Hearts of Fire and Ice

Chapter Seven~ Jasper

Being that I had escaped the palace, hopefully without the guards, my mother or my sisters knowing, Somehow I had to return without them knowing. I had a feeling that trying to get back in would be harder than getting out.

I flew swiftly and stealthily in between the mountains so I wouldn't be seen. I knew that the guards would be everywhere. After my last trip, the one where I met Snow last night, Mother had increased the amount of guards around the palace walls.

"It's to keep us all safe," she had said to me and my sisters. "We can't have intruders coming in, or some of us going out without permission." I knew that last part was directed to me. 

I landed as quietly as I could in a patch of shrubs. Hopefully they would cover me. Two SkyWing guards flew overhead, mumbling to themselves about something. I ducked below the thorny branches of the bushes, hoping they wouldn't see me. Thank the moons I wasn't spotted, as the guards continued to fly in their own direction. I was clear to go again.

I flew again, low to the grounding case I needed to hide again. My biggest fear was flying up to my room. 

My bedroom had a balcony with huge windows. I had escaped earlier by simply flying off the balcony without being spotted by the guards. But flying up to the balcony would be much more challenging than flying down. 

Two more guards flew above me. I swooped down and ducked back into the cover of the hedges. I wasn't spotted, so I moved on. I had to slowly make my way upward, hiding in the bushes when I needed to. The issue was that there was less and less cover for me to hide the anther up the huge mountain I flew. It was an enormous risk. 

I continued to make my way upward. The shrubs and hedges were becoming smaller and less numerous the higher I was in altitude. Please, no more guards... 

I could see it. Almost reach it. My balcony! Just a few more wingbeats now... 

My talons touched the balcony with a small clank. Hopefully nobody inside or outside the palace had heard it. I opened the great glass window and slipped inside my bedroom. 

I heard steps from outside. Someone was coming down the hallway! I quickly slammed the glass door to the balcony behind me. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. The door slammed with a loud bang! Moons, everyone must have known I was gone. 

I heard a voice. It must be the dragon who was walking down the halls. It was a familiar voice. 

"Jasper? Jasper! Are you okay in there?" it said. 

Uh oh... was I in trouble now? 

"I'm okay!" I called back to whoever was outside. 

A SkyWing with blood-red scales poked her head through the door to my room. Crimson! 

"Three moons, Jasper. What happened?" Crimson asked in her usual bossy tone of voice. 

"I was just out on my balcony," I replied.

"Huh..." Crimson said, sliding through the doorway until her entire body was inside my room. 

"And, would you please knock next time?" I huffed. 

My sister rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Why were you on your balcony? And what was that noise I heard?"

"I was just out for some fresh air..." I mumbled. 

"Yup. I totally believe that," Crimson replied and rolled her eyes again. "Go on." 

"And, as I came back inside, the wind slammed the door shut." In my opinion, it was a pretty good lie. I couldn't let Mother or any of my sisters, especially Crimson, know where I had been or who Snowdrift was. 

"Okay, okay," Crimson flicked her tail. She whirled around and turned to exit my room. 

Suddenly, as she was about to exit, my sister turned back around to face me. She was glaring at me with a look of hatred in her eyes, and she unfolded her wings to make herself appear bigger than she already was. I could see tiny spurts of flame rising from her nostrils.

"I'm watching you, little brother. We all are. There's been something different about you lately, and I want to know what it is. And, if it's something forbidden... I'm not afraid to tell Mother about your actions." Crimson hissed. She continued to glare at me, before stalking out of my room, slamming my door behind her. 

This was bad. Crimson was on to me, and if Crimson was on to me, then Mother would be on to me soon as well. It was vital that I told Snowdrift about my situation. I needed to find her now. I needed to see Snow and tell her how sorry I was that I might not be able to see her anymore...