“Livvy.” I tap her shoulder, as little bits of light shine through the cracks of the ceiling and the door that I can now see on the other side of the room. There are a few steps leading up to the door, but not much else in here, just the cage we are in and one crate strapped to the wall. It’s the bottom of the ship. The water must be calmer today, because the ship is only moving slightly from side to side, nothing like it was last night. I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop the thoughts going through my head, thoughts of escape, thoughts of what my near future will hold.

“It’s morning then?” she mumbles, and I look down at the egg in her arms as it starts shaking more than ever before. I smooth my hand over the shiny blue shell, the white dots crackling under my hand and tiny bits falling off onto the floor. I wish I could let my dragon be born anywhere other than here. But wishing is not going to get me anywhere.

“It’s hatching,” Livvy mumbles. “If I die soon, at least I will get to see the birth of a dragon. That’s something rare.” Her tone is devoid of all hope, of all wonder and life, like the voice I have gotten used to listening to.

“You won’t die,” I tell her, but I don’t take my eyes off the egg as bits of the shell break off and fall away. We go silent, only the sounds of the water outside and our heavy breathing audible as the final bits of the eggshell break away and the white head of a baby dragon appears. The dragon uses its wings to crawl out from the shell, and I hold a hand out, watching as it pushes its tiny head against my hand. The dragon is all white, except for little blue scales on its belly and a blue mark under its right eye. It has a long neck and massive eyes that stand out on its thin face. It has folded-down ears, and its long, white wings spread out slowly as I watch in awe.

“Beautiful,” I whisper, because that’s the only word to describe the sight in front of me. I thought I’d never get a chance to live a real life, that I would be killed. Yet, here I am. A baby being born, even a dragon baby, is the most beautiful thing in the world. The dragon tilts its head to the side, its eyes never leaving mine, and it slowly lowers its head. I think the dragon is bowing, but I’m not sure.

“She is,” Livvy says, her voice full of awe like mine.

“She?” I ask, not knowing how to tell and wondering how she did.

“Yes, she. I read a book on dragons with Roger on the ship, and only female dragons can be white or light colours.”

“Roger and you seemed to get close, before -,” I stop when she sharply looks away.

“You should know as well as I do that feelings will not save you,” she snaps, glaring over at me and then looking away once more. I stare at her for a while, seeing a girl full of hate for the situation she is in and disbelief that anything could go well in her life. I guess I was like that once, before I escaped Onaya and my pirates saved me.

“At least we know that the dragon is a she. We need to know for when we pick a name,” I say, watching as the dragon curls up on Livvy’s lap as she pushes the bits of egg away. The bottom of the egg drops to the floor, the water from inside it falling on the ground. I rest my hand on the dragon’s back and she lifts her head, resting it on my hand before falling to sleep.

“Why choose a name? The moment they let us out and see we have the dragon, they will give her to the king,” Livvy asks me.

“No, they won’t. I will create a distraction somehow and you need to throw her into the sea,” I tell Livvy, whose eyes widen as she shakes her head.

“They will beat you for that and she might not survive anyway. They would kill me for that. I’m nothing,” she says, looking away from me.

“She has a better chance in the sea than with the king,” I say firmly. I refuse to let him have my dragon. “Livvy, please do this for me. For her,” I beg, and she finally looks up. We both stare at each other for a long time.

“Name?” Livvy asks, not telling me what she is thinking or if she is going to help me. I look down at the small dragon, knowing the only name to give her.

“Vivo. It means ‘to survive’ in the old language I studied a little back home,” I whisper, and Vivo lifts her head, looking at me through sleepy eyes. “Vivo, don’t forget me when you escape. But live, have a life and I promise we will meet again one day.” I have no idea if she can understand me or if I’m making little sense to her, but there’s intelligence in her eyes. I have to hope she does understand.

“Vivo… I like it,” Livvy says, only seconds before we feel the ship stop and I try to swallow the fear I feel. I stand up after gently moving my hand, and walk to the edge of the cage to wait for them to come for us.

