Janice: Yeah caffeine! Thank you NorahJones, anonymous reader (you know who you are, Danny will be in soon, I hope the description in this chapter suits you better, I'm working on decriptions and such), Magdalan-Saiyan-Toa, KinoLadyoftheDivine, Miko in Training (wait until you meet him!).

Summary: A long curse has been passed down for generations. The 21st queen must end the curse, save her island home and try not to fall in love with the merchant's son.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, so get over it.

Dragon Whisper

By 1PaperFanGirltoRuleThemAll

Chapter 2

The Girl with the Deadly Secret

Days must have passed before I woke in a hazy sort of conscious. My mind was muggy and boggled, my body ached, and my talon throbbed.

"Mother," I croaked.

"I'm here, hush." Mother said, stroking my hair. "It's all apart of the healing."

"My… my finger… Burns! Mother, my finger, it burns!"

Instantly, the witch was holding something up to my lips.

"No!"

"Drink," Paulina said, her voice low.

"No!" I waved my hand with the throbbing talon at her uselessly. "No!"

"Restrain her!"

I felt two strong arms hold my own to the stone floor. Mother?

The hot liquid cooled my throat and quenched my thirst. But, the mixture caused me the be slapped into unconsciousness.

Through the next few day, I woke with searing pain and thirst. Conscious, unconscious. Each time, the searing pain increased tremendously.

And then of three or four days in that state, I awoke to a cool feeling on my finger. I gasped, realizing it no longer burned as it once had.

And there was the witch, rubbing the cooling ointment on my talon. I looked at her confused.

"It is time." she said, her grin Cheshire and devious. At once, the pain returned. The pain was not caused by the burning mustard and thistle paste, no. She was pulling my talon off! I cried and struggled against her, but Mother once again held me down. I screamed, kicked, thrashed, bit, scratched, and sobbed all at once, but Mother nor the witch would stop.

I saw Paulina throw my talon to the floor and let my arm fall to the ground. Blood poured from the wound. The witch's cure had not worked. I felt some wretched sound pass through my lips in a croak and I fell once again into the one friend I had had these past few days, unconsciousness.

When I was finally able to wake without much pain, it was days later. I looked at my hand in which my wedding ring shall sit upon my finger. It was bandaged.

"It is all over now, love." Mother said, brushing my hair through her gloved fingers. "Do you feel any pain?"

"No, I…" I began. I didn't feel any pain. "I feel completely normal."

It was true. It was as if I had never gone through Paulina's cure. I felt perfectly fine, rested and better.

"Good." Mother smiled down at me. "She has awakened."

"So I've noticed." Paulina's voice said. She didn't sound too happy. "It's time to remove the bandages."

"Will we burn our gloves?" I asked, hopeful.

"Aye, we will, my love."

We both watched as Paulina unraveled the bandages. Mother's strangled cry of haplessness reached my ears.

My finger was still spiny, like a lizard. The same blue-green scales glimmered tauntingly at me. It was much deep in color, but I still found it oddly beautiful and cursed at the same time.

"You did not rid her of her Witch mark!" Mother screeched.

"There is only one other way…" the witch sighed. She pulled out a glimmering silver blade.

"No!"

"You shall not maim my daughter. No prince would take her for his if she is maimed!"

Paulina raised the blade against my mother, blade towards her breast. Mother back away, frightened.

"Don't kill her!" I cried.

"Quiet, child." the witch hissed. Her eyes flickered fiendishly at me. "Know this, I have sent a scroll to a friend. This scroll has the cure to that Witch mark."

"Who has the scroll?" Mother pleaded.

"Who has the scroll, who has the scroll!" she taunted.

In an instant, Mother was upon Paulina, scratching her scared face. Mother held her wrists.

I screamed and felt myself thrown back against the rock wall of Paulina's cave.

When I could finally see straight, I saw Mother looking utterly surprised and a burning Paulina. The witch's screams reached her assistant's ear. Maddie had rushed in, unsure of what was going on, but when she saw the witch burning, she fled through the cave opening, a look of delight on her face.

"Put your gloves back on." Mother said, handing me my gold gloves that covered my talon.

"Mother," I said, watching as she packed our things, "Mother, what happened?" I ignored the witch's dying cries and the smell of burning flesh.

"Nothing, dear, nothing. Don't fret your pretty head, I'll take care of things." She grabbed out packs and loaded them on our horses. I went to help her, bust she brushed me off.

I grabbed the cloak that Duhnell had made for me. It smelled sweet and it was warm. I wrapped it around me letting the warmth sink into my chilled bones.

"Princess," a soft voice said. It was the woman, Maddie. "I beg you to take my daughter." She brought fourth a lean girl with orange-ish hair and blue eyes. She looked stressed and confused.

I gently took her bare, dirty hands in mine, and turned to Maddie.

"I will make sure she has a good home." I smiled at the girl, reassuringly. She looked between me and her mother. "You can trust me." I still held her hand, leading her to my horse.

I mounted and then helped her up.

