Carmine was unpleasantly surprised when she saw that the footsteps had belonged to Lance. The SkyWing stopped at the doorway but walked up to her as the princess gently placed her egg back on its nest.

"Greetings, your Majesty," she said with a low voice.

Carmine wanted to reply, but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

"Your egg seems to be perfectly healthy," Lance said with a half-smile, though it didn't seem like she cared at all.

"And so will be my dragonet," she said, Carmine said, spreading a wing over it as if to protect the egg.

Lance looked unimpressed. She narrowed her eyes. "If only your husband could be as healthy. But he was born broken, wasn't he?"

Carmine's heart clutched in fear. Some part of her mind told her that Lance knew about Wisp's secret. Her eyes darted away from the SkyWing's, unable to hold her penetrating gaze.

"He was just a little startled ever since the fire in the auditorium. He's going to be fine," she said trying to brush it off. She stood up and took one step towards the door.

"Carmine," Lance said menacingly. The princess stopped in her tracks. She turned around and forced herself to look at the Captain of the Royal Guards.

"Your eyes betray you. You know something about Alights, don't you? You seem to have done your research," she said with a malicious smile.

"What do you want, Lance?" Carmine asked, narrowing her own eyes.

Lance lashed her tail. "You know nothing, do you?" She laughed at her own question. "Very well then, princess. Let me enlighten you."

She started walking towards Carmine as she spoke, "My mother, Flare, and Wisp's father, Sulfur, knew each other. They were as close as siblings, and perhaps even closer than that."

She paused, chuckled, then continued. "I was born from their relationship before Sulfur decided to marry a younger, richer, and more attractive SkyWing: Sizzle. They prospered together, while my mother was left alone."

Lance lashed her tail to then look away from her, turning towards one of the mosaic windows that lit the hatchery, while her voice became dangerously dark. "My mother never broke a single rule of this moon-forsaken kingdom, but Wisp's father did. Sulfur lost everything after his wife died. So he decided to betray his tribe to save his family. He was caught by the guards before he could commit further treachery. Your mother would have had him executed... but Sulfur told her about my mother, trying to shift the blame on her. Flare was taken to court, and Queen Titian decided she was guilty of a crime she hadn't committed. Wisp was alive at that time, and he didn't do anything against it. He could have said the truth, but he didn't. Flare and Sulfur were both executed for treachery."

Carmine tried to make sense of all the information that was being thrown at her. Her tail was curled in a spiral, a sign that she waited for Lance to continue.

After a few long moments, she did, looking at the SkyWing princess.

"I was alone," she said, half-laughing. That laugh. It was unsettling. It sounded broken, insane... unhinged.

"I had nothing left, except for my anger. Anger against Titian and anything that had to do with royalty.  But mostly, against my half-brother: Wisp," she continued, her voice sharp.

Carmine could barely keep her wings from shaking. This was so much.

"My mother executed an innocent dragon and Wisp's father. And Wisp doesn't know that Lance is his half-sister... Lance. Wisp. Related. How did this ever happen?" she thought, trying to process.

"When I became a guard, I sneaked my way inside the Royal archives. I stole any scroll that had to do with Wisp's history. I wanted revenge, and I needed to find out if there was any way I could expose Wisp. Luckily, his mother, Sizzle, had a few secrets no else ever knew about her. She was an alight. And not just any alight. She was Alight's niece," Lance continued, smirking.

Carmine remember that dragon. The day the auditorium had caught on fire, she had found his scroll. His history had been erased, and it had seemed like his tribe wanted to forget him. Apparently that had been true.

"Alight's family was killed when they discovered his power, so the gene could not be passed along," Lance chucked again, smirking, "Your mother executed over twenty innocent dragons that day, not caring of their age. She was scared of Alights, and wanted them all dead. I shouldn't have been surprised... she always was a bloodthirsty maniac."

Carmine felt short of breath. Her mother had really killed innocent SkyWings? Even SkyWings that weren't alights, just because she was scared?

"Sizzle escaped her. She lived, and had Wisp."

Lance's statement awoke her from her spiral of dark thoughts.

"So you found out that Wisp might be an alight by tracing back his lineage," Carmine said, looking at Lance, who's eyes were flickering with maliciousness.

"Exactly. But see, Sizzle died, so I had no way to prove that Wisp was her son... except one." She paused, clicking her front teeth in a menacing way. "I came up with a way to expose him. I was going to get my revenge... and it was going to be on fire."

"Fire"

The dusk light rippled down on Lance's face, making it shine red as if covered with blood.

Carmine clutched the stone floor with her talon. She felt her wings tremble once as the same cold, slithering feeling that she had first felt when she met Lance all those years ago traveled down her spine.

But while her world was brought crashing down, and her thoughts were spiraling wildly, Carmine held Lance's gaze.

She didn't blink. She didn't falter. She didn't fall back.

And as she talked, she felt something new burn inside her. She had felt sadness, emptiness, and despair before. But now she was feeling courage... or perhaps just pure anger.

"You killed my mother," the Princess breathed, from behind her clenched teeth.

"I wasn't targeting her. When I set fire to the auditorium, I aimed at the Left Wing, where Wisp was sitting. Too bad a few dragons had to die during this experiment," she chuckled, lashing her tail as she smiled murderously, "But Queen Titian... her death was just an added bonus."

"You're a traitorous serpent!" Carmine snarled, widening her stance.

"She isn't who I thought she was. I used to think that she was violent, yes, but loyal to her tribe. Now I know she's not loyal. She's dangerous."

"I'm nothing of the sort," Lance retorted, taking a few steps toward the princess.

Carmine didn't look away from her, and soon enough, they were just half a wingspan away from each other.

"You hid Wisp's powers from your tribe. You lied to your Queen about it. You're anything but loyal, dear Councilor of Law," Lance sneered.

Carmine flinched but quickly replied. "What are you going to do now? You just told me you were the one responsible for killing my mother. Your killing spree will be over now that I have this information. Saffron might like you, but she will believe my word over yours."

"I hope. I really, really hope so," her thoughts echoed.

Lance smiled, her sharp fangs protruding from her jaws. "Yes, but you just told me what I needed to know. Wisp is alight. I didn't see it myself the day the auditorium caught fire, but I heard it from you today."

Carmine was shaken. Her heart was pounding. She had just told Lance the information she needed.

"You're not going to hurt him. Not again," the SkyWing princess hissed, "not if I can help it."

Lance blinked slowly, her pupil constricting into her fury-shot eyes.

"While seeing you trying to stand in my way would be humorous, I don't plan on killing Wisp anymore. I've seen that that's not the right thing to do," Lance said taking one step closer.

She bent down to Carmine's head, towards her ear. Lance's cold breath made her shiver.

"You taught me to be smarter, princess," the SkyWing whispered.

The captain of the royal guards walked past her, towards one of the two curtains that lined the doorway. Behind it was her spear, wickedly sharp and made of what seemed to be titanium.

"So why should I just kill him when I have the means to get rid of you both?" She snarled and, flaring her wings, she took off at a startling speed.

"No!" Carmine's heart was racing, but her talons were even faster. She raced after Lance, soon spreading her wings to catch up to her.

"She can't do this... she can't do this again. I lost mother to her fire... but I can't lose Wisp to the claws of his own blood. I can't lose him too."