Chapter 1

On my first day caring for the royal baby dragon, everyone thinks he's dying.

But I can hear him screaming that he's perfectly fine.

“There’s nothing more we can do.”

Dr. Corvin, the oldest Royal Dragon Healer in the palace, slowly lowers his hands.

His face is grave.

“The hatchling is too weak. He hasn’t eaten for days, and his condition is getting worse. If we keep forcing treatment, we’ll only make him suffer.”

No one in the dragon nursery dares to speak.

King Kaelen stands beside the enormous white nest, his face colder than stone.

Even in human form, there is something terrifying about him.

He was wounded in the last border war and still walks with a slight stiffness, but no one would ever mistake that for weakness.

And me?

I’m the new human caretaker kneeling at the very back.

I’m biting the inside of my cheek so hard I can taste blood.

Because while everyone around me looks like they’re attending a funeral, the “dying” baby dragon is swearing nonstop inside my head.

“I’m not dying!”

“That old man is an idiot!”

“My head hurts because this stupid nest smells disgusting!”

“And why does everyone keep touching me? Stop touching me!”

I lower my head before anyone sees my expression.

This is bad.

Very bad.

My name is Seraphina.

I’m human.

And for as long as I can remember, I’ve been able to understand dragons.

Not guesses.

Not instincts.

Actual words.

Growls, chirps, snarls, tiny angry squeaks, I hear all of them as clearly as human speech.

When I was little, I made the mistake of telling people.

No one believed me.

After enough laughter and enough frightened looks, I learned to keep my mouth shut.

That secret has followed me all the way here.

Three weeks ago, my mother’s condition got worse.

The doctor told me she needed medicine we couldn’t afford.

Then I saw a notice outside the palace gates.

ROYAL PALACE HIRING.

CARETAKER NEEDED FOR A YOUNG DRAGON.

HIGH PAY.

ROOM AND BOARD INCLUDED.

I applied the same day.

I didn’t care that everyone in the city had heard stories about the royal hatchling biting servants, setting curtains on fire, and chasing one caretaker into a fountain.

Three months of palace wages could pay for my mother’s treatment.

So I came.

And on my first day, the baby dragon is apparently about to die.

Perfect.

Frost lies curled in the center of the nursery.

He is small for a royal dragon, no bigger than a large hound, with snow-white scales and pale silver horns that are only beginning to grow.

His wings are folded tightly against his sides.

His head rests on his front claws.

He looks weak.

Too weak.

If I couldn’t hear him, I would believe Dr. Corvin too.

King Kaelen does.

His gaze never leaves Frost.

“He ate nothing again this morning?”

A palace servant bows quickly.

“Nothing, Your Majesty.”

“And water?”

“Very little.”

Kaelen’s jaw tightens.

Beside him, Lady Ravenna presses a handkerchief to the corner of her eye.

She is beautiful, perfectly dressed, and already treated by half the court as if she will one day be queen.

“Kaelen,” she says softly, “Frost has suffered enough.”

His eyes turn cold.

Ravenna’s voice trembles.

“I know what he means to you. I know he’s all you have left of your sister. But if there really is no cure…”

She doesn’t finish.

She doesn’t have to.

The room becomes even quieter.

Frost suddenly lifts his head.

His pale eyes narrow.

“I hate her.”

I almost choke.

Ravenna takes one careful step toward the nest.

“Poor little thing.”

She reaches out.

Frost pulls his head away at once.

To everyone else, it probably looks like he’s too sick to be touched.

Inside my head, he is furious.

“Don’t touch me!”

“You smell almost as bad as this nest!”

I clamp my lips together.

Do not laugh.

Absolutely do not laugh.

Kaelen looks at Dr. Corvin.

“Check him again.”

The old healer hesitates, then kneels beside Frost.

He checks the baby dragon’s eyes, mouth, breathing, scales, and wings.

Frost complains through every second of it.

“Cold hands!”

“Stop opening my mouth!”

“I swear, if he touches my wings again...”

A moment later, Dr. Corvin rises.

His expression doesn’t change.

“Your Majesty, my answer is the same.”

Kaelen says nothing.

Dr. Corvin lowers his voice.

“He’s fading. Keeping him alive like this may only prolong his pain.”

Ravenna looks down.

A few servants begin to cry.

My palms turn damp.

Because Frost isn’t fading.

He is furious.

And frightened.

“I told you, I’m not sick!”

“I don’t want to sleep in this horrible thing!”

“It smells wrong!”

“My head hurts every time I lie here!”

I finally look at the nest.

It is enormous.

New.

Expensive.

Layers of dark velvet surround Frost, trimmed with gold thread and stuffed so thickly that his small body nearly disappears into it.

Too luxurious for a baby dragon to hate.

At least, that is what everyone else must think.

I stare for one second too long.

Frost stops yelling.

His head turns.

Slowly.

Those pale silver eyes lock directly onto me.

My stomach drops.

No.

No, no, no.

I immediately lower my head.

Too late.

A sharp little voice explodes inside my skull.

“You.”

I freeze.

“The new human in the back.”

I squeeze my eyes shut.

Maybe if I don’t move...

“Stop hiding!”

My heart nearly stops.

“You can hear me, can’t you?”