We headed straight for Calia, with a few stops for rest and food. The dragon’s body was much stronger than my normal form, but as I was unused to being a dragon for any length of time, I tired faster than Joichan did. Also, I was still learning to fly—some of it was instinctual, which helped, but I definitely needed more practice.

My father was highly amused when I insisted we cook the game we hunted. Even though I was resting in my dragon form, the human side of me couldn’t stomach the idea of eating raw meat. Joichan obliged, and kindly turned away to eat his share, one of the cows we had taken from an open field. I was pretty sure I could still hear it mooing, although my father assured me he had killed it first before consuming it.

As we flew I asked my father about his solitary life. In general, dragons didn’t enjoy living near civilization. But if you were a dragon who could also become a human, wouldn’t you want to live near other people?

“Not necessarily,” Father said. “Dragons are, by nature, very reserved creatures. In my case, my dragon nature won out over my human side.”

When he was eighteen, my father said, he moved to the nearby cave where my friends and I had first encountered him. But with constant interruptions from dragon seekers (or worse, dragon hunters), he moved to his second cave in the mountains, occasionally using the first one as a base to visit his foster family or his few friends in Annlyn.

And Father lit up when I mentioned meeting Pazho. “He’s a good man; he just accepts things as they are and never imposes his viewpoint on them. He’s one of the few people who never treated me like I was cursed.”

“He’s the one who gave me my soulstone,” I said.

“I’m not surprised. Pazho is one of the wisest people I’ve ever known. He has an uncanny ability to clearly see to the heart of things—or people.”

We were gliding through the air, our huge shadows skimming the ground below us. Admiring the fast-moving countryside, I looked up and ahead—and flew straight into a cloud. Suddenly I was being attacked by hundreds of little wispy feathers made of cold air. I began sneezing uncontrollably, bits of flame snorting from my nostrils.

Father laughed. “That’s why you should pay attention to where you’re flying.”

“Easy for you to—ah-choo!— say,” I said, my voice thick. “Ah-choo! I need to rest.”

Spotting an empty field, I winged toward it, my father still laughing heartily as he followed me.

Despite our frequent stops, we still made good time to Calia. The sun was dipping low in the sky when we saw the towers and crenellations of the kingdom’s castle. We landed several miles away from the kingdom’s gates. It was partly out of a desire to stay hidden. Dragons weren’t common in Calia, and it would have raised an alarm if we were spotted so close to the kingdom. But also, we couldn’t get any closer.

Surrounding Calia for miles around were bunches of tents and makeshift camps. Twilight was just giving way to nighttime, and the random fires that flared up illuminated our way. We kept to the shadows, but most of the campsites were too busy to pay attention to two nondescript people walking through.

We passed by one tent, an imposing emerald-green affair that could have easily housed me and my former traveling companions and had room to spare. I fleetingly wondered what became of them after Joichan had taken me away. Most likely they had returned to Orchwell. Perhaps they were already on a new Seeking mission. My heart twisted, and I wished I could have had a chance to explain things, or at least say goodbye.

A tall male servant returned to the campsite holding an empty chamber pot. A stout woman sitting by the fire, roasting a rabbit on a spit, looked up as he approached.

“His Grace has kept you hopping tonight.” She turned the rabbit slightly.

“I’ll be glad when this wedding is over and we can go home to Shonn,” the man said. “Bad enough it took so long to come this far west. We can’t even get a room in the city, everything’s so full. Camping makes His Grace irritable and then he takes it out on us. And we still have the journey home, too.”

The woman clicked her tongue in warning. “Don’t say that too loud. You never know who’s listening.”

“He’s not here,” the man assured her. “He’s at the castle, for some dinner party King Hendon is throwing for all the nobles prior to the wedding. Don’t expect him back until late. If he can even stumble his way back after drinking all night.”

The woman turned the spit again, this time with enthusiasm. “Perfect. More for us.”

The man laughed and disappeared into the deep green tent, presumably to put the chamber pot away before joining his companion for dinner. Joichan and I continued on.

On the outskirts of the campgrounds, I saw two familiar figures hunched around a fire. I gave a little cry of recognition and moved toward them, even as my father tried to grab my sleeve to hold me back. Two faces turned toward me: Farrah and Rhyss.

“Allayne!” Farrah jumped up, about to embrace me, but Rhyss stood up warily.

