Storm is the only Council member absent. He's at the Southern border today, inspecting our troops. I teleported him there this morning and will collect him again tonight. It's a handy trick, saving him a long flight. Right now, speed counts. We don't know when and where our enemies will attack - but it's safe to say that it won't be long.

I'm about to start the session when the door bursts open.

"Your Majesty, there's a visitor."

I frown at the servant. "We're having a Council meeting now. I'm sure this visitor can wait."

The servant cringes at my words but remains where he is.

"My lady... it's not a normal visitor. He's not even... I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but he's a unicorn!"

I begin to laugh. "Is his name Blaze?"

He nods. "Yes, he introduced himself as Lord Blaze. I'm not sure if he's really a lord, or if that's how unicorns usually speak..."

"You may leave now," Gwain interrupts the servant.

"I'm going to see to Blaze," I announce, already halfway out of the room. "If the unicorn comes here to the Palace, it has to be important."

"We'll discuss the not so important things while you're gone," Tamara promises. That gives me a reason to take my time. The more of the Council session I can miss, the better. I don't get why we have to discuss all the small matters while war is at our doorstep. Who cares about land disputes and food taxes right now. Well, some Council members do, obviously. And sadly, I have to keep them happy so that they support me in the important matters. Like the upcoming battles. Sigh. Life as royalty really isn't all it's made out to be.

I hurry to the main antechamber, where I assume Blaze is. Wait, I don't need to assume. I extend my magic and ask it to find the unicorn - and I'm glad that I did. Blaze isn't indoors at all, instead, he's waiting in a courtyard close the Palace entrance. Maybe he doesn't want to be around too many humans.

I change direction and take one of the slides to get down to ground level quicker. The stair slides are still my favourite thing about this Palace. I tell it "Queen" and sit on the top stair. A second later, the stairs turn into a smooth slide and I'm whisked away at breakneck speed. I love how they named the highest speed setting Queen. Now that I'm in my mother's role, I totally understand. I always need to be fast when I want to get there.

Oh. I could have teleported. Silly me. Did I mention I'm still getting used to my new powers?

Well, now it's not really worth the use of magic. I turn around two corners and enter the courtyard through a white wooden door, delicately carved with vines and flowers.

Blaze is awkwardly standing in the centre of the square, nudging a weird looking flower with his horn. He must be bored.

The unicorn is fascinating to look at. He's sparkling throughout, not just on the outside. His aura is covered in rainbow sparkles, not unlike the rainbow mist in his cave. His horn though is the most extraordinary thing about his appearance. It's where all of his magic seems to be concentrated, swirling and writhing in the confined space. His magic is bright silver, almost too bright, and a lot more powerful than I had imagined.

"Blaze," I say loudly and he turns around. "What a pleasure to see you again." I remember how I last saw him, singed and scared of me, and add, "I apologise for what happened last time. I wasn't quite myself."

He bows his head. "I know, don't worry about it. I didn't leave because of you. I was called away."

"Is that so?" I take a seat on one of the benches. It's freezing cold and I funnel some magic into the metal to make it nice and cosy. Before, I would have had to do a lot of complicated thinking to achieve this, now, I just think 'get warm' and it happens. I would have never had to take lessons with my guys if magic had been this easy from the beginning. At the same time, I'm glad that I have acquired a detailed knowledge of how magic works. If I ever lose these new powers, I won't have to start back at zero.

"I have news from a friend of yours," Blaze begins. "But first, I've heard Queen Beira is unwell?"

I nod and sigh. "Yes, she's been ill for some time. I've taken over her duties until she recovers."

"Will she recover?" Blaze asks, his voice a little sharper than I'm used to. I look at him in surprise.

"Yes. Once Angus has been defeated."

"Are you sure?" The unicorn sounds as if he doesn't believe me in the slightest.

I sigh again. "Yes. Now, what's that message? What friend?"

"The pretty Guardian who went to the dragons. Ada."

"Wait, you know where Ada is?" I almost jump up from the bench in surprise, but just about manage to control myself. Behaving like that wouldn't be very Queen-like. Princess-like, I mean. I'm not the Queen.

"Yes, I do. She called me to her, even though she didn't know that she was doing it. She and her Guardians have travelled far and have had quite a few adventures. I'm not sure I believe all she's told me, but who knows, maybe it's true. Anyway, she's followed that dragon to his Realm."

"The Dragon Realm?" I interrupt. "We thought that they support the Morrigan. They've not replied to any of our messages, and their ambassador has disappeared."

"They didn't support her, not willingly at least. She had a hold on them, but not any longer. Ada says the dragons will support you, but they want to meet you in person first. They want to decide whether you're strong enough to lead them into battle." He chuckles. "They're almost as proud as unicorns."

