My feet click loudly against the marble floor. I drown out Rachel's calls behind me and keep stomping towards the yard. Finally, I find her conversing casually with Ingozi.

"You knew about it! Didn't you? After all you said, you still didn't tell me anything." My accusations cause her silver-black eyes to widen in shock.

"Caroline, what are you talking about? Rachel, what is she on about?" My ivory hands tighten at her feigned innocence.

"Alyssa, I know who you serve but one hint would've been enough." Her retreated wings spread wide as her stare shifts to my inked tattoo.

My fingers start to conjure the droplets of water when Rachel's hands come between us. "That's enough! Both of you, back away and let me explain everything." Her bronze necklace glows brightly in green.

We stay silent and move away from each other. Perla nervously smiles. "I think it would be better if we all go under the shade to cool ourselves off." She gestures us to the roof of the Palace behind us.

Rachel sighs. "Sorry for getting angry. Phoebe or someone else slid a note under Sephone's room while I was there. Here," I take the yellow page from her which reads-

Rachel, Alaena, and I are going to Angelica's castle early. It's an emergency. Inform everyone and tell Caroline that she can now shut up about her plans.

-Phoebe

"And you didn't know about this?" I turn to Alyssa, handing her the note.

"No, but I might know someone who did." She runs back to the main hall as we follow her.

We climb up the marble stairs and stand in front of a simple grey door. Alyssa knocks aggressively. The door creaks open after a moment.

It's Lord Samuel.

-----------

PHOEBE

*

"Queen Alaena," Angelica's blood-red lips form a twisted smile. Silence dawns over the lords, ladies, and spirits dressed in the colours of fire surrounding the gallery.

She is seated on a black throne with scarlet stripes painted on it. Her black and purple hair holds an obsidian band with an orange stone in the middle, and a silver tiara above it with violet stones placed alternatively. Two black and white wolves stand on her sides, their brilliant violet irises staring at them.

"Mistress Angelica, I noticed you added some modifications to Castle Draconis. Quite unique for the Duchess of Land of Lights." Alaena's soft voice echoes against the red and black walls that hold torches of purple fire.

"Not as unique as you might believe it to be, Your Majesty. And I believe, it is Empress Angelica." She corrects her.

"We will have to see about that, Your Grace. Oh, I almost forgot, this is Fire Queen Phoebe of Clan Skye, Lady of Flames, Mistress of Ashes, Empress of the Volcanoes, and Head of the Land of Lights." Phoebe's golden cloak flows behind her as she stands tall.

Angelica's lips slightly curl. "Welcome to Castle Draconis, Lady Phoebe. I hope Queen Alaena hasn't mistreated you or your sisters in any way."

Phoebe squints her amber eyes. "Weren't you the one who sent those trolls after us?"

Angelica takes a look at the subjects around her. Phoebe starts hearing them whispering amongst themselves. "The trolls who you encountered were simply patrolling the area for trespassers. Unfortunately, they were met with a tragic end by Fairy Alyssa, you, and your sisters. I was hoping we-"

"You also bombed the village we went to. What was that place called? Cloud something?" Phoebe tries to recall.

Angelica's voice rises above the murmurs of her subjects. "The Makonus family refused to acknowledge my position and did not sign the trade agreement presented to them. They simply suffered the-"

Phoebe again interrupts the Magic Lady. "And you sent those bats in the castle where I almost died. I also had to meet that Jemima girl who-"

"Lady Phoebe!" The whispers instantly die down as Angelica continues, "All of these matters can be discussed privately along with our negotiations."

"So, I expect Her Grace does not want me to mention anything about her travels through the portals of Manelysse?" Angelica's purple eyes widen at Alaena's words. Phoebe gives her a full grin.

"Queen Alaena, Lady Phoebe and I need to be alone. Everybody, out." She orders everybody. The subjects quickly bow down to her and walk out of the throne room. "You think you're clever bringing her here?"

Alaena gives her ex-friend a simple smile. "Queen Phoebe and I just came here to talk,"

Angelica crosses her legs under her magenta velvet gown. her wolves now laid down near her feet. "Then, let's talk,"

-----------

"So, what was the cause for this emergency?" Alyssa's shadow looms over Samuel, holding the yellow note, her face as still as her wand.