Now that I was face to face with my former traveling companions, I wasn’t sure what to say. “Uh. Hi, Farrah. Rhyss. Um. How have you been?”

“Well enough,” Farrah said. “You?”

“Same.” There was an uncomfortably long silence. I looked around their campsite. “Where’s Beyan?”

At that moment I heard footsteps approaching the camp. Beyan stepped out of the darkness and into the firelight. He stopped short when he saw me. “Allayne.”

“Beyan. It’s good to see you again.”

He stepped closer to Farrah and Rhyss, forming a human wall that quite clearly kept me out. “I don’t know that I can say the same.”

“I know you’re angry at me for what happened at the dragon’s cave.” I looked at each of them in turn. “I’m sorry you felt like I betrayed you. I couldn’t let you kill him.”

Farrah and Rhyss shifted uneasily. I knew that they had been against Beyan killing Joichan—indeed, any dragon—as it would have corrupted the mission and Beyan’s soul. But he was also their leader and their friend, and they were duty bound to support him and his decisions.

“Why not?” Beyan’s voice was bitter. “You knew what it meant to me.”

I looked back uncertainly, to where my father was waiting in the shadows. He stepped forward, nodding slightly. Now that I had his unspoken permission to share our secret, I felt better. With more confidence, I turned back to my friends, who were staring open-mouthed at Joichan.

“That’s … that’s the man from the cave!” Rhyss said.

“Yes. This is Joichan,” I said. I turned to Beyan, who stiffened but didn’t move. “I know you wanted to kill him because you wanted to avenge your father. I couldn’t let you do that because … Joichan is my father. That’s why I wanted to find him.”

Now all my friends’ gaping faces were fixed on me.

“My mother asked me to find him because we need his help. My mother is—”

“Queen Melandria of Calia,” Beyan said flatly.

Now it was my turn to gape, at Beyan. “How did you know?”

“When we came here, to Calia, your name was on everyone’s lips,” Farrah said. “The upcoming wedding of Crown Princess Jennica Allayne Kenetria Denyah of Calia to Prince Anders of Rothschan. When we asked around, the description people gave of the princess matched yours. Simple, really.”

“Why did you come to Calia? I figured you would all return to Orchwell, since you had technically fulfilled your task.”

Suddenly no one in the group would meet my eyes. Was it embarrassment? Beyan said, “We wanted to find you, and thought you would eventually make your way back home.”

“We’ve been camping here for a few days, enough time to ask questions,” Farrah added. “That’s how we discovered you were the princess.”

I was amazed that my luck in hiding my identity had lasted so long. “If you knew that I was the princess, then didn’t you wonder why I was on the road headed south instead of here in Calia preparing for my wedding?”

“Once we figured it out, we did discuss it among ourselves,” Farrah admitted. “But nothing we came up with made any sense.”

I took a deep breath. “I do not want the marriage, but King Hendon is pushing for it for reasons unknown. My mother fears that the king is using the wedding as a way to take over all of the Gifted Lands. She sent me to find my real father, Joichan, to help us stop the wedding. Which is why I asked for your help to find Joichan. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

Another long silence met my words. Blood pounded in my ears. Now that I was no longer keeping secrets from my friends, I hoped that they wouldn’t reject me, but I knew I had no right to ask that of them.

I suddenly felt arms around me, and looked up into Farrah’s sympathetic face. “All is forgiven.”

Suddenly embarrassed, she pulled away. “I meant to say, Your Highness, it doesn’t matter that you lied to us. Uh, I mean … oh, dear. Was it okay that I hugged you?”

I smiled. “Of course. I’m glad you’ve forgiven me. And … I’m so used to not being called ‘Your Highness’ now that it seems odd to hear you say it.”

Farrah laughed as I pulled her back into a warm embrace. Behind her, Rhyss grinned, the tension gone from his face. I hugged him next. When I let Rhyss go, I turned to Beyan. His expression was more enigmatic, but he smiled at me. Our embrace was brief, yet somehow felt full of unspoken thoughts. Next to me, I felt the tension in my father ease.

Beyan gestured toward the fire. “Feel free to stay awhile. I’m sure we have a lot of things to talk about.” His glance lingered on Joichan.

“I wish we could,” I said. “We need to get inside the castle. If we can come back, we will.”