I let his words run through my mind again. Dragons. Ada. The prisoner. I'd almost forgotten about her and the man she'd freed from our dungeons. There had been a lot more important things to deal with, and we didn't have the resources to invest in searching for them. Now, I'm quite glad we didn't. It seems she's managed to achieve quite a feat by herself.

"Where do they want to meet?" I ask Blaze. "Are they coming here?"

He shakes his large head. "No, they aren't trusting enough for that. When you find out what happened to them, you'll understand. They want you to come to the Dragon Realm, and soon. I'd recommend tomorrow."

I gape at him. "Tomorrow? Do you know how full my schedule is? I can't just disappear on a merry trip to dragon land."

He whinnies. "You're a Goddess now, Wyn. You can do whatever you want."

"How do you know I'm a Goddess?"

"You smell different. I bet the sparklies wouldn't have as big of an effect on you now as they used to. Want to try?"

I shudder at the memory of the first time I took his sparklies. I'd turned into a hormonal, lovesick weirdo. Then, I got addicted. No, I don't ever want to get near that stuff again.

"Are you trying to provoke me?" I ask the unicorn and he snickers.

"Maybe. It's fun. Now, do you think I could get some food? It's been a long ride here."

I smile. "What would you like? I don't think I know what unicorns eat, to be honest."

"Magic. We eat magic. You should know that by now."

"How does that work?" I ask. I didn't have a clue. When we had our very first picnic in his cave, he didn't eat with us, and on my visits after, I never saw him eat either. But magic? Is he eating my magic?

"It's like grazing. There's magic all around, it just needs to be lapped up. And in a Palace like this, the magic is almost overflowing. I can taste it. You just need to show me to a place where there's lots of magic being used, and I'll be happy."

I think for a moment. "One of the training courtyards is probably the best. There should be lots of magic there."

I lead Blaze through the Palace, probably earning a lot of curious glances. For once, I'm glad I can't see people's faces. I'm not sure many of them have ever seen a unicorn before. My Guardians said that Blaze was the only one they ever met, and they've travelled a lot more than most Palace inhabitants.

When we enter the closest training courtyard, there are a few Guardians running around, shooting magic at each other. Most of the fighting lessons has been postponed to make way for war preparations, but a few are still taking place for the least experienced Guardians. My mother stopped creating new ones long ago, but some of the other strong Gods and Goddesses still create Guardians occasionally, many of which end up here at the Palace to serve, entertain and probably spy on us.

When the first one sees us, he shrieks and takes his eyes off his opponent. I swipe away the ball of fire that would have hit him and shoo them away. They bow and run. Am I really this scary?

"You could have let them stay," Blaze complains. "Their magic tasted good."

I shrug. "Too late. Is there enough food for you here?"

He lowers his head to the ground and his horn begins to sparkle even more. With my new senses, I can see how magic is being pulled from the environment into his horn. Fascinating.

"Will this take long?" I ask him, watching as more and more magic is slowly dragged towards Blaze.

"Yummy," the unicorn says, sounding as if he's chewing something. "Maybe an hour, maybe two. There's a lot of magic here. Such a waste. I should come more often."

An hour? Seriously? Then again, our big feasts take a lot longer than that, so I guess I should cut him some slack.

"I'll leave you alone to enjoy your meal. Just tell a guard when you're ready and I'll come back."

Blaze doesn't answer, too occupied with munching magic.

I smile and leave him to it, heading back to the Council chambers.

I can hear the noise from far away. It must be a lively session. The Council has been less divided since I disposed of Magnus, the treasurer, and replaced him with Anthony, but there's always a lot of debate. All the members of the Council are used to being experts in their particular field and don't usually get a lot of criticism.

I sigh and enter the room without warning. They all fall silent. Good.

I head to my almost-throne at the top of the table and sit, staring them down.

"What's the problem?" I ask after letting them wait for a few seconds, turning to Tamara.

"While you were gone, we got news. The clone is dead."

"The fake Crispin?"

After Arc interrogated him and we found out where the Morrigan was hiding, I'd not given any thought to him. He was to stay in the dungeons forever. I couldn't kill him, not when he looked so much like Crispin. Arc told me that he was nothing like Crispin inside, but no, executing him wasn't an option. So I'd told the guards that he was to remain in prison indefinitely.

"Yes," Tamara responds. "He was found dead an hour ago. They've not been able to establish how he died yet, but there are no obvious wounds."

"He was stripped and searched when he was put in his cell, so it can't have been poison," healer Theodore says confidently.

I shake my head. "It could have been if someone gave it to him. Or maybe the Morrigan can kill her creations from a distance?"

Theodore nods grudgingly. "I will examine him after this meeting."

"I will come with you," I announce. His aura turns darker; I bet his expression sours as well. He doesn't like me, but I don't know why. Not that I'm a big fan of him either.

