Jade was woken to someone gentle shaking her shoulders. She opened her eyes to see a blurry Ethan bent over her, peering into her face. When he came into focus she could see the worried look on his face.

"What?" She asked with a tired yawn.

"What are you doing sleeping by the water's edge my Lady? We are lucky the mermaid did not take you while you slept."

"It looks to me like they already did." Jade turned her head to see Zachariah stood just two feet away, his staff in hand and the same cold, disapproving look on his face. "That mark on you hand, they gave it to you did they not?" Jade looked down at her right hand. On the back of it there was a beautiful, thick black outline of a mermaid. Her tail reaching part Jade's wrist and several swirls coming of the creature and wrapping themselves around Jades forearm.

"You let them near you!" Ethan exclaimed, his voice clearly portraying his anger at her actions.

"Yes...they helped me."

"Helped you? Did you not hear what the wizard said yesterday? Mermaids do not help people, they drown them. You could have been killed."

"Well clearly he was wrong. They helped me. They gave me something to help me kill Salazar and I'm going to use it."

"What are you talking about?" Ethan asked her.

"The marking on her arm, it is a spell. Mermaids have the rare ability to temporarily transfer magic in the form of spells that make a physical appearance on the skin." Zachariah explained. Ethan shot him a glare, silently telling him to shut up.

"Yeah exactly. They said I can only use it once though and that once released it will summon a lot of water. That way he can't use his fire."

"And what about the countless other ways a dragon can kill someone? Have you given any thought to those? You put yourself at great risk last night and you are most certainly not fighting that dragon." Jade glared at him and pushed herself up. She backed away from him and clutched at her marked arm.

"Do you really expect me to just sit there and do nothing?"

"Yes, that it was your supposed to do. That was always the plan."

"Not gonna happen."

"You are a princess..."

"No!" Jade sharply cut him off. "I am no princess. This body might be but I am nothing like her. Where I come from I am a nobody, just an ordinary girl and I don't let people fight my battle for me. I know that me dying here is bad, I'm not an idiot but I will not stand by and watch you risk your own life!" Jade shouted her words so loud that it had hurt her throat. Her breathing was rapid, she hadn't realised she didn't take a single breath during her whole rant. Ethan looked taken back by her outburst. Until then she had been quite, un-confident in what was going on around her but that didn't mean that she was not Jade anymore.

"It is my duty to protect you with my life. I cannot fight off a dragon whilst constantly being concerned for your safety."

"Then don't be. I can take care of myself."

"I doubt that. What combat training have you had? What knowledge do you have on warfare?"

"None but that doesn't mean I'm completely useless." She protested.

"So you relied on magic?" Ethan's face looked pained as he said it. "All magic comes with a price my Lady, do you know what price you paid for that spell you wear so proudly on your arm?" His voice was soft and full of sadness. It instantly made her calm down. He was clearly thinking about his sister. The sister he lost, the one he had asked Zachariah to help with magic but in the end had still passed away. Jade glanced at Zachariah. He was staring at the floor, his face remained blank but in his eyes there was pain. He had really wanted to help that little girl but he couldn't, something that Ethan just didn't see. Jade opened her mouth to say something when she was cut off by a deafening screech from above. She looked above to see two giant eagles flying towards them. Jade gasped at the sight. They might have been at least 20 times bigger than the average eagle, giant beasts with the wingspan of an airplane.

"Right on time." Zachariah said as he came to Jade's side. The two over-sized creatures landed on the ground with a massive thud making Jade instantly take a step backwards. "Do not be afraid. They are our ride, they mean you no harm." The eagles tucked their wings into their sides. One eagle shook its whole body while the other used it's gigantic pale yellow beak to bite at an itch on its neck.

"Our ride? Ride to where?"

"The Kingdom of Sky of course." Zachariah said it like it was obvious but Jade hadn't thought for a second that the Kingdom of Sky was actually in the sky. She looked towards upwards only to see white fluffy clouds looming above, blocking to early morning sun. Zachariah watched her closely and if she didn't know better she could have sworn she saw the grumpy wizard smirk. "Jade, come here." He ordered her softly. Jade looked to Ethan who was studying the eagles, a pained expression on his face and then walked towards the wizard as instructed.

