Page 77 of Dragon King’s Duty Bride

So she sought Elder Aldrek instead. Lucas trusted him the most and it was something she could inquire about on her own. She found him in the old stone hall where sunlight filtered through narrow windows and dust motes drifted lazily in the air. His posture was as straight and unyielding as the carved pillars behind him even though his welcome was warm and inviting.

She told him everything. Every suspicion that she had.

He listened without interruption, his lined face giving nothing away, and when she finished he folded his hands within his sleeves and regarded her with a steadiness that felt less comforting than it ought to have been.

“The blood may stir,” he conceded at last, his voice low and firm, “but the heir must be male.”

Sia blinked. “Must?”

“It has always been so.”

His certainty pressed against her like a closed door. Always, as though history was the must of the future. As though traditions were laws of nature rather than choice.

She left him with frustration simmering beneath her calm exterior, because she had not asked about heirs or succession, not really, but about their girls and whether the fire within them might one day blaze beyond control, and instead she had been handed nothing wrapped in inevitability.

Sia was still lost in her thoughts when she went to pick Celeste up from dance class. The afternoon ran through her mind and she almost ran into a stranger standing outside the studio.

She stopped just in time. “Oh, I am so sorry. I wasn’t paying any attention to where I was going.” She sidestepped to go around him as she glanced at her watch.

He stood just beyond the entrance and leaned casually against the wall as if he had been there for some time.

He straightened and smiled. “Lady Sia,” he said smoothly, as though they were acquaintances reunited after a pleasant absence.

She stopped short and looked at him again. His expression was one of idle patience that sharpened the moment his eyes met hers. She didn’t recognize him at all and yet he spoke her name with easy familiarity.

“I’m sorry,” she replied carefully, every instinct throwing up a red flag at once. “Have we met?”

“Not properly.”

The words were harmless enough, but the way he said them sent a cold ripple down her spine that had nothing to do with the brisk air. As music drifted faintly from inside the studio, Sia became acutely aware of how alone she was with this stranger.

Walking around Crystafalls had never been an issue. Most of the residents were highly respectful of the royals and enjoyed seeing them live as normal people. But now, she suddenly wondered just how smart it was to continue doing so.

There was something in his gaze that felt assessing rather than admiring, as if he were studying her for weaknesses and memorizing reactions. His posture remained relaxed, but the red flags in her mind started to flap more urgently. His scraggly moustache twitched and he rubbed a thin scar along his jaw.

Trouble, every instinct whispered.

“You seem to know me,” she said, keeping her tone even while her pulse quickened. “Is your child in the dance class?”

“One makes it a point to know the important figures in a kingdom,” he answered lightly while ignoring her question.

Important. The word unsettled her more than it should have.

“And why is that?”

“We don’t need to discuss that right now.”

Her temper flared at his brush off. “You’ll be wise to remember that I’m Queen Sia, not Lady.”

Before he could respond, Celeste burst through the doors, flushed and smiling. “You’re late.”

The stranger’s eyes flicked briefly to the girl before they returned to Sia with a look she could not decipher but did not trust.

“Until next time,” he said, inclining his head.

As he walked away, unhurried and confident, Sia felt the chill linger long after his figure disappeared around the corner. She grabbed Celeste and pulled her close.

“Come on. We need to get home.” To her relief, Celeste didn’t resist or ask a million questions.