The cold, polished hilt of a sword cut into my palm as I curled thin, frozen fingers around it. My claws clicked against one another as I shifted the blade in my hold, turning it so that the edge was directly facing the quivering head of the woman kneeling in front of me.

"Get on with it." My father growled, only a few feet behind me. I blew out a slow sigh, then glanced up toward the stormy grey clouds above, collecting my nerve.

"Father, I cannot kill a woman over a loaf of bread." I said, letting the sword drop to the cobblestones. It made several loud and obnoxious clanging noises before I kicked it away from me, and it slid to a stop at my father's feet. The woman in front of me let out a choked sob, shoulders trembling as my father's face tightened, and rage controlled his features.

"I thought that I had made this perfectly clear. That you are to follow my orders without questioning them." He growled, signaling to the only guard that had accompanied us for this execution. He immediately strode over to me and took my arm, twisting it behind my back as if I would try something. Even if I never did. The empty space around us echoed my father's voice as he spat.

"I had thought that you'd learn by now. How many times must I put myself through this?"

I didn't say anything, knowing he probably wouldn't like it. He made a sound of disgust, turning and gesturing to the guard holding me.

"Go." He growled, and the guard bowed his head, dragging me from the area with more force than necessary. I wasn't very hard to contain once I was caught. My muscles were thin and not fully developed, like the rest of my body, and the only thing he would have to watch out for was my wings and my claws. And I rarely used those for attacking.

Even so, he was either happy to get the chance to treat me like this, or he was scared. Maybe both. Either way, my arms were sore by the time we reached my personalized cell, and I rubbed my aching joints as the door clanged shut, cutting off half the light in the room. The other half came from the barred window on the opposite wall. I couldn't see much out of it, it being the size of my head, maybe a little bigger, but I could see a glimpse of the gate. It was secured tightly, like always.

I sat on the old pile of hay in the corner next to the door, letting the weak sunlight hit my skin. It was very cold down there, and the winter weather wasn't helping. I curled into a tight ball, watching my breath mist into the air. I couldn't feel my nose, and after a few minutes, my ears were the same way. They tapered at the ends, and they were larger than most human's. I wondered if my scales had anything to do with keeping me warm, and raised an arm, staring at the speckled grey and white discs spread across my skin. Didn't seem so.

My scales were not as beautiful as a dragon's. At least, the dragons that I had read about in books. I was half dragon, half human, and whichever side my dragon blood came from must have been an ugly, spotted grey. Some of the scales on my body were white, but few, and they were in no way organized. Some clumped together in bunches, others stood solitary on the back of my hand. It was like a cat that had lost most of its fur, save for a few tufts here and there.

My hair was long, and blocked some of the cold air from reaching my bare shoulders. I had worn my training vest today, because I knew father had wanted me to train with some of the captains, but I didn't make it that far. He wanted to establish fear into the people by giving me the 'right' to finish off wrongdoers. Rumors would spread, he said, that crime would be punished with a dragon's claws. Most feared me, so fearing the executioner would probably make most crime die. But 'crime' was a different word in my father and I's vocabulary. The woman from before had stolen a piece of bread from a stall to feed a hungry child. I could barely fault her in that, considering that she had no husband to work for her while she took care of their baby.

Either way, I knew she would probably die by sundown. The thought made me bury my head into my arms, in a turmoil over whether or not I should have killed her. Gave her a quick death. My claws dug into my upper arms as I thought about it. I was such a coward at times, putting my own thoughts of what is right or wrong before anyone else. In this place, the wrong sometimes turned into right. Sometimes, you had to sacrifice a family member, or frame another so that your family could live. Most of the time, death was the only choice.

I propped my chin up on my arm, shivering as a chill ran through my body. At this rate, I would probably lose a limb. I was rarely sick, but frostbite effected me just as any other human. And frostbite usually claimed many a victim down in these cells.

This thought had barely passed before the door next to my cell creaked open. The guard waited for the newcomer as heavy thuds reached my ears, and two more came down the stairs, hauling one beaten individual with them. Little time was spent throwing him into the cell, and once they had left, I crept over to the opposite corner, pressing close to the crack in the wall and whispering.

"Hello."

There was a slight sound of him moving, then a surprisingly deep voice answered, close to where I was.