Maddie held out a small, glittering object to the silent girl sitting in front of me. I never saw what it was, but I was sure it was something that meant a lot to the woman.

"Your daughter is safe the Princess's hands." Mother said, patting Maddie on the shoulder.

"We'll see each other again." Maddie said to her daughter.

The girl didn't struggle to go back to her mother, she simply sat there, unmoving, silent as we rode back to the castle.

We took our time, as we had a little less then two weeks to come back home. We spent a few days in a small town, whose healer recognized us instantly. The healer claimed to have the cure this time. Mother believed the ignoramus. So, I had a another healing trial. At least this time, I couldn't feel the searing pain of my talon and it worked…somewhat.

After the healing session, I watched my new little handmaid. She was slightly taller than me and held a grace that any princess should carry themselves with. But there was a flaw to her, she was mute.

"Can you write?" I asked her. She smiled and nodded. I handed her a piece of charcoal and a sheet of paper. "Tell me, what is your name?"

She quickly wrote it down.

Jasmine.

It was beautifully written, much better than my own handwriting. Maybe I should have her be my scribe…

"Did you like living with the witch Paulina?"

No. She was a cruel hearted woman who despised me.

"Do you miss you mother?"

Yes, she was my mother.

"I wish I could send you back to your mother."

So do I.

Father welcomed us back with open arms. He was worried, of course, for the fear of an attack from thieves. We had known about the recent attacks before we headed out. Luckily, we had no trouble.

"A feast for your return!" he said.

I found Duhnell and told her about Jasmine. My nursemaid was happy to meet my strange, new handmaid. The two instantly liked each other.

"Come along, you two, it'd be best to get you two ready for the feast." Duhnell said. "We have special guests."

"Special…" My eyes widened. Could it be? Could Dashell, the man I am to fall in love with and wed be here?

"Yes, now hurry along, you two, I still have to find Jasmine here a dress to wear."

I grabbed Jasmine's hand and pulled her along the winding, twisting stair case that lead to the east wing, where all royalty and their guests, along with handmaidens and advisors, lived and slept.

I opened my bedroom door to reveal the room that hide behind it. It was a luxurious, true, but was adorned with darker colors than most. The rich violets and greens, as well as blues and blacks, seemed to flow into a single space. Mother didn't agree with it (as I didn't agree to wearing pink dress), but on occasion, she admitted that the colors suited me (as I had to wearing the pink dresses). I guess me wearing those cursed things was the only way I could keep the dark colors in my room.

Jasmine seemed to like my room. Duhnell soon entered, seeing the curious young woman searching for something.

"Over this way, dear." my nursemaid said with a chuckle. She opened another door to reveal my washroom. "Can you make sure she gets a good washing?" Jasmine nodded.

I walked into the washroom and sighed. The water was steaming and it smelled of lavender.

Jasmine helped me to strip of the dirty riding clothes I had been told to wear for the trip to receive my healing. I was hesitant towards taking off my gloves. Duhnell herself didn't know abut my talon.

Jasmine pointed to my hand, then to her eye and then her head. I gave her a confused look. She took my gloved hand in her's, pointed to my talon and smiled. She knew about it. But could I trust her not to tell anyone?

I thought about this for a second. Who would she tell? Duhnell? My nursemaid needed to know anyway. Father? He didn't have the time to listen. Mother already knew. Cook? No, Cook was usually too wrapped up in making something sweet or tasty. She couldn't tell anyone, nor do I think she ever would. I could trust my strange, little handmaid carrying the most deadly secret in the entire kingdom.

The feast Cook had prepared was the most delectable thing I had ever eaten. I was happy to have Jasmine sit by my side and eat the food with me. I could tell she longed for her mother to be there by our side, laughing merrily.

She was curious to those that were with us, so when she pointed to someone, I would tell her who they were and what they do.

"That's Lord Anrduke. He's my father's advisor. You'll like him, he's very funny."

She pointed to someone I had only seen one other time in my life.

"That's Prince Dashell." I breathed. "I am to be his bride once the curse has been lifted. His family thinks highly of us, that is why Dashell wants me to be his."

I watched my future king through most of the feast. He was athletic and quite tall. His short blond hair was due to a recent run-in with a dragon

"…She was a dig thing." he said. "Me and Kwan almost had her, too. But she got away only by chance."

Dashell's loyal companion, a tall, muscular guy was stranger than any I had ever seen. He had faded green eyes shaped like almonds. His black hair had been pulled back, to keep it from getting into his eyes.

"That's— " Father began, but he was interrupted by a messenger boy.

"Your, Royal Highness!" the messenger cried. "There's a ship that cannot dock. It is going to sink!"

Janice: Well, here's the next chapter after a weeks wait. I finished it yesterday and decided this: Saturday it will be installed the earliest and Friday the latest. So that means, most of the time, the next chapter will be up on Sunday. I leave you with a cliffie. So, in a review, tell me what rocked, what sucked, and what I need to improve on entirely. I like to know what you think, flames are very much welcome, so don't be afraid. Anonymous reviews are good too.