Page 38 of The Cursed Queen

"Princess, it's us." Andriel's low rasp finally clicked into my brain.

I shook the haze out of my head and looked clearer at the faces of those who surrounded me. Among them, I spotted Virgil and Andriel, both men seeming to be okay and unharmed. They were safe. I was safe. Repeating those words in my head, I allowed myself to visibly relax.

Andriel sighed in relief. "Thank the gods you're okay. You were unconscious for hours."

I was unconscious? Did that mean everything with the dragon was but a dream? But it felt so real.

"Princess." Virgil dropped to his knees beside me and took my hand in between his. Relief washing over his handsome features. "Are you doing okay? How are you feeling?"

"W-What happened?" I asked in a hoarse voice, my throat feeling dry.

As if sensing my discomfort, Andriel held a wooden bowl filled with ice-cold water in front of me. "Here, my darling. Drink up."

I did as he said, letting him tilt the bowl to my lips while I took a couple of sips. When I had my fill, Andriel pulled the bowl back and set it on the nightstand beside me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

I was about to tell him I was fine, but gave myself a moment to truly process how I was feeling. I frowned when I noticed a heaviness along my back, followed by a sharp discomfort on my forehead.

"Strange. Sore," I admitted. "What happened?"

"What was the last thing you remember?" Virgil asked me.

"Um, we escaped the Zeffari Kingdom," I started, then paused as I recalled leaving behind Vivienne. She was likely dead by now, and the thought of it had my eyes burning with tears filling my vision. Vivienne sacrificed herself to ensure we would escape. She put me and my life before hers, and now she was gone. I sent a quick prayer to the gods, wishing her soul a safe passage to the afterlife. Hopefully, in another lifetime, we would see each other again.

"We arrived at your home, yes?" I asked, turning to face Andriel.

He nodded. "Yes, we're home. We're in Dragon's Peak, and we're safe."

Thank the gods for that. At least we succeeded in our mission, but now Virgil and I would have to figure out what to do now.

"What else do you remember?" Virgil asked.

My mind was drawing a blank. There were bits and pieces scattered in my mind's eye, with no way of piecing them together. I recalled landing on an open platform and meeting the other shifters. They mentioned something about me, but I couldn't recall what. I remembered being in a lot of pain, and —

My eyes widened as I looked directly at the hand that Virgil was holding. It no longer looked like my hand. My fingers turned pitch-black, with long talons jutting out of them. Along my wrist and up my arm, my skin felt dry and tough. I reached for it with my free hand, noticing the similar changes in it too, and felt along the texture. They were scaly, like a reptile.

Or a dragon, I concluded.

"What?" I whispered, taking the water bowl from the nightstand, and looked at my reflection in the water. It was still my face, but now a pair of thick horns protruded from my temples, stretching up then curved back. I opened my mouth, noticing that my teeth had also undergone a transformation.They were sharp points, like the tips of an arrow. I gaped at this mutated version of my mouth, my body shuttering with confusion and fear.

With my face pale, I let out an ear-shattering scream. The bowl fell from my hands, spilling the water all over me before falling to the floor with a thud. Virgil and Andriel rushed to my aid, shushing me and trying to calm me down, but their words weren't coming through. I was turning into some kind of monster. Was this the curse? Was this what was to become of me now that I was no longer taking my medicine? My whole body shivered as if I fell into a pit of ice. The tears rained down my face as I buried my face into my hands. What was I to do now? How could I face anyone in this state?

"My darling, can you hear me?" Andriel's voice rang in my head. "Princess, please listen to me. It's okay. You're going to be fine."

Words wouldn't fall from my lips, so I sent a mental message instead. "What's happening to me?"

"The doctor will be in shortly to explain everything. I promise you that everything's going to be fine."

"From the sounds of it, am I correct to assume that our princess has awakened?" asked a woman's voice right as someone entered the cave we were in.

"She is, and she's distraught," Andriel replied out loud.

Footsteps grew louder the closer our newest visitor came. "Princess? Princess, my name is Freya. I'm the head doctor of the Dragon's Peak Den. Can you please look up at me?"

I didn't want to, not with how horrendous my face looked, but I swallowed my discomfort and did what was asked of me. I was greeted with the sight of a beautiful woman with pale, flawless skin and eyes that looked to have been made of molten gold. Her fiery red hair had streaks of orange, gold, and pink, and was bright enough to glow in the dimly lit cave.

She was a dragon shifter. I knew that without being told, or without the need to guess. While it stood to reason that every living being here were shifters, I concluded what she was by feeling. I felt it within her, a steady rhythmic flow of flames and magic dancing in the center of her core. This was a new ability I now possessed, much like the violet flames I could now summon. It wasn't a druid enchantment; it was something else.