"Well, look at that, so much for the whole prophecy thing," said Queen Turquoise, smiling. A rush of hatred spread through me. It wasn't me, it was her. She had killed him. She had killed poor, poor Fraud. I didn't choose to get captured. She chose to capture us. Queen Turquoise turned her head, and looked at me through the glass. She smiled. I snarled with frustration, hitting my tail against the stonewall of the viewing room, nearly hitting Hoax, who ducked. A guard entered the room.

"Out!" she said, jabbing Shifty with her spear. He thrashed his tail and walked out, surprisingly silent for a change. Now what were we going to do? Sit in our cells wondering who would be next? As I waited for my guard to come for me, I wondered why Fraud had to die. He was only a year old, and never got to fly under the great, blue sky. If Queen Turquoise got her way, probably none of us would ever get to feel the sun's warmth on our scales again. We only got to do it once.

"Hey, come on, let's go," said the guard, gesturing for me to leave the room. I was the last one inside. I moved forward, almost without thinking. "He died then?" asked the guard, almost sounding sad.

"Yes," I said quietly.