I made sure to pout as Galene led me out of the room, dragging my feet just enough to make my reluctance look genuine. I could feel my mother watching me, her eyes filled with concern, but I didn’t look back. Isadora had already promised me that she’d eat with us if I behaved, and my mother knew I wasn’t one to cause trouble—at least, not when I could help it.
Isadora and Caspian had finally returned, and with whatever conversation they had with the Emperor and Empress completed, it was time for decisions to be made. I knew they wouldn’t allow me to be present while they spoke to my mother, likely hoping she’d be more honest if I wasn’t around to hear the truth. But I wasn’t concerned about the adults, not when I needed to find Tritetia.
“What now, Miss Galene?” I asked innocently, watching as she sighed before smiling at me.
“I’m sure the girls we saw yesterday wouldn’t mind a new friend,” she offered softly, her voice laced with gentle amusement. I met her gaze with a bright, hopeful smile, pretending to consider her words.
“That sounds fun!” I chirped, already turning toward the garden before she could say anything else. I could hear them playing, their laughter carrying through the open air, and I picked up my pace just enough to seem eager without outright running. Galene would likely stay outside with us and loosely keep track of us, but considering Valaine and Tritetia seemed to be allowed to roam without supervision, I didn’t see her trying to truly monitor us.
As soon as we stepped into the garden, Valaine’s laughter rang through the open air, bright and carefree. They were clearly still playing tag with Valaine chasing Tritetia through the beds of flowers. Tritetia paused once she noticed me and Galene, almost causing Valaine to run into her. Once the princess saw us however, her face lit up.
“Is he allowed to play with us now?” she called, her voice carrying across the courtyard with an almost infectious excitement. I paused, pretending to be slightly nervous as I hesitated for just a moment, letting my gaze flicker toward Galene as if waiting for permission. The older woman chuckled softly, shaking her head as she took a step back. I ran to join the girls, my smile widening as I stopped just a few feet away from them. Valaine beamed, her hands on her hips as she tilted her head at me.
"Alright, since you're new, we gotta make sure you know the rules," she declared, her voice full of the authority only a younger sibling could manage.
I nodded dutifully. "What are we playing?"
“Hide and seek!” Valaine announced, already looking far too pleased with herself. She spun on her heel, pointing dramatically at Tritetia. “And I'm going to be the seeker first!”
Tritetia let out a small sigh, but she didn’t argue, merely nodding as she shifted her weight quietly. Valaine waited expectantly for my agreement, but it was quite obvious that she wouldn’t accept anything other than my agreement.
“Okay!” I grinned, and Valaine giggled as she turned around, covering her eyes.
“Then hurry up, but I’ll find you anyway!” Valaine began to count loudly, and without hesitation, I grabbed Tritetia’s wrist and pulled her along before she could protest. She barely made a sound as I led her deeper into the garden, my mind already focused on the small alcove I had found the night before. I had stumbled across it while memorizing the palace’s layout, a secluded corner tucked away where servants were unlikely to pass. It was the perfect place to talk, away from wandering eyes and ears.
As soon as we reached it, I turned to face her, crossing my arms as Tritetia refused to meet my gaze again. Considering how afraid she seemed, it must have taken all of her courage to talk to me the day before and I took a deep breath.
“Cyran.”
“Hm?”
“I never told you my name yesterday, but Valaine offered yours. My name is Cyran,” I repeated, carefully watching her reactions as I took a deep breath. Tritetia had a multitude of scents, which made sense given her half-breed nature, but the one that confused me the most is that she didn’t smell like a girl. In fact, Tritetia smelled like a boy, and I was almost certain of it now. It wasn’t just the scent—it was the way Tritetia carried herself, the way she hesitated before speaking, the careful way she avoided meeting my eyes. I had met plenty of girls in my first life, had seen how they moved, how they spoke, and something about Tritetia was just… off.
I didn’t mention it, of course. Not yet. Information was power, and I had no idea how much I could trust Tritetia. But if he—no, if she wanted to keep this secret, then I could use it later. For now, I would let her believe I hadn’t noticed.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Alright… Cyran. Do you want my help?” Tritetia asked quietly, and I nodded without hesitation.
“Yes.” I spoke quickly, catching the sound of Valaine looking for us. I was fairly certain she wouldn’t find us in the alcove, but if we remained hidden for too long, it would look bad for both of us. “I will do anything to protect my ma.”
“So… so will I.” Tritetia managed, gripping his skirt tighter before managing to meet my gaze. “I… see more of the future the more I’m around someone.”
