Ariana did not remember leaving Alexander's chambers.
One moment she had been standing before him.
The next she was walking through the palace corridors with her heart pounding violently against her ribs.
The words refused to leave her mind.
You are mine.
The memory made her stomach twist.
The corridor stretched endlessly before her, lined with flickering torches and silent guards.
Every step felt heavier than the last.
A dragon.
Alexander was a dragon.
Not a story.
Not a legend.
Not a myth told to frighten children during winter nights.
Real.
Living.
Breathing.
And somehow he expected her to simply accept it.
Accept him.
Accept fate.
Accept a bond she had never asked for.
A bitter laugh escaped her lips.
"No."
The word echoed softly through the corridor.
"No."
She stopped walking.
Her hands clenched tightly at her sides.
He had destroyed her kingdom.
He had imprisoned her family.
He had shattered everything she had ever known.