“Please do.” Beyan looked like he wanted to say something more, but Joichan touched my shoulder, indicating we should leave.

As we turned to go, Beyan called out to us. “Allayne … I mean, Your Highness. Princess Jennica. Before you go …”

He pressed something into my hand. I looked at the simple little ring in the center of my palm. I slipped it onto my littlest finger, grateful to have it back. “Thank you,” I said. Beyan nodded at us and stepped back.

Joichan and I continued on our way. We had reached a rare quiet spot in the midst of the campsites when my father stopped me. “Can you get ahold of your friend? If she’s available, she can help us get into the castle.”

I doubted Taryn would answer my call, since we had been unable to connect the last several times I had tried her. But there was no harm in trying again, and my father was right—it would be near impossible to gain entrance into the castle without assistance. And I certainly didn’t want to alert the guards, or worse, King Hendon, to the fact that I was back.

I quickly sketched the gestures and spoke the words for the calling spell. I held my fingers out, not expecting anything to happen. So I was taken by surprise when Taryn’s face appeared almost immediately.

“Taryn! I can’t believe it! I tried to get in touch before, but—”

“Princess! I’m sorry I wasn’t able to respond before, and I don’t have much time now. It’s all gone so very, very bad here. I’m being watched as well.”

“But what—”

“I don’t have much time, and there’s too much to tell you.” Taryn glanced over her shoulder at something I couldn’t see. As much as I wanted details, I could sense her fear.

“Then I’ll be brief. Taryn, we’re back in Calia, just outside the gates. We need help getting back into the castle.”

“We?”

Joichan shook his head at me, warning me not to give away his secret just yet. “I’ll explain when I see you. But for now—can you help us?”

“Yes, of course! I’ll mark the path through the tunnels, just in case you need to use them without me around. But I’ll meet you outside the castle, where the secret door is. You remember the location?”

I nodded. “We should be there shortly.”

“Good. I’ll see you soon.”

Taryn’s face disappeared as the magic faded.

Joichan and I made our way to the castle wall without incident. Even though there were so many visitors camped outside the castle—and presumably, overflowing the nearby town—the guards didn’t challenge any who passed by them. I guessed they were probably used to it by now. The servants we had overheard talking had seemed to imply that the days and weeks leading up the wedding celebration were full of around-the-clock revelry.

We loitered by the hidden door, trying to blend into the deep shadows and not attract attention. We waited. And waited. And kept waiting.

Joichan’s quiet voice in my ear startled me. “She definitely should have been here by now. Do you think something happened to your friend?”

I worried about that too, but hearing him say it out loud made it now seem like a real possibility.

“What should we do?” I whispered.

“I suppose we’ll need to find another way in.” He sounded doubtful.

I nodded absentmindedly. There was something small fluttering in the breeze, caught in the wall right around eye level. I stepped closer, reaching out to grab it. It was a hair ribbon, pale in the moonlight.

I reached out again, my hands brushing against the smooth unbroken stone … until suddenly it wasn’t unbroken anymore. My father and I looked at each other. I grabbed the lip of the hidden door and pulled it open a little wider.

“I think Taryn was here.” I indicated the ribbon in my fist. “I don’t know what’s happened, but I don’t think we should wait any longer. She said she’d mark the passageway, so we should be okay.”

My father followed me into the cool, dank tunnel. He tugged the door shut behind him, making the darkness in the passage complete. “Illumine,” I said, and light flared above us.

True to her word, Taryn had marked the way we should go. At each turn a ribbon pointed the way, indicating the path she had taken. It made me wonder if the ribbon I had found at the hidden door had been left on purpose or not. When we found Taryn, I would ask.

It didn’t take us long to reach the end of the marked path and find the door leading back into the castle. Since I wasn’t sure where Taryn’s path had taken us, I indicated to my father that we should be quiet, and snuffed out the magical light. Slowly, carefully, I pushed open the door and peeked out.

A hand reached out to pull the door open wider. Standing on the other side was my mother; we had made our way back to her chambers. When she saw me she immediately pulled me into her arms and held me tight.

“Jennica! I’m so glad you’re back, and you’re safe! I worried so much.”

I hugged my mother tight, never wanting to let her go. She pulled back, looking me over. Then her eyes went to the person who had walked in after me, and was standing just behind me. She gasped.

“Joichan?”