The Dragon King and His Fallen Star novel Chapter 126

Chapter 126: The Other Half

EIRLYS’ POV

I stood frozen for a heartbeat, my mind racing.

I had a good idea who might be lurking in the shadows. But how could they possibly breach these halls when the entire palace grounds were warded?

Then again, Morwenna had managed to slip through once before to help Mirael escape.

Ulyanna’s strangled gasp snapped me back. I surged forward, igniting my glow. Not only to cast light into the chamber but to strip away whatever illusions might be cloaking it.

“Whoever was here, they’re gone,” I murmured.

But the reek of magic lingered, acrid and familiar.

“How can we help you?” Kierygan asked, his tone clipped.

Ulyanna’s voice cut through the charged air. “Light the candle again. But don’t move a step. This cursed thing might turn on you.”

“I could breathe fire,” Kierygan offered, “but it might bring the whole palace down with it.”

Ulyanna shook her head sharply. “Not you,” she rasped, straining against the chains. Her eyes found mine. “Eirlys.”

“Me?” My voice caught. “But I… I don’t know how.”

“Yes, you do,” Ulyanna said, fierce despite her gasps. “You can.”

I lifted my hand, unsteady, and aimed at the candle. A nervous crackle leapt from my fingertips-wild, unbridled-and missed by an inch. It struck the stone wall with a sharp hiss, ricocheting before snapping against the skeleton’s back. The creature jerked, rattling its chains in agitation.

Kierygan’s hand closed over mine, steadying, grounding. “Breathe,” he murmured. “Again.”

I swallowed, nodded, and raised my hand once more. This time with less tremor. I fixed my gaze on the wick, willed the spark to obey. A crackle shot forth, controlled and true. It kissed the candle’s tip, nearly knocking it over, but the flame caught-steady, bright, alive.

Instantly, the skeleton and its ropes froze, suspended midair for a heartbeat, before releasing their hold. The tome dropped at Ulyanna’s feet. With a final shiver, the skeleton returned to the tomb, laying down as though nothing had happened, the cover sliding shut with an

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Kierygan let out an exaggerated sigh. “So that’s where the temper comes from. Generational curse.”

Ulyanna hugged the tome to her chest, arching a brow. “Oh, yes. Hilarious. I’ll laugh about it later,” she said, “when I’ve fully recovered from almost being strangled to death.”

Kierygan and I helped Ulyanna gather her things, brushing away the lingering remnants of the ritual. The crypt’s shadows and the musty, stale air receded behind us as we climbed the spiral staircase, each step a small relief, carrying us back to somewhere familiar, somewhere safe.

Once inside the library, we claimed a large, sturdy table. I watched as Ulyanna set the grimoire down with a heavy thud, the sound shattering the silence.

She unclasped the book and opened it, flipping through the pages once, twice. Her brow furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, leaning forward instinctively.

Ulyanna lifted her head, her expression unreadable. “There’s… nothing written on the pages,”

she said.

She slid the grimoire toward Kierygan. I leaned closer to him, trying to see the pages as he flipped through them with slow, deliberate movements.

“Perhaps a spell is needed to reveal it,” Kierygan murmured, his voice calm but thoughtful. His eyes met mine, assessing, weighing. “Maybe your glow… your light could make the text appear.”

I hesitated, then nodded. “I can try.”

I let my magic flow. My glow shimmered faintly at first, then brightened, spilling across the open pages of the grimoire.

I held my breath, every nerve taut,

Nothing. Not a single word, no symbols, nothing at all. I swallowed, a tight knot of disappointment and frustration coiling in my chest.

“Don’t feel bad,” Ulyanna said at last, her voice calm but firm. “I expected this. I’d be disappointed in my ancestors if they’d made it easy.”

Kierygan rested a hand on my shoulder, before his gaze sharpened on Ulyanna. “What if it needs to be reunited with its other half?”

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Ulyanna’s eyes flickered, a trace of surprise crossing her usually composed face. “You mean

we’re going to Morvanya then?”

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He gave a slow, measured nod. “Yes. If we ever hope to learn anything that could stop the Light Reaper, that is where we must go.”

“But first, the wards will need reinforcing before we leave for Morvanya,” he added.

Ulyanna inclined her head, her tone clipped but resolute. “Then we have work to do.”

She rose, signaling she was ready to retire for the day, but paused. Her eyes met ours. “Can you keep the grimoire safe for me?” she asked, directing the question at both Kierygan and

“Why?” I asked.

“Your wing is the most secure place,” she said, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “Kierygan has had it heavily warded since the day he brought you here.”

Kierygan squeezed my hand lightly. I looked up at him. “Just protecting what’s mine,” he said.

Ulyanna smirked at him, then turned to me. “Tell your familiar to watch over it, and he’ll guard

it with his life.”

I blinked. “You mean Nibbles?”

Kierygan chuckled. “You should have seen him fight. That lazy rabbit can be a savage when he wants to. Why do you think I moved him to our chambers?”

Ulyanna nodded in acknowledgment and turned, her footsteps fading as she walked out of the library.

Kierygan picked up the grimoire with one hand, then reached for mine with the other. Without a word, we started toward the door. The silence between us was steady, until my stomach. betrayed me with a faint rumble. We hadn’t eaten since lunch.

“Dinner?” I asked hopefully.

His grip on my hand tightened, and his voice dropped to a rasp. “I’m hungry for something. else. But dinner sounds good too.”

Heat flared in my neck, racing up to my cheeks. I knew exactly what he meant, but my tongue tangled on the right response as it always did. Every time he said something like that, I wanted to volley right back-to be clever, daring.

But instead, I stood there-flushed, flustered-no doubt looking like the ripest tomato in the

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garden, while he watched me with that maddening, knowing smile.

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Kierygan’s mouth curved into that smile-the one that always sent my stomach into a slow, traitorous flip. “You know,” he drawled, “you can say no. If you don’t want to.”

The words flew out before I could stop them. “I want it too!”

The echo of my voice bounced down the corridor like a cannon blast. My heart lurched. Stars above, had I really said it like that? I sounded like a child begging for sweets, my face no doubt glowing bright enough to light the whole hallway.

And then he laughed. Not the quiet huff he usually gave, but a real laugh-rich, deep, completely unrestrained. It echoed off the stone walls, warm and infuriating.

My eyes stung, tears threatening before I could blink them back. Humiliation surged, hot and fast. “Will you stop?” I snapped, yanking my hand from his. “It’s not funny!”

He stopped instantly, though the twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed him. “Alright, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice still unsteady with the laughter he was clearly choking back.

Then, after a beat, he said, “I’ll have dinner brought up to our chambers. Clearly, someone’s really starving, that’s why she’s cranky.”

I shot him a sharp glare, but it only made his eyes glint brighter. Unfazed, he turned to one of the stationed guards and gave a brief instruction. The guard bowed and hurried off without a

word.

By the time we reached our rooms, my cheeks still burned, my chest tight with leftover embarrassment. I didn’t look at him as I stepped inside-still fuming over the way he’d laughed. Furious that I’d given him a reason to. And ashamed, too, that it had affected me as

much as it did.

Kierygan caught my hand before I could retreat further into the chambers. With a firm tug, he turned me back to face him. The smirk that had taunted me was gone, replaced by a shadow of concern-of guilt.

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