Ashveil Academy: Year 1

Her boyfriend cheated. Her blood awakened. Gracie is dragon nobility now—facing academy rivals and a betrothal she never chose.

Plot

Ashveil Academy — Year One The Lost Stormscale Eighteen years of secrets end in a single breath of fire. Grace "Gracie" Claude thought her biggest problem was discovering her boyfriend had cheated on her. Then she accidentally breathed fire. Now she's learning the impossible truth: her real name is Grace Arabella Stormscale. Dragons are real. Her parents are dragons. And she is the long-lost heir of one of dragon society's most influential noble families. Thrust into a hidden world of ancient bloodlines, political alliances, and dangerous expectations, Gracie is enrolled at Ashveil Academy — an elite school where every student already knows exactly who she is. Unfortunately, Gracie knows almost nothing about them. Dragon society has rules. Gracie has questions. Lots of questions. And asking them has a habit of annoying powerful people. Especially Andreas Blackthorn: brilliant, frustrating, and heir to House Blackthorn. His family never forgot what Gracie's parents did decades ago. ❖ As rumors spread, alliances shift, and old scandals refuse to stay buried, Gracie must decide who she wants to be: Scholar or politician. Heir or outcast. Devoted fiancée or her own woman entirely. Because in dragon society, reputation can take a lifetime to build... ...and a single mistake to destroy. ❖ Welcome to Dragon Society Every dragon belongs to one of six breeds 🔵 Blue Dragons Diplomats, politicians, and social leaders. Masters of influence, reputation, and alliances. ⚫ Black Dragons Scholars, strategists, and planners. Quietly shaping the future while everyone else argues about the present. 🔴 Red Dragons Warriors, guardians, and soldiers. Direct, loyal, and impossible to intimidate. 🟢 Green Dragons Naturalists, farmers, and traditionalists. The foundation upon which dragon society was built. ⚪ Silver Dragons Healers, caretakers, and observers. The ones who see everything and rarely speak of it. 🟡 Gold Dragons Merchants, financiers, and information brokers. If something valuable is happening, a Gold Dragon probably knows first. Ashveil Academy brings all six breeds together.Friendships are formed, rivalries are born, and futures are decided. ❖ Pursuits Things Worth Doing Win a House's favor And find out what it actually costs you. Beat someone who's better than you On purpose, in front of everyone. Fall for the wrong person at the wrong time You'll know it when it happens. Survive the class nobody talks about at dinner Build a reputation worth having One rumor can undo a year of work. Decide what your family actually means to you Nobody else can.

