Chapter 5

The Fire Fell Silent

The hallway outside the throne room was complete chaos.

Servants rushed back and forth carrying water buckets that would never matter against dragonfire. Guards shouted over one another while thick smoke curled beneath the massive black doors behind Evelynn.

Nobody paid attention to her at first.

Not until she stumbled out coughing.

Then suddenly every head turned.

A silver-eyed servant hurried toward her in shock.

“You’re alive?”

Not

Are you hurt?

Not

What happened?

Just disbelief.

Evelynn leaned heavily against the cold stone wall, still struggling to breathe properly after Kael’s hand had nearly crushed her throat.

“Wonderful to see you too,” she rasped.

The servant looked genuinely unsettled.

Behind the throne room doors, something slammed hard enough to shake the entire corridor.

Several servants flinched.

One quietly whispered:

“He’s losing control again…”

Another answered nervously:

“It’s worse than last month.”

Evelynn frowned.

Again?

How often did this happen?

A loud crack echoed from inside the throne room.

Heat burst through the gaps beneath the doors.

Someone near the back panicked.

“The west hall is burning!”

Two guards immediately ran past carrying long black shields that looked partially melted around the edges.

Dragonfire shields.

Which implied this happened often enough for someone to invent equipment for it.

That thought was deeply disturbing.

The silver-eyed servant looked toward the doors anxiously.

“We need to evacuate this level.”

Nobody argued.

The palace staff moved quickly now, gathering scrolls, valuables, and whatever else they clearly didn’t want reduced to ash.

Evelynn remained where she was.

Mostly because her legs still felt weak.

Also because her brain hadn’t fully caught up with what had just happened inside.

The Dragon King had almost killed her.

Then looked horrified about it.

None of this felt normal.

Another violent explosion shook the hallway.

A servant screamed somewhere deeper in the palace.

Smoke thickened.

One older dragon guard cursed under his breath.

“If this spreads to the upper chambers again—”

“It won’t,” another interrupted sharply.

But he didn’t sound convinced.

Evelynn looked between them.

“How often does he burn down his own palace?”

The guards exchanged uncomfortable looks.

Finally, one muttered:

“Enough.”

Not reassuring.

The silver-eyed servant returned carrying a folded dark cloak.

“For the cold,” he said stiffly.

Evelynn accepted it carefully.

“Thank you.”

He hesitated.

Then quietly asked:

“What did you do to him?”

Evelynn blinked.

“I nearly died. That was mostly his contribution.”

“No,” the servant whispered. “Before.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand.”

The servant glanced nervously toward the throne room doors.

“The king’s dragonfire has been unstable for years.”

Another distant crash echoed through the palace.

“He hasn’t calmed this quickly in months.”

Evelynn stared at him.

Quickly?

The throne room sounded like the end of the world.

Before she could answer, the enormous doors suddenly shook violently.

Everyone froze.

Then—

silence.

Complete silence.

No explosions.

No roaring fire.

Nothing.

The entire hallway went still.

One servant slowly lowered the water bucket in his hands.

Another whispered:

“…what?”

Even the air felt strange suddenly.

Heavy.

Still.

Like the whole palace had stopped breathing.

Evelynn realized something else too.

The heat was gone.

Completely gone.

No more dragonfire leaked beneath the doors.

No smoke.

No burning.

Nothing.

One of the guards approached the doors cautiously.

“Your Majesty?”

No response.

The hallway remained painfully quiet.

Then the doors slowly creaked open by themselves.

Everyone stiffened instantly.

Evelynn looked up.

The throne room beyond had changed completely.

Minutes ago it had been an inferno.

Now—

every flame was gone.

The giant braziers lining the hall sat dark and cold. Smoke drifted lazily upward from blackened stone while melted scorch marks covered the floor.

But the dragonfire itself had vanished.

Like someone had extinguished a storm.

Kael stood near the throne with his back turned toward them.

Motionless.

One hand braced against the side of the throne.

Breathing slow.

Controlled.

The black scales along his neck had disappeared beneath his skin again.

The silence in the room felt almost unnatural now.

The silver-eyed servant beside Evelynn looked horrified.

“Impossible…”

Another servant crossed himself nervously.

Evelynn frowned slightly.

Why were they acting like this?

Then she noticed something strange.

Kael’s gaze had shifted sideways slightly.

Toward her.

The moment his eyes landed on Evelynn—

the last tiny flames flickering near the throne suddenly died.

Gone.

Just like that.

Several servants inhaled sharply.

One of the guards whispered:

“The fire…”

Another finished weakly:

“…it stopped.”

No one moved.

No one even seemed willing to breathe too loudly.

Because everyone in that hallway understood something Evelynn didn’t yet fully grasp.

This had never happened before.

Kael finally spoke without turning around.

“Leave us.”

Nobody hesitated.

Within seconds, the servants and guards practically fled down the corridor.

Except Evelynn.

Because apparently she had become the palace’s newest terrible decision.

The silver-eyed servant paused briefly near her.

His expression looked pale now.

Almost frightened.

Not of Kael.

Of her.

Then he disappeared too.

The throne room doors slowly closed again behind them.

Silence returned.

Evelynn stood awkwardly near the entrance, wrapped in the borrowed cloak while surrounded by half-melted stone and scorch marks.

“Well,” she muttered softly, “this palace has serious ventilation problems.”

Kael laughed quietly.

The sound surprised her.

Not because it was warm.

It wasn’t.

But because it sounded tired.

Exhausted down to the bone.

He finally turned toward her.

His face looked calmer now.

Still dangerous.

Still terrifying.

But more controlled.

The golden slit pupils had faded slightly, looking almost human again beneath the dim light.

Almost.

“You joke too much for someone standing in a room alone with a dragon.”

Evelynn folded her arms carefully.

“You strangle people too much for someone trying to make conversation.”

One corner of his mouth moved again.

Not quite a smile.

But close.

Kael studied her silently for several long seconds.

Then his gaze dropped once more to the silver necklace resting against her chest.

The atmosphere changed instantly again.

Tension.

Sharp and heavy.

Evelynn noticed it immediately.

“So,” she said cautiously, “are you going to explain why my necklace nearly caused a small natural disaster?”

Kael’s expression darkened.

“No.”

“Helpful.”

“You should not be wearing it.”

“It belonged to my mother.”

His jaw tightened slightly.

“That is impossible.”

Evelynn was starting to get tired of hearing that sentence.

“People keep saying that.”

Kael looked away briefly toward the dark braziers.

When he spoke again, his voice had gone quieter.

“Do you know what dragonfire is?”

Evelynn shrugged slightly.

“Fire. But angrier.”

That almost earned another smile.

Almost.

Kael stepped closer slowly this time.

Not threatening.

Not exactly.

“It responds to emotion,” he said. “Rage. Fear. Hunger.”

Evelynn glanced around the destroyed throne room.

“That explains the interior design.”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Dry humor.

Interesting.

Then his expression hardened again.

“But it has never…” He stopped.

“Never what?”

Kael stared directly at her now.

“Gone silent.”

The words settled heavily between them.

Evelynn suddenly remembered the servants’ faces.

The fear.

The shock.

The impossible silence after the flames disappeared.

Her stomach tightened slightly.

“What does that mean?”

Kael answered immediately.

“I don’t know.”

That frightened her more than if he had lied.

Because for the first time since meeting him—

the Dragon King sounded genuinely uncertain.