“I’m really okay, I can go back to my room now,” I tell my uncle, who shakes his head as I lean down and pick up my coat that fell on the floor. I’m still a little weak, and my stomach still hurts, but it has healed over and is not bleeding anymore.

“Fine, stubborn child,” he says, but there is a little bit of a smile as he turns to Dagan and Korbin.

“Take her to her room and keep guard. More dragon guards are being sent here by her father tomorrow for increased security. If another attack happens, I’m afraid she will have to be kept under twenty-four-hour watch at the castle,” he explains, and they both nod.

“Isola, you must be more careful from now on. The war is coming to a close. I have heard news that your father may have found the rebellion,” he says. I’m not sure if that is a good thing, because it would mean a massive fight and less guards around both the castle and here.

“That’s good, right?” I ask.

“Very good,” he says.

“We need you on the throne, and not dead. So, stay close to your dragon guard, agreed?” he asks me.

“Alright,” I say, not wanting that, but I get that my life means more than my freedom at the moment. I don’t know how I would explain Bee if we had to move rooms. Everyone would find out about her then.

“It’s good to see you alive Isola,” my uncle says, placing his hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently before walking out the room.

“He is an emotional guy that one,” Korbin teases, and I shrug.

“He’s lost a lot, I get it,” I comment.

“Have you seen Thorne or Elias this morning?” I ask Korbin as he carries my bag of clothes out the room, Dagan following us out.

“No, I haven’t but they will turn up,” he shrugs my worries off, and I’m sure he is right.

“Why don’t I go and get you some of your favourite foods?” Dagan asks as we walk past the cafeteria.

“I’d like that,” I smile, wondering what the hell changed between us all. They aren’t ignoring me anymore; if anything they are always asking me how I am and wanting to do things for me. I don’t really know what it is, but they feel like my friends again. I haven’t spoken to Elias about the kiss yet, and I’m not sure how to bring it up with him. Or what he said has changed. I look down at my ring, turning it around on my finger and wishing I could talk to Thorne. We haven’t had a moment alone, one of the others is always here. I have the feeling he wants to talk to me, I just don't know what it is about.

“So, doll, happy to get back to your classes?” Korbin asks me.

“Kinda, being sick is slightly boring, but I did get plenty of time to read,” I say, proud of the five books I’ve read over the past week. Not so proud of the crazy amount of junk food I ate while reading, but oh well.

“I guess that’s–” Korbin starts to say, before he suddenly falls to the floor, dropping my bag and holding his hands to his head. He looks up at me, his eyes burning black and fire spreading across them, as his face is contorted in pain. “Run from me,” he spits out, and I shake my head.

“What is going on?” I ask, moving a step back when his hand goes to his sword.

“Isola, run and go to your father. Something is wrong, and I am being ordered to hurt you. I will follow you when I can get back in control,” he says and then screams, falling on his side. I do what he says, fear filling me as I turn and run. I head down the stairs of the academy and out the doors, not seeing anyone on the way. I hold my stomach from the pain as I run down the steps and stop.

“We need to go to the castle, so I need you to take over,” I whisper to her, and she roars, white mist appearing in front of me as we shift and fly straight into the sky.

“Danger,” she warns me, flying faster than she usually does.

“I know, but he is our father,” I tell her. She whines, but doesn’t stop flying. My fear for my father and my guard mixes with her own fear as she flies through the mountains. The castle slowly comes into sight, and my dragon shoots towards it. The castle is as massive as I remember it being, with five diamond topped towers, and the main part of the castle in the centre. what I can see. There are bodies of guards on the floor, their mouths parted in shock as their blood pools from their bodies on the stone. What has happened here? I grow more concerned when I don’t see any dragons flying around, and when no one stops me as I land right outside the castle. I ask my dragon to let me back in control, despite her apprehension. I hold my side when I stand up in my human form, looking down to see it bleeding a little.

Everything inside me screams as I run through the doors of the castle, seeing the dead dragons lining the floors and the sight making me sick to my stomach. I try not to look at the spears in their stomachs, the dragonglass that is rare in this world. Where did they get this much of it? The more and more bodies I pass, who are both dragon and guards, the less hope I have that my father is okay. No, I can’t be too late, I can’t lose him too. The once grand doors to the throne room are smashed into pieces of stone, in a pile on the floor, and only the hinges to the door hang off the walls. I run straight over, climbing over the rocks and broken stone. The sight in front of me makes me stop, not believing what I’m seeing but I know it’s true.

“Father…” I ask quietly, knowing he won’t reply to me. My father is sat on his throne, a sword through his stomach and a wide mouthed expression on his face. His blood drips down onto the gold floors of the throne room and snow falls from the broken ceiling above onto his face. There’s no ice in here, no sign he even tried to fight before he was killed. He must have never saw this coming because he trusted whoever killed him.

“No,” is all I can think to say as I fall to my knees, bending my head and looking down at the ground instead of the body of my father. I couldn’t stop this, even when they warned me and risked everything. I hear footsteps in front of me as I watch my tears drip onto the ground, but I don’t look up as I know who it is. I know from the way they smell; my dragon whispers their name to me but I can’t even think it.

“Why?” I ask as everything clicks into place. I should have known, I should have never trusted him.

“Because the curse has to end. Because he was no good for Dragca. Our city needs a true heir, me. I’m the heir of fire and ice, the one the prophecy speaks of, and it’s finally time I took what is mine,” he says and every word seems to cut straight through my heart. I trusted him.

“The curse hasn’t ended, I’m still here,” I whisper to the dragon in front of me, but I know he could hear my words as if I’d just spoken them into his ear.

“Not for long, not even for a moment longer actually. Your dragon guard will only thank me when you are gone. I didn’t want to do this to you, not in the end, but you are just too powerful. You are of no use to me anymore, not unless you’re gone,” he says. I look down at the ground as his words run around my head and I don’t know what to do. I feel lost, powerless, and broken in every way possible. There’s a part of the door in front of me that catches my attention, a part with the royal crest. The dragon in a circle, a proud, strong dragon. My father’s words come back to me, and I know they are all I need to say.

“There’s a reason ice dragons hold the throne and have done so for centuries. There’s a reason the royal name of Dragice is feared.” I say and stand up slowly, wiping my tears away.

“We don’t give up, and we bow to no one. I’m Isola Dragice, and you will pay for what you have done,” I tell him as I finally meet his now cruel eyes, before calling my dragon and feeling her take over.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you princess,” a cold female voice says, as a dagger is pressed against my neck from behind and I stop the shift, knowing I would be dead before I could even get my dragon out.

“Thorne, why don’t you get your crown, and then we can deal with the princess,” the woman behind me demands in an overly sweet tone. Thorne smirks at me before walking over to my father, and lifting the crown off his head.