What the fucking hell is wrong with me? I can’t get the image of Elias pressed so close to Isola out of my head. My dragon was ready to fight him, one of my oldest friends, over a girl that isn’t mine. A girl that can never be mine because of the curse.

“Elias thinks Bee will heal me,” Isola says quietly, as we climb up the steps of the castle, heading towards her room.

“Bee?” I ask her, having no idea what she is going on about.

“Bee is the tree spirit’s name, or what she told me,” Isola shrugs.

“Interesting, so she can speak?” I ask.

“Not exactly, she’s only said Bee,” she chuckles, her laugh light and sweet. It’s annoyingly attractive, but then everything about her is. From her shiny, soft looking blonde hair to her curvy body that I find my eyes admiring far too often. We get to her door before I have to answer her. I open it, seeing the massive blue tree first.

“Did Bee do that?” I ask, closing the door behind us and walking over. The tree has a green pod hanging from it, and it has an actual little door on it.

“Yep, on her first night. I’m meant to take the plant back to the teacher with knowledge on what it does,” Isola says as she sits on her bed and starts undoing Elias shirt, “But I can’t take that tree back. I can’t even move it, and I still have no idea what it does.”

“I can help you find out. You need to test the leaves or any fruit it makes,” I say, stepping closer to the tree and stroking a blue leaf. The door to the pod bursts open and Bee pops her green head out, looking up at me.

“Isola needs you,” I tell Bee, who immediately flies out the door and straight over to Isola. She lands in Isola’s lap, and I watch as they stare at each other.

“You don’t have to help me; I’m sure I can sort it out myself,” she tells Bee, who flies around Isola, looking for something before flying back over to the tree. She goes inside her pod, and comes out with a tiny white bag.

“Where did you get a bag?” Isola asks.

“Bee make,” Bee answers in a tiny voice.

“Remember that elder tree spirits make dragon clothes, woven with magic. It makes sense that Bee could make small items,” I comment.

“Bee,” Bee says with a happy nod, and flies over to Isola. I watch as she gets a handful of what looks like glitter, and sprinkles it onto Isola’s arm above the cut.

“Damn that hurts,” Isola whimpers, as she closes her eyes. I walk over, kneeling in front of her as Bee keeps sprinkling the magic powder on the cut. I take Isola’s hands in mine, letting her squeeze them as tightly as she needs.

“Sleep,” Bee comments, just as Isola falls forward onto my lap, and I catch her, lifting her in my arms. She tucks her head into my shoulder, her lips brushing my neck as her breathing gets heavier.

“Bee done,” Bee comments, making me look away from Isola and watch as she carries the bag back to her pod, and slams the door closed behind her. That’s one interesting tree spirit.

I slip onto the bed, rolling Isola down next to me as gently as I can, remembering to make sure she doesn’t sleep on her hurt arm. She immediately cuddles into the pillow as I reach down to take her shoes off. I pull the blanket up, tucking her in, and she whines softly in her sleep. I don’t know what I’m thinking as I stroke a finger down her cheek, and tuck a little piece of her hair behind her ear.

“Sleep well, Doll,” I comment quietly, and look at her arm before moving away, seeing its nearly completely healed.

“Thanks Bee,” I whisper to the pod as I walk past and go over to the window seat. I look over at Isola, seeing how peaceful she looks as she sleeps. You wouldn’t know she was just attacked a few hours earlier. I like that about her, that she doesn’t destroy herself because of everything that’s happened to her. It must have been soul crushing to lose Jacian, the boyfriend she grew up with and likely loved. What would have happened if he lived? I doubt the fire rebellion would have as much support if there were two heirs to the throne. I get as comfy as I can before closing my eyes and trying to drift off to sleep, when someone knocks on the door. I groan, getting up and walking over, pulling it open to see Dagan on the other side. He pushes into the room, heading straight over to Isola and looking down at her.

“Is she alright?” he asks me, his voice gruff and deep, almost a growl.

“She’s fine,” I say, shutting the door. I wait for him to notice the tree spirit, but he doesn’t look away from Isola for a long time.

“It was my fault; I left her out in the woods, and I damn well shouldn’t have. I knew you had gone back to the castle, and I still left her alone,” he says.

“They would have gotten to her either way,” I comment, knowing who ever it was would have planned some way to get her alone.

“I saw the body, it was a student. Her uncle has sent the guards after his family and kicked his brother out of the school, just in case,” he says. I hate that the punishments for attacking the throne are so high. There is a good chance his family didn’t know anything about the attack on Isola, but her father won’t care. He kills anyone that is an enemy, no matter what.

“Damn,” I comment, running my hand over my beard as I look away.

“And when the fuck did she get a tree spirit?” Dagan asks, pointing at the pod and knowing straight away what it is.

“Bee, the tree spirit, marked her when we were on a run. I think Isola might even be able to use light magic, but I haven’t told her yet. It’s probably not a good idea when she needs to be in perfect harmony with her dragon before even attempting magic,” I say, looking back at Isola. She could be the most powerful dragon in years if she is able to use light magic. She could be the most powerful queen Dragca has ever seen.

“Light magic and tree spirits, it all sounds like fairy tales. There hasn’t been a tree spirit familiar in thousands of years, or a dragon that can use light magic,” Dagan replies.

“They say that when dark magic rises, light magic will rise to fight it,” I say as Dagan steps away from the bed.

“I don’t know a thing about magic, but I don’t like this. It doesn’t feel right,” he tells me.

“Nothing has felt normal since Isola got here. Something feels wrong, and I know that,” I reply, “but we have a job to do, and we can’t focus on anything else until it’s done,” I remind Dagan.

“I will see you in the morning after your run,” he calls as he walks out of the room. I go back to my window seat, lying my head back and getting some much-needed sleep.