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“To that pathetic lordling?” Seryu snorted.

“Will you stop calling him that? He’s my—”

“Fiancé? You ran away from the betrothal ceremony. You’re hardly engaged.”

“I wasn’t running away from him,” I half fibbed. “Kiki flew out of my sleeve.”

Seryu’s expression darkened. “What is so wonderful about him, anyway? He’ll live seventy or eighty years, at best; he has no magic, hardly any power to his name. His castle doesn’t even have a proper pond or a proper river. I had to visit you in a horse trough when you were there.” Seryu gritted his sharp teeth. “Yet you act as though he’s the one who gave you a piece of his heart. As if he saved you from drowning in the Sacred Lake.”

It was the last thing I’d expected him to say. My heart pinched with an ache I’d never felt before. “Seryu…”

His ears went flat, their tips turning redder than summer poppies. He seemed to be wishing the ground could swallow him whole. “Look, it was the only idea I could come up with. If I’d known you would be so vehemently opposed to it—”

“I’m not vehemently opposed,” I interrupted. “Just…opposed.” I couldn’t look him in the eye. “I can’t stay here forever.”

“What if you have to?” Seryu pressed. There was a new edge to his words that I didn’t like. “What if it’s best for your country?”

My ribs went tight. “What do you mean?”

“Staying here is your best recourse,” he replied slowly, as if reading the words aloud. “It always has been. A new bloodsake is born only after the previous one dies. If you live an eternity in Ai’long, another will never be born.”

I said nothing. I couldn’t. My mind was reeling, everything coming harshly into focus. Nine blazing Hells, Seryu had a point.

The demons trapped in Kiata’s Holy Mountains needed my blood in order to be free. But if I stayed in Ai’long, they’d never get out.

Seryu spoke my mind: “Your father, your brothers…your lordling would be safe. Everyone in Kiata would be safe.”

It was a beautiful solution, and I hated Seryu for it. Any arguments I had clotted in my throat. All reason pointed to me staying here.

“So,” Seryu spoke, more quietly than I’d ever heard him before. “Do you think you could try…to carve a place in your heart for me?”

I was glad we were alone. My ire at him had vanished completely, leaving a hollow feeling. How was I supposed to respond? Yes, he was waiting for me to say. Such a simple word, a word I’d uttered so many times in my life. Yet it sat leaden on my tongue, and all I could think of was Takkan on the beach, promising he’d wait for me. Asking me not to forget him.

It hurt to speak: “If I stay with you, I’ll never see my family again.”

Seryu’s whiskers wilted, and his demeanor went cold. “You’ll have one final chance. My mother has an enchanted mirror—its glass will give you a last look at your family. Before you forget them.”

In an instant, I was on my guard again. “What do you mean, forget them?”

“It’s a part of the binding ceremony.” He forged on, as if knowing and not caring that I would react badly. “In exchange for immortality, you’ll consume an elixir when you take your oath to Ai’long. You won’t remember anything about your past, not even your name.”

I jerked back, stunned by what he’d said. “Is that the only way you dragons can find mates? By making us forget who we are?”

“Immortality comes at a price. You’ll be reborn stronger. Better.”

“Better?” I repeated. “I’d rather have the demons rip me apart than forget who I am.”

Was this what the Dragon King had meant when he warned me that death was inevitable? I couldn’t believe I’d almost felt bad for Seryu. “That’s why Nazayun’s so confident I’ll give him the pearl,” I realized angrily. “Because I won’t even remember what it is.”

Seryu started to speak, probably to spout some nonsense about his grandfather needing to destroy the pearl for the safety of both our worlds. I wouldn’t hear it.

“You dragons are no better than demons.” I tore away before he could touch me. “If you won’t get me out of here, I’ll find my own way. I made a promise to Raikama. The pearl needs to be returned to the Wraith.”

Seryu huffed at me in disbelief. “You would risk your family, your country—your own life for that? What does a promise to your stepmother matter? She’s dead.”

I couldn’t control myself. My anger had reached its peak, and my hand lashed out. Before I knew it, I had struck Seryu on the cheek. Hard.

If he’d been human, his head would have jerked back, maybe even hit the wall.