The Dragon who called me king

The Silk Prison

The smooth surface of the golden mirror did not lie. I pressed my new, soft fingers against my reflection, staring at a face I had only ever seen on the copper coins of our border village. I was looking at Crown Prince Alden, the sole heir to the throne of the entire kingdom.

"Your Highness?" the servant spoke again, keeping his forehead pressed flat against the polished marble floor. "The Grand Duke requests your presence in the high solar. The preparation for your coronation ceremony is almost complete."

I stumbled backward, the heavy velvet robes dragging against my ankles. My original body,my rough canvas tunic, my calloused hands, my entire identity had been completely stolen from me.

“Erebos?” I called out in my mind, desperation clawing at my throat. “Can you hear me?”

Nothing. The warm, comforting presence of the ancient dragon soul was completely gone. The silence inside my mind was deafening, leaving behind a cold, hollow ache where my royal crest used to burn. Vance’s silver dagger had successfully sliced my consciousness out of my physical skin, trapping me inside this foreign cage of luxury.

"Get out," I managed to say, my new voice sounding smooth, melodic and entirely wrong to my own ears. "Leave me."

"Right away, Your Highness," the servant murmured, shuffling backward out of the room before locking the heavy oak door from the outside with a sharp click.

I rushed back to the mirror, pulling open the front of my embroidered tunic. The pale skin of the prince's chest was perfectly smooth. There was no royal crest here. There was no burning dragon mark. I was completely powerless, cut off from the dragon fire that had saved my life in the lower tunnels.

"Looking for something, big brother?"

I spun around, my heart hammering against my new ribs.

Sitting casually on a plush velvet armchair in the corner of the room was a figure draped in shadows. As he stepped forward into the bright morning light, the breath caught in my throat. It was my old body. My original, mud-stained face looked back at me, wearing a cruel familiar grin.

It was my twin brother,the duplicate boy from the cage.

"How are you here?" I whispered, my hands shaking against the glass of the mirror.

"The Headmaster is a man of his word," the duplicate said, using my own true voice to mock me. He examined his new, calloused hands with a look of pure fascination. "He promised me freedom if I helped him secure a stable vessel for the dragon core. Your old body is perfect, Kael. It carries the physical bloodline required to hold the dragon's power without collapsing into ash."

"You helped them trap me," I said, a hot flash of anger breaking through my panic. "They tortured you for seventeen years and you threw your own brother into a cage!"

"You lived in the sun, Kael!" the boy shouted, his eyes flashing with sudden violent hatred. "You got to breathe the fresh air of the border villages while I was chained in the dark, bleeding into their magical batteries every single day! You didn't save me. You just brought the key that allowed them to finalize the trade."

He stepped closer, leaning his face just inches from mine. Seeing my own true face looking at me with such malice was a total nightmare. "They didn't just swap your soul into the prince, Kael. They swapped the prince's soul into your original body alongside me. We are roommates now. But don't worry... I am the one in control of our muscles."

"What did you do to Erebos?" I demanded, clenching my fists.

"The black dragon is asleep, locked behind a heavy suppression seal inside your old chest," the duplicate chuckled, tapping his sternum right where my crest used to be. "And tomorrow, during the public coronation, I will stand before the entire kingdom using your face, pretending to be the heroic traitor's son who saved the academy from a terrorist attack. The people will love me."

He turned toward the grand balcony, looking out over the capital city below. "While you... you will be crowned as Prince Alden. You will sit on a throne of lies, unable to use magic, unable to tell anyone who you truly are. If you speak a single word of the truth, the Headmaster will activate the curse in this royal body and turn your brain to soup."

He walked toward the door, unlocking it with a wave of his hand. "Enjoy your new life, Your Highness. You finally got the wealth you always wanted."

With a mocking laugh, he stepped out of the room, leaving me alone in the golden prison.

I sank to the floor, burying my face in my hands. I had to find a way back to the academy. I had to save Zane, find Lyra and break the seal on Erebos before my twin brother used my face to destroy everything my father had died to protect.

Suddenly, a faint tapping sound came from the high stained-glass window behind me.

I turned my head. Standing on the narrow stone ledge outside the third-story window was Lyra Voss. Her silver hair was wrapped tightly in a dark cloth and her shoulder was heavily bandaged. She pulled a small iron pin from her belt, expertly picking the window lock before sliding inside the room.

"Lyra?" I gasped, taking a step toward her.

She immediately drew her silver dagger, holding the point directly against my throat. Her blue eyes were wild with fury and desperation. "Don't move, Prince Alden. Your father killed my family and your mages trapped my friend. You are going to help me tear this kingdom down or I will end your royal line right now."