Chapter 24: Welcome back to Dragon’s castle
"I hope we meet again, Vacuse Vorrakyn. It would be a shame if you are not the one I would be speaking to in the coming future as heir to heir."
Vacuse was dropped off at the Dragon’s castle. He watched as the carriage followed the Vorrakyn’s knights that were waiting, and then he turned to face the castle.
The Dragon’s castle was the seat of the Vorrakyn family. It was made with brown stones that glistened as if it was wet. On some of its surface, runes were etched, and they thrummed silently with power.
Towers jutted up like dragon horns, their tips flying the flag of the Vorrakyn—a red background with a dark dragon coiled on itself, its mouth opened in a roar. The symbol of the Vorrakyn.
"You are late," a voice said.
Vacuse turned. "Lyra Vorrakyn."
The girl before him wasn’t the timid, desperate girl he knew when they were six. Now, her red eyes were steady as she looked at him. She was dressed in a combination of light armor and court dressing. "Vacuse Vorrakyn. You are back."
Vacuse nodded. "The second rite isn’t started yet, right?"
She shook her head. "Not yet, but it’ll be today. I have been waiting to see you for the past days, but to think you would come together with the Warbines heir."
Vacuse gestured for her to follow as he walked around the castle. The castle had many entrances for different wings and rooms in it. "Tell me, Lyra. Who do you think has the most likely reason to see me dead and actually carried it out?"
Lyra stumbled a little, and then she studied him—his torn robe and the way he looked so unkempt. "Assassination attempt?"