Recap:
Queen Scarlet's PoV
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Frost faces me, anger burning in her eyes and seemingly unaffected by the murder she just committed. "There," she spits at me, her disgust thinly concealed. "Thrilling enough for you?" All heads turn to stare at me. I simply shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, earning a deadly hiss from the IceWing as I start to head back to my throne room. "Don't you turn your back on me, Scarlet," she snarls furiously. 'Scarlet? Not Queen Scarlet?' I inwardly grumble. Address me with my title and I might consider giving you an answer, IceWing.

I hear a sharp intake of breath below. Oops. Did I say that out loud? A couple of guards start to rush towards me, concerned. But what about? I wave them down, but they are frantically gesturing at me. I shrug it off and continue to walk towards my throne room while announcing, "You are dismissed." I'm almost in the doors when I realize I haven't heard the normal shuffling of dragons when I dismiss them. There has been some fidgeting, but it seems anxious and other than that, there hasn't been a sound. I slowly turn around when....

••••••••

Queen Scarlet's PoV
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A jet of frostbreath shoots by the right side of my face, and I am forced to ungracefully dive to the side to avoid being hit. The crowd gasps as this happens, and when I get up, I try to appear calm and collected on the outside, while on the inside, I'm panicking.

Yes, I've dealt with murder attempts before, but none have come this close to killing me. And by an IceWing, no less! I'm infuriated. This is a direct challenge to my authority, and this IceWing is a threat to my rule.  I must deal with her immediately; there's no time to lose.

I force the amount of smoke seeping out of my nostrils to be minimal, trying to appear like this is just a normal day. But who am I fooling? Any dragon who has seen my arena battles knows this day is anything but ordinary.

"Vermillion!" I holler. He swoops over and bows low. "Yes, Queen Scarlet?" My head is filled with ideas, but I see only two options, which is quickly narrowed down to one. "Vermillion, change of plans. Go get an IceWing. Let's see how she deals with having to fight one of her own." He glances up in surprise, but when he sees I'm dead serious, he flies back and orders the guards to get an IceWing. I honestly don't care who it is, as long as I get to see a thrilling fight that stains my arena sands red.

••••••••

The guards are wrestling with a large silvery-white IceWing up on one of the spires. Frost is watching them carefully through narrowed eyes, calculating something. I'm sure she's caught onto my plans by now, but she hasn't said anything about it. If she doesn't know what's about to happen, then, well, IceWings are dumber than I thought.

Vermillion sits on his boulder, waiting patiently. The dragons in the crowd are anxious; they're fidgeting but they're silent. A silent crowd is never a good sign, definitely not here, where cheering dragons add to the excitement. A silent crowd would be....different, very unnatural. They don't really cheer for Peril either (to be fair--but I'm not fair) but an IceWing isn't a SkyWing. Not even close.

The guards unclip the IceWing, who is strangely silent and still. Frost glares up at me again, and I hear her mutter, "This is your plan? See if I'm a cold blooded killer, just for your amusement? See if I'll kill one of my own? That's low, Scarlet, even for you." The last part is said loud enough for everyone to hear. This time, I don't try to stop the smoke pouring out of my nostrils.

I don't give Frost the satisfaction of an answer, because I don't have to. She hisses angrily, but her attention is diverted by the guards heavily dropping the other IceWing onto the sand. I have no idea if the two know each other, if they hate each other, or any other sort of relationship they might have. All I know is that it's an IceWing against an IceWing, and I'm hoping for a wonderfully thrilling battle.

••••••••

Frost's PoV
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I stare at Scarlet, anger burning hot in my gut. It burns so hot, not even my slightly frozen insides can overtake it. She really is a crazy psychopathic sociopath, isn't she. That wasn't a question. It's a fact. If only looks could kill.

I'm startled out of my little glaring contest with Scarlet--who, by the way, has a cloud of smoke around her head; how can she see anything?--when the guards drop the other IceWing into the arena. I turn to look at him and it takes me a moment to realize who it is. But when I do, it hits me like a wave of icy cold seawater.

*A/N: please don't hate me for the cliffhanger! All my readers, I love u!! U guys r the best! Be sure to check out my other two books, Fire and Death: The Story of Smaug and All I Want to be is...Normal! Don't forget to vote, comment and recommend! Love u ❤️❤️😘*