The Queen. I was going to see the Dragon-born Queen and it looked like I had no choice in the matter. From the way Larc ran a hand over his face and the panicked glint in his eyes, it seemed like he had no beginnings of a plan to stop the meeting from happening either.

"What does she want with me?" I asked, hoping that if I had the answer it would help solve the problem. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be anything good. That was almost certain. Perhaps I should have pleaded to Larc to take me back to Arela now, but there was something deeply rooted in my heart that stopped me.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out and get her to change her mind. She can't just keep taking everything that brings me joy in my life away." I opened my mouth to talk, to question his sudden actions, but I was cut off. "Stay here. This is where you'll be the safest." With a weak smile, he stepped outside onto his balcony and flew upwards out of the room.

Despite his words, I didn't feel safe in the slightest. All I wanted to do was crawl underneath the silken covers of the bed I sat on — the sheets that smelled so much like the Dragon-born who had betrayed us, taking a chunk of my heart with him — and hide. Was there any space under the bed for me to squeeze into?

Who was I kidding? Nothing would stop the likes of a royal guard following the Queen's orders from getting to me.

The distant flapping of wings grew closer and closer by the second from the direction that Larc left. Was he back already? After a moment of hopeful waiting, I realised that it was more than one set of wings. Could they just be passersby? Or were they royal guards sent to take me to the Queen?

My chest rose and fell sharply as I scanned the room for some sort of weapon or anything that could be used as one, but there was nothing. My eyes landed on the chair sitting in front of a desk, its wooden legs gazing at me with the potential to be broken off and used as a stake of some kind. I winced as I thought. I wouldn't know how to wield it let alone have the time and strength to break it off.

Just as I was about to check the space under Larc's bed, three royal guards landed on the balcony. Each one was dressed in a neat uniform adorned with medals and blades, the blood-red embroidery the exact shade of their crimson wings. I recognised in an instant the one that stepped towards me, a sinister smirk on his lips.

"No..."

"Hello, little nuisance," greeted the Dragon-born who had dragged me up to Nusal, the one who I had attempted to stab in the wings with a dagger. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon, but Her Highness would like to see you."

I backed up as far as I could go before I hit the headboard. This was bad — very bad.

"Either you can come with us willingly or it will hurt when we take you by force," he explained, placing his hands in his pockets.

"You can't take me," I blurted out, scouring the dark corners of my mind for something to say. "Under Larc's orders, you can't take me." He hadn't exactly ordered anyone, but it was a good enough lie.

The guard laughed — the infuriating sound coming from deep within his chest. He was the only one that spoke or reacted to what she said, leaving me to assume the other two didn't speak the Human Tongue. "I don't know if you've noticed or heard, but the prince's orders don't mean much around here. Nobody wants to follow a powerless heir. He has a handful of loyal guards and that's it. We certainly aren't some of them."

"But Larc isn't powerless!" Memories of him saving Haera from falling down the mountain and the footholds he made for us surfaced in my mind. "He-"

"Has a slither of power that could never be anything compared to Her Highness," the Dragon-born finished my sentence for me with a roll of his eyes. "I know."

One of the other guards nudged the talker and murmured something in Kaeuni, something that sounded like a warning.

"Ah, that's right, we need to get going before Her Highness gets upset. What will it be, nuisance? Come with us willingly or be dragged?" He readied his stance, already knowing what he would have to do.

Maybe that chair leg was the best option after all. Perhaps the rush of fear and adrenaline would grant me the strength to break it off and use it to fend for myself? Or perhaps I could stall until Larc came back? If he was talking with his mother, I doubted his return would be any time soon.

"Dragged it is then," the guard decided at my silence, walking towards me with wide steps.

I scrambled off the bed and ran towards the door, even with my weak legs. Throwing the door open, I didn't bother looking at the hallway outside and picked a direction to continue in, hoping for anything to save me. That something would deter the guards from chasing me and bringing me back to the Queen.

I suddenly stopped at a large hole in the floor, almost falling in. Peering over the edge, I noticed how the hole was several stories high and Dragon-borns below us were using it to get between the different floors of the castle. If I fell now, death would certainly come to greet me.

"How convenient," the royal guard began as he grabbed me. "You ran towards the flight chamber we need to take. You must be very excited to see the Queen," he teased. With one guard going before him and the other staying behind to trail him, the Dragon-born holding me stepped into the fall beside us and flew upwards.

I struggled against his grip, trying to break free from him once again, but it was still no use.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he chuckled into my ear. "One wrong move and you'll fall all the way down to the bottom, little nuisance." Even with the loathing I felt for the guard, it didn't change the fact that he was right. As much as I didn't want to see the Queen, I didn't want my remains to be scraped off of the floor by a servant.

