Dear readers, tonight with us is a young woman sold as a slave to a war dragon and heir to the throne. But instead of cruelty, she found that behind the brutal exterior lies a man at odds with the future forced upon him and a dragon with plans of his own. She is here to tell us about the dangerous magic which stirs in the east and the building royal pressure, while she and the prince are drawn together in a bond neither expected.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was your life like growing up in servitude?

I couldn’t tell you the name of the village I grew up in or even point it out on a map of Estroria. My first nine years were spent in the loving care of my mother who taught me magic and about the beauty of the world. She didn’t have time to educate me on the world’s horrors, but I learned when the self-proclaimed “law enforcement” of the village beat down our door one night and took her life for refusing to cast spells for them. Their leader was in possession of an ancient magical artifact he bound around my neck, a collar that restricted my magic and made me his property. Only to use the powerful flow in my veins when he allowed me brief, and highly monitored, access to my magic.

Once I was taken as a slave, my childhood ended and I lived in a slave house with a violent foreman carrying a whip and broken down men, women, and children beholden to a careless master. What I experienced of the village was limited to glimpses as I was escorted from the slave house to my master’s workshop where he had me perform spells and act as his bodyguard against other overly-ambitious, power hungry thugs living outside the reach of the crown by their own laws.

Your ownership was recently transferred to the powerful War Dragon, what do you do in his service?

If by ‘transferred’ you mean Prince Cole’s dragon, Talon, claimed me as a prize in the middle of an auction during a festival in the capital, then yes, my ownership was ‘transferred.’

As for what I do in the prince’s service, the palace has more maids, servants, and staff than the royal family needs, and formally trained royal mages who are far more educated and talented than a slave. I learned magic based on my former master’s needs and those spells don’t carry over into palace life. There is little I have to offer a prince, let alone the fiercest warrior in Telasia. But he seems keen to keep me around, at the request of Talon, and finds menial tasks for me to assist him around the palace.

What was it like facing off with a dragon?

When my former master decided to sell me at auction, I was prepared to enter the service of another ruthless slave owner, perhaps a noble who wanted a personal spell caster. Instead, when I was presented to the court, Talon, the dragon bonded to Prince Cole, and the fiercest creature in the known world, chose to claim me. His mouth was large enough to swallow me in one gulp, and even though he’s burned entire armies with a single breath, and expanded Telasia’s borders through conquest, I wasn’t afraid of him. In fact, I welcomed death in his gullet rather than facing another brutal master and further meaningless existence.

But Talon had other plans for me, and I went from being an unwanted nobody to the prize of a powerful dragon and the property of the crowned prince. Though, I’m not sure if I can live up to the palace’s expectations.

What is the biggest change for you now that you’re in the palace?

Being a slave in the palace is not the same as being a slave outside the palace. For the first time in my life, there are expectations for how I should look, dress, and present myself. I have more than one outfit of finer fabric than I could imagine before. But the biggest change is where I sleep. Not only do I have my own bedroom, but I have a real bed with sheets, pillows, and a comforter.

Tell us a little about your friends.

Friends? For the majority of my life, I have been monitored constantly and kept apart from everyone, even other slaves, because my master didn’t want to tarnish or compromise my magical abilities. I did not have the luxury of making friends.

Any romantic involvement?

The closest I’ve ever come to romantic involvement is the unusual curiosity Prince Cole’s dragon has taken in me.

As with making friends, I wasn’t afforded the opportunity to forge intimate connections or bonds that could lead to romance or partnership. If anyone showed interest in me, my former master sold them off. He protected me from certain degradations many slaves suffer in performing forced acts of pleasure, but he also prevented me from getting close to anyone on my own terms.

Who poses the greatest threat to you in the palace?

I don’t have much interaction with anyone outside the prince and the various staff who pass through his wing from time to time, but my presence aggravates his latest, and recently dismissed, concubine. She seems to think I’m some threat to her, though the inner workings of the court and palace politics are a mystery to me.

Then there is the crowned prince, the War Dragon. He is the most ruthless, brutal military leader Telasia has known in generations, a man who loves to kill and insight violence. By law, I must serve him, but I have no insight into his motives or what he will do to me if I disobey or disappoint him. Serving him is like walking around with a knife against my throat. One wrong move, one slip, and it’s all over.

Are you allowed downtime? If so, what do you like to do with yours?

Prior to living in the palace, downtime was nonexistent. My master always had work for me. However, Prince Cole spends the majority of his time on the battlefields, and I am left alone in his wing to spend my time as I please, according to his instructions.

Of course, there are limits to ‘how I please,’ so I remain in his wing but there is a garden with beautiful flowers and a fishpond. I like laying in a hammock by the pond and reading books. Though I don’t have access to many books, I come across them now and then and until someone tells me to stop reading, I will enjoy each one that makes its way into my possession.

Do you have any concerns for the future?

From my time in the palace, I’ve learned Telasia and their neighbor Stivalia are in a state of cold war, each nation waiting for the other to attack or show vulnerability. While it creates a tense military climate, I have been warned the kingdom in the north, Demasclia, has been showing hints of antagonism. The snowy tundra of the north is a mystery, even to the prince and his general, but the fear the country instills in others is real.

Can you share a secret with us, which you’ve never told anyone else?

I always knew my magic was different, but it wasn’t until I came to the palace, and I had contact with free mages that I learned just how different my magic was. Not only is it different, but the power I can muster far exceeds even the king’s royal mages, who are the most powerful, accomplished mages in Telasia.

Power like mine is passed through bloodlines, and both my mother and father would need to bear unusually strong magical gifts. Though I can sense my mother’s power in me, my father’s remains dormant and hidden, and is perhaps a new kind of magic altogether.

Sylvia Conley is an award-winning ghostwriter with over 30 nonfiction titles to her name and a lifelong passion for fiction. After years of ghostwriting for others, she’s stepping into the spotlight, bringing her character-driven fantasy and science fiction stories to life, with a focus on rich worldbuilding, inclusive casts, and morally complex characters whose journeys captivate and challenge readers. Drawing on her experience ghostwriting serial fiction, she knows how to craft stories that keep readers hooked from beginning to end. When she’s not creating new worlds, Sylvia enjoys quiet moments with her dog, a book, and a cup of tea, contemplating multiverse theory.

You can find Sabine on the pages of The Serpent’s Chains.

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