Page 16 of House Ignis

Her jaw dropped. "Ava Pyreson. This dress was forged in dragon fire just for you. Put. It. On."

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the gown and headed for the bathroom. Aether huffed from the bed, his golden eyes tracking my movement. "Finally."

The dress was a deep, molten red—the color of glowing embers—with gold embroidery curling across the bodice and spiraling down the high slit.

The sweetheart neckline drew the eye to my collarbone, and the fabric clung in all the right places. Too right, honestly. It made me nervous. My hair was half-pinned back, the rest falling in loose, blonde waves around my shoulders.

When I stepped back into the room, Ember froze. She didn't say a word at first. She just stared.

Then, softly. "Oh, my gods. Ava. You look like the answer to a prophecy."

Heat rushed to my cheeks. "It's too much," I muttered, smoothing the silk over my hips. "I can't wear this."

"You can and you will." She pointed a finger at me like a tyrant. "This is first-princess-of-the-kingdom energy. Own it."

Aether, of course, ruined the moment. "You look adequate."

I turned toward the mirror and paused. The girl staring back at me wasn't a child anymore. She didn't look scared, or small, or lost. She looked like a flame. She looked like steel.

She looked like me.

"Come on, princess," Ember said, looping her arm through mine, a grin spreading across her face that promised absolute chaos. "Let's go set the room on fire."

•••

We walked into the gardens surrounding the Grand Dining Hall, and it was like stepping into a fae fairytale.

The path was lined with nightshade roses and moonlily blossoms, their petals glowing faintly beneath a constellation of enchanted lights that floated above like captive stars.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the soaring glass dome of the conservatory, scattering shards of rainbow light across the marble floor. The air was rich with jasmine, citrus, and something heavier, sweeter—magic itself curling on the breeze.

Everywhere I looked, students glittered. Silks and velvets shimmered in every color of the five Houses, boundlings prowling or fluttering at their sides.

The glamour was dazzling, the energy electric. Beneath the beauty, though, tension crackled. Power hummed in the air, sharp as flint striking steel.

Then the stares began. I felt them before I saw them—eyes tracking me, whispers trailing in our wake, pressing against my skin like invisible fingers.

That's her. The Fire Princess. Zymarra's Flame. Did you see her power? Is she dangerous? She's the one Jax Pyreson left behind.

Each step grew heavier.

"Ava!" A delighted squeal cut through the noise.

Maddison. She came barreling through the crowd like a whirlwind of sunshine and perfume, dragging Ryven by the hand. Maddy sparkled in a short, glittered silver silk dress, the skirt flaring at her thighs and the sweetheart neckline drawing every eye to the pearls at her throat. Her golden hair was pulled high, bouncing with every step. Ryven, of course, was chaos incarnate.

He wore a loose white shirt rolled at the sleeves, scuffed boots, hair tumbling wild around his shoulders. He looked like trouble wrapped in a grin.

"Pyreson," he drawled, crushing me in a hug. I laughed softly, hugging him back.

"Ava," Maddy said, her blue eyes wide and shining. "You look like the future queen."

Before I could protest, Ember hooked her arm through mine. "Okay, are we ready, bitches?"

As we crossed the threshold into the Grand Dining Hall, my jaw nearly hit the polished floor.

It was a massive cathedral of fire, stone, and light.

The dome arched overhead like the heavens themselves, veined with glowing wards, crystal chandeliers floating freely and scattering dazzling light across obsidian tiles polished to a mirror's sheen.