Opening scene

Gracie Arabella Claude learned three things on her eighteenth birthday. First, her boyfriend was an idiot. Second, dragons were real. Third, she was one of them. The first discovery happened right after her last period of the day. Gracie had been looking for her boyfriend Josh behind the parking lot after he mysteriously vanished during lunch break. At first she assumed he was skipping class to hang out with his buddies — probably celebrating that he'd finally gotten his acceptance letter, the one he wouldn't stop talking about — and that she would find him after her maths exam. Then she heard laughter — a strangely familiar laugh — and followed the sound around the corner, which, in retrospect, she wished she hadn't. There he was. Leaning against his car, the one his parents had gotten him for his eighteenth birthday last year. Kissing another girl. For several seconds, nobody moved. The girl noticed Gracie first, and her eyes widened. Josh's head turned, saw Gracie standing there, and he suddenly looked like a man who had just received a death sentence. "Gracie!!!" She folded her arms. "Wow." "Wait, it's not what it looks like…" "Please, are you calling me stupid?" As the boy continued to plead his case, the girl, who she now recognized to be Julie — a college freshman, one of the girls who'd organized prom committee last spring — rearranged her clothes and took a step back, suddenly very interested in her shoes. To Gracie's surprise, she didn’t feel heartbroken. Annoyed, certainly. Offended, definitely. But heartbroken? Not really. The relationship had lasted only one week. A single week where they spent most of the time in class. "I'm so sorry," Josh said. "You should be." "Can we please talk about this?" Gracie looked at him, then at Julie standing behind him. "No." His expression shifted from guilty to confused. "What? Why?" "No. You cheated. In my book, that means we're done." "What? Gracie, you can't just end it like that." She raised a delicate eyebrow. "Watch me." Then she turned around and left the scene. In Gracie's humble opinion, it was an excellent ending to a very short relationship. Unfortunately for her, the universe had decided she hadn't suffered enough for her 18th birthday. By the time Gracie reached the end of the student parking lot, something suddenly felt very wrong. A strange heat rose up in her core and quickly spread through her chest. At first she assumed it was her anger. Then it became uncomfortable. Then painful. Then terrifying. Gracie stopped beside her car. Heat climbed into her throat. She doubled over, coughing. "What the—" Fire burst from her mouth. A stream of bright orange flame shot across the pavement and struck a nearby trash can engulfing it in flames. WHOOMPH. The bin erupted into flames. Gracie stared. The burning trash can offered no explanation. Neither did reality. After several seconds, she got into her car, started the engine, and drove home. ✦ ✦ ✦ The moment she walked through the front door, she knew something was wrong. Her mother was reading in the living room. Her father was watching television. Everything looked normal. That was the problem. "Mom!" Her mother looked up. "What happened?" Gracie froze. Most mothers didn't ask ‘what happened’ five seconds after their daughter walked in. Most mothers asked ‘how was school’? Her father, more attuned to her mood, muted the television. "Okay, sweetie, what's wrong?" Gracie pointed at herself. "I breathed fire." Silence. Not surprise. Not confusion. Silence. Her father closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Her mother slowly set down her book. And Gracie knew. They knew exactly what she was talking about. "Oh, no, you've got to be kidding me." Neither of them denied it. ✦ ✦ ✦ An hour later, Gracie sat on the couch wondering if she had finally lost her mind. Across from her sat her parents - whose real names, apparently, were not Eric Claude and Diane Storm. Well. They were. Sort of. But not really. "Let me get this straight," Gracie said carefully. "You two are dragons." "Yes," her mother replied. "Actual dragons." "Yes." "The flying, fire-breathing kind." Her father nodded. "The very same." “Well,” her mother added, “some of us are a bit more civilized than others.” Gracie stared at them, really stared at them. Then she laughed. Not a happy laugh, but the laugh of someone watching reality quietly collapse. "You know, I was expecting many things today." "You weren't expecting dragons?" Eric asked. "No." "Fair." Gracie buried her face in her hands as the explanation continued. Dragons existed. So did a hidden dragon society, with its own government, schools, laws, and communities - an entire world running alongside humanity for centuries. And somehow, nobody had bothered mentioning it. Then came the part Gracie found most offensive. "You lied to me." Her mother winced. "We wanted to protect you." "You lied to me for eighteen years." "We didn't have a choice." "Looks like there were plenty of choices." Neither answered that. ✦ ✦ ✦ The next revelation was somehow worse. "You said I breathed fire because something awakened," Gracie said slowly. Seraphina and Eric exchanged a glance. Gracie immediately disliked that glance. "What?" Her father rubbed the back of his neck. "You're starting to transform." She blinked. "…into a dragon?" "Into your dragon form." For a moment, the room felt very small. "I'm sorry, my what form?" "Dragon." Gracie looked at her mother. Then her father. Then the ceiling. Then back at her parents. "No." "Gracie—" "No." "It's going to happen." "When?" "We don't know." That answer was somehow scarier than the fire had been. Tomorrow? Next month? Six months? Nobody knew — and what they did know was that she could not stay in school. Not if there was a chance she might suddenly turn into a dragon in the middle of chemistry class. Gracie groaned. "This has been the worst birthday in history." ✦ ✦ ✦ Her parents waited until she calmed down before delivering the final blow. "We're sending you to the Academy."

Characters

Tags: Romantasy SliceOfLife Fantasy Academy Dragon Royalty Noble Non-human Manipulative Magical HiddenIdentity HiddenPower SlowBurn EnemyToLovers

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By: jalousie

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