Luckily for Carmine, she knew exactly where Wisp would be at this time, unlike Lance.

She raced to the courtyard, where she found him talking to Eagle. He was smiling.

Eagle was one of the brightest minds of the kingdom. The red-scaled SkyWing looked intimidating and cold at first, but he was deeply thoughtful and sensible. Carmine had taken a liking to him and since he was still in late dragonethood, she had decided to take him in and mentor him on the subject he loved most: public relations and debate.

Eagle had respect for Wisp, but Carmine had never seen them talk about anything, ever. Today it seemed like they had so much to say to one another... and they were laughing too.

The princess barged into their conversation, her pounding heart still hammering in her ears.

"You need to come," Carmine said, looking at Wisp, while the latter and Eagle gazed back at her, concerned.

"Everything alright, Your Excellence?" Eagle asked, using the same word he always used to address her.

"You need to come. Now!" Carmine repeated, her voice now pleading as she took Wisp's talon in her own.

Her husband looked shaken at first, but he regained his calm soon enough. He excused himself with a dip of his head, and he let Carmine lead him away.

The SkyWing princess was trying not to break down. She thought of where they could hide to make sure Lance couldn't find them and after a few seconds of thinking, it became clear that hiding anywhere in the palace would be dangerous.

Her home wasn't a safe place anymore.

So, the two SkyWings spread their wings and flew. They flew for a while, completely silent until they reached the Diamond Spray river, where they landed on a rock ledge that looked over the kingdom, its forests and mountains. The SkyWing capital was visible and easily recognizable. The view of the horizon would have taken Carmine's breath away if she hadn't already been so short of breath from all the things Lance had told her.

"Carmine," Wisp said, placing his talon on her shoulders as she breathed heavily, in shock, "talk to me. I'll listen. I promised that I would always take half of your pain no matter what and I am here now, for you."

Carmine looked up at him. She closed her eyes, trying to bite back all the pain, and then spoke. She told him about Lance, about his true identity and her threat. Wisp only asked her to stop talking when he found out that he was related to Lance. If the princess had to guess, he was probably shocked too by the revelation that the one dragon who wanted him dead was the only blood relative he had left.

Once Carmine stopped talking, they both were silent for a second. The evening breeze buffeted their wings as the sky started to paint itself with red streaks of sunset.

"There's only one solution to this," Wisp said, breaking the silence and taking Carmine's talon in his own.

Carmine had expected him to say the impossible. She thought that he would say that they could fight Lance, or that they could change the law that banned 'different' SkyWings. She thought that they could have really done the impossible, together.

After a moment that seemed to last forever, he announced, "I need to disappear."

"What?!" Carmine asked, shocked by Wisp's proposition, "don't joke. We don't have time for this."

"I'm completely serious," Wisp assured her, lowering his head. "If I disappear, no one will try looking for me. As long as I leave the SkyWing kingdom, then I will be safe. I can live on one of southern islands, under the Rainforest. I will be safe there, but I'm not safe here anymore. I need to leave, now."

Carmine blinked a few times, trying to process this. She tried finding a flaw in his argument, but there was none. It made sense. If Wisp left, no one would look for him, and the SkyWing kingdom would just forget him or consider him a traitor, especially if Lance exposed him to be an Alight.

But Carmine wasn't going to agree to the plan just yet. "If you leave, I leave. I won't let you go alone. I dragged you into this mess by telling Lance, even if not on purpose. If you leave the SkyWing Kingdom... then I'll leave it too."

Wisp closed his eyes. He started laughing. Firstly, it was just a quiet chuckle, but then it morphed into a loud, nervous laugh.

"You can't leave, Carmine."

The princess tilted her head and looked at him, surprised. "What are you talking about?"

"You can't leave. You're a princess-," he stared, but she didn't let him finish.

"I don't care. Right now, I need you to be safe. I need you, Wisp. This kingdom will survive, with or without me," she said, holding his other talon and looking at him, softly.

"You can't say that anymore," Wisp said, sounding conflicted.

"Wisp, stop."

"You know as well as I do that Saffron wants to wage war on the SeaWings. Everyone in the kingdom knows. But we don't need a war. We don't want a war," he stopped, biting his lip before continuing, "but you can stop this. You can still stop this. This kingdom needs you, Carmine. More dragons need you to stay. If Saffron declares war on the SeaWings-,"

Carmine flared her wings, annoyed. "I don't care about Saffron! I don't care about anyone anymore. I need you, Wisp! I care about you and-."

"SkyWings will die, Carmine! Thousands of SkyWings will die. You need to care, because you can save them! You need to care, because you're a princess. You were born to protect your kingdom. Please tell me you can see that," Wisp retorted, trying his best not to raise his voice.

"I..." Carmine started, realizing what he was trying to say. His eyes felt sore, and she swallowed, trying to bite back the feelings that were welling up. "I don't want to leave you... I promised that I would always be by your side."

Wisp walked closer to her, and held her talons. "Our powers are both things we didn't choose to be born with. But you can still do good with yours, and I will try to find a way to use mine for good too... just not here," he paused, and met her gaze, "You're royalty, Carmine. Your power is much stronger than mine, and you don't have to be afraid of it," he closed his eyes, smiling, "I never, ever was."

Carmine took a step back and looked down, closing her eyes, trying desperately not to give up to what was, unforgivably, the truth.

A horn sounded in the distance. Even with her eyes closed, Carmine knew what it meant: the guards were coming.

That's when she heard Wisp inhaling sharply, and raised her head to look at him.

Blood was trailing down the right side of his face, from above his eyes: he had plucked out the embedded amethysts. Carmine didn't dare to think how painful that must have been. She was speechless.

"What... why?" She asked, as he handed her the gemstones, still covered in blood.

Wisp's face was half contorted in pain. He tried smiling, "you can frame my death with these. They'll believe you if they see my gemstones, as they all know you wouldn't be able to carry my body back. You can find a way Carmine. I don't need these amethysts to feel like I belong here. I will always belong here, and I'll always be here, right by your side. I love you too much to let go."

Tears started to cloud Carmine's eyes as she hugged him tightly, wrapping her wings around him.

"Please stay safe," She croaked, though the overwhelming despair that was taking over her, "and Wisp..." she added, looking into his eyes softly, "come back when this is all over. We will fix this... together."

He held her close before letting her go.

"Broken hearts find a way to beat," Wisp said, smiling sadly, then taking off.

Carmine could just stand there, watching him fly away, melting into the carmine streaks of the sunset.

She lowered her head, and then took off in the opposite direction.

Her power was just beginning to settle in.

-/-

Lance and Saffron marched towards Carmine as she entered the main courtyard.

The guards, diplomats and nobles stopped to look at her. The princess even saw Forge, watching from one of the ledges of the walls.

"Princess Carmine," Queen Saffron hissed, as the SkyWing approached her.

Carmine looked at her straight in the eye, and dropped the blood-stained amethysts at her feet.

She gave one glare at Lance, who looked baffled.

"I've come this far, and I'm still only defined by my blood. But... maybe... I don't have to fight it. I just need to fight with my claws for something greater, something brighter. For the SkyWings. For Robin. For Forge. For my mother's memory. For... Wisp. And, along the way, for myself. I'm done fighting against myself."

Carmine flared her wings, and stood tall.

"Queen Saffron, I challenge you for the SkyWing throne."