The Cursed Queen (Dragon’s Curse #1)

Sera

I was grateful that I was still sitting up on the bed. Had I been standing up, I likely would've collapsed to the floor. My eyes burned with fresh tears as I took in Lord Igneel's words.

My father. Lord Igneel, dragon lord of the Dragon's Peak Den, was my father.

He could've been lying, but somehow I knew he wasn't. I could feel the truth in his words, in the way he looked at me. He was struggling to keep himself composed. The tears that were building in his eyes were already falling.

I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say, but felt the need to say something. Anything. But no words were coming out. I was at a loss for words.

A hand gripped my left shoulder, and I looked to see Virgil, who gave me an encouraging nod. I turned to my right to meet Andriel's watchful gaze, seeing that he, too, nodded, urging me to speak up.

What could I possibly say to that?

I licked my lips, then tried again. "I... I don't understand."

"I know," Lord Igneel spoke softly before pressing another kiss to the back of my head.

"We should probably give the two of you some privacy so you can talk," Freya said, motioning for Andriel and Virgil to follow her out. Before she exited, she rested a hand on my arm. "I'll be back to check in on you later, okay?"

"Wait, what about Virgil?" I asked, concern for my friend who wouldn't exactly be welcomed with open arms.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Andriel declared. "He'll be staying with me for the time being."

At least I knew Virgil would be protected. I relaxed at that, letting the three of them go so I'd be left with Lord Ig—my father. By the gods, it felt strange referring to him in that way. It didn't feel real, but clearly everything I believed to have been my reality was fabricated. Now that included my father supposedly passing away. The more I thought of all the lies I'd been told, the angrier I grew. So did all the questions I wanted to ask.

Lord Igneel sat at the foot of the bed, refusing to release my hand the whole time. His thumb started rubbing circles along the back of my hand, which helped to soothe some of the tension I was feeling. We sat there in relative silence, but I wasn't sure for how long. Minutes ticked by before I spoke up first.

"Are you really my father?" I asked.

Lord Igneel sighed. "Yes, and no."

I frowned at that. "What does that mean?"

"It's a very long and complicated story, but one you deserve to know," he said. "While you and I do not share blood, you are the product of my mate and her former lover, your birth father, before their passing."

"What?" I stood up straighter. "Y-Your mate and her former lover? Does that mean the woman I've been living with all this time is not my actual mother?"

"Yes and no," Lord Igneel repeated from earlier. "As I said, it's a complicated story."

"Then please explain it, because I'm more confused than I've ever been."

"I understand. You see, your father was the Zeffari Kingdom's rightful king, whereas your mother was a dragon shifter he fell in love with. This was before he married the current queen, the woman you believed to have been your mother. King Alphonse was the original dragon rider of the Zeffari Kingdom. This was back when there was a unity between the druids and the dragon shifters. King Alphonse and Lady Calida fought together to defend both their homes. Oh, how they loved each other so. Many believed they have a bond that could never be broken."

"What happened to them?" I asked, enraptured by the story.

"I found Lady Calida," Lord Igneel said. "She came from a dragon den far off into the west, so we never met before. But when we did, we felt the pull between us. We were fated mates, Princess."

My mouth fell ajar. "You took her from the king?"

"No!" he blurted. "Of course not. In fact, I was willing to let her go if she truly wanted to be with King Alphonse. I could tell she wanted to, but fate's pull between us was too hard to ignore. Druids don't have fated pairs, so your father couldn't understand what was happening, but Calida knew. She couldn't bear to leave my side now that she found me. As much as she wanted to, she knew she couldn't be with the king. And as much as he loved Calida, he knew letting her go was the right thing to do. So he did. Calida stayed with me, and we completed the mate bond. As for King Alphonse, he married Queen Verania, and the two of them ruled the Zeffari Kingdom. We thought that would be the end until we learned Calida was expecting you."

As Lord Igneel was telling the story, the more my heart ached for Alphonse and Calida, my parents. Two souls who were made for each other until fate intervened. It sounded unfair. If they truly loved one another, then they should've been allowed to be together. I couldn't even be mad at Lord Igneel since he was also under fate's influence. The fact that he was willing to let his mate go so she could be with King Alphonse spoke of how much he cared for her, too. Calida, my mother, was forced to choose between my father and her mate, and in the end, she chose Lord Igneel.

