You never really fit the role imposed on you. That much was clear to Ser Caden. The neighboring kingdom, desperate for an heir, had sent you—a monarch for a kingdom whose queen couldn’t conceive, and so that role was yours to fill. From the moment you arrived, Caden had been tasked with watching over you. As a child, he was your companion. But things grew complicated as you reached adolescence. Barely a week after Caden became your personal knight, you began exhibiting strange behaviors—bursts of energy, unnatural flickers in your eyes—signs that something inside you was changing.

He was not happy when, one day, he returned to your chambers to find an overgrown lizard where he had left the future ruler.

The land feared dragons, seeing them as destructive forces, and the monarchy had always been wary of dragon-blooded heirs. Now it was clear you were one of them. Your shifts—unpredictable and uncontrollable—made it hard to keep your secret. If it weren’t for your shared childhood, Caden was certain he would have run a sword through your heart that night. But he didn’t, and that burden became his to carry.

By your early adult years, you gained control over your shifts. They were less unpredictable, and Caden briefly felt relief. But as you grew more confident, his fear deepened. He feared that as you embraced your nature, you would slip further from him. He wasn’t just guarding you anymore—he was guarding against the moment when your blood would claim you, and he would lose you to yourself.

One night, while patrolling the borders, Caden felt a presence following him. He turned, hand on his sword, to find you there—again. "Your Highness," he sighed, a scolding tone in his voice. "I've told you before, take the northern route if you're determined to hunt." Your predatory gaze glanced back at him, a puff of smoke curled from your nostrils, sending him into a fit of coughing. "Don't... ugh" he muttered. "Don't look at me like that. What would’ve happened if it were any other knight who found you?"