They were led up a flight of long golden stairs with a lush ruby carpet to a smaller room tucked aside in a tower off to the side of the main chamber. This room was more closed-off, with only one wall open and even so, the golden railings were higher and scarlet curtains partially obscured the view of Agartha. In the center of the room was a long golden table with clawed feet like that of a lion's. A teaset made of iridescent stone that shifted color between orange and turquoise was set over a lace tablecloth that resembled scales in its design. Placed intermittently were bouquets of exotic lilies unlike any Lila had ever seen before.

Aideen's eyes went wide. "Are those Everburn lilies?"

Absinthe's smile deepened, looking more genuine and less like a politician's mask. "They are native to here. As the Royal Flower, we have gardeners dedicated to their cultivation."

"Oh, right." Aideen's face turned pink as she withdrew. "I forgot."

Absinthe let out a light hiss of air like a laugh. "Please, sit—I'm sure you all have many questions."

Lila pressed her lips together and sat down between Kira and Aideen. In scattered seats around the long table, the Regent, Lord Absalom, Lord Rhodri, Lord Salamandir, and Lady Rana joined them. 

As soon as they did, the crystalline teapot in the center of the table turned a bright flaming-red orange and lifted from the table. Starting with the three girls, then the Regent, it darted around the table, pouring steaming tea into everyone's cups. Lila was greeted with the smell of cinnamon and various herbs as the steam swirled overhead. She reached for the mug and gingerly took a sip—it had already cooled to a more tolerable temperature. But the flavor was preserved, rich and even a little spicy in its undertones.

The Regent tilted her head and met Lila's eyes. "What do you know about dragons?" 

"They were what we thought the dinosaurs were, mythical fire-breathing lizards with wings," Lila answered. "Or they were rain-bringers, the ones who breathed life into rivers with pearls in their heads."

"Those are common answers, in your world." Lord Absalom was the one to speak, a note of derision underlying his deep, commanding voice. It was the kind of voice that did not have to be loud to carry, to silence a room. "How humanity has forgotten those who once lived among us."

"We haven't lived among them for some time, Lord Absalom," Lady Rana said in a gentle but pointed tone. "Especially not as the creatures of legend."

"So you're all dragons then?" Kira asked.

Lord Absalom and Lord Salamandir laughed. Lady Rana and Lord Rhodri regarded them with more gravity, the concerned look of a parent. 

"Indeed, Princess Kira," Lord Rana said. "And you are one as well."
Kira's eyes went wide, and Lila wondered if she was recalling her forced transformation. 

"You three are lucky." Lord Absalom sobered. There was something unsettlingly intense about his almost dark red eyes. "Only those who were born to the Ananta bloodline are able to transform into our true form and access the full power of our kind."

"Lord Absalom is getting ahead of himself." Lady Rana set her teacup down and frowned at him sternly. She looked to Lila and Kira. "You three are royalty. Descended from the very first ruler of our city, Ananta the Pendragon, who gave you your surname and titles."

"My last name isn't Ananta, though." Kira had echoed Lila's own thoughts. 

"You are their descendants," Lord Salamandir interrupted with a lazy wave of his hand. "Many generations removed, plenty of human intermingling all mixed in there. But here, you would do well to go by Ananta."

"So the Pendragon is the leader, then?" Lila looked straight into Absinthe's eyes. "Isn't that you?"
Absinthe's eyes flashed. Her teacup hid her lips, and Lila couldn't quite read her expression. She tilted her head ever-so-slightly to the side. "I'm afraid I am simply the Regent, a placeholder until the next Ananta Pendragon comes along."

"And unfortunately, that has been a very long time." The surface of Lord Absalom's words were warm, but there was a pointedness beneath it all, evident in his fiery glare at Absinthe. 

"I took a vow of regency." Absinthe set down her teacup and folded her hands delicately in her lap. Her eyes were closed. "When the previous Pendragon died, his grief for his children who had forsaken their titles and status to join the mortal world was so great that he unwittingly laid a curse on our kind."

"A curse?" 

Aideen turned her head. "Only those of us who are descended from the former Pendragon can become real, true dragons. Everyone else is trapped in a human form."

"Exactly, Princess." Lord Rhodri nodded. "There have been a few heirs who have appeared, such as yourselves—but unfortunately, curses are somewhat tricky things."

"I'll say," Lord Absalom snorted.

Lord Rhodri ignored him. Rather, he peered around the room and looked quite perplexed. "Where is Ajax? I presumed he would want to be here."

"He did." Lady Rana sighed and folded her arms over her chest. "But I thought it was best that such a low-ranking lord not be here. Not when there is so much to explain. I'd rather not overwhelm our two surprise princesses."