"Now, what else is there that we need to discuss?"

Tamara looks at the papers in front of her. "We now have letters from several Gods where they confirm in writing that they're going to support us. Most of them have promised a relatively small number of warriors, probably wanting to see how you'll respond. I recommend asking for at least double of what they propose."

I nod. "Do it."

"The Spring Realm is fortified and our officers are helping train their soldiers. No reports of enemies have been made, but I'm sure Angus is monitoring the situation."

"What do we know of Angus's movements?" I ask, anxious to skip the small bits and move on to the bigger, important news.

"Not much. He's kept his armies in the same position for weeks now. We still regularly intercept spies and scouts within our Realm, but no more than usual. It's like he's waiting for something."

"No doubt the Morrigan," I mutter. "She's still not been seen?"

Tamara shakes her head. "No, and neither have any demons. None at all, which is extremely suspicious."

"Not a single demon?" I ask, knowing how strange that is. There are always demons causing mayhem, whether it's on Earth or in other Realms. Rarely in this one as our Gates are well guarded, but there have been some who've come through, probably by accident. They usually get killed on sight.

"Not a single one," Gwain confirms. "It's making my men anxious. The absence of demons is worse than having them where we can see them."

Yes, I get where he's coming from. Most demons aren't very clever, but now that the Morrigan has taken over their Realm, we have to assume that she's in complete control, which makes everything to do with demons very suspicious.

"Is there any chance we can get some scouts into the Demon Realm?" I ask them, but Gwain immediately shakes his head.

"The Castle Tioram Gate has closed as if it had never been there in the first place. I've never seen anything like it. The Gate looks dead, like it'll never work again. Of course, we still have a few people stationed there to monitor the situation. The problem is, sending my scouts via our Gates into the demon Realms would be a suicide mission. I'm not willing to risk that."

I sigh. "I wish we still had Aodh and Chesca. They rehabilitated several demons that might be willing to help us, but without them, we have no chance of finding them."

"And remember what happened last time you trusted a rehabilitated demon," Tamara mutters, reminding me of the day my parents got kidnapped. True, I don't think I could ever trust a demon again.

"So basically, we have no idea what's happening with the demons, or the Morrigan, and in some ways, Angus?" I summarise, a sinking feeling spreading in my stomach.

Gwain sighs deeply. "That's correct, Your Majesty. For now, it seems all we can do is wait. Alternatively, we could be the ones to start the battle, but I don't recommend it without having more intel on the Morrigan's plans."

"I agree. I have news myself, though," I announce and I feel all their gazes on me, despite not being able to see their eyes. Maybe I'm just imagining it, or maybe it's my strange new magic sense. "The dragons have been in touch."

I smile at their reactions.

"The dragons, Your Highness?" Algonquin asks, his aura swirling with excitement.

"Yes, the dragons." I turn to Gwain. "It seems your deputy hasn't abandoned us."

"Ada?" His voice is full of wonder and surprise. "She's contacted you?"

My smile widens. "Via a unicorn, yes. I don't know the details, but it seems that she's travelled to the Dragon Realm and somehow convinced them to help us. Having the dragons on board will be invaluable." I don't say that I've never seen a shifted dragon, so I have no idea how good they are in a fight. For all I know, they could be tiny, but I'm not letting that dampen my enthusiasm. "Blaze - that's the unicorn - says they want to meet me first to decide whether we're worthy of their support.”

"That could be a trap," Gwain says immediately. "How much do you trust that unicorn?"

A grey swirl floats through his aura. Is that doubt? It's going to take me a long time to figure out what all the colours mean. This might be more accurate than reading facial expressions, but a lot more confusing.

I think back to how I met Blaze, how he kept me supplied with sparklies. He was my drug dealer, so to speak, but somehow, I trust him completely. His aura is pure and there's no deceit in there, despite all his snarkiness.

"He's trustworthy," I say firmly. "If he says he's met Ada, he really has. And from what I know about Ada, she's as loyal as they come."

Gwain nods. "I should have never doubted her," he mutters sadly. "She's always been a great soldier, and a friend."

"You weren't the only one," Tamara says soothingly. "I doubted her myself after she disappeared. I think we'll have to apologise when she returns."

Anthony clears his throat, surprising me. He's an excellent treasurer, but he rarely speaks up in Council meetings. "Even if Ada and the unicorn are to be trusted, who says the dragons aren't lying to them? They could be using them to get you to their Realm."

"True," I concede. "But it's too great an opportunity to miss out on. I'll travel there and I will take my four Guardians with me. Not that I can't protect myself, but it's good to have the extra eyes and ears."

I can feel the advisors' dissent and worry, but I've made my decision.

Tomorrow, I'm going to meet some dragons.