The dragon rider might have taken everything from me.

My home, my family, and my crown.

But I vowed long ago he would never take my heart.

I survived ten years being tortured by his crazy worshippers. I know I can survive anything the king throws at me.

Because if this usurper thinks I'm going to bend and break to his will now that I'm his wife, he doesn't know what his new queen is capable of.

I will make him bend and break.

I might not be a dragon rider like him, but I have dragon blood in my veins from an ancient bond forged by my ancestors, and its fire is fueled by the hatred I hold just for him.

A hatred that burns.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I should have killed the princess when I burned her world to ash.

It was the least she deserved after what her parents did that day. But my own stubborn dragon refused to destroy the one person the gods decided was fated to me.

For years I have ignored her existence and tried to forget her screams. For years I‘ve tried to hate her and burn her memory from my mind, but now the time has come to claim my betrothed

And make her my queen.