Ferrine, Ingozi, and Flumen are seated behind us in the Air Justiciar's room. Perla is standing beside the door with Coco in her hands. Rachel, Alyssa, and I surround his white desk.

"I am afraid that information is reserved for Queen Alaena and Queen Phoebe." His heterochromatic eyes shift their gaze between us three.

"And you are the only one who Queen Alaena trusted with this important piece of information?" Alyssa questions back.

"There are very few who Her Majesty fully trusts. Did you not listen to the speech given by her after the sisters' trials?" His taunting question is received by another dark stare into his eyes.

I attempt to get back to the point. "Five out of eight people agreed that Phoebe and Alaena would leave in a few days. What was the point of voting if everything was decided by Alaena anyways?" My last word comes out as a grunt.

His auburn iris resembles a piece of log, slowly burning and crackling with seething anger. "As your sister stated, it was an emergency. And take note that Queen Alaena was born in this land. She has been ruling it for years. You and your sisters may be Queens, but Alaena is a native of Manelysse and a very close friend of mine. Whatever I heard your elder sister telling or shouting at her, shall never leave my lips. I will not betray her word."

I tilt my head in bafflement. "Phoebe shouting at Alaena? Why?"

Samuel stays absolutely still. "I think our conversation ends here, Your Majesty." He tried to walk towards the door when Ingozi blocks him.

"Sit back down, Samuel," Ingozi says with a grip on his dagger.

"You do not order me around, Master Baleka. In fact, I believe it is the opposite."

"You'll stay right here in this room. You don't wanna talk? Fine. But you'll stay while we figure this thing out." I tell him behind his back. He looks around at the stone-faced members of his council and takes a seat right back in his chair.

"So, Phoebe was shouting at Alaena. Something must've gone wrong. Something enough to make Phoebe mad." Alyssa guesses.

"Gee, if only we weren't talking about a girl who gets mad about everything?" My comment does not receive a single chuckle or even a smile. I go down memory lane to remember everything about the plan. A wave of clarity washes over my mind. "A dragon! Phoebe only cared about getting herself a dragon. She could've been shouting because she wouldn't have been able to get it. What if something messed up there? What if that was the emergency?"

"That can be the reason for them leaving early," Flumen states while twisting his light-blue hair.

"How would she get a dragon? I mean what's exactly the system? Does it happen naturally like it did with me?" I blurt out and instantly regret the choice of my words. All of their eyes widen.

"Like it did with you?" Rachel repeats in shock.

"Um...So, basically, someone gifted me a killer whale called Balaena. But back to my point. What's the process with dragons?" I ask again.

"Leaving aside this new revelation that Your Majesty should definitely discuss later with the Council, most dragons reside in Ash Cave taken care of by the Cenire family. The Fire Queens and Kings visit the place if they decide to ride a dragon. And if your assumption is correct, then something must've gotten array there." Ingozi explains.

"And I guess none of us would know what that can be?" I ask everybody.

"I heard a rumour that someone, I believe Angelica, is trying to cover the exits of the caves where the dragons roam around." Alyssa answers.

Ingozi raises his eyebrow at the fairy. "And where did you exactly hear this rumour? I thought I was the one commanding the spies."

"But the spies you command do not live in the caves." Alyssa simply states with a smile.

"A rumour is not enough to make our Queens fly out to the Land of Lights and meet Angelica." Ferrine slightly shakes her head.

"But some kind of confirmation would." I turn to the Fire's Assassin. "This Cerine person, are they your guys' allies?"

"Lord Cerine is actually the only one to remain neutral. Angelica's puppets have tried to convince him but his stance hasn't changed. His castle is well protected by the dragons. She knows that half of her army would be instantly wiped off if she tries to battle with him." Ingozi replies.

My eyes settle on Samuel. He does not say a word. Instead, he shifts his head towards the window. "There must be a letter or something which confirms it? Or are we still wrong?" I question everybody.

Perla suddenly speaks up. "The cleaners found an odd black stone of some kind in Queen Alaena's study room. They threw it away but I can fetch it from the bin if that is necessary."

"Yes, Perla, please bring it right now!" I exclaim in hope.

