Chapter 52 The Mating Bond Breaks
Elara's POV
The guards dragged me toward the dungeon stairs. I didn't fight them. What was the point?
Drakon believed Queen Morgana's false memory. Believed I'd done all this for gold. For money.
The one person whose opinion mattered thought I was a mercenary. A con artist. A liar who sold her honor for coins.
Maybe he was right. Maybe I was exactly that terrible.
Then pain exploded in my chest.
Not the dull ache from before. This was different. Sharper. Like my heart was being torn apart from the inside.
I screamed. Fell to my knees.
The guards dropped me in confusion. "What's happening?"
Across the hall, Drakon roared. His roar wasn't human anymore, it was pure dragon. Pure agony.
The bond fragments. The last remaining pieces of our connection.
They were breaking. Completely. Finally.
"No," I gasped. "Not like this. Please not like this."
Golden light burst from my chest. From Drakon's chest. Not the warm, beautiful light from before.
This light burned. Seared. Destroyed.
Drakon's transformation began violently. Scales erupted across his entire body. His face elongated into dragon features. Wings burst from his back, tearing through his shirt.
But he couldn't complete the transformation. He was stuck halfway, trapped between human and dragon, writhing in pain.
"Drakon!" Thorne rushed to his friend's side. "Fight it! Control it!"
But Drakon couldn't. The bond breaking was too painful. Too overwhelming.
I clutched my chest, screaming. It felt like something vital was being ripped from my soul. Like losing a part of myself I'd never get back.
The pain intensified. My vision blurred. My whole body convulsed.
Around us, people backed away in horror. Some shielded their faces from the golden light. Others ran.
"The bond is shattering!" Faye's voice shouted. "Everyone get back! The magical backlash could kill anyone nearby!"
But I couldn't hear her properly. The pain drowned out everything except Drakon's roars of agony.
Our eyes met across the hall. Both of us trapped in unbearable pain. Both of us breaking apart.
And in his golden eyes, his beautiful dragon eyes, I saw something besides anger.
I saw the same pain I felt. The same loss. The same grief.
Whatever else was true, the bond had been real. You couldn't feel this kind of pain from something fake.
Queen Morgana had been wrong about that at least.
"Make it stop!" someone in the crowd begged. "Someone make it stop!"
But there was no stopping it. The bond had reached its breaking point. Too many lies. Too much betrayal. Too much damage.
It shattered completely.
The golden light exploded outward like a shockwave. The force threw everyone to the ground. Windows shattered. Walls cracked. The castle itself shook from the magical energy.
When the light faded, I lay on the floor gasping. Hollow. Empty.
The bond was gone. Completely. Not even fragments remained.
I couldn't feel Drakon anymore. Couldn't sense his emotions. Couldn't feel the connection that had sustained me through all the lies and fear.
It was like losing a limb. Or losing my heartbeat. Something vital was missing, and I knew it would never come back.
Across the hall, Drakon had collapsed too. Still partially transformed. His scales slowly receding. His breathing ragged.
"Is everyone all right?" Thorne called out. "Anyone injured from the blast?"
People slowly stood. Some were bleeding from flying debris. Others looked dazed. But no one had died.
The blast could have killed everyone nearby. Should have killed us, according to what Faye had warned. But somehow we'd all survived.
"Drakon?" Thorne helped his friend sit up. "Can you hear me?"
Drakon nodded weakly. His scales had mostly retracted now. His face was human again. But his eyes, his eyes looked dead. Empty. Destroyed.
"It's gone," he whispered. "The bond is completely gone."
"I know. I felt the backlash." Thorne gripped his shoulder. "But you're alive. That's what matters."
"Is it?" Drakon's voice was hollow. "Because I don't feel alive. I feel... nothing."
He stood up slowly. Unsteadily. Like a man who'd aged decades in seconds.
His eyes found mine across the hall.
"You destroyed me," he said quietly. "Not just the bond. Not just my trust. You destroyed everything I was. Everything I believed in."
"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry."
"Sorry doesn't fix this." Drakon's voice grew stronger. Harder. "Sorry doesn't bring back what we lost. Sorry doesn't erase the fact that everything between us was built on lies."
"Not everything! My love was real! I swear it was real!"
"Then why does it hurt so much?" His voice cracked. "If your love was real, why does losing it feel like dying? Why does the bond breaking feel like my soul is torn in half?"
"Because mine is torn too!" I tried to stand but collapsed again. "I feel it too! The emptiness! The loss! We're both broken now!"
"Good." The word came out cold. Brutal. "Then you'll suffer as much as I am."
He turned to the guards. "Take her to the dungeon. Highest security. No visitors. No communication. She stays there until I decide what to do with her."
"Drakon, please..."
"That's King Drakon to you, imposter." His eyes glowed with pain and rage. "You lost the right to use my name when you chose lies over love."
Guards grabbed my arms again. This time I didn't fight. Didn't protest. Just let them drag me away.
What was the point of fighting? The bond was broken. Drakon hated me. Queen Morgana was winning.
And somewhere, Lily was still prisoner. Still suffering. Still waiting for a rescue that would never come.
I'd failed everyone. Destroyed everything. Broken the one good thing in my miserable life.
As they threw me into a cold dungeon cell, I curled up on the stone floor and wished the bond breaking had killed me.
At least then the pain would be over.
But I was still alive. Still breathing. Still feeling the agonizing emptiness where Drakon's love used to be.
And that, I realized, was the real punishment.
Not death. Not execution.
Living with what I'd lost. Living with what I'd destroyed.
Living with the knowledge that I'd found my true mate.
And then broken him beyond repair.
Above me, in the castle, I heard Drakon's voice booming.
Making announcements. Giving orders.
His voice filled with rage and pain and betrayal.
And I knew whatever he was saying up there, it would change everything.
Would probably end with my death.
But at least it would be over soon.
At least the pain would finally stop.