"Calida was pregnant with me, but King Alphonse was the father?" I asked.

Lord Igneel nodded.

"Were you mad when you found out?"

"No," Lord Igneel replied. "Whether I had a hand in bringing you into this world, all I cared about was making sure you were healthy and loved. To the rest of the den, you were my daughter."

"Did you and Calida tell King Alphonse?" I asked.

"We did, and he was delighted that he would have an heir. Your father's love for you knew no limit, even before you were born."

"Then what happened? How did I end up with Queen Verania, and why did nobody tell me any of this?"

Lord Igneel's expression darkened. "Unfortunately, not everybody was thrilled about the news of your arrival."

Icy dread traveled through my veins as a single name fell from my lips. "Verania?"

He nodded. "She despised the knowledge of your father expecting a child from Calida. She demanded King Alphonse to never speak of it again, and to never see you or Calida again. He refused. He wanted to be in your life more than anything in the world. Alphonse traveled to our den many times to talk with Calida and me about the baby. How the three of us would take care of you."

"You too?" I asked.

Lord Igneel smiled up at me. "Yes, Princess. I was looking forward to having you in my arms and spoiling you just as much as Calida and Alphonse wished to. They even allowed me to select your name."

"You're the one who named me phina?"

"No," Lord Igneel retorted with a hint of a growl. "phina was not the name you were born with."

My eyes widened at that. So even my name wasn't real?

"Then what is my name?"

Lord Igneel gave my hand a light squeeze. "Your name, your real name, is Daenerys."

I repeated the name, letting it fall from my lips so I could grasp how it felt. Daenerys, my actual birth name. Yet it felt so foreign to me. My mother—no, Queen Verania had no right to be called my mother—robbed me of my true name. phina was who I'd always been, though I wasn't sure anymore. The phina I was before learning the truth about dragon shifters, was nothing but a doll. A puppet that was molded and controlled by the marionette queen of druids. Now the strings were cut, and I was left without an identity.

Daenerys was the me I was supposed to have been, and phina was the me I no longer wanted to be. So, where did that leave me now?

Before I could figure that out, I needed to know the rest of the story. "What happened to my parents, Lord Igneel?"

The dragon lord's eyes grew distant, as if he was stuck at that moment of time reliving whatever horrible event that transpired. "They were killed."

I gulped as the pieces fell into place, showing me who the culprit was without having to ask, but I did so anyway. "She killed them, didn't she? Verania."

Lord Igneel looked as if he was going to be sick, but he managed a nod. "Yes."

I closed my eyes as fresh tears fell; my lips pressed into a firm line when my bottom lip began trembling. It made sense now, why I always felt mother didn't truly love me. I wasn't her daughter; I was her prisoner. With my father out of the way, she could continue ruling as queen. And with me in her care, she erased half of my existence. Her quest to enslave dragon shifters must've been in retaliation for Calida and Alphonse still caring for one another. All this time, I never knew what was happening.

"My whole life has been filled with nothing but lies," I spoke meekly.

"I'm so sorry for everything you had to endure, Princess. I can't imagine the hardships you went through under Queen Verania's care."

"It wasn't easy." I scoffed. "All my life, I felt like I was weak. Too weak to become queen, too weak to become a dragon rider, too weak to ever make a difference. I thought I would have to spend the rest of my days as a magicless druid princess. Someone who would never be worthy of becoming queen, but now I find out that I'm not even a full druid. I'm a hybrid—a princess of two kingdoms—and I don't know what I'm supposed to do or believe now."

"I know it seems like a lot." Lord Igneel retracted his hand from mine, only to place it on the small of my back. "But now you have the chance to carve your own path. You now know the truth, and you also have your freedom. What you do with it depends on you."

"I don't think it's that simple. I mean, look at my current condition. If this isn't the work of some curse, then what in the bloody hell happened to me?"

"I'm sure Freya may have an answer to that." Lord Igneel faced the mouth of the cave, then loudly added, "Isn't that right?"

Seconds later, Freya nervously sauntered back inside, her face flushed with embarrassment. Was she listening in the whole time?

Freya cleared her throat. "Yes, my lord. I may know the cause of your sudden transformation, Princess. From what I understand, Andriel explained you were drinking a remedy that held a mix of dragonsbane, correct?"

I nodded.