“So you need to spend time around my mother to see more?” I asked and Tritetia nodded.
“I always see… major things first, but the more I meet someone, the more I see,” Tritetia looked away, her lip quivering as she gripped her skirt tighter. “You… don’t like the Blackwoods.”
“I don’t,” I repeated, careful not to say too much. I had almost let it slip that I was aware of future events when Tritetia first mentioned my mother’s death, but I knew I needed to keep that a secret. I was no seer and I still didn’t know why I had come back to the past in the first place. “Yssac made my mother feel bad.”
“He will do worse, if he’s not stopped and so will you,” Tritetia whispered quietly before looking up to meet my gaze again. There were tears in her eyes, and I tilted my head slightly, confused by her expression. “Will you… really help me if I help you?”
Her question threw me off and for a moment I simply stared at her. It was written all over her face; raw, unguarded desperation—an emotion I knew far too well. Tritetia truly believed I was the only one who could help her, just as I had come to realize she might be the only one who could help me. To her, I was another child who could become something scary if she didn’t help me, and she likely expected me to see her the same way. Just another kid with a scary power.
“If you save my ma, I’ll save yours,” I answered quietly, and I barely caught the princess as she threw her arms around me. I froze, completely caught off guard as Tritetia pressed herself against my chest, clutching my shirt with trembling fingers. Her body was small and warm, and I could feel her heartbeat racing against my ribs. My first instinct was to shove her away, but something about the way she clung to me stopped me.
Awkwardly, I lifted my arms, hesitating for just a moment before I returned the hug, patting her back stiffly. I wasn’t used to being touched like this; my mother was the only one who hugged me and I had definitely never been hugged by another child. She pulled away after a moment, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her dress.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice barely above a breath as the scent of the sea returned. It filled the small alcove and it must have shown on my face because it quickly disappeared. “I’m s-s-sorry, I’m not very good at controlling my body yet. My changes only started a few months ago.”
“I’m not either,” I lied, pretending to be shy as I allowed my eyes to change to gold. “Even my ma doesn’t know my eyes can change.”
Tritetia smiled as she relaxed her hold on her dress, managing to meet my gaze again as she studied my eyes with open curiosity.
“They look like fire,” she murmured, tilting her head slightly. “Like gold, but… alive.”
I blinked, startled by the observation. No one had ever described them that way before. In my past life, people had called my eyes unnatural, terrifying, monstrous. And despite her own fear of what I could become, she looked at them as if they were something beautiful rather than something to fear.
Before I could decide how to respond, Tritetia sniffled, straightening her back as she rubbed at her eyes again. She had calmed down remarkably fast, as if she was used to forcing her emotions aside the moment they became inconvenient. I took advantage of the shift to ask one of the questions on my mind.
“When does your ma die?”
“After yours.” Tritetia answered, her eyes darting back toward the garden. “It doesn’t happen until my seventeenth birthday.”
Tritetia’s words made my heart freeze, even as I heard Valaine calling out for us. In my previous life, my mother had not died until I was seventeen, and I could easily tell that Tritetia and I were the same age. But my birthday had only been a month or so ago, so her’s couldn’t be much after mine. That meant–
“When… does mine die?” I asked quietly, not even having to fake the worry and fear in my voice. Tritetia hesitated, her fingers twitching slightly against the fabric of her dress. She took a slow breath, as if steadying herself, before meeting my gaze again.
“I don’t know exactly,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “But you were still a teenager. I don’t know how you managed to fully transform so young, but dragons are more emotionally affected than sea beasts. So maybe that… affected things.”
I swallowed hard, my stomach twisting uncomfortably. So not only was my mother supposed to die sooner, I had somehow managed to hasten my transformation into a full dragon in the future Tritetia saw. In my previous life, I hadn’t been able to hasten my transformation and it was the only reason I waited those five years after her death to get my revenge. The idea that I could force the transformation sooner was enough to make my head spin, but before I could demand for more information, Valaine’s voice came closer.
“You aren’t allowed to hide inside! You guys better be out here!”
“Uh oh, we should leave. If Valaine finds this, she’ll make it into another eavesdropping space.” Tritetia sighed and I simply watched as she leaned out to see if Valaine was visible. Wait, so it was Valaine who was creating the eavesdropping rooms, not Isadora? “We can… try to talk later.”
“Okay,” I agreed, following Tritetia as we moved to find actual hiding spots. As I settled into one of the bushes, I took a deep breath, shoving the weight of the conversation deep into the back of my mind. There would be time to process it later—right now, I had to keep up appearances and see what Isadora and Caspian had decided to do with me and my mother.