"I've upset him." She said with an absent mind.

"Yes I believe you have. He is only upset however because he is concerned, if the Princess is not returned safely it will be his head on the chopping block. Even so, I don't believe he is too worried about himself, he genuinely doesn't wish to see you come to any harm."

"Because I'm in the Princess body...yeah I know."

"I do not think that's entirely it. Ethan has always been very protective of the defenseless, I suppose it has to do with his sister. You one the other hand are new to this world, you do not know of its many dangers, in that sense you are vulnerable."

"I see...but I'm not defenseless. I'm not completely useless."

"Clearly not. There are not many people in the history of man kind that have been blessed by the mermaids. As I said they are often hateful creatures and yet you walk away from them unharmed, carrying their blessing. How ever did you manage that?"

"I...I don't know. I guess I just listened to them."

"I see, however this mark could prove to be a problem."

"Why?"

"It is seen as wrong for a princess to mark their skin. It is going to raise questions we cannot answer when we enter the Kingdom of Sky."

"So I should cover it up then."

"Indeed, I have a way of doing such a thing." Zachariah's crystal on top of his staff began to glow a little. "A concealment spell should work. No one but you and I will be able to see the mark, it should remain intact...unless I am to die of course but we need not worry about that here." Zachariah held out his hand towards her and she knew what he wanted without him saying anything. She placed her marked hand in his large but rather cold hand. She watched at the crystal glowed brighter and brighter, until the point were it got so bright it stung her eyes. She flinched and looked away until she saw the light slowly beginning to fade. She looked back and saw the crystal was no longer glowing and Zachariah had let go of her hand.

"Wait...that's it?" She questioned.

"It is, why? What did you expect?"

"Well you didn't say any magic words or anything." Zachariah gave her a confused look. As if owned a magical staff that glow bright enough to blind someone wasn't strange but the idea of chanting magic words was. He let out a small sigh but said nothing and moved towards one of the large eagles. Jade looked back to see Ethan watching her closely, her interaction with Zachariah seemed to displease me more than he already was. He held out a hand towards her while Zachariah climbed onto the giant eagle with a scary amount of precision. Jade walked over to Ethan and took his hand. She opened her mouth to apologise but instead the knight grabbed her by the waist and stood her on the eagle outstretched wing without a single word. He was clearly still angry or just upset, Jade couldn't work out which one it was. She sat down on the eagles feathered back and waiting for Ethan to climb on behind her. He sat a little further away from her than he needed to but held his hand either side of him, ready to catch her in an instant if she fell.

"Keep your eyes forward and whatever you do, do not pull a feather out." He instructed her coldly. She nodded and turned around. She had really upset him. That had never been her intention, she had only wanted to help but still knowing he was right behind her to catch her made comforted her a great deal. Zachariah looked to Jade and gave her a small nod, a warning that they were about to set off. Zachariah gently patted the eagle behind him twice on the neck. The eagle tilted itself head back and screeched that piercing sound that made Jade want to cover he ears like a child and stretched it wings. Very slowly it began to bat its wings, once, twice, until it's taloned feet left the ground. The eagle continued to rise into the air while Jade's eagle prepared to do the same. Jade could feel the power of the animal beneath her as it's large muscles worked together to help it take flight. Jade instantly grabbed onto the eagle soft feathers when she felt them leave the ground. She was careful not to pull on the feathers just as Ethan had warned but her heart rate was increasing the further away the got from the ground. Jade could not longer see Zachariah, his eagle was flying right on top of them. Jade only hoped that the giant bird didn't decide to alleviate its bowels. She carefully leant over the edge and saw three figure poking out of the water below them. One with blonde hair, one with black hair and the last with red hair. Jade smiled as she watched them wave her goodbye before they disappeared into the crystal blue waters. She wondered if she would ever see them again but knew that she wouldn't, a least not with Ethan and Zachariah around. Jade sighed and glance back at Ethan, she saw him watching her closely. A rather pained expression on his face. She couldn't stand it and decided to look elsewhere and enjoy the once in a lifetime ride...

