Chapter 51 Elaina
ELAINA
A loud banging shatters the dream.
I jerk awake, my heart hammering. The cell door crashes open, and two guards march in with hard eyes and rough hands.
“Time to die, Princess,” one says, laughing coarsely, as though he’s made a funny joke.
I try to scramble away, my breath catching in fear.
“Wait—please, just wait—” I beg, but they’re not having it.
One grabs me, twisting my arms behind me and locking the iron cuffs in place. Inside, my mind is in turmoil.
The dream—it’s already slipping away.
The silver and white dragon. My dragon.
I have a dragon?
I try to hold onto the image, the voice, the feeling of flying, but it’s vanishing like smoke through my fingers.
They drag me into the corridor. I stumble, feet scraping on rough stone.
Above us, torches flicker. Around us, silence reigns. Probably everyone is already gathered in the square to watch my execution.
I don’t cry—I still can’t. But inside me, something stirs.
Not a tear…not a scream. No, it’s a flicker of flame.
It’s tiny and distant…but real.
Let her rise…
Let her fly…
The words echo in my head, but I still don’t know what they mean.