“Hi Swallow…” purred Queen Cardinal “I miss you. You would have been a great queen.” She curled her tail around a dragonet sculpture and watched the sunrise.

  “Your majesty,” Ste flew into the garden

  “Yes brother?” Cardinal roared

  “You are needed in the tribe.”

  Queen Cardinal huffed and flew off. Ste moved to follow but stole one st gnce at the statue, hissing. While the queen was solving disputes Ste snuck into the dungeon. “RAINWING!”

  “Welcome back fireless.”

  Angered, he growled, “Dragonet killer.”

  “You sure? I don't remember doing that.” Huffed Mango struggling to calm her anger.

  “Sure you don't, and you expect to be freed based on that?”

  Mango gnced up at him before turning around and camoufging “Not by your blind sister…”

  “ Not friends any more?” Ste hissed “ You know, she loved you. She was so sad, no, horrified when it was discovered to be a rainwing and you were the only one. The betrayal she must have felt,”

  Mango’s citrus scales faded to a furious red tinted with grey as a few tears ran down her face and a low growl rumbled in her throat.

  Ste smirked putting his head on the bars, “and you loved her too, you still do, don't you? So sad, she will never love you again.”

  Mango lunged in blind fury, grabbing Ste's horn trying to tug him through the bars almost too small for her own muzzle to fit through. The struggle was heard and guards came to separate them. When the queen came to check out what was happening her face contorted from horror to rage.

  “What is going on!?” Cardinal bound to the disputing dragons, seeing no injuries or blood she calmed down just enough to realize that yet again Mango did not use venom. Instead turning to her brother to figure out why he was down there without ever being ordered to be. “What did you do Ste?”

  “Nothing my queen, my sister I swear.”

  “You had to, from the look on her face and the fact that she lunged at all you had done something to anger her.” she pried

  “Why do you even care about the dragonet killer?” he scoffed

  As if in the blink of an eye her attitude changed and her voice boomed “You have no right to decide who I care about nor why. You may be in the Royal Family but you are as powerless as any other skywing and will not question me. Leave.”

  Ste's eyes slitted and he let out a low hiss “yes my queen”

  After calming down Cardinal realized how unusual it is that Mango did not use venom and decided to go ask for herself. “Hello Mango,”

  Hearing her voice Mango's eyes got wide as she tried to suppress the vibrant pink rushing through her scales. “Cardinal?”

  “You ck the right to call me by name. As a prisoner I am simply your queen.”

  “Sorry, your majesty.” She said as she slumped into a corner a small wave of blue washing over her scales.

  “You have attacked my brother twice,”

  Mango flinched with fear at what might happen next.

  “Yet not once did you use Venom. Why?”

  “You don't want that answer” Mango mumbled, turning away.

  “Mango.”

  The orange dragon looked up, saddened before pacing to the other side of the cell and throwing a pair of fangs at the queen's talons. “There.” She plopped back down and camoufged herself as if to symbolize a finished conversation.

  Cardinal looked at the fangs and shed a tear which quickly evaporated. “Mango… why?”

  A long silence followed before Mango huffed and reappeared. “I knew there was no way to prove I didn't do it so I wanted to prove it wouldn't happen again. Stupid I know, at least now you won't have to worry about muzzling me.”

  The door creaked and Cardinal entered the cell.

  “Are you insane! I am charged with murder!” Mango hissed

  “You wouldn't hurt me.” Cardinal smiled warmly. “fangs or no fangs you never wanted to hurt me.”

  I never wanted to hurt Swallow either… Mango thought sadly

  “We will figure this out. I promise.” purred Cardinal

  “Okay.”