eyes in my direction and faintly shook his head no. I frowned, feeling embarrassed that the man I loved felt my need to claim someone else. But he should've also felt the same way, yet he was as calm as the ocean on a clear day.

"I'm not sure. We'll need to get her to the recovery cave at once, then we can examine her," Freya said. She ordered one of the other medics to shift into his dragon form. He did, and with the help of Andriel and the druid knight, placed the princess onto the dragon's back and took off for the sky. The dragon flew north of the mountains where the recovery cave was located.

The rest of us stood there dumbfounded until Lord Igneel cleared his throat.

"I need you five to come with me," he said, including the druid knight, then addressed the rest of our den. "The rest of you, back to what you were doing. We will discuss what to do about our... newest guests once we know the princess' condition."

"The druid princess, you mean," Baxus, the shifter who tried to go for the princess and knight, snapped; his crimson eyes flaring with heat.

"She's also one of us, in case the partial shift wasn't clear to your pea-sized brain," Ryu stated flatly, his back to Baxus and his eyes closed.

Baxus scoffed. "Of course, you would defend the freak, considering you're also a dragon abomination."

Now I truly lost all control. Before my brain could catch up on what I was doing, I was a blur of anger and flames that charged for Baxus, tackling him to the ground and pinning him underneath me. I had one knee pressing into his stomach, and a claw that I partially shifted wrapped around his throat. Baxus' eyes shifted but was wise enough not to do so the rest of the way. He grabbed onto my arm, trying to pull my claw away from his throat, but my sharp talons already broke through the skin of his neck. If he pulled away now, his throat would be shredded, and he'd die.

I lowered myself to him, growling as smoke spewed from between my lips. "Say one more word about the princess, or my love, and I will rip your fucking head off your shoulders and stick it to the top of the pole in front of my cave."

"!" My body shuddered at Lord Igneel's use of my name. Reluctantly, I released Baxus from my hold and took a step back.

Our dragon Lord's sharp gaze fell onto Baxus, who sat up rubbing at his neck, the puncture wounds and bruises already healing. "This goes for all of you here. I'm aware of the destruction the druids have caused our clan. However, we must acknowledge that these four here are safe now because of what the princess and her friend have done. As you all have witnessed, she also appears to be a dragon, which makes her one of us, hybrid or not. We have never once turned one of our own away, and this will be no exception."

I could tell Baxus wanted to protest further, but learned to watch his tongue. Further insubordination would result in him dealing with Lord Igneel personally, and he was someone you didn't want to trifle with.

"As I said before, this discussion is over for now. Everyone, back to what you were doing." At our lord's command, everyone scattered throughout the mountain range. Baxus took a moment longer to retreat, but eventually, he did. All that remained aside from Lord Igneel were us four shifters—the ones who had claimed the princess to be our mate—and the druid knight who seemed to finally relax when he felt he was no longer a target for an attack.

"Lord Igneel, was it?" the druid knight spoke up. "My apologies for bringing chaos to your people with our presence here. This is new for Sera and me as well."

"I assume you didn't know she was a hybrid?" Lord Igneel asked.

He shook his head. "Sir, I doubt Sera herself knew."

"My lord, if I may interject," Andriel cut in. "I had my suspicions that there was something off with the princess. I felt the weak flame within her, but it was hard to determine if she had a dragon in her or not. The medicine she was taking had traces of dragonsbane in it."

"I see. How long was she on this medicine?"

"Her whole life, sir," the druid knight spoke. "She was believed to be weak and cursed, which required her to take the medicine daily."

This was all new to me. What surprised me was how close Andriel seemed to have gotten with the princess. It irked my dragon immensely.

"My lord, I also have a theory about the princess' bloodline that we should discuss behind closed doors," Andriel added.

An ocean of sadness clouded the elderly lord's eyes as he nodded. "I think I know what you're referring to, and you're right, we should talk. Everyone, follow me inside."

He turned and walked back inside the main cavern, with Andriel and the druid knight following behind immediately. Ladon, who had been silent the whole time, seemed to hesitate before following along. That left me and Ryu.

"You didn't have to defend me, you know," Ryu said softly. "It doesn't bother me that much anymore."

"The fact that it still bothers you at all is why I still defend you. Nobody should make you feel inferior for not being a pureblood."

Ryu's expression softened; the faintest trace of his smile plastered on his angelic face had my heart stuttering. "My big, angry hero. Come on, we should catch up."

"W-Wait," I called out to him. "What are we going to do about—"

"We'll discuss that later," Ryu cut in, already knowing what I was going to ask.

Now that we'd found our mate, what would happen to us?

I didn't want to lose him, but I also couldn't deny my dragon the need to be close to our fated mate. At least I knew being in the princess's presence didn't somehow erase all my feelings for Ryu. I wasn't sure that was a good thing. Ryu seemed composed, considering I was mentally struggling to comprehend what this would mean for our relationship. Then again, he was always that way. Stoic, collected, swift, reasonable. He knew when to push his emotions back when needed; it was what made him such a deadly warrior. You never knew when to expect Ryu to strike like the predator he was.

