Wings of Fire: Missed | The Turning Tides #1

Chapter 5

Her head veered out the window of the tallest tower in the biggest palace. The sky and the land were the same colour and the ice as bright as the sun watching over them. It wasn't windy and it wasn't cloudy. It was perfect. Below, there was a group of icewings in the courtyard far away from the Tree of Light and a lonesome one walking away from the palace with an empty basket in his snout.

A sheet of snow was layered on the windowsill and she brushed it away, revealing the smooth ice below. She looked up.

Above was a squadron of icewing dragonets flying and practicing their triangle formation with one set of little gleaming scales lingering just a wing-length below them.

She just wanted to lift her wings and join them in the big sky. And possibly tell them to curl their wings down a little so they didn't have to flap so often. And their swishing tails - don't get her started about that!

She shifted her wings, resisting the urge to do just that.

But she couldn't. She was under a strict prohibition. A rainwing doctor examined her wings and told her that the sharp seeds of the dragonsmoke cactus had ripped holes through her wing membrane, and some even dug into her flesh and hit her bones, which explained why flying was so painful. The doctor informed her that it'd take at least a whole month until her wings were better and possibly even three months for it to heal fully.

Queen Blizzard insisted heavily that she stayed within the ice kingdom, even as she was leaving to Queen Thorn's Stronghold the day after the order was issued.

"I'm your bodyguard! I'm supposed to be with you at all times! That's the point!" Gelid argued, knowing well that her queen could easily tell her to shove a snowball up her snout. "How can I protect you if I'm not there?"

"Not in the condition that your wings are in," Queen Blizzard said calmly.

"My wings are fine! I can still fly," Gelid insisted.

"Enough. I am your queen and for your safety I order you to limit flying and stay in the ice kingdom, preferably in the palace. Three moons, stop being so stubborn," Queen Blizzard added. "I won't be gone long."

So Gelid couldn't be happy for very long but at least Pale was there to protect her.

It has been almost three weeks since visiting the rainforest. They spent a few days traveling, three days in Queen Thorn's stronghold and the rest traveling back to the ice kingdom, which didn't help her wings at all - flying across the continent. She was glad to be home but it didn't take long for all the news to surge through the entire kingdom.

News that Princess Mist had returned and that the Talons of Power attacked their beloved queen, rallying all the warriors. A dozen icewings have already stepped forward to volunteer finding the Talons of Power and their leader. Gelid liked the idea but Queen Blizzard was hesitant and ultimately told them that she's planning a hunting group just for that, probably to make them stop bothering her.

There's even been a few rumours about Mist's return. Many believe she revealed herself so she could challenge for the throne. Some suspect that it's actually just a rainwing that has disguised as her to infiltrate the ice kingdom. But those dragons were wrong as far as Gelid was concerned. Mist was as grumpy, easily irritable, smart and strong as Pale described her as.

At least staying in the ice kingdom meant that she could keep an eye on Mist. Queen Blizzard might've pardoned Mist but Gelid didn't trust her. There was something Mist was hiding under her scales and Gelid was going to find out in one way or another. She didn't trust that princess.