Wings of Fire; Crowns of Betrayal

Chapter 4

"It's been so long since I've been in here," Sapphire stared into the room, doing a circle as she looked as the vibrant reds of the scarlet red that hung from the round ceiling in gentle loops hand up by golden anchors nailed into the carved pillars embedded into the smooth sandstone walls in the circle-shaped room.

"It's only been a few moons," Scorpion chuffed, "it hasn't changed that much."

"But that was almost a year ago! Last time we came here it was for Fennec and Sandstorm's, the Sundance's, hatching day. There's always so long between visits, it feels like forever ago." Sapphire's wings drooped as she looked at the decorations hung around the room as Scorpion frowned behind her.

She's right, we do hardly get to see each other, and it's harder when we're almost a whole continent apart.The SeaWings had a generally easier time traveling to visit them in the desert than they did trying to get to the Summer Palace hidden away in the Bay of a Thousand Scales. They swam along the coasts before cutting into the mainland using the estuary that split off into the Great Five-Tail River, following the longest tail that pointed to the heart of the vast desert and towards the stronghold. Scorpion didn't know how long exactly it took, but she knew it was less of a journey compared to her family having to travel to the Summer Palace, it was safer for them too, under the cover of the tides.

Then, an idea popped into her mind.

"What if we found a way to talk outside of celebrations and visits?"

Sapphire looked back at her with a hum, "how so?"

"Well, what if we wrote to each other? Through letters and scrolls, like Pearl and Camel?"

"That would work!" Sapphire beamed, the small SeaWing practically dancing around Scorpion. "We'd need messengers, like Sizzle and Clownfish."

"It shouldn't be hard to hire personal messengers, I could ask Ringtail about getting one." Scorpion's dad was the one who talon-picked Sizzle out from a lineup of possible messengers, and so far he seemed to be the best at picking out the perfect dragons for the job. "He'd probably go through several line ups himself before picking the top dragons from each for me to pick through."

"And when I get home, I'll get one too."

The two continued to talk about what kind of messenger they'd want to get, until Scorpion remembered the necklace laying patiently on her bedside table.

"Oh! I have something I wanted to show you."

"Hm? Oh, what is-"

Scorpion reached out and grabbed the sides of Sapphire's face, the SeaWing's webbed sail sticking straight up in surprise as she turned her head the other way. "Don't look."

"Wha- How can you show me then if I can't see it?"

She snorted, "Cover your eyes."

"Now this seems excessive," Sapphire laughed.

Scorpion waited until her friend covered her eyes with her small, webbed talons before she let go and turned to grab the necklace, hooking it off of the table with her claws. Standing herself behind Sapphire, the SandWing held the necklace between her talons, claws hooking gently around the polished pearls and opals that sparkled and gleams in the sunbeams that stretched across the room, warming her back while Sapphire hid in the shade provided by the walls.

"Okay, turn around-"

Sapphire's tail twitched, her ears perking up at the sound of Scorpion's voice, instinctively swiveling in the SandWing's direction as she turned around, her palms still cupped over her eyes.

"-and open your eyes."

The SeaWing lowered her claws, blinking a few times to adjust to the light before an awe-filled look spread across her face, looking at the necklace of polished opals and pearls in Scorpion's talons.