I didn't know how he could put up with my short temper, but I was grateful for it. I hoped I wouldn't lose that.

Not wanting to fall behind, I jogged to catch up with the rest of the group. The torches mounted on the stone walls lit up as we walked through the narrow corridor. Outsiders would never realize it, but Mount Dragon's Peak was completely hollowed out. It was why we remained in hiding for so long. It was nearly impossible to reach the top of the mountains without wings, and even then, the expanse of our den inside the mountains was colossal.

"Where are we going?" Virgil asked, looking around inquisitively.

"Be quiet, druid," Ladon snapped. "Just be grateful you're allowed to venture inside."

Virgil whipped his head back with a scowl. "That's quite the attitude you have towards someone who saved your ass."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to be grateful when it was your kind who captured and manipulated my mind in the first place?"

"That's enough, you two," Lord Igneel growled, then in a softer voice, said, "We're heading into my cave where we can discuss the princess' current condition. Hopefully, we can uncover the truth of her bloodline."

Virgil seemed to accept that answer and remained quiet for the rest of the trip. When we reached the end of the corridor, Virgil gasped as he took in the sight of our den. It was roughly the size of a small village, made completely of stone. The walls expanded out, leading to several halls and cave entrances. Torches scattered throughout to light up the interior as shifters, both in human and dragon forms, carried about. In the center of it all stood the obsidian dais where Lord Igneel's throne sat. It was long, rectangular, and reached up to eight feet. The back splat was bare with an intricately carved top rail over it was an arrow tip-shaped design that held a circle in the middle. Inside the circle was a serpentine dragon turned to the side with its head facing up with its body looping to form an S shape. A pair of silver chains dangled from the top, one on each side. The dais itself was a flat surface with a set of steps leading to the throne. Two dragon statues were set on either side of the seat, the eyes glowing violet from the amethyst crystals embedded into the slots.

"Amazing," Virgil breathed out in awe. "I did not know such a place existed."

"That's the point," Ladon grumbled, but said no more when Andriel shot a glare at him.

"Our kind needed to remain secluded from the world so as not to risk complete extinction," Lord Igneel explained.

"I understand. Sera may not be here to say it, but she's already expressed how much she regrets what our people have done to yours. As for me, I clearly have a lot to unlearn from what I've been raised to believe. I sincerely apologize as well for all the trouble the Zeffari Kingdom has caused your den. Hopefully, we can soon rectify that and save the rest of the shifters."

"That is my hope as well," Lord Igneel said, then gestured for us to continue following him. He led us through the walkway along the outer walls on the right. We trailed up and around, our path leading higher, and circled the dais until we stopped at the cave behind the throne. We could've easily shifted and flew over to where it was located, but out of respect for our guest, who had no wings of his own, our dragon lord walked.

Lord Igneel pulled the drape back used to conceal the entryway and ushered us all inside. All the caves hidden within the mountains were roughly the same size as a human bedroom. There was no need for much more than a place to nest. We traveled out of the mountains to hunt for meat, or to the fields to harvest herbs and greens. The little dragonlings also had their own caves close to their parents; smaller in the beginning, but would be worked on making them bigger as they grew.

For our dragon lord, his cave was the size of two caves. A square desk set in the cave's heart with his bed set off to the far right. His walls were stacked with shelves full of books and tomes. A pillar was located over the left side, and a ceramic jar filled with ashes was placed on top. I bowed my head slightly in respect when my eyes landed on it. The ashes of the queen, Lord Igneel's mate.

Lord Igneel went around his desk and sat in the chair facing us. The cave wasn't too crowded, thankfully. Everyone stepped inside and scattered about to make room. I moved to the left, leaning against the bookcase with Ryu at my side. Ladon remained close to the entryway, and Andriel and Virgil remained where they stood in front of our lord's desk.

Lord Igneel cleared his throat. "Now, Andriel, you said you have a theory about the princess' bloodline?"

Andriel nodded. "Yes, my lord. I could be wrong about this, so please forgive me if it sounds impossible, but I believe the princess could be Daenerys."

The dragon lord's body stiffened at the sound of the name. My brow furrowed in confusion.

"Are you mad?" Ladon balked. "Why would you bring up that name? There's no way the princess could be Daenerys."

Ladon seemed to know the name, but I didn't. I looked at Ryu questioningly, but even he seemed equally perplexed.

Echoing my question, Virgil asked, "Um, who's Daenerys?"

Lord Igneel rested his elbows on the desk, his fingers interlocked as he leaned forward and rested his forehead against them. A sigh escaped his lips, and a wave of sadness permeated off him in waves. "Daenerys was the name of my daughter."

I gaped in surprise. This was the first I'd heard of Lord Igneel having a daughter. I'd often wondered about the dragon lord and Queen Calida. About why they never sired an heir before the queen's passing, or why Lord Igneel never mated again. Now the threads of information and theories connected themselves; revealing a web that completed the story. Well, maybe not the entire story because a few threads were missing to fit the overall picture.

Virgil seemed just as confused as I was. "That... can't be possible. Seraphina was born in the Zeffari Kingdom."

"She may have been known in the Zeffari Kingdom, but I don't think she was born there," Andriel said.

