Chapter 2 The Calling #2
I was about to do what I’d been taught—to make the neat little cut along the fingertip, precise and restrained, the way all Solenhart royals and hopeful Emberkeep nobles were trained to. That was the lesson drilled into me at the Glass Castle:
Intention begins with the offering. The wound must be controlled. The blood must be measured. A princess must never spill more than she intends. A performance of control and discipline masquerading as honor. But something inside me shifted, cracked opened.
What if my father and Shakari were right?
What if the Siren could rewrite what tradition insisted was already sealed? What if my intention did matter, even as a royal?
What if there was a future where I fought for the island, not presided over it? A life where magic wasn’t rationed, wasn’t political, wasn’t bound to a throne. A life where Thea Solenhart didn’t have to be a princess at all.
The world around me seemed to hold its breath.
And in that suspended moment, I made a choice.
Not the choice for which I was bred.
Not the one expected of a Solenhart heir.
The choice of someone who wanted her freedom.
I tightened my grip on the dagger, steadied my breath, and turned my left hand outward. Then, breaking every rule I’d been raised with, I slashed straight across my palm, from edge to edge, the way a Dragontail would.
The pain was sharp, immediate, a clean bite of steel.
I did not scream.
I didn’t need to.
Gasps rippled through the legions behind me, whispers hissing like wind against stone. I didn’t look at them. I only lifted my bleeding hand over the Siren’s pond and let the blood fall.
The moment the first drop touched the water, the world dissolved. The background behind the Siren blurred into nothing. The arena, the students, the noise—gone.
It was only her and me.
What was this? No one had warned me about this.
I looked up at her, disoriented, the world around us swallowed in mist.
The Siren didn’t speak, not aloud but her voice filled me all the same. It resonated low and deep, vibrating through bone and blood.
“You are nervous, Solenhart.”
I didn’t deny it.
“You wish to change your destiny.” The Siren added.
A shiver ran down my spine, cold and sharp as a blade dipped in frost. She knew. There was no hiding from her. Not here.
“I know we Solenharts are Emberkeep by bloodline,” I said quietly. “Our magic is Emberkeep but what if that is not what my heart seeks?”
“Is that what they have told you? The lies run deep in the throne.” The Siren hissed.
Her words cut through me. “What do you mean?” I asked.
“It has been three centuries since I last granted a Solenhart to Dragontail,” she said, her voice echoing like water in a cavern. And in those years, none of your line has even dared to ask for it. Your bloodline has grown… too eager to keep power.”
I swallowed hard. “There isn’t a Dragontail Solenhart in history.”
“So you are told. But lies lie deep in the throne. You were not always Emberkeep. Solenhart blood was once fire and fury, strength and courage, born to fight without fear.”
Her words churned inside me. Solenharts were known for composure, not rage, for tactics and restraint, not brute power. She was describing Dragontail virtues. Valor, strength, the will to face death head-on.
“But why should I grant you Dragontail?” Her voice coiled closer, surrounding me. You are afraid. Insecure. You don’t even know the full measure of your power. You don’t know who you are. You only wish to run from the throne, from the crown, from the weight of your name.”
Her words struck deep, crushing the breath from my chest. Because she was right. I was afraid. I was trying to run.
But she didn’t know it all.
“Wait,” I said, my voice trembling but sure.
“It’s true. I don’t want the crown. But I do want to do good.
I want to defend the heart of Rionis, to clear my family’s name, to stand for something more than ambition.
I can only do that fighting, not hiding behind silk and ceremony.
I promise I’ll learn. I’ll train. I’ll become someone worthy of Dragontail. ”
I lifted my chin, meeting her gaze as light rippled beneath the surface of the pond. The Siren’s scales shone with the reflections of the fading sun.
“I won’t let you down,” I begged.
I stood there in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Her eyes stared at me while I could only hear my heart pounding until the ground trembled beneath me. The air cracked like thunder. I dropped to my knees as the arena around me seemed to shatter and reform, reality folding back into place.
Murmurs rose, faint at first, then swelling into a wave of disbelief. When I forced myself to stand, the legions had returned. And above them, blazing brighter than all the others, the green sigil of Dragontail burned against the sky.
Then I felt a heat pulse on my arm as the Dragontail sigil, in gold on a circular green background, was carved into my skin.
She had granted me Dragontail.
I had changed my destiny, my fate, and possibly the fate of the entire island. I wasn’t going to be an Emberkeep ruler wrapped in white robes and politics. I wasn’t going to sit on a throne forged by fear and tradition.
I was going to be a warrior. I was going to defend Rionis, not rule it.
A breath escaped me, half laugh, half gasp. I looked up at the Siren, meeting her ancient gaze, and a smirk tugged at my lips. Then I bowed my head slightly in gratitude. Thank you, I thought, though the words never left my mouth.
The arena was still rippling with whispers as I began to walk toward my new legion. Gasps followed me, disbelief bleeding into awe. And then cheers erupted in the arena.
The Dragontail ranks erupted, pounding fists to their chests, their chant rising like fire: “Strength above fear!”
“Strength above fear!”
“Strength above fear!”
As I passed Emberkeep, the noise dimmed. The silence was almost heavier than the cheers.
Thalen stood among them, eyes wide, shock etched plain across his face. His golden gaze locked on mine, stunned, searching, unbelieving.
I didn’t stop.
When I reached Dragontail, hands reached out to greet me. Claps on my shoulders, quick congratulations as I stepped into their circle. I couldn’t help the smile that broke across my face, bright, proud, unstoppable.
Shakari pulled me into a fierce hug, her voice trembling between laughter and fear. “I knew you had it in you,” she whispered proudly.
I squeezed her hand; the weight of it all settled in my chest. We both knew what this meant. Freedom, a new beginning, and a storm that was waiting to break across the court of Solenhart and the whole island of Rionis.