“What did you say?” I stepped closer to the girl, but she merely met my gaze with an equally icy look.

  “Firstly, stop wasting magic hiding your eye. It is pointless around me and since you already know Princess Tritetia, you are wasting magic on that illusion for no reason,” her tone remained matter-of-factly, and I frowned, noticing Tritetia’s surprise. I had not bothered to relax the illusion over my red eye ever since Cyldri had shown me how to do it, and it took such little concentration that I barely noticed I was doing it most of the time. The girl scoffed, shaking her head as she continued. “We don’t have much time to talk, so it would be best if we were quick.”

  I growled softly, but I released the illusion over my eye, keeping my gaze on the new girl as I summoned my horns. If she already knew I was a dragon, better to be able to hear someone coming long before they reached us. “Who are you?”

  “I am Crown Princess Eircha Aelorian, next to be Queen and High Priestess of Pyraxia,” she bowed, her movements graceful and practiced as if it was as natural as breathing. I hummed thoughtfully, leaning against the stone as she stood. “I am here at Roxarry with my twin brother Sehisa Aelorian, both in the magic course.”

  “Oh, right, Sehisa,” Tritetia muttered to herself and I nodded, remembering how she mentioned that the boy had attended with her in the previous timeline. And I was starting to guess why his sister was suddenly here this time. “But, you said you can see magic, so are you two…?”

  “Yes, both I and my brother are Sandwalkers,” Eircha continued smoothly, her tone devoid of hesitation or pride. “It’s not common for both twins to both survive the blood, so my brother and I are a bit of an anomaly.”

  “What do you mean, survive the–” Tritetia stopped, covering her mouth as she stared at Eircha. I made a small noise, remembering what Yssac had told us. Sandwalkers had no cure for the poison in their blood, so when a child was born with Sandwalker blood, there was a high risk their body would fail to adapt and they would die. Eircha and her brother had beaten the odds and somehow both survived.

  “I’m sure considering what recently happened in Naera, that you know Sandwalkers are rumored to be able to see magic. I will tell you that it is true,” Eircha continued, seemingly indifferent or ignoring the recoil in Tritetia’s expression. “But it is more accurate to say I can see magic in use. For example, I cannot tell how much magic either of you have, nor can I tell what kind of magic you have.”

  “But you noticed my illusion because I was using magic,” I answered and Eircha nodded, pointing directly at my chest.

  “Just as I can see the thread of magic between me and you,” she slowly turned to motion to Tritetia, “and I can see it is the same thread connecting Princess Tritetia to you as well.”

  “T-t-thread?”

  “I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but given what I can see, it’s obvious. This dragon–”

  “This ‘dragon’ has a name,” I growled, confused why it bothered me so much that she was refusing to use my name. I knew she likely didn’t even know it, but it irritated me that she hadn’t bothered to ask either. Eircha paused, staring at me as I met her gaze evenly before she rolled her eyes.

  “Which is?”

  “Cyran Virni Trohka,” I spat, looking away from her gaze as I struggled to remain calm. I was likely worked up due to suppressing my magic for so long, and even something as simple as using my horns had my emotions running high. “Son of Crown Princess Isdaora and Caspian of Naera.”

  “I see, so you are the next heir apparent. Excuse my ignorance,” Eircha bowed and I pouted, still refusing to look at her. Her apology sounded sincere, and for some reason, that annoyed me even more. “As far as I understood, dragons are not allowed to inherit the throne in Naera.”

  “Then it's a good thing I’m not a dragon yet,” I spat back, noting as footsteps walked on the ground above us. They didn’t stop or seem to be heading toward us, so I ignored them as Eircha took a deep breath.

  “As I was saying, in the previous time, you must have used your dragon wish to reset time, or done something to send us all back to the past. The magic only leads to you, not the other way around. She and I are connected to you in a way you are not connected to us,” Eircha’s voice dropped and I finally turned to look at her again. “The magic is connected to our life force. It would seem our lives are tied to yours and if you were to die again, so would we.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Silence filled the underground space, the sound of the rushing river the only sound as Tritetia and I both stared at Eircha. Tritetia seemed overwhelmed by the revelation, her hands trembling slightly as she gripped the edge of her sleeve. I couldn’t look away from Eircha; there was no hesitation in her voice, no trace of doubt. Either she was a skilled liar or she was telling the truth.

  Tritetia’s voice was small when it came. “Eircha… did… did you…?”