"Dragonsbane is a deadly poison that suppresses the flow of magic within the being. For us shifters, that includes our ability to shift back and forth between our human and dragon state. This remedy may have prevented your dragon's development since you've been drinking it since you were a baby.

I suddenly thought back to the dream I had before waking up in this cave. The dragon reflection staring back at me in the water, and the colossal dragon chained to the ground and in a frail state. I mentioned it to Freya and Lord Igneel, wondering if it had any connection to what was happening with me.

"It's conceivable that your psyche is trying to repair itself by building a mental connection between you and your dragon. I say it's a good thing you stopped taking the placebo remedy, because I'm sure with a few more doses, your dragon could've perished."

Dread filled me at that. My hand went to my heart as if I could feel the sluggish beating of my dragon's heart. She could've died, and I never would've known. There was very little I knew about shifters and what it meant to be one. However, I knew that while my dragon and I may be spiritually connected; we were also separate entities. I'd only met her, but the thought of losing her, that part of me I barely got the chance to explore, threatened to shatter my very soul.

"Is there anything that can be done?" Lord Igneel asked, since I was too stunned to speak.

"The connection could grow stronger if phina stops ingesting dragonsbane. As for the partial shift, she may shift back with practice and training.

"Training?" I finally asked.

"Yes. You've never had the chance to live as a dragon shifter. That means you've missed out on the basics of learning to hone your magic, your dragonfire, and your connection to your dragon. All of which can be taught to you, and that combined with your mental bond with your dragon slowly healing itself, you may, in time, shift back into your human skin."

At least I knew the effects weren't permanent. More importantly, if training would help bring strength back into my dragon, then I would do it. Having the power to better control my shift and my magic would also serve me in rescuing the other dragon shifters in captivity. I swore I would do everything I could to right the wrongs of the Zeffari Kingdom, and learning to become a true dragon shifter was the first step in making that happen.

But there was one thing I still needed answers about.

"What about the guys?" I asked Lord Igneel. "They all claimed to be my fated mates. Is something like that even possible?"

Lord Igneel frowned. "No, this is a first for our kind. It's not uncommon for us to find our fated mates, but we've never heard stories about being fated to more than one being. Perhaps fate is trying to tell us something."

If that was true, then what was it trying to tell us? Why pair me to four dragons?

"What can be done about it?" I asked.

"I think that's a question only you and your mates can answer. My advice would be to talk with them, see how they feel and figure out your next move should be. No matter the outcome, they're bound to you, as you are to them. That connection will always be there."

I assumed he spoke from personal experience with Calida. A bond so powerful that not even true love could refrain from its hold over them. I wondered about their mating. Had they felt love for one another, or had they merely tolerated one another? Just because fated paired them together, that didn't mean they were forced to love each other. I could tell that there was love from Lord Igneel's side simply by the way he talked about Calida. But were his feelings reciprocated, or was her love for Alphonse so strong that there wasn't enough room for him?

I wanted to ask him about it, but felt it was an inappropriate time to do so. Besides, I had a feeling that Lord Igneel and I would spend a lot more time together during my stay here. I wasn't sure that it would be my permanent residence just yet, but it would be indefinitely, at least until I had better control over my new dragon abilities. Surely, the dragon lord and I would find time to talk along the way.

"Thank you," I said.

"For what?"

"For telling me about my parents. For revealing the answers I'd long sought to uncover but felt they were out of reach. I'm unsure where to go from here, but it's comforting to know that I at least won't be alone in this."

Lord Igneel surprised me by pulling me into a tight embrace, his arms wrapped firmly around my back, being mindful of my newly developed wings. I couldn't explain the wave of emotions washing over me. Lord Igneel technically wasn't my birth father, but he was still meant to have been a father figure in my life. Having him hugging me made me wish I had the chance to experience it from Calida and Alphonse. It hit me at that moment. I would never know them. Not personally. They weren't in my life, and even after learning the truth about them, they never would be.

Thinking about Queen Verania, and all that she stole from not only the dragon's den, but from me as well, brought more fuel to the flames of rage burning inside me. My fight with her became more personal, and now I had a new purpose to add to my overall goal.

I will avenge the death of my parents.

"I'm just glad to have you home," Lord Igneel said softly. "phina—Daenerys—no matter where your path leads, you are still the Princess of the Dragon's Peak Den. This will always be your home. Never forget that."

Home. I was home.