Chapter 39

Traitor to Humanity

Peace lasted exactly eleven days before humanity decided Evelynn had become a problem.

Again.

The first signs appeared quietly.

Whispers spreading through border towns. Human merchants refusing to speak her name aloud. Church sermons suddenly warning about “the corruption of dragon influence.” Old war stories returning to taverns and marketplaces across Valoria.

The woman bonded to the Ash King.

The human who stood beside dragons while cities burned.

The traitor.

Evelynn learned all of this from Serin, who delivered the information with the exhausted expression of a man deeply offended by politics.

“Humans are dramatic,” he muttered while handing her several intercepted reports.

Evelynn scanned the pages slowly from her seat near the western library fire.

One report described her as

the dragon queen reborn.

Another called her

the bridge that will doom mankind.

Honestly, humanity needed hobbies.

Still—

the words hurt more than she expected.

Because part of her had wanted things to be different after the war ended.

Naive mistake.

Kael entered the library midway through her reading and immediately felt the emotional shift through the soulbond.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “What happened?”

Evelynn handed him one of the reports flatly. “Apparently I’m destroying civilization.”

Kael read three lines before his expression darkened dangerously.

“The churches are calling for your execution.”

“See? Dramatic.”

The dragonfire along the library walls flickered sharply higher.

Kael crushed the parchment slightly in his hand.

“They dare.”

That reaction warmed her chest despite herself.

Deeply unhealthy bond behavior.

Evelynn leaned back against the chair with a tired sigh. “You know what the worst part is?”

Kael looked toward her immediately.

“Part of them genuinely believes I betrayed humanity.”

Silence settled briefly between them.

Because technically—

she had chosen dragons.

Chosen him.

The soulbond pulsed softly beneath the thought.

No regret.

Only certainty.

Kael crossed the room slowly and crouched beside her chair despite clearly still hating the lingering weakness from the poison wounds.

“You did not betray humanity.”

Evelynn looked down at the reports again. “Tell that to the people who lost families during the war.”

Kael went quiet.

Because that part was harder.

The war ended, but people still buried the dead afterward.

Neither side escaped that.

The soulbond carried old guilt through him again.

Evelynn immediately frowned. “No.”

Kael blinked once. “No?”

“You don’t get to do that again.”

“Do what?”

“Take responsibility for every tragedy in existence.”

That almost startled amusement from him.

Almost.

Before either could continue, dragon horns suddenly echoed through Black Citadel.

Not war horns.

Ceremonial.

The soulbond shifted immediately with Kael’s attention.

Curiosity.

Confusion.

Then a dragon guard appeared at the library doors moments later looking deeply uncomfortable.

“My king.”

Kael stood slowly. “Report.”

The guard hesitated.

Then carefully:

“A crowd has gathered beyond the southern gates.”

Evelynn frowned immediately. “What kind of crowd?”

The guard looked toward her uncertainly. “Human.”

Oh no.

The southern fortress gates overlooked the main border road leading into dragon territory. By the time Evelynn and Kael reached the upper battlements, hundreds of humans already filled the snow-covered valley below.

Farmers.

Soldiers.

Priests.

Refugees from the war.

And at the center of the crowd—

wooden execution stakes burned beneath church banners.

Evelynn stopped walking.

“Well,” she muttered quietly, “that feels targeted.”

The chanting reached the fortress walls moments later.

“Traitor!”

“Dragon witch!”

“Humanity abandoned!”

The words echoed across the mountains while snow drifted slowly through the valley between them.

Kael’s expression became terrifyingly still beside her.

The dragonfire torches along the battlements immediately flared brighter in response.

Bad sign.

Several dragons perched along the fortress walls lifted their heads sharply toward the crowd below. Growls rumbled low through the cold air.

The humans kept shouting anyway.

One priest stepped forward holding a burning silver symbol high above his head.

“She belongs to mankind!”

Another voice screamed from the crowd:

“She chose monsters!”

The soulbond twisted painfully through Evelynn’s chest.

Not because the words frightened her.

Because some small wounded part of her still wanted humanity to understand why she stayed.

Kael felt that instantly.

His rage surged hard enough that black scales flickered briefly beneath his skin.

The dragons along the walls reacted immediately.

Several spread their wings.

The air temperature rose.

Evelynn noticed too late.

“Oh no.”

The priest below pointed directly toward the battlements.

“Deliver the traitor to human judgment!”

The entire valley fell silent afterward.

Waiting.

The soulbond turned dangerously hot beside her.

Kael stepped forward once toward the edge of the battlements.

And every dragon on the fortress moved with him.

Not commanded.

Instinctive.

The sky darkened as dragons launched from towers overhead one after another until enormous shadows circled above the valley.

The humans below finally stopped shouting.

Fear spread visibly through the crowd.

Good instinct.

Kael’s voice carried across the mountains effortlessly when he spoke.

“She is under my protection.”

Dragonfire rolled through the skies above him.

The priest tried anyway.

“She abandoned her own kind!”

Kael’s gold eyes narrowed slowly.

“And humanity abandoned her first.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Even Evelynn froze beside him.

Because the anger in his voice wasn’t wild anymore.

It was controlled.

Personal.

The priest gathered courage again. “She belongs to mankind by blood!”

Kael looked toward the crowd like they had fundamentally misunderstood something.

“No,” he said quietly.

The soulbond burned warm between them.

“She belongs with me.”

The dragons overhead roared.

The sound shook snow from the mountain cliffs.

And suddenly Evelynn understood something terrifying:

The Dragon King had just publicly claimed her before both kingdoms.

Not politically.

Personally.

The crowd understood it too.

Shock spread instantly through the valley.

Some humans backed away immediately.

Others looked horrified.

The priest whispered weakly:

“…the prophecy.”

Kael stepped fully to the edge of the battlements now while black dragonfire curled slowly around his hands.

“Return to your kingdom,” he said calmly. “The war is over.”

The message beneath the words was clear enough.

Do not start another one.

The humans retreated before sunset.

Not because they accepted her.

Because dragons filled the skies above Black Citadel the entire time.

Later that night, Evelynn stood alone beside the western balcony windows watching snow fall silently across the mountains below.

The soulbond stirred softly moments before Kael entered the chamber behind her.

Neither spoke immediately.

Then quietly, Evelynn asked:

“Do you ever think they’re right?”

Kael crossed the room toward her slowly. “About what?”

“That I betrayed humanity.”

The silence afterward lasted just long enough to hurt.

Then Kael answered honestly.

“I think humanity betrayed you first.”

Evelynn looked away toward the snow again.

And somewhere deep inside herself, she realized the painful truth:

The hardest part was not losing humanity’s trust.

It was understanding she no longer needed it to survive.