Conquest : A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

17. Letters

'What are we going to do with them?' asked Sunbeam, surveying their prisoners in disgust. 

The cyan SeaWing hissed in fury, while the cherry red SkyWing struggled against the bonds. But Maelstrom was quite good at tying knots and the SkyWing's efforts were futile. 

Moon thoughtfully glanced at the trussed-up dragons. 'No idea,' she said. 'Maybe we can gift them to some roadside merchant looking for slaves.' At Moon's cold words, both Mutineers glared icily at her mother. 

Sandstorm fumbled in her pouch, feeling for her skyfire. Her talons brushed the chunk of gold she'd gotten while in the cavern - that would come in handy later on. She gently placed the skyfire on the ground. 

You don't really mean that, do you? she thought, projecting her thoughts to her mother. Moon smiled ruefully and shook her head. I thought so. 

Sandstorm decided she'd pick up the skyfire later and so gave it to Maelstrom, who was watching as Ivory began to question the captives. 

They hadn't talked much about last night. 

After her declaration, Ivory refused to say more and instead fell asleep, leaving Sandstorm with her own thoughts. She kept going over the princess's words in her head. 

She'd liked Blizzard - and that was strange enough in itself, because she didn't like many dragons - he seemed funny, kind, thoughtful and wasn't fazed by her rudeness in class. 

It was impossible that he'd turned traitor, breaking Ivory's heart - and if she was honest with herself, her own heart, too. 

She couldn't help falling a little for the charming, handsome, tall IceWing. 

Quickly, Sandstorm glanced at her mother, forgetting that she wasn't holding the skyfire anymore. Moon, however, was absorbed in interrogating their prisoners and didn't seem to be paying attention to Sandstorm's thoughts. 

Absentmindedly, Sandstorm looked at the ground. A small piece of parchment lay there. She picked it up, confused, and turned it over. 

Neat, precise handwriting covered the page. She recognised the parchment - it was the same piece that had been given to her by Blizzard after that history lesson. She must've dropped it while taking out the skyfire.

 He'd said it was one of the notes she'd given him because he'd come to class late. She'd believed it and had dismissed the matter as unimportant. Now she wasn't so sure. That handwriting definitely wasn't her own cursive scrawl. 

She glanced at her friends, who were all listening as the IceWing princess forced answers out of the Mutineers. No one was paying attention to her. Quietly, she slipped behind Maelstrom, took back her skyfire and snuck into one of the many small caves littering the Aureate Hollow. 

It was low-ceilinged and rather dim, but there was enough light to see clearly by. Sandstorm could easily make out the blue ink on the parchment.

She began reading. 

Sandstorm, the note began. 

This is written by me, Blizzard. If you already know my secret, then it's probably told to you by Ivory. Please don't judge me too harshly once you discover my betrayal. If you knew the full story, you'd understand.

Tell Ivory I'm sorry. Show her this note. I apologise to everyone hurt by my actions. 

Please know that all I ever wanted was to be recognised. Ivory will tell you the full story. In the meantime, don't believe everything you hear. I only wanted a happy life for me and my friends and family.