Edan swam to the surface, dragonscales glittering all around him as they sank into the abyss. Once he'd hit the water, he'd immediately and involuntarily changed back; dragons and water never mixed.

He looked around for the ship, hoping desperately to get out of the water. He wasn't sure if the Beast with the Black Head was still alive, and he really didn't want to sit in the water waiting to find out. He pulled his feet up close to his chest, as if that would actually help when the thing reared its head.

Fortunately, the ship wasn't far away. And it looked like it was coming towards him. As it got nearer, he could hear people shouting his name.

"Here!" he yelled as best he could, waving his arm vaguely above his head. Changing like that always drained him, especially going back and forth so quickly. He only hoped they could see him down in the black waters.

Finally, when the ship was close enough, a rope was thrown down to him. Edan grabbed it and let himself be dragged onto the deck. As he lay there, sopping wet and staring at the sky, he saw Azalea muttering a chant and looking at him warily. She must have guided the ship towards him, even though she clearly had reservations about it.

Colin threw dry clothes at him, and Edan wearily put them on before wrapping himself in a wool blanket. They were still in the arctic seas of the north, after all.

"So. Want to tell us what that was all about?" Thales asked, keeping his distance. Edan glanced around. The only person who wasn't looking at him like he was a monster at the moment was Colin.

"What were you thinking?" Colin asked. He didn't sound disgusted so much as disappointed. Maybe Edan had misjudged how upset his old friend was after all.

"I was thinking that I had a better chance of defeating a sea monster than anyone else here." Edan said. And he had, hadn't he? Why did he have to justify himself?

"You almost burned down my ship!" Captain Vesa snapped.

"That's not true." Edan challenged.

"Only because Azalea put it out." She pointed accusingly at something slightly behind her. The mast. Edan could see the top corner of the sail was flapping in the wind, singed with black.

"Well, it wasn't my intention." Edan said finally. But he'd had other things on his mind at the time.

"So how long have you been able to do that?" Captain Vesa asked.

"Few years." Edan shrugged. He didn't really like talking about it – didn't like others to know. He'd only done it because this was clearly an emergency.

"That's why you insisted on a room to yourself." Thule said, almost thinking out loud.

"Didn't figure any of you would want to sleep in a room with a dragon." Edan told him.

"Can't say I don't appreciate it." Thule admitted.

"So we're supposed to take a dragon to the Southern Isles?" Captain Vesa asked the sky. Then she mumbled, "They'll hang us before we drop anchor."

"Prince Edan is the rightful heir to the throne." Colin spoke up.

"Prince?" Azalea looked shocked, as if she couldn't figure out how a dragon could be prince of anything. Though Edan guessed that with dragons' fiery reputations, a tree nymph might be even more wary of him than humans.

"I am. And there's no one else left." Edan grinned, trying to act like none of this bothered him. "Besides, my...curse...isn't exactly common knowledge."

Captain Vesa considered it for a long time. Then, she slowly started nodding. "We'll have to renegotiate payment." she mumbled to herself.

"I'll double it." Edan told her instantly.

"Triple! At least!" Vesa laughed derisively. "Clearly, those things cost you nothing to acquire!"

"True." Edan conceded.

At least he'd gotten that taken care of. Still, managing to stay on board the ship was only part of his problem. He was still going to have to land on the island, make his way to the castle, and convince the council that he should lead, regardless of what any prophecy said. But this was his destiny. And how could he shake the kingdom to its very foundation when the entire royal family had already been wiped out? It seemed to him they'd done a very good job of shaking the kingdom without him. Maybe if he'd been there, if he hadn't let them push him out, he would have been able to stop it.

Edan helped Thule tie the tattered sail back to the mast as best they could. They would need to repair it, but Thule was confident it would hold until they could make port. As Edan followed Thule back down to the deck, he made a decision. He wasn't going to run away from fate any more. He was going to take control of his own destiny – to rewrite it. And who would be better able to protect his kingdom than a dragon?