"Please!" I begged, my voice rising an octave higher than normal. "Help me! Fiore needs help! If the destiny of the prince is all on me, then please help!"

"What now, young sorceress?" the dragon droned, flying down from somewhere up above and landing on its rock.

"Fiore's going through a terrible drought. Everything and everyone is dying. My destiny is to protect Jellal and his future kingdom of Fiore! So help me!"

"I see," the dragon said. "It's because of the young crown prince, isn't it?"

I nodded eagerly, "See! Someone understands! It's a curse right? A magical curse? What can I do to reverse it?"

"Nothing."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "But I have magic for a reason, right? So-"

"Prince Jellal will reverse it himself, without knowing," the dragon whispered. "The Unicorn Keeper will test him. Don't interfere."

~ ~ ~

"Still?" I groaned.

Jellal nodded peering into the well.

"It's weird," he said, thoughtfully. "Who would replace all of the water with sand? How do you even do that?!"

Because you killed a unicorn, duh! Just 'cause you're the crown prince, doesn't mean you're special!

"Who knows," I said, shrugging and pretending to be mystified.

"It's getting late," Jellal began, turning to me. Suddenly he froze, staring over my shoulder.

"What?" I asked, following his gaze.

"Someone's there," he whispered, brushing past me. "It might be the person behind all of these droughts! Hurry, Scarlet!"

Wait..what?

We ran into the castle and stopped at the courtyard. Jellal pulled me behind a stack of barrels.

"Guards," Jellal grumbled. "Do you think they would listen to me if I told them not to tell Father I was outside, past curfew?"

"'Loyalty to the king above everything,'" I mimicked, smirking devilishly.

"Shut up, Scarlet," he said, trying to smother his grin. "Listen, distract the guards while I go check to see if the intruder went to the Throne Room."

Great, give me the hard part.

I peered at the guards from behind the barrels. 

Natsu and Gray.

And they were bickering.

As always.

I rolled my eyes, Well this is going to be easy..I'm sure Mira and Porlyusica wouldn't mind if I used a little magic..

"Ris ta," I murmured, crouching in the corner.

Immediately the stack of wooden barrels moved, rolling toward Natsu and Gray.

"What the-" Gray gasped, collapsing to the ground as the barrel hit him and Natsu squarely in the chest.

"Sorry guys," I whispered, bending down to check their pulses. I hadn't killed them, right?

"I said distract them, not knock them out!" Jellal said, standing beside me. I jumped. How long had he been there? "I'm very thankful I'm not a guard. How'd you knock them out like that?"

"Did you find the intruder?" I asked, changing the subject

"No," he said. "But I want to check the storage."

"What for?"

"Food rations," the prince told me. "No one would dare attack the castle during this drought. It's probably some hungry commoner."

What if the intruder has magic? Jellal would never be able to fight him!

"Shh," he told me, slowly pushing the door open.

Sure enough, a man was in the room, scooping up piles of the precious grain, stuffing it into his bag.

"Halt!" Jellal yelled, drawing his sword.

The man looked up, frightened.

"You have committed a crime against the king," he said, reciting words memorized perfectly from the Fioran law book. "The crime of theft."

The man kneeled before the prince, "Sire..I didn't mean..my kids..we're hungry!"

"We're all hungry," I said quietly.

Except for the Prince Siegrain and Prince Idiot..And King They-Have-Magic-Off-With-Their-Heads.

"Sire," the man whispered. "P-please! M-mercy!"

I looked at Jellal, hoping desperately that the prince was as kindhearted and merciful as the dragon insisted he was.

"Sire," the man said again. "I have three daughters who will die. And my wife is sick."

"Very well," the prince said, his face softening slightly. He lowered his sword. "Leave. Get out of here."

"Ahhh," the dragon said.

"Stop talking to me in my head!" I grumbled. "It's weird."

"I told you the crown prince would pass his test. If only he'll pass all of them."

~ ~ ~

"Sire," Porlyusica said. "The sand has disappeared from the lakes and wells. There is water once again."

"Ha!" Faust said. "I told you it wasn't magic!"

"But the crops still won't grow," Porlyusica insisted. "Even with the water."

The king slumped back in his throne, "Well..At least we have water.."

If only he knew..Jellal's tests aren't over..Anything could change..

TO BE CONTINUED