Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
I stared at him, my heart still racing in my chest.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, my voice sharper than I intended.
Cyran smiled, that smug smirk he always wore when he knew something I didn’t. “You’re not the only one with court ties.”
I folded my arms across my chest, biting back the surge of bitterness clawing up my throat. “Then why did you sell me to the king?”
“You are an asset, Ashlyn.” His tone was so casual, like he was talking about trading horses at the market. “Nothing more. I cultivated you until I could put you in play. Now look at you—a dragon rider. That’s more than I could have hoped for.”
“ An asset ?” My voice broke on the words. “I was your daughter —or at least I thought I was. But you never saw me as anything other than a piece on your board, did you?”
He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “You were born into this life, girl. Destiny carved your path before you even knew how to walk. I just… guided you along the way.”
“Guided me?” My fingers curled into fists. “You made me steal. You taught me to kill . And when that wasn’t enough, you sold me to the crown to be used as a pawn in a game I don’t even understand!”
“You think you’re the victim here?” He stepped closer, his eyes narrowing.
“I gave you a purpose. A place. A role in something bigger than yourself. You were nothing when I found you. Just a scrawny little white-haired brat clinging to Stella’s skirts.
I gave you power—I made you into something more. ”
“You made me into a weapon,” I shot back. “And I hate you for it.”
Cyran chuckled darkly. “Cursing my name doesn’t change what you owe me. You are mine, Ashlyn. My chosen daughter, my investment, my creation. And you will do everything I ask of you.” His gaze turned sharp, cold. “Including telling me about the nobles in this castle—their powers, their weaknesses.”
“No.” I took a step back, shaking my head. “I won’t betray my squad.”
“You think they care about you?” His voice softened, deceptively gentle. “You’re a Thrall, a commoner dressed in dragon leathers. Do you honestly believe they’d put their lives on the line for you?”
“ They already have, ” I snapped. “More than you ever did.”
His face darkened, the smile fading. “I made you what you are. Don’t forget that. If I tell you to find out what Prince Dorian’s power is, or how powerful Prince Zander’s Dark Fire is— you will do it .”
“No,” I said again, louder this time. “I won’t.”
“You will,” he snarled. “Because if you don’t, I’ll burn your precious squad to the ground. Do you understand me?”
“Did you order the death of that warder?” I asked, my voice low.
Cyran’s gaze sharpened like a knife. For the first time in the entire conversation, he hesitated—just for a heartbeat, but I caught it.
“You think I’d be stupid enough to kill a noble inside the castle walls?” His words were low, but they carried a dangerous undercurrent. “If I’d wanted him dead, he’d have died in the field, not in his bed.”
“But you wanted him dead,” I pressed. “Didn’t you?”
He smiled thinly. “That, my dear, is none of your concern.”
I stared at Cyran, feeling the weight of every word he’d just spoken. My heart hammered in my chest, but I refused to let him see my fear. He thrived on weakness, on control—and I’d spent too many years dancing to the strings he pulled.
“Your days of controlling me are over,” I said, my voice low but steady.
Cyran’s dark eyes flickered with something dangerous—amusement, maybe, or irritation that I dared defy him. He took a slow step closer, forcing me to look up at him.
“You forget who you’re talking to,” he said, his voice cold enough to freeze steel. “I don’t need to control you, Ashlyn. I can end you. Right here, right now.”
“I know,” I said, and I meant it. If he wanted me dead, I wouldn’t leave this room.
Hell, Cyran probably wouldn’t even break a sweat.
He’d been a notorious assassin before he’d become the leader of the Order of Thorn—a man whispered about in fearful tones across every kingdom.
If he decided my life was worth ending, there’d be no escape.
But I still lifted my chin. “If killing me is what you want, then get it over with. Because I’ll never help you betray my squad.”
His smile was thin and sharp. “You think you’re so noble now. Like those pampered princes and spoiled riders would ever accept you. They’ll toss you aside the moment you’re no longer useful.”
“Maybe,” I shot back. “But they’ve already done more for me than you ever have. They were honest with me.”
His smile twisted into something cruel. “I gave you everything,” he hissed. “I shaped you, trained you, made you strong enough to survive.”
“You made me a puppet,” I said, voice rising. “You stole my childhood, sold me to the crown like livestock, and called it love .”
“I kept you alive ,” Cyran barked. “And this is how you repay me? By turning your back on the man who protected you?”