She puts down my cat and walks out the door only to return in a few minutes with an oblong black and gritty stone in her hand. There is a dragon insignia stamped on it. I thank her repeatedly and take it from her. "Ow!" The stone slips from my hand but Ingozi quickly catches it. I notice the black burn marks it has left on my fingers. "That's hot! Will you be fine?" I ask Ingozi.

"I have faced worse things than hot stones, Your Majesty." He replies with a smile. "However, I do not blame you. I believe this stone is only made for the spirits of fire." He shows me the yellow light emitting between his fingers and the stone.

Alyssa steps forwards with her wand pointing to the stone. "Ingozi, as soon as you see black smoke, drop it. Otherwise, we will have to see your melted bones as well and that is none of my interest."

"And all these years, I considered us friends." Ingozi jests.

Alyssa shakes her head. "Caroline, if this stone threatens to explode, I want you to spray water on it. Try to control the droplets beneath your hands." I nod nervously.

Alyssa stares at Ingozi and blinks as soon as she releases a puff of black laced with silver. The stone stays afloat. After a few moments, the stone changes into the shape of a tiny dragon. The creature flies horizontally to reveal some golden glitter.

"It's trying to spell something!" Rachel exclaims.

"Can you read it?" Flumen asks her urgently.

Rachel nods. "It's going pretty quick. Someone write down what I say!"

I snatch the note from Alyssa's hand and pick up a white feather quill from the desk. Rachel starts, "M-A-G-I-Q-U-E. Wait, it's going back to its original place." I leave some space after writing the word. "D-A-N-S. Going back. L-E-S. Again going back. G-R-O-T-T-E-S." I write down the sentence as I watch the tiny stone dragon glowing brighter and brighter.

Rachel continues, " A-P-P-O-R-T-E-Z. Going back. L-A. Going back. R-E-I-N-E. Back. D-U. Back. F-E-U. Back. M-A-I-N-T-E-N-A-N-T." The dragon continues to glow brighter. Alyssa has a tight grip on her wand.

Rachel's voice starts shaking. "S-A-U-V-E-Z. Back. L-E-S. Back. D-R-A-G-O-N-S." The 'S' comes out as a whisper. She strokes her head in clear pain. The dragon now glows to an intense red under a smoke of yellow.

"Caroline, now!" Alyssa shouts, her eyes focused on the black and silver mist. I set my eyes on the dragon. Its light is burning my eyes. I take a look at my dark tattoo. "Caroline, we do not have the whole day!" Alyssa's fingers are closely wrapped around her speckled wand.

I can feel a big wave forming under my fingers. I try to control it, but there is no point. My hands move towards the dragon and I look away as water escapes from my hand.

I turn my head towards the dragon. But there is no dragon. It's everyone except Samuel and me, drenched in water.

"You know, a letter would have been perfectly fine as well," Flumen comments as he wipes the droplets off his fair forehead.

I grab the yellow paper from the desk and thankfully, it's dry. "This looks like French or Language of Fire in your case. Can anyone translate it?"

Ingozi raises his hand. I hand the note to him. "Magique dans les grottes. That means 'magic in the caves'. Apportez la reine du feu maintenant. 'Bring the Fire Queen now'. Sauvez les dragonnes. 'Save the dragons'." He finishes. "I guess there is your confirmation."

I turn to Samuel."Well, it looks like my help was not required. You should know that I was not aware of the dragons or the stone. So, congratulations, Your Majesty, you figured it out all by yourself." His insincere smile causes my eyes to roll.

He gets up and walks out the door, now without any interruption. "Now, what do we do?" Rachel asks.

"Help anyway we can," I reply in a low voice, and walk out the room in slow strides.

As soon as I step out of the chamber, my right leg starts shaking furiously. I can feel my throat closing up as if some animal is clawing at it with its sharp talons. Crimson rushes to my ivory fingers as they shake.  And the last thing I see is my black and blue ring before my eyelids shut close. 

*

Caroline has now found the reason for the instance disappearance of the two Queens but she is no longer conscious. Why is that? Is someone trying to harm the Water Queen? Does Angelica know more than she lets on? And what do you think about the meeting taking place in Castle Draconis? Will these negotiations be successful or will they result in putting Manelysse and its provinces in more jeopardy? Find out in the next chapter.

New chapter/ part released every Friday.

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