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I looked down at the crumpled map in my hand. I got it. There was hope for me to be a queen one day.

My attention became focused on the castle again. A loud ruckus could be heard from where I was on the garden grounds. I had to know what happened. The screams continued to pierce my ears, one after another, dragging long echoes into the cold night air.

As I sprinted toward the doors, I heard a large whoosh in the air and a screech that could only be classified as a monster. I peered up, witnessing large, dark creatures silhouetted in front of the ethereal glow of the moon. However, they weren’t just any creatures.

They had talons as long as my arm, menacing and elongated to a razor-sharp point. The tips dipped in shadows, seemed to swallow the encompassing light. Their wings were ferocious and ominous, whispering chilling mysteries as they unfolded, rushing through the sky. Filled with the same gaps throughout their membranous sails that I witnessed the same day with my grandmother.

Three of them shrieked across the moon, making their way north and away from the castle. Terror struck my vision, rendering my body immobile. My mouth went dry, too nervous to move–to be seen.

The creatures passed, and the moment they were too far to hear my steps, I sprinted toward the opaque glass doors, my gold heels clicking up the stone steps, away from the garden.

What happened inside? I had to know.

Reaching the opened glass door, I peered in, hoping to not be seen myself. Bodies crowded the entrance to the ballroom, encircling the center of the floor. Gossiping, gasps, and whispers murmured through the audience. As I tried to peer over their heads, only the lights flickered, reminding me it wasn’t a dream, flashing me to reality. I knew Nana’s spell had worn off, the power not being strong enough to last longer.

I cursed myself for going in. It was too dangerous for me to go in. I could easily be seen with my golden eyes, and Tobias could regain consciousness at any moment. However, as stupid as it was, I came back inside. I had to see what was happening. I still felt a responsibility for the kingdom, even though they didn’t know who I was.

Stepping backward, a lady bumped into me, her navy blue hair adorned with pearls at the crown, gracefully inclined toward her neighbor whose locks shimmered like spun honey. Her pointy nose was sharp and could be seen from a mile away. “It can’t be,” she gossiped, swaying back and forth as if she were to pass out,still holding her maskette up to cover her eyes as she spoke. “I have heard of them, but thought they were rumors.”

“We are damned!” exclaimed the man, his gold hair gleaming, as he held his hand over his forehead. The woman began to fan him as if he were also about to faint.

Damned? What could it possibly be? Rumors? They?

Deathlies.

The haunting image of the blood-thirsty Deathlies roamed my mind, echoing Cora’s warnings about them. The anguish on her face had jolted me when she first mentioned them. I grasped the devastation they inflicted.

Damned.

Poisonous.

Dangerous.

These words resonated, sending shivers down my spine. The mere thought of their razor-sharp claws tainted my soul. The recollection flooded back. Their ghastly wings, riddled with holes; the ominous horns encircling their bodies; their elongated, twisted claws, sharper than any knife I’d ever encountered.

Looking down, I pushed my way to the front, desperate to see what had startled the audience.

A lady with a ragged dirtied-yellow shawl was sprawled on the floor, her arms outstretched pleadingly, the holes in her worn garments tempting to tear further down the seams. The tendrils of her forest green hair clung to the sweat beading on her forehead like the moss on my tower during a rainy day. “Please! I beg of you! Save me!” Her face looked up, peering up at the audience that took note of her every movement.

What was she doing in the castle? Did she run in? Was there an ambush in her town? What brought her here? I tried to look at her clothing to see if there was any sign of what city she wasoriginally from. As she looked up, I saw what she was talking about.

Her skin was covered with boils, blistering through her skin, penetrating to the insides of her body. Bone started to show through her cheek, almost forming a forced smile plastered to her face. Her skin was mixed with the crimson color of blood, bluish spots, and bruises covered every surface. Her fingernails were extended and covered in soot, with bone showing through her knuckles as she clasped her hands together.

The ground below her started to rot with blackness and plague.

We all took in the grotesque scene in front of us. The horror of the poor woman before me temporarily consumed my mind to where even being recognized as a Scaleborne was unimportant. I instinctively wanted to call out to the knights for aid, but my senses snapped back, reminding me I couldn’t be seen.

I looked to my father at the far right as he watched the lady with his eyes in shock. I wondered if he knew what to do.

His voice arose and boomed throughout the ballroom, grasping every last member’s attention. “No one touch her! She has been poisoned. She is diseased. The last thing we want to do is spread this to each of our villages.” Turning toward the lady, he put his hands up to the knights behind him, allowing him to move closer.

Reaching close to her body, only a foot from being able to touch her himself, he demanded, “State your name.”

“Ishla, your sire,” she said, the words barely passing the deformities on her lips. Tears trickled down her broken face, stinging the floor with her poisoned liquids.

“Ishla, I need you to follow my guards. Be sure not to touch a single thing, or you will damn us all. Do you understand?” She nodded, allowing a few more tears to drip down her face.

A few guards came before her, and she stood up to follow them out. Where were they taking her? She must be heading to the dungeons. But the disease?