I turn around, looking back at the lake. I can't see him but I know he is somewhere in the water.

"What are you going to do with that prisoner you took?" Toryn asks as Tanya shifts back into her dragon form and takes off into the sky again.

"I have a plan," I tell my brother. He looks down at me.

"Isla," he sighs. "What was the king saying about the two of you? What has been going on between the two of you?" I stop to look up at him.

"What happened between the two of us is something I can use to our favour," I tell him. Sensing that I am not going to say anything else, he drops the subject.

"What are we going to do now?" he asks me.

"I am going to question Darcy and Eric." I spit Eric's name out of my mouth with venom. "I am then going to have a meeting with you, Tanya, the General and the other Royals about strategies." Toryn nods his head.

"Can you find Daniel, I need to have a word with him. Ask him to meet me in my room," I tell him as I look across the lake. "I will join him soon," my voice is a whisper as I say the last part.

"Okay," Toryn tells me as he walks into the palace gates. I turn and jump into the lake, the cold water rushing over my skin in a rush. I take a deep breath, the cold water filling my lungs. The feeling of the water rushing over my body is refreshing. I can feel it as it sweeps away the face paints and strips away any stray stains of dirt and blood. I swim toward the back waterfall that descends from the mountaintops. I climb onto the rocks, feeling the spray from the waterfall scatter against my skin. I open a gap in the thick water and walk into the cave behind it. It has been a while since I was here. In the beautiful cavern with the glowing lagoon in the centre that illuminates all the stone around me. I sit down and wait, pulling all the excess water from my skin and drying myself. After a few minutes of waiting, there is spluttering sound. I open another gap in the waterfall as he is chucked out of lake water and pretty much thrown into the cavern, the water closing up behind him. For a few seconds, he coughs water up as he positions himself on all fours. When he has finished coughing, he looks up at me and slowly stands. For a few seconds, I just look at him. His slightly tanned skin glows against the blue of the pool. His angular features glisten with droplets. His black hair is messy, parts of it falling in front of his eyes. His eyes are open wide with emotions I can't quite figure out. The bright electric blue orbs shine. He is beautiful and striking.

"Isla," he whispers, sounding a little confused. "Why am I here?" he asks again. I sit down on a rock.

"Because I brought you here," I answer. He stays silent for a few seconds. 

"What happened?" he asks. I raise an eyebrow. He sighs and sits down. "You put me under the water," he starts. "I remember you saying that I won't be released until the day is over but when I was thrown out of the water during the middle of the day I knew something was wrong," he shakes his head.  "The rain was heavy and the winds so strong I was almost blown from the mountain. I raced to find you, I thought something had happened to you." His voice almost sounds panicked. "The storm was spread around all of Shadow, then I felt it. My King arriving and stepping foot onto these lands and I had to find him..." I hold up my hand, cutting him off.

"I don't want to hear your lies," I tell him. "Did you know who the traitor was?" I ask, my voice emotionless. He shakes his head, stepping closer toward me.

"I did not, I promise you," he whispers as he looks directly into my eyes.

"What happened?" he asks again. I step towards him.

"Too much," I reply, feeling a lump in my throat and a prickling in my eyes. All I want is to collapse on the floor in a week, crying mess. He takes a step closer to me as if sensing my inner pain.

"I can sense your pain Isla, you may have been able to hide it from my king but not from me." He presses his hand against my cheek and I want to press into it, to sink into his warmth. I jerk away from him.

"Your King is a monster," I tell him. "I will never accept his proposal. Yet you still do his bidding. You stand there as he taunts you, mocks you."

"I..."

"I don't want to hear your excuses," I tell him. "I am the High Queen now. I have a nation to protect and that means protecting them from you." I flick my wrists as water rises from the lagoon and wraps around his wrists. They turn to ice as soon as they touch his skin and mould into chains. The ice then buries into the walls and drags him back.

