The forest was quiet as I stepped into its shadowed embrace, the chatter of the training yard left far behind. The air was cool, carrying with it the faint scent of pine and earth, and the only sound was the rhythmic crunch of my boots against the ground. For once, the weight of my position, the stares, and the endless whispers about Jasmine had faded, replaced by the stillness of the woods.
Ahead, the sound of dragon wings cutting through the air brought me out of my thoughts. I glanced up just in time to see Grasel, Rooney's Red Dred, and Driane, Shawn's Sky Sealer, circling above. Their massive forms moved with precision and grace, and the glint of sunlight on their scales made them look like gods of the sky. Rooney stood nearby, his dark hair tousled by the wind as he watched his dragon soar. Shawn leaned casually against a tree, his arms crossed, an easy smirk playing on his lips.
As I approached, they both turned toward me, neither saying a word. Rooney fell into step beside me, his expression as unreadable as ever, while Shawn fell in on the other side. The three of us walked in silence, the only sound the crunch of leaves and the occasional distant roar from one of the dragons.
For all our camaraderie, silence often spoke more than words between us. We all carried wounds that words couldn't heal. Wounds the king himself had inflicted.
It was Shawn who broke the silence first. "You haven't given up on that ridiculous cloak, have you?" His tone was light, but there was an edge of wariness as he spoke.
I followed his gaze and saw a figure emerging from the trees ahead. Terran. Cloaked, as always. His hood was pulled low over his face, hiding his features, but his presence was unmistakable. The way he moved, his steps slow and deliberate, sent a ripple of unease through the air.
Terran's laugh echoed, low and guttural, the kind of sound that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. "Ah, Shawn," he drawled, his voice carrying a strange, almost musical lilt. "Always so sharp with your tongue. It's good to see some things never change."
Shawn rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "The cloak's still stupid. And so's your laugh. What do you want?"
Terran ignored the jab, turning his gaze toward me. I could feel his eyes, even if I couldn't see them, boring into me through the shadows of his hood. "How's the princess?" he asked, his tone dripping with mockery. "Is she dead yet? I heard she can't stand the sight of blood."
The mention of Jasmine made my jaw clench. My silence didn't go unnoticed. Rooney turned to Terran, his expression darkening. "How do you know that?" he demanded.
Terran's grin widened, visible even beneath his hood. "Oh, come now," he said, spreading his arms in a gesture of mock innocence. "You think I don't keep my ears open? It's my business to know these things."
"It's none of your business," I said sharply, cutting him off. My voice was calm, but there was steel beneath it. "Whatever you think you're doing, stay out of it."
Terran tilted his head, his grin never faltering. "Oh, but it is my business," he said. "We need to know her weakness if we're going to kill her."
"We're not killing her,sadly" Shawn said before I could respond, his tone laced with annoyance. He glanced at me, his brow raised as if to say, Are you going to handle this, or should I?
I felt the weight of their stares but didn't react. They didn't understand. They couldn't. The plan required her alive, not just for now but for what lay ahead. Jasmine wasn't just another cadet or a pawn in this game. She was the key.
She and her younger sister had been chosen at birth.
Jennette's death had been a setback, but Jasmine was still here, still breathing, and that meant there was still hope. If the king found out what she carried—what we knew she carried—it would be enough to break him. Not for the kingdom, not for the people. That bastard didn't care about anyone but himself. But for his own twisted sense of power? For his legacy? He would do anything.
Anything.
The thought of him made my blood boil. He was a liar, a hypocrite, a monster hiding behind the veneer of nobility. The world saw a king, a man who ruled with strength and wisdom, but we knew the truth.
He had taken everything from us.
My mother—stolen from her husband, Rooney's father, to be kept as a concubine. The king had paraded her like a trophy, a conquest, while Rooney and I were forced to watch from the shadows. And Shawn? His story wasn't much better. His mother, already pregnant with his sister, had been taken as well. The king hadn't cared. He'd slept with her anyway, laughing in the face of her pain, of Shawn's fury.
The memories burned like acid in my mind, but I held them back, swallowing the rage that threatened to spill over.
Shawn's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "They don't get it," he muttered, his gaze fixed on Terran. "Why keep her alive? Why let her stay when we could just end it here and now?"
I didn't answer right away. Instead, I looked at the ground, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. When I finally spoke, my voice was low, almost a whisper. "Because she has it."
Rooney and Shawn both turned to me, their expressions unreadable. Terran, for once, was silent, though I could feel his curiosity simmering beneath the surface.
"She has what we've been searching for," I continued, my gaze distant. "She and her sister were chosen for a reason. Jennette is gone, but Jasmine… she's still here. If we can keep her, if we can control her…" My voice trailed off, but the implication was clear. The king would do anything to protect her, and that meant we had leverage.
The silence that followed was heavy, the air thick with unspoken tension. Rooney finally broke it, his voice soft but firm. "And if she resists?"
"She won't," I said, though even I wasn't sure if I believed it. Jasmine was stubborn, defiant, and unpredictable. But she was also untrained, inexperienced. She didn't understand the power she held, and that gave us the advantage.
"She'd better not," Terran said, his grin returning. "Because if she does, I won't hesitate."
I didn't respond. Instead, I looked up at the sky, where Zen, my Dark Dagger dragon, was circling above. His sleek black scales shimmered faintly in the moonlight, his golden eyes watching me with the same intensity I felt in my chest.
The king thought he was untouchable, that he could take and destroy without consequence. But his time was running out.
We would make sure of it.