"I need to find a way for others to see it, too."

That thought echoed back in Carmine's head as she held Wisp's talon. The SkyWing princess wanted him to be a part of her world, not a secret hidden from everyone she knew. They needed to deceive the others. She needed the other SkyWings to see him as a friend to the crown, not the son of a traitor. That way, she could protect him from her mother's wrath.

Wisp was starting to wake up, but when he blinked, the grasp on Carmine's talon tightened, as the SkyWing felt pain surge through him.

"Ow! Owwww... that hurts A LOT," he said, once he stood up from the bed with hesitant movements.

Carmine felt her heart clutch as she saw him rise, hurting but with no way for her to help him.

Three moons had passed since her hatching day and she and Robin had celebrated Wisp's together shortly after their final exams. As a present, the two had picked out a set of embedding amethysts; gems destined to be embedded in a dragon's scales to make them look... precious? Carmine couldn't get around to understanding why dragons thought it would be fashionable, but most nobles wore them, and if they needed to find a way to make Wisp look like one of them, this was their best shot.

I need to find a way for others to see it, too... Carmine would have never imagined that it was his looks that needed fixing for the deception to succeed. In her opinion, those were already perfect.

A stylist had embedded the amethysts over Wisp's eyes and along his spine. Carmine had suggested to use fire to burn out the scales while he was tranquilized, but Wisp had refused strongly, opting for the more painful carving technique. The SkyWing princess wondered why he had made that choice. It had almost seemed like he had been afraid of fire.

He had woken up after the operation and pain had hit him like an avalanche. He couldn't fly for several days after that, and he barely left him guest room anyways.

Carmine had given him a room next to hers after the end of the school semester. She wasn't worried about her mother finding out, because the SkyWing queen never came into her quarters of the castle. Titian always had more important things to do than to visit her daughter.

The SkyWing princess had found herself lingering outside Wisp's room in the day that followed the operation, twisting her talons and wondering if to enter or not. It gave her flashbacks from when she had brought him to the medics after his confrontation with the SkyWing known as Lance. At that time, she hadn't cared much for the golden-scales SkyWing, caring too much about her power to dare to make a choice. Moons had she grown from that day.

After around half an hour of indecisiveness, she decided to go for a walk to clear her mind. She already had a place in mind.

The SkyWing gardens were one of Carmine's favorite places to meditate and think. The flowers were bloomed and the soft grass caressed her talons as she walked through the alleys of the wild ferns.

She remembered her first fight had happened in this place. It had been with Princess Saffron, over a peculiarly red and good-smelling rose. Carmine had wanted to wait before picking the flower so that it could continue growing, but the older princess had shoved her to the side, picking the flower and insisting that the roots would "find a way to plow through the ground to seize the victory of a glorious life."

Thinking about it now, Saffron had grown a reputation in the palace of saying things that didn't always make an awful lot of sense. Despite this, the headstrong and cold-hearted princess had always been one of her mother's favorite dragons.

In the past, this had made Carmine suffer a lot. Now, she had nearly accepted that she would never be Saffron and that perhaps that wasn't so bad after all.

As she moved to the rose gardens, she heard whispers and halted. She proceeded slowly, trying to be stealthy but not sneaky. This was her palace, after all.

As she saw the dragons that were also having a walk in the garden she smiled, and called out their names, not realizing what was going on.

Jay had one wing wrapped around Copper, who was crumbled to the ground, crying. They both raised their heads when they saw Carmine, whose eyes widened when she saw her friend's expression.

"Jay... oh my sky. Copper, dear, what happened?" She asked, advancing towards her friends, tilting her head in concern. But Copper got free of Jay's hold and walked off, assuming a composed look and drying off her tears before leaving.

Jay looked after her as she left, then lowered his snout too. Carmine walked to him before looking towards where Copper had left too and then back at Jay.

"What happened to her? Is she... ok?" She tried, using a more informal vocabulary.

Jay shook his head. "Remember Dusk, that rock-head of an acrobat that Copper liked earlier this year?"

Carmine nodded but didn't add anything. She was starting to piece a story together.

"Well, Copper ran head-first into her crush and got rejected in a rather harsh way. I almost had to resort to using my fire to calm his stupid insults. He called her all sorts of things, prin- Carmine. He said her father was the reason us SkyWing still didn't have control over the Kingdom of Sea. And I think that they cut right through Copp's armor," he explained with a worried expression.

Carmine was upset but didn't lose her cool. "Do you want me to send some guards after him?"

Jay shook his head. "She's strong. I've known her for a lot of time. She just needs some time to realize how stupid Dusk is and how she'll soar even higher now."

Carmine nodded. Copper was everything but weak. She was everything a good warrior needed to be: brave, fiery but not heartless.

"You two seem pretty close. I'm sure you know best," She agreed.

"Well, she doesn't really know- never mind. How's your friend from Broken Berm doing?" Jay said, interrupting his first sentence quite suddenly. 

"Oh, Wisp?" Carmine said, blinking, "he's doing better. He hasn't left his room yet though."

"Oh really? I swear I had seen him talk with the king this morning," Jay said with a small smile.

"What? Really! That is great," Carmine said way too quickly.

"You two seem to be quite close too. If it official yet? Are you two the newest royal couple?" Jay asked, smiling.

Carmine laughed under her breath, "we're not official, but... I suppose I'd like to find that out soon."

"Well, I suppose there's no better time than now. And, if for whatever stupid reason he should turn you down, I'll be here. I've already done this once today," he said with a shrug and a smile.

"All right. But I suppose that when things have calmed down that you should go tell Copp that you like her as well..."

"Carmine! I-," the SkyWing started, ever so slightly annoyed. 

Carmine just smiled and walked away. Jay was right. Copper had been right to try. Now it was her turn.

She reached Wisp's room in a wingbeat, but as she knocked and pushed open the door, she met Wisp, who was trying to get out.

"Wisp."

"Carmine."

"I need to tell you something," they both said in unison.

The golden-scaled SkyWing held out his wing and blushed.

The carmine-streaked Princess smiled.

As she walked inside Wisp's room, Carmine's heart beat faster. Was what liking, perhaps even loving someone felt like?

How could it ever feel better than flying?