First Chosen by the Dragon (Evelyn) novel Chapter 71

[Evelyn’s POV]

Three days since the revelation, and the compound treats me like something breakable and dangerous at once. Servants stumble over honorifics when I pass, eyes dropping, voices cracking on “Lady Evelyn” like the title might shatter in their mouths.

A girl spills tea this morning because her hands shake when she serves me, the cup rattling against the saucer while she stammers apologies I don’t want. “Evelyn is fine,” I tell her gently. “The same as yesterday.”

But she backs away anyway, and I’m left holding tea I didn’t ask for in a kitchen that suddenly feels too small. Through the bond, Aspis rumbles with amusement. “You terrify them now. Quite the transformation.”

“I preferred being invisible.” I take the tea to the eastern wall where the patrol changes shift and wind carries salt across stone. The view stretches for miles—hills darkening to forest, the eastern road cutting through green like a wound. Empty now, but not for long.

Aspis launches from the highest roost, white wings catching sunlight until she blazes against blue sky. She’s massive now—the size of a warhorse, scales shimmering like pearl. She circles twice, then banks toward the open ocean where fish run silver beneath the surface.

Khaira rises to join her, and they fly in tandem—Khaira leading, Aspis matching her wingbeat with the respect of something younger learning from something ancient. Through the bond, I feel pure joy. Aspis dives, talons extended, emerges with a fish thrashing in her grip. Khaira rumbles approval.

“They bonded faster than I expected,” Draven says behind me, and I don’t startle—I’ve learned his footsteps. He joins me at the wall, gaze tracking the dragons hunting over churning waves.

“Khaira treats her like a daughter. Aspis treats her like an equal who happens to know more. It’s respect, not submission.”

“Khaira raised three clutches before Lyanna died. Maternal instinct runs deep.” His voice carries weight saying her name. “She sees potential in Aspis. Something worth protecting.”

Silence holds while the dragons wheel and hunt, their cries echoing across the empty sky. But it doesn’t last.

“Sera confirmed the numbers this morning,” Draven says, and the shift in his tone pulls my attention from the ocean to his face.

His jaw is set, eyes holding the flat darkness of a man preparing for war. “Forty mounted warriors. Full battle gear. Cassandra leads them. They’ll be here by tomorrow evening, maybe sooner if they push through the night.”

My chest tightens, ribs compressing around lungs that can’t draw enough air. I grip the stone, feeling rough grain bite into my palms, and force myself to breathe.

“Forty warriors for one dragon and a runaway daughter. That’s excessive even for Father.”

“Your father wants the dragon. Cassandra—” Draven pauses, something unreadable crossing his expression. “Cassandra wants something else. Sera’s intelligence suggests the military force is Father’s play. But Cassandra requested command personally.”

The fear coiled in my gut spreads through my chest like ice water, and through the bond, Aspis feels it. She wheels mid-dive, abandoning her hunt, attention snapping toward me with the force of a blow. “Evelyn. Your heart just went cold. What’s wrong?”

“Cassandra is coming. Tomorrow, maybe tonight.” Hearing my answer, Aspis banks hard toward shore, wings carving air with violent precision.

“Good. Let her come. I’ve wanted to meet the woman who made you afraid of your own reflection.” But something shifts in her, fury cooling into something more deliberate.

She circles lower, amber eyes fixed on me through the distance. “Your sister carries a fire inside her that has nothing to do with politics. She wants to destroy you. Not politically or strategically. She wants you erased from existence. I feel it inside—a pressure building at the horizon, dark and hungry and inevitable.”

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