Things are different now, Your Highness." Dragonus' voice was heavy and laden with regret.
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Meet me here in the Outer Gardens, at daybreak tomorrow. I would see you once more, before you leave.
Shendelzare paced the Outer Gardens impatiently. It was not yet daybreak, she knew; but she could not remember being this nervous in her life. Not even the Naming Ceremony had unnerved her to this extent. In her hand, she carried a locket, housing a lock of her own golden hair. She meant it as a keepsake for Dragonus, to remember her and his oath to return to the Ghastly Eyrie.
"Alright, peace, Shendelzare," she muttered to herself. Forcing herself to be still, she walked slowly to where she had stood side by side with Dragonus the day before, and looked out across the skies. Not long after, she heard a rustling of grass behind her; quickly she turned around, and immediately froze.
The person who stood before her was not Dragonus; in the dim pre-dawn light, Shendelzare could only make out a woman's figure. The woman had her wings unfurled, and her weapon was drawn - a broadsword, the weapon of choice of many Skywraths. Loosening her own chakram, Shendelzare called out first.
"Who's there? Announce yourself!"
The figure did not stop, but continued to draw closer instead. Shendelzare drew her chakram and held it at the ready, and dropped into a battle stance. She was about to call out another warning, but then cried out in agony as an arrow pierced her right thigh. Seizing the chance, assassin lunged forward, the broadsword cleaving downward in a great arc. Gritting her teeth, Shendelzare quickly flipped her handle on the chakram, bringing the circular blade parallel to the outside of her arm and parrying the attack. In the great shower of sparks that ensued, her assailant's face was illuminated briefly, but that short moment it was enough.
"Delozara?" Shendelzare's voice was tinged with disbelief. Snarling at the foiled surprise attack, the younger princess pushed down on her weapon, using the momentum to leap back from their steely embrace. Shendelzare could do nothing to stop her sister as her right leg folded beneath her, and she thudded the edge of her chakram into the ground to stop herself from collapsing.
Almost immediately, the bushes around Shendelzare seemed to explode with Skywraths; soon, the Queen-in-Waiting found herself surrounded by many of her brethren, each brandishing a different weapon. Bow, sword, spear... Shendelzare quickly scanned each and every one, keeping a mental inventory of the possible threats she currently faced.
"Sister." At Delozara's voice, Shendelzare snapped her eyes back to the front. Grunting in pain, she lifted her chakram out of the ground, and resumed her battle stance, obviously favouring her right leg.
"You are no sister of mine, Delozara, just another traitor to the Skywraths. As are all of you!" Shendelzare's voice rose, addressing her assassins. "Do you know who you