* * *

It doesn’t take long for the guards to open the door and walk down the steps. I look quickly at Livvy, who pushes Vivo down her top, hiding her and then pushing the remains of the egg into the corner. The guards have dark green uniforms, a dragon symbol on the breastplates, silver helmets that cover their faces so you can’t see what they really look like, and large heavy boots that pound against the floor with every step. I try to quickly search the guard heading towards my cage for weapons, seeing a large sword tied to his back and knifes in holders on his thighs. It looks like there might be more weapons hidden in his uniform, but my best bet is the knifes. I stay still as they unlock the cage doors, unlock our cuffs, and drag us out of the cages.

“Behave. I don’t want to have to handcuff you,” my guard growls at me when I try to pull my arm out of his tight grip. He tightens his grip on my arm, squeezing so tight that it brings tears to my eyes, and I bite my lip to hold in a scream.

“Fine,” I pant out. He loosens his grip and I take a deep breath, still feeling the pain and no doubt marks from where he grabbed me.

“Leave the egg here. We can take it to him later when he is done with this one,” the guard tells the other as he goes to walk into the cage, holding Livvy tightly in his grip. The other guard nods and Livvy is dragged behind me, but she doesn’t resist, just holds a hand over her chest where Vivo is hidden. The guard pulls me up the steps, and I try not to trip as he walks quickly towards the open door to the outside. The light burns my eyes for a long time when we get out to the top of the ship, so I lift my free arm to hold it over my eyes as they adjust. When I can finally see a little better, I look up at the giant cliff and the massive castle that sits on the edge of it. The cliff winds down to a garden full of cut bushes in the shape of a massive maze. Further in front of that are open green fields that lead to the docks the ship has pulled into. I look over at the Storm Sea, seeing the giant waves that crash against the rocks and the fierceness of them.

“The King wants the changed one sent straight to him. He doesn’t care what you do with the other,” a guard says to the one holding me.

“Send the other one to the dungeons and I will personally take the changed one to the king,” the guard holding me tells him. I take a quick look around at the ship, seeing the large green sails of our ship and the three ships docked next to ours, all guard ships. Everything on the ship is shiny and clean, and the guards are rushing off the ship carrying boxes and ropes. We stand quietly as all the guards, other than the two holding me, leave the ship. There are two guards in front of me, one on each side of the panel of wood leading to the stone dock. Time for a distraction. I look down at my hands, seeing no water this time and as hard as I try to make water appear, it doesn’t. I try to think of Ryland, but he feels too far away, like I can almost sense where he is, but he’s behind me, through the Storm Sea. I wonder if my power had something to do with Ryland. That would make sense, considering nothing ever happened before we touched and he got my mark. The guard tightens his grip on my arm and drags me towards the exit off the ship and I dig my feet in.

“Don’t mess around. We have been good to you,” the guard huffs, looking down at me, but he doesn’t hurt me this time.

“Kidnapping isn’t what I would call good,” I spit out, still trying to pull away from him. He lets out a long, gruff laugh.

“These men haven’t seen a woman in months, and both of you are very pretty, with pretty bodies and innocent faces. We were good. We paid the guards outside your doors to stop anyone from really hurting you,” he tells me, pulling me closer to him until I can’t look anywhere except into his face. “But you’re not really that innocent, are you?” he asks. I slap him hard across the face and his head snaps to the side. He yanks me closer, so my face is next to his, and I’m forced to smell how disgusting he smells as his horrible breath creeps down the side of my face.

“Or we could go back down there and you could show me a good time?” he suggests, letting me go and stepping away. I smile sweetly, moving closer to him and watching the shock appear on his face.

“Never,” I whisper, and pull my knee up between his legs and he drops to the ground with a groan. I don’t waste any time as I turn around and run straight at the guard holding Livvy. He goes to punch me, but I duck, punching him in his stomach and tackling him to the ground. I land on top of the guard lifting my hand to try to punch him, but he grabs my hand and makes me scream as he pushes me off him.

“Stop her!” I hear someone shout as the guard grabs hold of my wrists and pins me down on the deck of the ship. I watch as Livvy throws Vivo into the sea, just before a guard grabs her by her hair and she screams as he drags her away from the edge.

“You lost,” I say to the guard holding me down and I laugh, relief filling every part of my mind now that my dragon is gone and the king cannot use her.

“Knock her out. Enough,” I hear another guard shout, seconds before the guard on top of me punches me across the face and everything goes black.