"You're not making any sense, Andriel. How could the druid princess be our lost princess?" Ladon asked, not liking the insinuation.

"It's the only thing that makes sense," Andriel turned to face him, scowling. "You don't think I also considered how unlikely it sounds? There are too many coincidences for Sera not to be Daenerys. How else could you explain her bloodline?"

"I don't know. Maybe the queen used her enchantment to manipulate one of her enslaved shifters to bed with her and gave birth to the bastard princess."

"How dare you," Virgil growled, stepping toward Ladon, but Andriel stretched out an arm in front of the druid knight to stop him. I could tell he wasn't fairing any better at quelling his anger but had enough control over it.

I noticed that Lord Igneel had been silent since Andriel unveiled his theory. His eyes were down, lost in his thoughts. I didn't know what to say or do in that situation. I was just as confused as the rest of them. Was it possible? Could our mate truly be the lost princess?

"My lord," Ryu spoke evenly, seeming unphased by all the commotion. "What do you think?"

Lord Igneel said nothing for a long moment that I thought he hadn't heard Ryu, but then he raised his head to face us. "I think Andriel is correct."

That got everyone's attention.

"But, sir, how can that be?" Ladon asked, his earlier fury now deflated.

"That's something I cannot reveal to you all. Not without speaking to the princess first. But I know that she's my mate's daughter. I sensed her mother's spirit inside her when she partially shifted."

I picked up on the fact that he referred to the princess as his mate's daughter. Not his. Was there an underlying meaning behind that?

"As soon as the princess awakens, I'll talk to her first. Only then will I reveal it to you all. But for now, this conversation remains between us. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my lord," Ryu, Andriel, and I echoed in unison, along with Virgil's agreement.

Ladon, of course, seemed apprehensive about it. Begrudgingly, he agreed to keep this news a secret.

Lord Igneel finally let us go our separate ways after requesting that Andriel would escort Virgil to the medical cavern to check on the princess. He agreed, and the five of us left our lord alone in his cave to wrestle with the possibility that his lost dragonling had returned to him.

"Is it possible?" Ryu asked quietly once we were outside. "Do you really think it's her?"

"Of course not," Ladon protested. "Don't be such a fool."

"The only one who's acting like a fool here, Ladon, is you," Andriel said. "I'm the one who spent the most time with her. I was the one who sensed the faintest trail of a dragon inside her. The consideration wouldn't have crossed my mind if I thought it was impossible."

"Actually, I'm the one who knows her best, but evidently not as much as I thought." Virgil huffed.

"You didn't notice any signs that the princess was part dragon?" Ryu asked.

"No, not one. The princess could never be outdoors. Not without the queen in toe, at least. She was always believed to be too frail to be alone."

"But it was that concoction with the dragonsbane mixed in that was draining her of her strength and magic," Andriel added, his face contorted into a sourfrown.

"So, the queen somehow kidnapped the dragon princess, drugged her with dragonsbane her whole life, and raised her as her own to turn against us? Something is missing here," I said, still struggling to put it all together.

"I guess we'll find out as soon as the princess wakes up. By the gods, won't she be in for quite the surprise," Andriel snorted.

"What about us?" I motioned to the four of us shifters. "What are we going to do about the fact that we're all fated to her?"

"Pfft, I don't know what you lot are planning to do, but I'm not doing anything about it," Ladon spat. "You all can have her, but I won't take part in this."

"She's your mate too," I said.

"No, she's not, and she never will be. Hybrid or not, she's still the enemy. You all may be willing to look past what her kingdom has done to us, but I don't. She's the enemy, and she always will be."

"She had no part in that!" Virgil came to the princess's defense. "Even as a child, she always loved and admired dragons."

"Virgil's correct, Ladon." Andriel rested a hand on the druid knight's shoulder. "Sera held no malice towards us even before learning the truth of what was happening to us."

Ladon didn't seem to pay attention to Andriel. All the hatred he bore was still directed at Virgil, likely wishing he could incinerate the druid knight with his eyes.

"You think I will listen to the likes of you?" Ladon stomped forward, reaching out and lifting the violet sash that looped from his left shoulder to his right hip. "I recognize this. You're a dragon rider, too. You were planning to do what has been done to the rest of us for years; to enchant and use one of us for your kingdom's army. Did anything about it seem wrong to you? Did you ever stop to question the morality of this path you were leading, or what it could do to the dragon you were planning to possess, like property? No, right? Because dragons are mindless beasts of destruction who can't feel pain . Isn't that what you all say about us while thinking we're too stupid to comprehend what was being said?"

Virgil gulped, but said nothing, his skin glistening with sweat as pain seeped through his eyes. His lips pressed firmly in a tight line. I noticed how his fists shook at his side.

Ladon had a malevolent grin on his face. "That's what I thought."

Even as Ladon stormed out of the den, the tension did little to fade. Virgil's whole body shook, trying to keep himself together, but I noticed a single tear falling from the corner of his eye.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered shakily.

Andriel lightly padded his back. "Come on. Let's go check on Sera."

He nodded, looking defeated, and followed beside Andriel as they headed for the medical cavern.