“You didn’t protect me.” I stepped closer now, anger outweighing my fear. “You used me. And I let you—for too long. But not anymore.”
Cyran’s gaze narrowed into thin slits. “You’ll regret this.”
“No.” I swallowed hard. “The only regret I have is ever believing you gave a damn about me.”
His nostrils flared, and for a terrifying moment, I thought he might actually strike me. But then his expression went cold—colder than I’d ever seen it.
“You’re no longer my daughter,” he said, each word slow and deliberate. “Whatever protection I’ve given you? It ends now. You have no real home. No family. No one will come for you when you fall. You are nothing now. ”
I clenched my fists at my sides to keep them from trembling. “I’d rather be nothing than be your pawn.”
I turned on my heel and walked out, my breath shaking in my chest. I half expected Cyran to follow—or worse, for a knife to slip between my ribs before I made it to the hallway.
But no blade came.
His silence was louder than any threat.
And that terrified me.
The air seemed colder outside the castle walls, or maybe that was just me—hollowed out and frozen from the inside.
“I know where my room is,” I told the courier when we neared the barracks. My voice was firm, but my insides felt like they’d been carved out with a dull blade.
He didn’t argue. Just gave a curt nod before turning back toward the castle, disappearing into the evening mist.
I stood there a moment, staring at my door. I knew what waited inside—questions, suspicions, worried glances, and whispered conversations I wouldn’t be invited to join. They’d ask about the summons.
But I didn’t have answers. And the one person who might’ve helped me… Well, he had disowned me.
You are nothing now.
Cyran’s words twisted like a knife in my chest. My father—the man who had trained me, manipulated me, used me—had finally tossed me away like a broken weapon. Discarded. Forgotten.
Solei wouldn’t be allowed to speak to me. Everyone I had grown up with would turn their backs, forced to pretend I never existed. My only family—gone.
And here? Here I had nothing but suspicion hanging over me, like a sword poised to fall.
I turned away from my door, unable to face my squadmates yet, and climbed the narrow ladder leading to the battlements. The wind was brisker up here, biting through my jacket and numbing my fingers.
I leaned forward against the edge, looking out over the beach below. My room was just beneath me, and for a moment, I imagined what it would feel like to fall—to have a single moment of freedom.
You wouldn’t fall, a bitter voice in my mind whispered. Kaelith would save you—if only to remind you she owns your life.
I exhaled shakily and closed my eyes. The pain in my chest felt too big to hold. It wasn’t just Cyran’s betrayal. It was everything—the constant fight to belong, to prove I was more than just a pawn. The memories I’d tried to bury resurfaced, dragging me down.
I thought of Remy—the way his smile could pull me back from my darkest moments. His laugh, warm and familiar, echoing through my mind like a melody I couldn’t forget. He was the only person who had ever loved me. The only one who saw something in me worth saving.
And he was gone.
I had to believe that if Remy had lived, he would’ve chosen me. That he would’ve walked away from the Order, no matter the cost. I clung to that thought, desperate for something to hold on to.
But I’d never know for sure. That was the cruelest part.
My breath caught, and I felt the tears before they came—hot and unrelenting. I couldn’t remember the last time I cried—maybe when Dalila died. Or maybe when Remy had.
But this—this hurt worse. There was something uniquely brutal about being abandoned by a parent. By knowing they’d chosen to leave you behind.
I pressed my hands hard against the stone, grounding myself in the cold sting of it. I wouldn’t break—not here, not now.
I have no one.
The tears hovered on my lashes, burning against my eyes as I swallowed hard, determined not to let them fall. I couldn’t cry—not now. Not when there was no one left to hold me afterward.
Rider, your pain vexes me.
Kaelith’s voice slithered through my mind, smooth yet sharp, like heated steel gliding over ice. I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly.
I’m fine, I lied.
You are a terrible liar. Her tone softened—not quite kind, but something dangerously close. You ache like a creature starved. It makes my scales itch.
I almost laughed—almost. Instead, I swallowed against the lump in my throat and leaned back against the cold stone wall. It’s nothing. It’ll pass.
This is not nothing, Kaelith said, her tone firm now. But you are not without strength. Rest. Let the day end—tomorrow you begin anew.
I shook my head, fighting the bitterness curling in my chest. And what if tomorrow’s worse?
There was a pause before Kaelith’s voice returned—quieter this time. Then you fight through that one, too.