Her words were somewhat cold, but the way her eyes passed over Lila reminded her of her own mother. Well-meaning, even if sometimes they disagreed or butted heads. 

"What's this about a curse?" Lila decided to steer this back on track. Her head was spinning.

"Yes, that's a good place to start." Lord Rhodri nodded again, and continued as if he'd never left the topic. "Until an heir is located and has earned his or her throne in the Trials by Fire and is coronated on the Golden Throne, no dragon may shift into his or her true form."

Lila's head whirred. "So you need one of us to compete in the Trials by Fire?"

"Unfortunately, now that we know and recognize all three of you, it must be all of you." Lady Rana's tone was apologetic. "And one must win and make it to their coronation. Otherwise, the cycle begins again and we wait another generation for the chance to break the curse."

"Besides," Lord Absalom spoke, examining his fingertips with a casualness that belied the gravity of his words. "You are being offered a chance at the most powerful throne in the world. An entire race of myth and legend will follow your every word. You would be quite stupid to turn it down."

None of that particularly appealed to Lila. But now all eyes were turned upon the three of them, and she couldn't help but feel as if she had been backed into a corner.

Was this why her mother had hid all of this from her?

She had so many questions—but none of them could be asked. Not here, not now—and not by the one who she needed the answers from.

She glanced at Aideen, then Kira. 

Aideen sat up straight, poised exactly like a princess should be. There was a fire in her eyes, the light of a purpose, the kind that had likely guided her for a long time. With how she had been the queen of the school, Lila had no doubt that she would be a good Pendragon.

Kira surprised her. Lila had thought maybe that Kira would be afraid, that she would recognize the gravity of it all and once again express what Lila could not put to voice. But while Kira did look afraid, something else burned in her eyes, something that looked like vaults of gold.

Lord Absalom's words had appealed to her, the taste of power and glory.

Maybe Lila was stupid, to be offered the world and not want it.

But it didn't matter what she wanted. Not with a curse at stake on a group of people she didn't know.

Had her mother walked away? Was that why they had been doomed to wait for Lila's cohort of princesses?

Lila closed her eyes, blocked it all out. Above all, in the silence of the waiting, rose one thought. Reluctant as she was, Lila knew what was right. "I'll do it."

"Excellent!" Absinthe clasped her hands together. "That certainly makes things easier!"

Lila tried to ignore the dread churning in her stomach as the Regent continued to speak.

"You won't be alone, of course." Absinthe nodded at Aideen. "Lady Anagharad will train you in our arts and ways, to prepare you for the Trials by Fire. She's quite experienced—she trained your mother, Lila, and Aideen's father."

Lila held her hands up. "Wait, if my mom and your dad were here, then why isn't one of them Pendragon?"

Everyone shifted uncomfortably and the tea-room fell into silence. It was Aideen who finally broke it. 

"My father won the Trials, so your mother couldn't be the Pendragon." Aideen folded her hands in her lap, mimicking Absinthe with a stiffness that could only belong to a poorly-rehearsed attempt at stoicism. "My parents were then killed in a car crash before they made it to their coronation."

"Oh." Lila wasn't sure what to say.

Luckily, Lord Salamndir did. "Don't worry, we'll make sure the same won't happen this time!"

"Yes, indeed." Absinthe looked troubled by this all the same. "We should undergo the ceremony, before we continue this any further."

"Our Regent is correct." Lord Absalom leaned back in his chair. "I would prefer we have our candidates officially recognized so we cannot delay the Trials any further."

"Right, we'll discuss this later." Absinthe rose to her feet. She brought had hands together and flicked her fingers, conjuring golden sparks. They stitched together to flame, woven in her hands. She looked to the three girls. "Aideen. Lila. Kira."

Aideen stood, and Lila and Kira scrambled to stand as well. 

"You are the Princesses of Agartha, blood of Ananta the Pendragon and the glory of all dragons." The flames flickered as they hovered, cupped between the palms of Absinthe's hands. "You will uphold our values, of honor and courage, and I charge you to compete in the Trials by Fire to select the most worthy to our highest throne."

Uncertainty entered Absinthe's delicate yet cunning features, and her flames flickered. "You are bound by fire and rain to play your role and complete the Trials by Fire."

With that, she let the flames go, and they swirled around the three girls, pleasantly warm, but not hot, before forming the shape of a diadem over their brows and wings at their back. The flames turned from gold to platinum, in a blinding instance in which Lila could sense her life had passed a threshold.

The magic and the fire was gone, leaving a silent room once again.

"It is done." Absinthe's voice was small as she surveyed the three princesses. "I do hope you will be the ones to break it."

The unspoken doubts, the fear of what else lingered with Lila and she knew nothing would ever be the same again.