Sorry, No Dragon Heiress Here

At Cloudspire Academy, Sera Ashdown is Headmaster Victor Grayne's servant, mocked by Sophia Vance and her minions as a mop girl who fancies herself a dragon rider. Sophia's dragon knocks her down; when Sera tells them to stay away, the dragons flinch and Sophia falls. Back in her room, a nosebleed drips onto the dead dragon egg she keeps. The egg reacts.

Victor Grayne arrives and blames her blood for poisoning the egg. His account: Sera's blood once revived a legendary Sovereign dragon skeleton in a valley, and the dragon entrusted her with its egg. Victor had lied that it was dead to hide her power. He sends her to Duchess Cassia Montclaire, the world's finest dragon healer.

At Montclaire Stronghold, Kross Iren, captain of Cassia's order, challenges Cassia for her ring. Reine Montclaire, Cassia's foster son, defends her. Kross wounds Sera; her blood reaches the egg and the weather snaps into a storm. Kross takes the bag and the egg burns him. With Kross gone, Cassia recognizes the egg's markings as Sovereign bloodline and confirms the blood bond: the Sovereign dragon has chosen Sera.

Kross orders his side to kill them and smash the egg. Cassia's side falls back to the Mother of Wings line, which dragons will not cross but Kross's men can. Sera takes up the Skyrend despite the warning that it rejects anyone it does not choose. It chooses her. Kross goes down with “I can't die to some lowly servant.” Cassia is wounded.

Afterward, Cassia offers Sera a home, a name, and a future, seeing her lost daughter in Sera. Sera refuses, calling herself a nobody who would embarrass Cassia and replace her daughter. Cassia proposes that Sera marry Reine instead and sponsors her for the resonance trials; Reine resents the shortcut and expects the trials to crush her. Then Sera remembers the egg, fears the blast killed it, and finds only shell in the bag—until a small dragon pokes its head out.