Page 3 of Dragon King’s Duty Bride

And for the first time since Dian’s death, Lucas wondered if the greatest danger ahead was not to his kingdom but to the fragile hearts of the daughters he was trying so desperately to protect.

Chapter 2

Sia

Sia’s return to Crystafalls was at the latest possible moment she could manage. The decision to return had not been an easy one, and she needed to get her duty done without shattering what little bit of sanity remained.

The gates loomed open as if the city itself welcomed her back. Marble towers gleamed in the afternoon light and crystal fountain waterfalls spilled endlessly over carved stone. Crystafalls looked exactly as it always had, both perfect and pristine, but entirely indifferent to grief.

Her carriage rolled across the bridge and the wheels echoed too loudly. Sia let out a short, humorless laugh.

“This is so absurd,” she said.

Her parents sat opposite her, stiff and solemn in ceremonial dress. Her mother flinched at the word and her father’s mouth tightened.

“Truly,” Sia continued with a voice sharp with a brittle sort of calm. “There are starving villages, unrest at the borders, an entire governing body supposedly brimming with wisdom, and their solution that they land on is this. Marry the spare sister. Problem solved.”

“Sia,” her mother warned softly.

“No,” Sia snapped, the word cutting loud and clear. “I will say it aloud, because everyone else seems determined not to. I am being asked to marry my dead sister’s husband.”

Silence swallowed the carriage.

She leaned forward with her lace-gloved hands braced against her knees and her eyes bright with something that looked perilously close to fury. “Do you have any idea how mad that sounds? How absolutely ridiculous it looks? As if Dian were a gown that can simply be altered and worn again instead of someone’s wife, daughter, and sister?”

Her father cleared his throat. “This is not about appearances. It is about stability.”

“Stability,” Sia echoed and laughed again but this time louder, harsher. “Of course. Forgive me for forgetting that love, grief, and decency tend to rank below succession.”

Her mother reached for her hand. Sia pulled away.

“She is barely gone,” Sia said, her voice dropping and turning dangerous. “Her children are still asking when she’s coming back. And I am expected to stand beside her widower, smile for the court, and pretend this is anything other than desperation dressed up as duty.”

“It’s been three years, Sia,” her father corrected. “More than a long enough mourning period.”

“You are saving the kingdom,” her mother whispered as tears gathered in her eyes.

“There is no such thing as a mourning period.” Sia straightened and her anger morphed into something colder and heavier. “No,” she said flatly. “I am being sacrificed to preserve your precious kingdom.”

The carriage slowed and bells rang in the distance. Celebration bled through the walls like an insult.

Sia turned her gaze to the window with her jaw set. “Let’s not pretend this is noble,” she added quietly. “Just be honest enough to call it what it is.”

The city gleamed as if polished for display with banners that snapped in the wind in celebration. It made her teeth ache. Crystafalls looked untouched by tragedy, unscarred by the loss that had split her family open. As if her sister had not died here and as if Sia were not arriving to take her place.

Her hands were steady only because she forced them to be. She kept them folded in her lap with her spine straight and her chin lifted. If she relaxed even slightly, something inside her would give way.

Replacement.

The word landed cold and absolute.

She had not come because she was wanted. She had come because she was useful. Because it was expected of her.

When the carriage stopped, the sound of celebration poured in. The bells, laughter, and music wove together bright enough to feel obscene. Sia’s jaw tightened as the noise scraped against her nerves, each note a reminder that this day was meant to be joyful.

It was not.

She stepped down into waiting hands and rehearsed smiles. Faces blurred together with townspeople beaming, nobles bowing, and servants whispering. Her parents stood closest and appeared radiant with relief and pride. Her mother’s eyes shone with tears. Happy tears.