"Who are you? Are you from Flarice?" He asked, voice desperate. I went quiet, then said.

"No. What are you in here for?"

He was silent for a few moments, then his hesitant reply rose from behind the thin wall.

"I was captured near the forest. They found a few of us camping there, and I was too slow in running away." He muttered. I narrowed my eyes. Why would they be so near to us? Perhaps there was a larger group of them further away. Leon, the king of Flarice, never liked us to begin with. My father had an ongoing war with their people for a very long time.

"Are you important to your people? If so, I wouldn't fight back. You won't last long in here." I told him. He gave a harsh, muffled laugh, but didn't answer. I sighed, annoyed.

"You don't have to talk to me, but this is valuable advice. You cannot escape from-"

"Why should I try talking to you or your barbaric people?" He cut in, disgusted.

"Barbaric? How are we any different from you?" I asked, voice sharp. He gave another short laugh, though he wasn't amused.

"Women and children do not belong in the battle field. I saw some that were only ten years of age." He spat. His voice sounded haunted, as if he was remembering something, and I couldn't help but agree with him about the children. We did send ten year old's into the thick of battle regardless of size. The ones who survived were the strongest of the strong, and were usually made generals. But women, however, I had to disagree with. Some of our fiercest warriors were women, and they knew how to fight as well as any other man. Gender was barely a factor in most cases in our kingdom. Strength decided most things.

I decided to remain silent, choosing to ignore him. If I talked to him anymore, I might become attached, which is probably not a good idea when the person in question was sentenced to die. At least, that was what I had guessed. We rarely took prisoners, and if he was still alive, we were either preparing to execute him or holding him for questioning. Which, if given a choice, I would probably choose death over.

A few hours later, a guard came to retrieve me from my cell, and as I entered the warm palace, I let out a sigh of relief, feeling my frozen digits start to thaw. I was led to the throne room, where father was sitting, holding up a cup for the serving girl to fill. My mother was also with him, Sadi. She was fair skinned, and very beautiful. Raven hair was always tied high atop her head, and her bright blue eyes reminded me of the summer's we rarely enjoyed. She was thin and delicate, but I knew that the magic she possessed made up for any physical weakness.

She rarely spoke to me or acknowledged my presence, and didn't say a word as I was led before them, finally released at a nod from my father.

"You need to understand your place here." He spat, furious. He also had black hair, but his was courser, more dense than my mother's. His wide and powerful body was a threatening sight seated upon the high throne, and I knew that this was how most felt around Jerome, as well. He had inherited father's strength, and our mother's beauty. That was why it always pained me to see her, because in my opinion, Jerome looked much more like her than he did our father.

"I'm sorry, father." I said quietly, bowing my head. He glowered at me, saying sharply.

"I never gave you permission to speak. You are weak, and you are too compassionate for my liking. Look at yourself. You were made to destroy. A beast in human form."

I looked away at the wall instead, not wanting to look at the ragged wings on my back or the ugly scales on my frosted blue hands. All my father saw were the potential weapons that were my teeth and my claws, razor sharp at the tips. That's all he ever saw.

When I didn't respond, he gave a disgusted tsk-ing sound and sharply motioned me to leave. I turned around quickly, deciding to exit the palace once more. I needed space and I needed to think.

Extending my wings threateningly, I walked through the streets, scattering people left and right. My wings were useful in this respect. Even if I couldn't fly with them, they were still a dangerous sight. Giant reminders that I was in no way like them.

Heading toward the great wall, I found the handholds weathered by time and hauled myself up, perching on the top in a crouch. The sun was setting over the dusted white hills, and in the distance, I could see the outline of the cliffs Jerome had taken me to the one day I always loved to remember. The sunlight glinted softly off the freshly fallen snow from the night before, and it was a peaceful sight to behold, but something in the distance caught my eye.

Banners waved in the wind, they were the first thing I saw. Then I saw how the line of soldiers gradually swelled from behind the horizon, probably numbered in the thousands. It seemed like Leon had spared no man when forming this army.

I leaped off the wall, spreading my wings to break the fall and landing more forcefully than I had intended. Shock ran in waves up my legs as I yelled at the gate guards to form up defense. As they did so, I continued on my way to the palace, knowing we would probably destroy them before they reached the city's gates.