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# The Dragon Refused Fifty Riders in a Single Week — Then It Knelt the Moment the Stable Girl Walked Past 🐉✨ / Chapter 13 / 20

Chapter 13 - The Courtyard Standoff

The royal guards rushed forward, brandishing heavy iron manacles and spiked restraint poles. But they had miscalculated the bond between Winn and the dragon.

Before the first guard could even reach her, Kestrel rose to his full, terrifying height. A shockwave of crimson fire erupted from his throat, not directed at the men, but slamming into the cobblestones directly in front of them. The intense heat fused the stone into glass instantly, creating a blazing barrier that forced the guards to stumble backward in blind terror.

"Back!" Winn commanded, her voice ringing with absolute authority.

Kestrel lowered his head, wings flared wide, shielding Winn completely from the council's troops. His golden eyes locked onto Magistrate Vane with an expression of pure, unadulterated menace.

"You have no jurisdiction here," Kalen shouted, drawing his blade as half a dozen academy instructors and loyal senior cadets rallied behind him, forming a wall of steel between the royal guards and the dragon pen. "Leave Highcrest Academy before I declare you enemies of the state!"

Magistrate Vane glared furiously around the yard, realizing the cadets and guards were fiercely loyal to Winn and Kalen. Forcing the issue here would mean starting a civil war within the academy walls.

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"This is not over," Vane hissed, backing slowly toward his carriage. "You have defied the High Council. You and your beast will be hunted across every peak in the realm."

As the carriage whipped around and raced down the mountain road, the courtyard erupted into cheers. But Winn felt no relief. She knew the council wouldn't send guards next time—they would send an entire army.

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Related Stories

Chapter 14 - The Flight to the Northern Peak
Chapter 15 - Into the Frozen Storms
Chapter 16 - The Lost Roost
Chapter 17 - The Ancient Sovereign
Chapter 18 - The Gathering StormBack at Highcrest Academy, Deputy Commandant Kalen stood on the central tower balcony, watching the horizon through his brass spyglass.
Chapter 19 - The Skies Ignite

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