  “Die? Yes. I don’t remember exactly, but I have been having terrible premonitions for the past three years, all warning me not to trust certain people and especially not my sisters. I also seem to have developed a fear of blades being drawn,” Eircha spoke calmly, but I noticed the subtle way her eyebrow switched. “It is fair to say I was likely killed by one of my sisters who desired the throne in the previous timeline. Why?”

  “B-b-b-because–”

  “Because Tritetia also remembers, but she remembers through dreams and we were able to determine that she likely died at the same time I did,” I answered, carefully watching Eircha’s expression as she nodded slowly, processing that information without changing the cool, methodical calm in her expression. Her aquamarine eyes flicked briefly toward Tritetia before returning to me. “We thought it might be because she’s a seer.”

  “That makes sense,” she said softly, almost to herself. “We both have inherent magic, but she has the ability to see where the thread is going. It makes sense that even if the threads were cut, she would have a stronger tie than me.”

  “So you… can’t remember either?” Tritetia finally managed, and Eircha shook her head, finally looking at her fellow princess.

  “No. As I said, I merely experience premonitions. When my brother expressed interest in attending Roxarry, I merely felt that I needed to attend with him,” Eircha said coolly, bring her hand to her face as she considered her thoughts. “It is likely due to my connection to Cyran, since it seems the connection also brought you two together.

  “But it’s strange, isn’t it?” Eircha turned to look at me again, a wary look on her face. “Why in the world would I have happened to die on the same night as a dragon I had never met? I only know of one dragon and it's because she is good friends with my mother.”

  I almost opened my mouth to ask who, but I disguised it as clearing my throat instead. It explained why Eircha seemed to know so much about dragon wishes, but I didn’t really want to know which dragons she was talking to, even if I had my suspicions. “Why is that odd? Tritetia also died that night.”

  “That makes it stranger, unless you two happened to know each other last time as well,” Eircha snapped, scoffing as I frowned. “Exactly. How do three people from three different nations, all with political ties just happen to die on the same night?”

  I shared a brief look with Tritetia, and I could tell the question had struck at one of her fears. Eircha glanced between us, waiting for one of us to speak up and offer an answer.

  “I wasn’t supposed to die,” I finally answered slowly, ignoring Tritetia’s surprise. “I was killed because I wasn’t strong enough to defeat Caspian and no one knew I was a Draconid last time, much less that I had become a dragon. My death couldn’t have been planned.”

  “Honestly that’s more suspicious. Why did Caspian kill you?”

  “Because I was trying to destroy the Imperial Palaces,” I said coldly, avoiding Tritetia’s gaze as she took a step back. I wasn’t sure why she was surprised; she had already seen that I would do it in the future if my mother died. “I was trying to kill those who murdered my mother.”

  “Hmm,” Eircha seemed to think over my words, as if it were a puzzle she was trying to solve. “And how much do you remember?”

  “Everything.”

  “Good, at least one of us has clear memories,” Eircha dropped her hand, resuming her poised and graceful stance. “We still need to see our schedules for the winter semester, so I think it would be best if we resume this conversation later. Since we are all in the Royal wing, we can meet in the drawing room. It will draw less attention, and I have a feeling you two will be able to see my notes where no others can.”

  “We should be able to, since we can talk about it with each other,” I answered, watching as Eircha nodded before motioning to the path behind me.

  “If I may. Since you and Princess Tritetia know each other from her summers in Naera, it will not seem strange if you two are seen walking together,” Eircha explained and I moved, allowing her to walk up the path as she made her way back toward the central courtyard. I glanced at Tritetia, who was staring at the water and refusing to meet my gaze as she stared at the water. The silence between us was awkward, and I frowned, uncertain of what to do as I hid my horns and resumed the illusion over my red eye.

  “You didn’t tell me.”

  “I didn’t think it mattered,” I answered immediately, not sure whether she was referring to what I had tried to do or my eye. The answer was the same. “It doesn’t change anything.”

  Tritetia squeezed her sleeves tighter in her hands and I sighed. Why was she being so difficult?

  “I don’t mind letting you walk alone, but Amalia is here and she already has it out for both of us given what happened to Seymour,” I revealed, noticing how Tritetia flinched. After all, Amalia was responsible for her death. “So if you want to go, then you need to leave first so I can–”

  “No, we… we can go together. You’re right, it doesn’t matter,” Tritetia interrupted as she finally moved, standing beside me as she waited to leave. I stared down at her for a moment before I turned to walk up the path.