"Isla, no!" he growls with anger as the chains hold his arms outstretched. A look of rage crosses his face as the muscles in his arms bulge as he tries to free himself. "What are you doing?" he hisses. I walk toward him slowly.

"Protecting my people," I tell him. "Don't try to escape, the ice won't break unless I break my enchantment." He struggles again and I chuckle.

"I'll see you tomorrow, where I will ask questions about your precious king and you will answer them," I tell him.

"Isla!" he shouts as I turn around toward the waterfall. I don't turn back as he shouts at me with rage. The waterfall opens and I step out. Not before making an ice barrier behind it as a last insurance.

Darcy is in my room when I get back to the palace.

"You can sit," I say as I sit on the silver chair behind my desk. She sits on a chair in front of the desk, tucking away her dark black hair behind her ear.

"I just wanted to ask you a few questions. I am not accusing you of anything," I tell her. She nods her head. I spend half an hour at least quizzing her and asking her about what her mother did. Some of it makes me feel physically sick, especially upon seeing and sensing her pain.

"The time after I spat at you and you punched me was the worst," she tells me with tears running down her face. My mother was so angry once we were home. She wouldn't stop screaming at me and telling me I was failing her. The stuff she used to control me never could work properly. Sometimes I would take her orders to far whilst on it and sometimes I wouldn't do enough. That night, obviously, I took it too far and she wasn't happy. That was the night she decided that..." Darcy stops and gulps. "She said that my snake was protecting me from the mind magic from working on me properly." She shudders. "She dragged me into her secret stone room by my hair and threw me on a stone table. Metal latches locked over my wrists and legs. That was usually the room where she tries to infect my mind to do her bidding. But that night was different. She was setting up things differently. She was mad. She had all these ingredients on her shelves. I don't know what they were exactly, but they didn't look nice. They looked like blood and body parts. She then had this book and a big black mixing bowl which she placed over the fire. I remember her looking through the book and adding all these things to the bowl. Then she whispered words. She didn't say them well though. They were all broken and stuttered."

"She was trying to speak NightShade spells," I sigh. Darcy nods her head, closing her eyes. "She then walked over to me and put something in my mouth, whispering that it would stop me biting my tongue off. She then cut some of my hair and took some of my blood. I was then forced to shift where she cut my snake form and took some scales and more blood. I then had to go back into human form. She added all those things to the pot and started speaking again. Then the pain started," she closes her eyes and gently clutches as the snake on her wrist. "The liquid in the pot started to bubble and smoke. My body felt like it was tearing in half and then I saw it. My snake form started to force its way out of my skin. As if it was being dragged from me..." She stops and I hold up my hand.

"You don't have to continue," I say, looking at her tear-stained face. She looks so broken. Her red eyes are dull and her skin pale and pasty. Her once perfectly groomed nails are now short and bitted and there are big bags under her eyes. She nods her head.

"I won't question you any longer," I say with a soft smile and stand. She stands after me. "I want to apologise," I say to her. "For all my actions toward you," I say. "I had no idea..." Regret sweeps over me as I look at her. All that time spent thinking she was just a power hungry, spoiled brat. When in reality it was so much worse. She smiles softly.

"You don't need to apologise Isla," she sighs. I nod my head.

"You will always have a safe home here," I say. "Now go and rest," I tell her. She nods and leaves the room. I wait a few seconds before speaking.

"Is all she said true? Was she controlled by Aspen or did she lie?" I ask. Daniel and Oliver appear next to me, having been invisible.

"She wasn't lying," is all Daniel says. I touch his shoulder and he sighs. He is also a mess. His blonde hair is scruffy and his eyes are red with tears. "I saw what her mother did in her mind Isla, there are no words to describe it..." I nod my head.

"Thank you Daniel, Oliver," I say to them. "We had best head to the meeting now. There is still much we need to discuss.

"About what?" Oliver asks.

"About Battle of course," I sigh.

"How are you going to find where they have set up camp?" Daniel asks. I just smile.

"I have a plan," I say. "But first we must ensure all other shifters are safe."