Scarcely five minutes later...
"I'll show her," Blaze muttered to herself, trying to scale the wall. "I'll prove to her that I'm not worthless, that I'm going to be just as good a Queen as she is. No, not just as good as, better."
She threw herself at the wall again, her claws scrabbling against the sandstone for a handhold. She'd been at it for a while, trying to get out of the stronghold. She couldn't very well fly out or take the stairs, a guard might see her and her plan would be ruined so she'd resorted to climbing her way out. So far, no such luck.
She blinked back the tears that came to her eyes when she thought back to Thorn's scolding. How could she say such things? Not even her mother or Queen Glacier had ever been so hurtful. They both thought she'd make a fine Queen. And they didn't seem to think she needed all these boring, useless lessons.
She just wanted to get away from everything for a while. She wanted to run away. See how Thorn floundered around trying to manage the SandWings without her there to help.
But first she had to get past this stupid wall in her way! Who'd put it here anyway? She didn't remember it at all from her childhood days in the stronghold.
Maybe Burn had put it here. It certainly seemed like something Burn would do. Blaze remembered how ghastly the stronghold had looked when she and Thorn first moved in. Honestly, Burn's sense of decoration was absolutely horrible. She would've smacked Burn if she could. On second thoughts, she probably wouldn't because, knowing Burn, she'd hit back. And it would hurt.
With an exasperated sigh, Blaze gave up on trying to climb the wall. This was never going to work, the wall was too high and there was nowhere for her to get a firm grip. And she certainly wasn't about to go back. She racked her brains for another way out. The gate was heavily-guarded, the walls too...
The sound of voices and clawfalls from down the corridor interrupted her train of thought. She gasped. Had they found out what she was trying to do already? After a moment's hesitation, she scrambled into an adjoining passageway and out of sight.
Sure enough, two guards came tramping along. "Did you hear?" said one of them. "The Queen's mad with Blaze again."
That's Princess Blaze to you, Blaze thought indignantly. But she kept her mouth shut.
"Oh really?" asked the other, not sounding mildly interested.
"Some of the lads overheard an argument going on in Blaze's room just now," the other replied. Blaze recognized him. He'd been with her in the Kingdom of Ice. What was his name again? Sand-something, was all she could recall. Ah well, he couldn't have been too important.
"I fought for Blaze during the war," Sand-something continued. "I thought she'd be the best, you know. Blister was a viper in the sand, Burn looked set to start another war just for fun and then there was this sweet, mild dragon called Blaze. Too mild to be a good Queen, I guess, but still significantly better than the other two. Maybe I'm wrong; perhaps a smart or strong Queen would've been better than an airhead."
This was ridiculous. Here she was, just fresh from a shelling from Thorn, and these two dragons had the nerve to say such things about her! When were Blister or Burn better than her? And who were they calling an airhead? Blaze fought the urge to run off to her room, lock herself in and cry herself to sleep.
"Honestly, I'm not as concerned. Queen Thorn knows what she's doing," the other dragon said. "More troubling are the rumours going around. Some say that Blister's army was never found, that they're massing for an attack even to this day."
"Oh come on," Sand-something said. Giving up on remembering his name, Blaze just decided to call him Sandy. "Those are just rumours and tall tales. Besides, Blister's army was pretty diminished by the end of the war."
"I hope so," the other replied. "I don't fancy the idea of another war." Both dragons fell silent for a while.
"Wait, what's that glint?" The other dragon suddenly asked. Blaze froze. Had they seen her?
"Looks like a bracelet." Sandy said. "Wow, look at all those gemstones on it. This'd fetch a hefty price!"
Wait a minute, Blaze thought. She put a claw on her wrist. One of her bracelets was missing! That was hers!
"Hold on a second, I think that belongs to Blaze," the other said, echoing her thoughts. "I've seen it on her before. We should return it."
"You sure?" Sandy asked. "It could be anyone's."
Blaze wanted to run out there and smack Sand-whatever-his-name-was on the snout.
"It's Blaze's alright," the other said. "Let's just return it. It'll probably make her feel better."
Blaze decided to keep that dragon in mind. He seemed a decent enough sort.
Then, an idea occurred to her. If these two were supposed to be guarding the wall, she could slip past when they left. She waited and thought. Shouldn't she go back for the bracelet?
Suddenly, they started for the passageway she was hiding in! Blaze remembered with a jolt that this passageway led to the interior of the fortress and, by extension, her room. She frantically glanced around for a place to hide.
Just as they rounded the corner, Blaze ducked into a small room and shut the door. She waited. The sound of clawsteps eventually faded. Blaze poked her head out tentatively. The two dragons were nowhere in sight.
Now or never, Blaze thought. With that, she leapt into the air and took flight.
