Chapter 7 - The Hidden Clan
Lucan had told Mara his sister died ten years ago.
Apparently, death had been exaggerated.
“You buried an empty coffin,” Tessa said as they rode deeper into Blackwood.
Lucan glared at her. “You let me.”
“I was being hunted.”
“So you sent no word?”
“I sent three.”
Lucan’s anger faltered.
“Three?”
Tessa looked at Mara. “Someone in the palace intercepted them.”
Mara already knew who she suspected.
They reached a settlement hidden inside a ravine.
No banners.
No roads.
Only cabins, forges, and watchtowers carved into black stone.
Children stopped playing when Mara entered.
Some had ordinary human faces.
Others had scales along their hands.
One boy had silver eyes with vertical pupils.
Mara stopped.
“Drakeborn.”
Tessa nodded.
“Not extinct. Just tired of kings trying to finish the job.”
An old healer named Brin examined Elara.
He touched one tiny wing and pulled his hand back when it sparked.
“Strong,” he said.
“Is that good?” Mara asked.
“No.”
Mara’s stomach dropped.
Brin softened. “It means the dragon king can feel her from farther away.”
“Can we break the bond?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe is not enough.”
“It’s what I have.”
He led them into a cave painted with ancient symbols.
At the center stood a stone carving of a woman holding a child before a massive dragon.
Mara recognized the face.
Hers again.
“This is impossible.”
Brin shook his head. “It isn’t you. It’s Vaela, the first Drakeborn queen.”
Tessa lit a torch.
“Your bloodline doesn’t just carry dragon blood, Mara. It carries her memory.”
Mara stared at the carving.
“So the prophecy?”
“Was changed.”
Lucan frowned. “Changed how?”
Brin pointed to symbols beneath the carving.
“The original words say: When the mother’s monster wakes, the chained crown will fall.”
Mara looked at him.
“That doesn’t sound like the end of the world.”
“It isn’t.”
Tessa’s voice hardened.
“It’s the end of the Ashbourne dynasty.”
Lucan stepped back.
Mara felt suddenly cold.
“The royal family rewrote the prophecy.”
“For seven hundred years,” Brin said. “Every generation taught the kingdom to fear the child who could free the dragon king.”
Mara looked down at Elara.
“Then why did my mother say he’d become young again?”
Brin’s face darkened.
“Because that part is true.”
“And if he does?”
“The king under the palace is not a prisoner waiting for justice.”
Brin stared at the cave entrance.
“He is a tyrant waiting for a body.”
A horn sounded outside.
Tessa drew her sword.
One of her scouts rushed in.
“Riders!”
“How many?”
“Fifty.”
Tessa looked at Mara.
“Royal banners.”
Mara’s heart stopped.
May you like
Then the scout added,
“The king himself is leading them.”
