I don't know when I started shaking, but Robin came over and held my trembling hand.

"I-I am." I sputtered. Father hissed at me as a pair of ice daggers appeared in each of his hands. The guards noticed this and drew their swords, howling wolf pommels focused on him.

"Larsen stop!" Mother cried. He only shoved her away and sank into a fighting stance. He could fight? I was getting more and more confused by the second.

"Sir," Their leader started calmly, pulling his hood down to reveal a handsome tanned face... but those eyes. They weren't of this world, real swirls of shadows danced around his irises, the whites of his eyes were barely visible. That meant he was at least twenty, and he had powers. I gulped and squeezed Robin's hand, "We mean no harm. My men will only use violence as a last resort."

Fair enough.

"You are not taking my daughter anywhere, guards," he snarled. The men growled in answer. A warning.

"Fath-"

"Not now, Raila," he hissed.

"Sir," the man stopped Father with a raise of his hand, "I'm afraid your daughter is to be arrested for treason against the Royal Family."

"What!" Mother exploded, "but sh-"

"Lady, I have direct orders from the king himself. I am Quintus Sandrien, Captain of the Guard, and your daughter will be arrested for stealing and mauling various belongings of the Royal Family continuously."

Robin immediately let go of my hand and stepped back as though I had grown another head. Oh gods, Prince Xylin must have known something wasn't right about me. Dammit Raila, and you gave him your name!

Father lowered the blades slightly and glanced at me over a shoulder. I stared at the ground, holding back a sob. It wasn't supposed to go like this, but then I recalled my earlier words to Kalinier:

"At least there's no palace guards after us."

"Not this time, Kalinier."

"Raila, is this true?" Father whispered sadly. I took a deep breath and stared the captain dead on, ignoring the shadows that seemed to have suddenly moved closer to him.

"It is. I was only taking the money to survive."

"And the queen's missing jewelry? The new displays that were supposed to go up in the dining hall and ballrooms? Don't tell me that wasn't you."

"It wasn't me." True, it was Kalinier, but I would never betray him.

"Then who was it, girl?!" he roared. I opened my mouth speechless, the only word I could think of was 'betrayed'. I don't know why.

"So you did do it. You have no proof." He flicked his hand and two guards stepped forward with a golden chain and a necklace with a solid black stone on it. I backed away towards the stairs.

"No, please," I begged. I eyed the necklace again. The captain saw my gaze.

"It's a wyrd stone, to contain people with powers, stop them from using their powers basically. That's just a normal chain, but it sure does the job."

"I don't have powers. I haven't done the Beckoning."

He tilted his head, making him look younger, "you haven't? How old are you."

I counted the days in my head, I would be twenty tomorrow, "nineteen."

"That's old enough." He said before lunging forward and pinning my arms behind my back.

"Wait, what are you doing? Father!" I shouted as the golden chain clamped down on my wrists. The two guards looped their ends of the chain around their own wrists and tugged me towards the door roughly.

Before I could feel the weight of the cold stone against my chest, Father unfroze and lunged at the nearest guard, making a neat slice across his throat and moving to the next without hesitation.

"Kill him!" Captain Sandrien shouted. I let loose a roar and kicked blindly at the man on my left, hitting him in the stomach and elbowing him in the face. The other man holding me drew a dagger in shock, slashing at my head. I ducked and tackled him to the ground, punching him in the face and pounding my hands on one of his arms, hearing a satisfying crack as he screamed in pain.

I stood up with a wicked smile stretching across my face, but then something slammed into my back and I gasped before I was held above the ground. Captain Sandrien raised his hand as shadows continued to wrap around me. I started thrashing frantically as Father took down another guard effortlessly.

"Larsen!" Mother shrieked, staring up at me horrified. Father whipped around and wiped his bloody face, but his blue eyes landed on me and something snapped in him. He roared loudly, sounding very un-humanlike as the form of great wings majestically appeared behind him. I gaped at him as Captain Sandrien backed up uneasily, raising his other hand and forming a sword made of pure shadows. Father rolled his shoulders and stretched his silver feathered wings to their full length, filling up the entire room as the other guards took up the defensive. He breathed heavily as he lifted off the ground and tucked into a spiral, barreling through the first row of guards like he had done it thousands of times.

Captain Sandrien shouted out orders, half focused on keeping me suspended and out of anyone's reach. Robin began crying and retreated to the stairs as Mother grabbed a vase and smashed it over a guard's head before he could fire an arrow at Father. I shouted out a warning as Captain Sandrien pulled his arm back and switched his sword for a spear, hurling it through the air as Father whirled around, flapping frantically as he barely dodged it.

My mind began to spin wildly, trying to make sense of everything that was happening. I felt my eyes begin to close. Don't faint, don't faint, three moons Raila stay awake! My mind shouted. I jerked and snapped my eyes back open, watching Father land as the guards lay motionless behind him.

"What are you?" the Captain snarled. Yes Father, what are you? My mind echoed. Father ignored him and folded his wings in tight, the moonlight pouring over him like he was a god as his silver coloured feathers rustled in the wind.

"Let her go. I'm more valuable to you."

"No." the Captain and I both said. Silence fell as the Captain stared at my father's wings, "You're an arkryllian aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Why aren't you in the army? Or are you a whoring spy?" I snarled in warning and writhed against the shadows.

"I am not a spy. I ran from my country, they think me dead now." Father casually slipped his hands into his pockets, straightening and putting on a blank expression.

"Your country thinks you dead, huh? Well, why don't I make that come true!" Without warning, the captain dropped me to the ground and stabbed at Father, feinting right and aiming low. I screamed as Father lifted into the air, diving down and tackling the captain away from me. They roared as I watched frozen, slashing at each other with their own elemental weapons. One of shadow, the other of ice. A duel to the death, I realized.

Father landed on the ground hard as a rope of shadow wrapped around his ankle, dragging him down. He smashed his hand on the ground as ice erupted around him, casting him in a shield as the captain tried to peer inside. We all held our breath as Father's bleary form rose menacingly. Captain Sandrien backed up and raised his sword as Father shattered the ice and aimed a kick at the captain's head, but that move caused him to leave his left side open as Captain Sandrien leaned back and stabbed forward.

I screamed in horror as time seemed to slow down just for me to watch as Father realized his mistake right before that sword of darkness sank into his chest and erupted from his back in a spray of crimson. He let out a muffled gasp and fell to his knees numbly as Captain Sandrien pulled the sword out. It was Mother who screamed and shoved the captain away, holding on to him as Father's breaths grew more laboured. She placed his head on her lap and stroked his hair, murmuring something to softly for anyone else to hear as Father, despite the pain, reached up and cupped her face, smiling at her as his hand spasmed from pain.

And in those few seconds everything changed as his eyes glazed over and his hand fell limply to the ground. Mother let out an agonized scream as she begged him, begged him to survive, to look at her again as Father lay motionless on the ground, an ice dagger still held limply in his cold hand.

I don't know how long we sat there, staring at his lifeless body as his wings itself looked like they were losing their colour. It might have been a few seconds, or even a hour, but two strong arms hauled me up and I didn't bother to fight as I felt that cold stone settle on my chest, as I felt Captain Sandrien lean in and whisper words that stopped me from fighting anymore, because the only person that had fought for me was now dead.

So I didn't struggle against his grip as he shoved me into a waiting prison wagon outside the house. I didn't struggle as they locked the door, trapping me in a dark and cold cell, but I did watch through a tiny hole as my house grew smaller and smaller until Mother's screams couldn't be heard anymore.