Look at her!
There’s real magic coming out of her hands!
The voice bounced hard off the cold stone walls.
Everyone froze right where they stood.
Sera stayed completely rooted to the spot.
The burning heat in her hand was still there.
A bright golden light leaked right out through the cracks of her fingers.
A crowd started gathering almost immediately.
Students stopped dead in their tracks just to stare.
Some had their eyes wide in total shock while others looked genuinely terrified.
”How is this even possible?” a voice whispered from the crowd.
“Her score was literally zero percent.
”Maybe the testing crystal was broken,” someone else said.
”Or maybe she’s cursed,” a third person added nervously.
”Get me away from her,” a girl squeaked while pulling hard on her friend’s arm.
”Who knows what kind of disease that is.” Sera pulled her glowing hand tight against her chest.
But the golden light bled right through the thick fabric of her uniform.
It was completely impossible to hide.
Run, her mind screamed at her.
Get out of here right now.
But her feet felt like they were glued to the floor.
Suddenly the packed crowd split straight down the middle.
Like an invisible blade had just cut through them.
Crown Prince Caelum Drayke.
Dark hair and eyes as blue and cold as ice.
His face was totally blank but his sharp eyes were locked right onto Sera’s glowing hand.
He stopped in his tracks.
For a few long seconds nobody even dared to breathe.
”Everyone leave.
Right now,” Caelum said at last.
His voice was quiet and almost normal.
But it had a heavy weight to it that made everyone listen instantly.
Nobody moved at first.
”Now.” That one word was all it took.
The crowd broke apart immediately.
Students pushed past each other to get down the hallway leaving a trail of scared whispers behind them.
A few people turned back to look one last time trying to make sense of what they just saw.
Until only Sera and Caelum were left in the empty corridor.
Along with her hand still glowing with bright golden light.
”Can you stop it?” Caelum asked looking at her face.
There was no kindness in his voice.
Just a straight plain question.
”I don’t know,” Sera said with her voice shaking badly.
”It’s just happening on its own.” Caelum took a step closer.
Then another one.
Sera wanted to step back and put some space between them.
But her body just wouldn’t move.
He stopped right in front of her.
So close that Sera could feel his breath in the cold air.
His light blue eyes which usually looked totally empty showed a sudden spark of something real.
Curiosity.
Or maybe something much worse.
He slowly brought his right hand up.
Sera held her breath.
But Caelum didn’t actually touch her.
His hand hovered just an inch away from her burning palm.
He stared at the light like he was reading some ancient language only he could understand.
”This is dragon magic,” he muttered with his voice barely a breath.
Sera’s eyes went wide.
“What?
”Not many people alive would know what this is,” Caelum said with his eyes still stuck on her hand.
”Because nobody has seen it in this world for hundreds of years.” ”I’ve read through the locked royal records.” ”I’ve seen the drawings in the old scrolls hidden deep in our vaults.” He finally looked up and his blue eyes hit hers.
”An Ancient Dragon Bloodline.
Locked away.
And now it’s waking up.” Sera’s chest felt heavy as her heart pounded.
”That’s impossible.
I don’t have noble blood.
My mom was just ”Your mother,” Caelum cut in quietly with a weird tone in his voice.
”Probably took secrets to her grave that her enemies would have killed to hide.” Those words hit Sera like a punch to the chest.
Thinking about her late mother always hurt but now a scary thought came along with the pain.
Was she really hiding something huge from everyone?
”What are you saying?” Sera whispered with her fingers trembling.
Caelum stayed quiet for a long moment.
His eyes stayed on her face like he was trying to make a hard choice.
”I’m saying,” he said finally, “that the power inside you can change this whole kingdom.” Sera stumbled back and her shoulders hit the stone wall hard.
”I don’t want to change anything.
I just want a normal life.” ”It’s way too late for that,” Caelum said flatly.
There was no pity in his voice.
Just cold plain truth.
”The whole academy saw it the second this light flared up in the hall.” ”This isn’t your little secret anymore.” Fear showed in Sera’s eyes.
“Which means” ”Which means,” Caelum said as he stepped closer, “people are going to watch every single thing you do now.” ”Some will try to destroy you because they’re scared of what they don’t get.” ”And others…” He stopped while his eyes went a bit darker.
”Others will try to use you like a tool for their own plans, their wars, and their thrones.” Sera squeezed her hand into a tight fist.
”I won’t let anyone use me like a weapon.” For a split second something flashed in Caelum’s eyes.
Like he actually respected her for saying that.
”Good,” he said softly.
”Because people who treat a person like a weapon usually find out the hard way that weapons fight back.” ”And what about you?” Sera asked while trying to keep her voice steady even though she was shaking.
”What do you want from me?” The edge of Caelum’s lips moved slightly.
It was not quite a smile but close.
”For now,” he muttered, “I just want to figure out what you actually are.” His fingers finally moved in and touched Sera’s skin.
The moment his fingertips brushed her burning palm a hard shock ran through both of them.
It hit so fast that Sera gasped out loud for air.
The golden light flared violently and lit up the whole hallway in a blinding flash.
And in that split second Sera saw something in Caelum’s eyes that scared her to her core.
His icy blue eyes turned a sharp glowing silver.
Just for a single heartbeat.
Then everything went back to normal.
Caelum pulled his hand back fast like he had been burned.
For the first time his calm face was completely broken.
Surprise showed clearly on his face along with an emotion he was trying hard to hide.
”This…” he started but stopped mid sentence.
”What was that?” Sera asked while holding her throbbing palm with her other hand.
Caelum shook his head and quickly put his cold face back on.
”It was nothing.” But the confidence in his voice was totally gone.
His fingers the ones that had touched her were shaking just a tiny bit.
He quickly stuffed his hand into his coat pocket and hid it away.
He stood up straight while acting like nothing happened.
”Go back to your room,” he said.
”And don’t try to force this power down.
You’ll only make it worse.” He turned around to walk away.
”Wait!” Sera called out and surprised herself.
”Your eyes…
something happened to your eyes just now.” Caelum stopped right there.
He didn’t turn back to look at her.
”Nothing happened,” he repeated.
Sera could hear the slight change in his voice even though he was trying to sound cold.
He was lying.
”Your Highnes” ”Not everything in this place is what it looks like, Voss,” he said in a low voice.
”You should learn that lesson soon.” And then he walked off.
The sound of his boots echoed down the quiet hallway.
He moved fast and almost like he was running away.
Sera was left standing there all alone.
Clutching her palm as the golden light finally started to fade.
She started walking toward her room with her mind completely racing with questions.
Right at the last turn of the hallway she spotted a small piece of paper on the floor.
Someone had dropped it right in her path.
She knelt down and picked it up.
The paper was old with burnt edges.
On it was a single line written in ink: ”A Dragon Bloodline is proven only one way through blood.
Your mother’s death was no accident.” Sera’s heart completely stopped.
She looked around fast.
The hallway was totally empty.
There was no sign of whoever dropped it.
The paper shook in her hands.
And the pain in her palm didn’t even matter anymore.
Not compared to the terrifying feeling in her chest.
My mother’s death was no accident?
Behind her deep in the dark shadows someone was watching.
A pair of eyes hidden in the dark…
And for the very first time they slowly smiled.