"Where is the NightShade King hiding?" I ask his assassin as I stand in the cave. He stands straight, the chains of ice still around his wrists. He doesn't struggle anymore, he just looks at me intensely.
"Let me out and maybe I'll tell you," he grins darkly as his eyes rake over me. The piercing blue glowing with dark amusement.
"That isn't going to happen," I tell him as I sit on a rock in front of him.
"Well, I guess you aren't going to find out," he sighs. I shrug.
"I'll find out, whether you help me or not is another question," I sigh. "Because if I find him, that means you no longer become useful." His laugh fills the cavern.
"You don't have it in you to kill me," he taunts. My eyes scan his beautiful, striking features. I close my eyes.
"Things have changed," I whisper, standing up. His smile fades and his eyes dart down to my hand with the two missing fingers. He knows something happened yesterday. Something worse than my two missing digits.
"What happened, little dragon? Your people may not have heard you last night, but I did. I heard your scream. I felt it," he tells me. My head snaps up and turns back to him, anger burning through my veins.
"You don't know what you are talking about," I snarl standing up. He only smiles, happy to have got a reaction from me. He takes a deep breath, sniffing at the air.
"I can feel your pain Isla, I can smell it." My heart races as his eyes fall on mine. He struggles in the ice chains again, trying to lunge toward me. I don't flinch as he appears in front of me, the chains stopping him only inches from my face. His smile is seductive almost as he looks down at me with his wild eyes. His handsome face catching the blue light of the glowing clear pool. I can't help but stare up at him.
"I can see it in your eyes," he whispers. "So what has changed? What has happened to make you so cold now?" he asks a sudden sadness falling over his features. I take a step backwards and look into the water.
"The only thing you need to know," I say with an even voice, "is that I will kill you if I think it necessary." My heart does not beat faster and my eyes don't dart around with fear. He knows I am not lying. "The only reason you are alive right now is because you are of some use to me. As soon as you are no longer useful that's it. I will not risk your King getting back one of his most dangerous weapons that can be used against us," I tell him. Again, there are no traces of a lie in my voice. I mean it and he knows it. His eyes dart over me again and I can't read his expression.
"So," he finally says. "You have grown up now. No more games," he sighs. "It's a shame really. I enjoyed our fun together. But it seems the fire in your heart has been turned to ice. Your merciful kindness has turned to cold emotionless brutality."
"I've always had a heart of ice, assassin," I say to him, looking into his eyes. "I just had to be broken for it freeze fully," I say to him. His smile falls from his face.
"Perhaps you need the right person to thaw it," he says and again I can't read his expression.
"Perhaps," I say as I walk away.
Over the next few days, I am alone in the palace with everyone getting everything sorted back in their homelands. I am kept busy though with many jobs and paperwork to do. At night, I avoid my room, walking or running across the mountain tops instead. I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see Serenity being killed in front of my eyes. I visit him a few times and we always have the same conversation. I ask him where the King is hiding and he asks to be released. It is on the third day when a soldier rushes to see me.
"The armies from Zina have arrived," he tells me. My eyes widen and a smile forms on my face.
"Daniel," I whisper, rushing out of the palace. I run across the long bridge over the lake, stopping where it begins to descend to the ground below. Ahead of me, I see a large army exiting the woods and walking along the field toward the bridge. The rhythmic thump of their boots on the ground are loud as they march in perfect unison. They wear the golden armour of Zina and it gleams in the sunlight. Daniel and Iona lead them as they ride on horseback. They march up the bridge, coming to a stop in front of me.
"Isla," Daniel says, sliding off his horse and bowing. Iona does the same as do the rest of the soldiers that stand behind them.
"Daniel," I smile. He stands and returns my smile softly.
"We have just over a thousand soldiers," he says, swinging his arm behind him to look back at the army. They stand in rows of about ten which stretches back far beyond the bridge. Now they are closer to me, I can see them clearly. Golden metal sits over their bodies layers. Engraved into the breastplate is a wolf head. A long, emerald green cloak hangs from their shoulders, attached by smaller wolf heads. Their helmets are golden wolf masks with a snarling, pulled back mouth and angry eyes. It covers their whole faces and the back of their heads are lined with a long strip of creamy white fur. The same creamy white that was the colour of queen Katrina's wolf.
"You can get a camp set up on the field," I say. On the far left side so the next army that arrives can go next to you," I say. Daniel nods and gives his orders. Iona walks toward me, taking off her helmet. She smiles warmly and wraps me up in a warm hug. I've never seen her or Daniel in armour before and it is odd. They look so grown up and ferocious. The metal of her armour is cold against my skin as we hug.
"How are you doing?" she asks. I smile and nod my head.
"I am fine, but we have a lot left to prepare for," I say. She nods her head, a solemn expression crossing her features. I look at her. Her armour is the same as the others, mostly. Her cloak is creamy white instead of the forest green of the others. As if she notices me looking, she smiles.
"Daniel made me the general of the Zina army," she smiles. I smile too, happy for her.
"Wow," I grin. "I am keeping your father as my general for the moment, he knows what he is doing." She nods and Daniel returns. The Zina army is descending the bridge and starting to gather in the fields.
"Shall we talk?" he asks. I nod my head and the three of us walk into the palace.
"Our army have said that we will wear the armour of the Dragoheirs," he tells me. My eyes widen. "You are the High Queen of Shadow and we follow you into battle. That means we wear the Dragoheir armour, the armour of Shadow."
"Okay," I say, glad that over the past few days, plenty has been made.
"All the cities in Zina are packed," Iona says with a sigh. "The beans the Serenity made work though, food has already begun to grow to feed everyone. Zina has been completely evacuated, every town, village or lone home are abandoned. All our shield makers have surrounded all the cities in multiple types of protections. They have enchanted their magic to objects within the city which even we don't know in order for them not to be discovered by spies and destroyed. If we lose, then the NightShades are going to struggle to penetrate any cities of Zina," she tells me.
"Good," I sigh, running a hand through my hair.
"Are you any closer to finding where they are being hidden yet?" Daniel asks. I shake my head.
"I am still working on it," I reply. The two nod and we head for some food.
General Xavier brought the army of the Capitol lands later that day. The few days after that, the others arrived also. All wearing their own armours and telling me how the cities are protected. I am so relieved when Toryn and Tanya return. They stand by my side on a balcony as we look over the fields in front of the palace. They are filled with thousands of tents and soldiers. They are all going to wear the armour of the Dragoheirs also which means that the makers have been very busy.
"Who would have thought," Tanya sighs. "That we would be leading an army of thousands into battle," she sighs.
"Not me," Toryn replies, hanging his arm over her shoulder.
"We aren't doing it alone," I tell them. I can't stop staring at the all the tents. The thousands of shifters that all look to me to lead them. Some of them soldiers, others volunteers. Luckily, with the training programs we put in place earlier in the year, they all know how to fight. But that won't protect many of them. We have no idea what kind of magic or monsters the king has. A lot of these people will die. They will leave behind family. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons or daughters. Toryn, with his ability to sometimes sense my emotions, looks at me.
"You can't protect everyone Isla and you aren't expected to," he tells me. An image of Serenity flashes through my mind and I know he is talking about her too. I gulp as my eyes begin to sting.
"Everyone here volunteered," Tanya says. "They know and understand the risks," she tells me. I smile at the two of them before leaning into their warmth. We don't say anything for a few minutes.
"All we need to do now is find out where he is hiding. Then we can strike," Tanya snarls. She is just itching for a fight. I nod my head.
"Yes and I know exactly how we are going to find him," I say, my voice turning cold and dark.