The ascent didn't take long and soon we emerged into a large circular room. Floors of pristine, chequered marble reflected the sunlight that streamed through the stained-glass windows that covered every inch of the walls. They depicted a Dragon-born female with golden wings winning countless battles against all sorts of enemies – from Angels to horned demons to slithering sea creatures. In the centre of the room was a floating throne sat atop glowing, amber crystals, ones that looked like they would produce heat if you held your hands up towards them. Above the throne was a grand chandelier of strange jewels and weapons, blades and crystals alike hanging down for everyone to see in their glory.

Larc hovered in front of the throne, using perfectly timed flaps of his wings to stay in place, while his mother sat on it, her golden wings stretching out on either side of her.

"Ah, you made it!" The Queen clasped her hands together in glee as she watched me get carried in. "Now everyone is here. Finally, I can begin."

Larc spun around to see me and his expression darkened, as if he were cursing himself for letting me get caught.

The royal guard landed on the ground and pushed me forwards, forcing me to crane my neck up to see the Queen. "What do you want with me?"

"You see, ever since I destroyed the Lyre, I haven't been able to get my mind off of your Goddess. What made her so special to get thousands of humans to call her a god?"

"The Goddess is truly gone now, thanks to you," I spat. Larc was also partially to blame, but that was a conversation for another time.

"Oh, I know. That's why you're here! I don't know of any other humans that have magic blessed from this Goddess, so you are all I have. I want to find out the extent of your powers."

My heart dropped in my chest. I felt stronger after eating, but I could still barely stand on my own. If I used my power now, it would do much more harm than good. Besides, how would I even use it? There weren't any injuries around me to be healed.

The realisation of what the Queen was about to do hit me like the hilt of a sword to the head.

"It's a good thing that you're here, Larc. You can serve as a bit of motivation for Zofia." Her blood-crusted claws tapped against the metal arms of her throne in a lazy pattern.

"Larc, you need to leave. Please leave now," I begged. After seeing what his mother did to him when he had first fallen in front of our home, my stomach churned at the thought of what she would do now.

"I won't let anyone lay a hand on her." Larc moved his hand to a hidden dagger on his thigh. It wasn't me I was worried about.

"I don't intend to unless she's uncooperative." A thrum of power grew around us, filling the air and making me nauseous. Smoke escaped in tendrils from the Queen's mouth, her eyes glowing a molten shade as the tension of power became stronger. She raised her hand in an arcing motion, preparing to bring it back down.

Larc realised what she was doing and dodged to the side just in time before a sharp wind cut through the air aimed for his wings. The power brushed his arm and blood began to flow from the newly formed wound, staining his shirt the same colour as the wings of the guards around us.

The Queen frowned at her work. "That will do for now, I suppose. I've discovered that healing was one of the Goddess's main strengths, so, please go ahead. Show me this healing, Zofia."

My view was blocked by a deep blue wing with golden veins as Larc landed in front of me. "She is not a toy to be played with to cure your boredom. We'll be leaving now." He reached out towards me with shaking hands, allowing me to see the damage his mother had caused.

The wound ran deep, leaving me to wonder if her power had managed to touch the bone of his arm. Blood poured from it without rest or noticeable end. It needed to be staunched and sealed. My power flared weakly beneath my skin, urging me to do something, but even if I healed it now, I wouldn't have the strength to do much.

"Aren't you curious about the Goddess too? Or perhaps about where this darkness even came from?" There was a playful lilt to her voice, as if she already had a hunch of an answer to those questions.

Before Larc could answer, the doors to the throne room burst open and a Dragon-born guard flew through. Words in Kaeuni left her mouth with the same speed she'd entered as I noticed all of the scars littering her body. Several climbed up her neck and along the side of her head, revealed by her dark-cropped hair that was shaved on the sides. A thick one twisted through her lower lip, making me try and imagine what had caused such a painful thing.

The guard dropped down beside me and fell to one knee to present Larc with a sword. However, it wasn't just any sword — it was the one that he had brought on his journey with us through Silverwood forest. It was the one he had left behind when he had left with his mother after betraying us to get his wings back. The one that Haera had taken and put into her satchel of weapons.

"Where did you get that?" I asked, unsure of whether or not she would even understand the Human Tongue. There was no way it could be the same sword. If it was, that meant...

The Dragon-born looked at me and then back at her prince who walked over and leant down to take the sword. He placed his face next to her ear as if to whisper something to her.

Standing from her throne, the Queen crossed her arms with a vexed expression. "Stelni, I knew you defected and decided to serve my son instead. It's the monarch you're supposed to serve, not the heir."

"Apologies," Stelni began, her brows furrowing with the same vexation. "I can't stand it when I can see a mother torturing her son."

A snarl ripped from the Queen. "This deserves some sort of punishment. Forget the human girl and take Stelni to the dungeon."

Larc said something to the guard quickly in Kaeuni before she flew away again, followed by a group of loyal royal guards. While everyone was distracted, Larc picked me up, tucking an arm underneath my legs with his injured arm and supporting my waist with the other and flew out of an open window.

The Queen's shouts of fury echoed throughout the throne room as we left.