Reborn: Never Again the Dragon King's Bride

Marina's POV

I woke up gasping, my heart pounding so hard.

For a second I couldn't breathe or think, and my hands clutched at the rough wool blanket while splinters from the wooden floor dug into my bare feet.

This can't be real.

I scrambled for the candle on the makeshift table, my fingers trembling as I struck the flint. The flame caught and warm light flooded the tiny room, and I held it up to the cracked mirror hanging on the wall.

The face staring back at me was young, twenty-five, with smooth skin and bright eyes, no lines of exhaustion or despair carved into my features yet.

I touched my cheek and watched my reflection do the same. A hundred years of memories flooded back all at once. The Dragon King's castle. The endless pregnancies. The cold stone walls of my gilded cage. The title they'd given me, Dragon Queen.

And Coral. My sister, my loving sister, who'd smiled at me right before she slipped poison into my wine.

I could still taste it, still feel the burning in my throat and the way my vision had blurred as I collapsed. The last thing I'd seen was her face, beautiful and triumphant.

I set the candle down before I dropped it, my legs weak but I forced myself to stay standing.

I was back. Back to the night before everything changed, the night before I was supposed to venture into the Black Forest to find a male to father my children, the duty every woman in our settlement faced when she came of age.

The night before I'd found him, the Dragon King, wounded and alone, his blood soaking into the forest floor.

I'd saved him, and he'd rewarded me with a lifetime of hell.

Not this time. This time I'd stay far away from that forest and let someone else be the hero.

Morning came too fast and I'd barely slept.

When I reached for Coral's bed, my hand met cold sheets. She was gone.

No.

I threw on my clothes and ran outside, my heart in my throat. The settlement square was already crowded with women preparing for the journey, but I only had eyes for one person and she wasn't there.

"Where's Coral?" I grabbed the nearest woman by the arm.

She blinked at me, surprised. "She left before dawn. Said she was heading deep into the Black Forest."

The Black Forest?

I understood everything in that moment. Coral had been reborn just like me, and she'd figured out my secret. She knew where I'd found him and she'd gone to steal my chance.

Except it wasn't a chance. It was a curse.

By evening the entire settlement was buzzing with news, Coral had returned and she hadn't come back alone.

I stood at the edge of the crowd, watching as she walked through the gates with him.

Dragon King Thalassos.

He looked exactly as I remembered, tall and imposing, with silver-white hair that seemed to glow in the fading light. His eyes were the color of deep ocean water, and even wounded, even leaning slightly on Coral for support, he had this presence that made you want to drop to your knees.

Everyone else did. The moment they saw him they dropped to the ground with their foreheads pressed to the dirt.

I stayed standing, just for a second, long enough to meet his eyes across the distance.

He didn't recognize me. Why would he? In this timeline we'd never met.

Then I lowered myself slowly, keeping my expression blank.

"This woman saved my life," Thalassos announced, his voice carrying across the square. "I am Thalassos, King of the Eastern, and I do not forget my debts."

The crowd held its breath.

"She will become my consort. We will be wed within the month."

Chaos erupted. People were crying, cheering, shouting praises to the heavens. A mixed-blood, one of us, marrying a pure-blooded dragon. It was unheard of. Impossible. A miracle.

I watched Coral soak it all in, her face glowing with triumph. She looked like a queen already, standing beside him in the blood-red light of sunset.

Her eyes found mine in the crowd and she smiled.

"Sister," she called out, "Aren't you happy for me?"

Every eye turned to me, waiting and expecting me to fall over myself with joy and congratulations.

I stood up slowly, brushing dirt from my knees.

"Of course," I said, keeping my voice calm and even. "Congratulations, Coral. I hope you get everything you deserve."

Her smile widened. She thought she'd won, thought she'd stolen my prize and my destiny and my happy ending.

Poor Coral.

She had no idea what she'd actually taken.