Chapter 57 What A Shell

Chapter 57 What A Shell
Chapter 57: What A Shell
Neria quickly walked through the tunnels with the. 
She didn't need a map; her feet knew the way.
Finally, she reached the door leading to the incubation chamber. 
In her last life, Neria had struggled... This time, she didn't even look at the handle. 
"Wait," a voice barked from the darkness. 
There was a guard standing by the torch stand, his spear leveled at her throat. 
He was young, his armor rattling with nerves.
"The pits are closed by order of the Crown Prince," the guard stammered. "Who are you?"
Neria didn't even turn her head fully. She kept her profile low.
"Do I look like someone who asks for permission from a boy with a toothpick?" Neria asked.
"My Lady? I... I can't let anyone in. Prince Sebastian said-"
"Prince Sebastian said the gold in the treasury is missing," Neria interrupted, stepping into the light just enough to show the Oakhaven crest on her ring.
 "He sent me to ensure the most valuable asset in this palace hasn't been replaced by a common rock while you were busy napping on your feet. Do you want to be the one to tell him why he can't pay the knights tomorrow because you blocked my path?"
The guard’s face went white. He looked at the ring, then at her icy green eyes. "I didn't... I didn't know the Prince sent a lady."
"The Prince sends whoever is capable," Neria snapped. "Now, open the door before I decide to report your incompetence along with the inventory."
The boy scrambled to pull the bolt back. The door opened, revealing a room filled with steam of heat-stones.
"Wait outside," Neria commanded. "If anyone approaches, you tell them the Prince’s auditor is inside. If you let a single soul through that door, I’ll make sure you’re assigned to the border waste by morning."
"Yes, My Lady! Of course!"
The door shut behind her. 
Neria was alone…
She exhaled a breath she felt like she had been holding for an entire lifetime. Then, Neria turned to the center of the room, where a pedestal sat surrounded by glowing embers.
There it was…The egg.
It was larger than she remembered, a perfect oval of obsidian glass that seemed to swallow the light of the torches. It was too cold.
"Pip," she whispered, rushing to the pedestal.
Neria’s fingers trembled as they touched the smooth, dark surface. In her last life, the egg had cracked the moment she didn’t even expect. But now?
The shell remained perfectly smooth. With no heartbeat. No tiny, frantic scratching from the inside.
"Why aren't you waking up?" Neria hissed, her heart started sinking. "It’s me. I’m back. I’m here to save you."
She pressed her forehead against the obsidian. She tried to project every memory of the little dragon…the way he ate butterflies in the carriage, the way he curled into her neck, the way he looked at her before the world turned to white.
The egg stayed silent.
"Neria?"
The voice came from the doorway. It wasn't the guard.
Neria spun around, her cloak flared out as she moved to shield the pedestal. 
Sebastian was in the entrance, watching her with his arms crossed over his chest. 
He wasn't wearing his royal robes, just a simple black tunic that made him look sharper, more dangerous.
"Sebastian," Neria breathed. "You’re supposed to be in the library."
"I was," Sebastian replied, walking slowly into the room. "Until a very terrified guard told me my 'auditor' was threatening to send him to the borders. You’ve become quite the storyteller, Neria. Or should I say, quite the thief?"
‘How is she alive?’ The crown prince furrowed his brows.
"I'm not stealing anything," Neria lied, even though her pulse was breaking. "I noticed a discrepancy in the palace security. I thought I’d see for myself how easy it was to reach the Crown Jewels."
"The egg isn't a jewel," Sebastian stopped three feet away. "It’s a fossil. A dead stone my father keeps because he can't let go of the past. Why are you touching it as if it were a lover?"
"It isn't dead," Neria’s eyes flashed. "It’s waiting. It’s waiting for someone who isn't trying to turn it into a weapon."
Sebastian laughed in a dry, bitter sound. "You’ve been reading too many poems, Neria. It’s a rock. But you? You’re the mystery. Why is the girl who hated the dirt suddenly standing in a steam-room with a charcoal cloak?"
"Maybe I’m tired of the silk," Neria challenged. "Maybe I realised that the only things worth having in this palace are the ones you haven't ruined yet."
Sebastian stepped closer, his shadow fell over her. "You’re hiding something. Ever since you woke up…” 
‘No. I can’t tell her I’ve tried to kill her. But how did she survive?’
“You’ve been looking at me as if I’m a ghost. As if you know how I’m going to die."
Neria raised her eyebrow. ‘Come on, Sebastian…spill it.’
 "Don't be ridiculous."
"Is it true?" Sebastian asked, but sounded like a whisper. "Did you see something in the glass? Is that why you’re trying to take the stone?"
"I’m taking it because you don't deserve it," Neria scoffed, grabbing the egg and tucking it into the folds of her cloak. 
The weight was immense, nearly pulling her down.
"Put it back, Neria," Sebastian warned, his scepter sparked with a green light. "I don't want to hurt you, but that belongs to the crown."
"The crown is a tomb, Sebastian! You said it yourself!" Neria shouted. "If I leave it here, you’ll just use it to fuel a war that ends in ash. I’m taking it out of the script."
"What script?" Sebastian grabbed her arm, his fingers dug into her skin. "What are you talking about?"
"Let me go," Neria hissed.
"No. Not until you tell me why you’re so terrified of a future that hasn't happened yet."
The egg in her cloak suddenly gave a single, weak heartbeat.
Neria looked Sebastian in the eyes, her expression broke into something fake tears. 
"Because in the future I saw, you killed me, Sebastian. And then you killed everyone else. I’m not letting it happen again."
Sebastian’s grip loosened. His eyes went wide with a shock so deep it looked like physical pain. "I... I would never."
That was his lie…
"You already did," Neria gave him a glare.
‘Ho-how does she know?’ Sebastian panicked a little. 
She shoved him back with all her strength and ran for the door.
"Guard!" Sebastian roared, finally finding his voice. "Stop her! But do not hurt the egg!"
Neria burst into the hallway, "Move!" she screamed at the young guard.
The boy was too confused to react. Neria didn't wait. She sprinted toward the stairs, thinking of only one name over and over.
Alistair…
The little thief needed to get to the gate. She needed to get to the only man who could stop the Crown Prince. 
But as Neria reached the upper corridor, she heard the sound of a dozen boots hurting the ground.
The rotation was over. The gates were locked.
"Don't hatch," Neria whispered to the cloak. "Not yet. Just stay quiet."