It was about 10 minutes before they reached the bottom of the clouds. Despite the eagles massive wing size they were not fast flies but Jade had enjoyed every moment of it. The sound of the wind rushing by, blowing her annoyingly long hair. It no doubt got in Ethan's face but he uttered no word of objection, in fact he had said nothing to her throughout the whole ride. Jade looked to her left and saw Zachariah sat on top of his own eagle looking around. He looked completely at ease with it and Jade wondered just how many times he had done the ride in his immortal life. Jade shivered as the air around her began to drop an alarming rate. They had entered the clouds. Soon Jade found herself unable to see anything, the water droplets making up the clouds settling on her bare arms, drenching her head to toe. Thankfully it didn't last long, they broke through the clouds and the sight that unfolded before her took her breath away. There were thousands of giant eagles flying about. There were countless islands floating in mid air, nothing holding them in place other than magic. Jade was amazed by the sight. The two eagles continued to flying diagonally towards the largest of the floating islands, she assumed that that was were the castle was. Jade looked at the small islands as they passed. She could see small figures, both male and female, tending to their growing farms. She could make out a small group of children playing in the grass. Tiny houses made from stone or wood. The eagles flying by them were carrying all kinds of things, building resources and food for the other islands. It was like on massive community, all living on separate islands but sharing all that they had with each other. Jade looked at their destination, she couldn't see anything but a large pile of floating earth but as the two eagles grew higher into the sky she saw it. The main city of the floating Kingdom. The castle was huge. Made of stone and covered in blue flags with the black shape of an in flight eagle on it, Jade assumed that it was the Kingdom's flag. The city below was buzzing with life. The market in the lower part of the town beneath the castle was in full swing. Jade could hear the commotion and excited voices down below. There was a large patch of earth outside the city gates where eagle after eagle would land and drop of it's passengers. The three had to wait their turn and Zachariah of course landed before them.

"Remember that you are a Princess in their eyes." Ethan's whispered quietly in her ear as the watched Zachariah dismount his eagle. "For all they know you are here for two reasons. To show the Kingdoms of Mountains continued support and as a concerned friend because of the King's failing health." It was more like a warning than a reminder but the feeling of his hot breath on her ear made her shudder slightly.

"Yeah I know." She assured him with an undertone of 'leave me be.' Zachariah's eagle took off and Jade and Ethan's eagle glided down. It landed as softly on the ground as the giant bird could and Jade could see several knights running towards Zachariah as he stood waiting for them to land. The eagle spread out its wing towards the floor and Ethan instantly jumped up. He walked a little way down the wing and then stopped and extended his hand towards Jade. She took it and stood up, she began to walk towards him. Careful not to fall over as she was becoming increasingly more aware of the small crowd that was forming around the eagle. Both Knights and civilians were watching her closely, she had never felt so under pressure in all her life. Her heart was racing, she didn't like this. She was never the center of attention, she never wanted to be but of course these people thought she was Princess Jade, not the Jade that spent all day lounging in joggers drawing whatever came to mind. With Ethan's help she managed to make it all the way off the eagle without so much as a stumble. When she was safely down Ethan let do of her hand and took a step back to stand behind her. His arms placed behind his back and his head held high. Zachariah stood by a rather old looking knight. His hair was grey and so was the neatly trimmed beard on his face. Jade noticed a large scar running from just below his eyes to his chin, a battle wound she guessed.

"Princess Jade, we apologise for the lack of a welcoming party we were not aware you would be joining us today." His voice was gruff but confident. Jade glance to Zachariah. What was she supposed to say to that? He offered he no help, of course he wouldn't. He couldn't. She was supposed to be the Princess, she was supposed to know exactly what to say in these situation. Any help from him and they would know that something was up. Jade sighed internally and put on her best fake smile.

"That's quite alright, I was not aware I would be coming either until yesterday morning." She said it in the poshest way possible she was holding her breath waiting for the knights response.

"I see well I am sure that the young Prince Francis will be delighted to see you. Would you do me the honour of allowing me to escort you to the castle?" Jade let out a small sigh of relief. He had brought it, she had managed to convince him. Still she knew that this was just the beginning.

"It would be my pleasure." Now she just had to convince the Princess' closest friend that she and her were one and the same...