As promised, I wake up to my big brother hanging over me, shaking my shoulder roughly.

"Come on, Sky. Get your ass up and we'll get out here." he says, grinning happily.

"Alright, alright. I'm getting up, Kei." I say groggily, slapping his hands away. "Go and saddle the horses, I'll be with you in a minute."

"Yes, your highness." Keirran replies, bowing mockingly. He disappears from my room in Arcadia.

I slide out of the warm sheets mournfully, clutching the blankets for as long as possible. I was shattered. Robin had not let me go for almost two hours and my legs were creaking like I was truly ancient. Even after I had been freed from Puck, I had been barraged by a host of other fey, including the Lady Titania. Joy. She had asked rather pointedly whether I was interested in the Summer prankster. I had told her the truth, but she seemed not to believe me. I had only gone to sleep about three hours ago.

Shutting those thoughts away temporarily, I stumbled into some more suitable hunting clothes and shrugged my black cloak over the top, and rushed out into the courtyard to meet Keirran. It was very early morning, a biting chill still hanging in the air. It didn't compare to the scenes yesterday, buzzing with life. No one was around except my brother and our two horses. I walk over to the waiting horses and put my foot in Orin's stirrup. Keirran was already up in the saddle.

"Are you sure about this, Kei? You're on thin ice already, and somehow I think Dad won't be pleased if you bail today aswell." I warn.

"It'll be fine. We'll just have to make it back for the formalities. I have no desire to be sat in the Accords Hall for the rest of the day." he says breezily, gathering the reins up in his hands.

Neither did I for that matter and I sprung into the saddle.

"You won't regret it. I guarantee." Keirran winked.

"We'll see, won't we?"

"Whatever, princess."

"So where are we heading today?" I ask.

"How about Perilyn Falls? We always throw down there." he suggests, a mischievous glint flicking across his sapphire eyes.

My stomach rolled horribly. Only two nights ago, I had been directly told that I was not allowed there. Not only that, I had promised not to go.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"We're not allowed."

"Since when do we care what Dad says what we can and can't do?"

"I promised."

Keirran could make false promises but he didn't know that I couldn't.

"Stop being such a leech. He's going to be in the Accords all day; he'll never miss us and he'll never know we were there. He would never suspect his favourite of betraying him." he replied. I could sense he was losing his patience with me.

His words were true and we both knew it. Although Dad loved the both of us, I had always been closer with him than Keirran ever had. I had never really considered how Keirran had felt about it. It didn't seem to matter. Until now.

"I'm being loyal."

"Stuff your loyalty, Skylar. It's no fun. Come on; come with me."

"No, Keirran!" I snapped. My brother's eyes narrowed.

"Fine." he said coldly. "Go and be a good little girl. I'll be back later."

When I was a little girl, all I had wanted to do was please Keirran, to earn his approval. He ordered me around and whatever he wanted, I would do. In return, I had his affection, loyalty and companionship. When I was little, if I did something wrong and Keirran left me on my own. I would go to him, throw myself down at his feet and beg his forgiveness. I'd apologise until my face turned blue and he'd take me back every time.

Part of me did want to go after him and apologise and go off to the Falls. But I knew better. Not only could I not do it, I just didn't want to anymore.

Swinging Orin around, I galloped back to Arcadia's briars with my rage still bubbling. Storming through the parted bushes, I tie Orin up to a thick branch and throw myself down on a bench. Stupid Keirran.

"I'd expect you to be in bed, princess." a familiar voice calls, snapping me out of my temper immediately.

Puck slides down the stair rail and sits down beside me. His bright red hair is ruffled from sleep and his emerald green eyes glint in the early morning sun.

"I wish I was. I might be fey but I can't dance for two hours without feeling the after effects." I say, giving him a nudge.

"Well, hey, at least we didn't screw up." he remarks, throwing an apple up and down. He offers it to me, which I take gratefully. I wondered if he knew what people were saying about us. Probably. "So what's up?"

"How did you know I was mad?" I ask him in wonder. I was a master at wiping my face clean of any emotions. That was how to survive in the courts.

"Well, when you've spend years riding around with Prince Ash, Mr Blank himself, you learn to read between the lines. He was constantly playing that trick, the no-emotions method." he replies airily.

"Had a fight with Keirran." I mutter, biting into the apple. The sweetness exploded in my mouth, relaxing me a bit. "He wanted to go to Perilyn Falls."

"Ah. I would bet anyone my left arm that you weren't allowed to go there." he says, his handsome face darkening a bit. "Wyverns live around there and those beasts bring up memories your father and I don't really care to divulge. It would break Ash into pieces if something happened to you and Keirran. I take it he went without you anyway?" I nod.

"Stupid boy." he mutters. With a sharp shake of his head, he loses the dark attitude. "So now you're free to sit around listening to our beloved monarchs spat with each other."

"Wonderful."

"Isn't it just, ice-girl? I don't fancy it much. Meet me outside the court at midday then."

"Deal."

Ash

That night, Skylar fills my dreams. Everything from the day she was born, to the present.

I slip into the side room connected to our chambers, my footsteps emitting no sound. After two weeks, Meghan was back in court. Something about the Winter fey going over the borders so she'd left my newborn daughter to her maid's care for an hour or two. If there was a time to do it, it was now. The wane light from the rising sun illuminated the figure of the maid, Nerida. It was peacefully quiet. Skylar must be asleep still. Nerida sees me in the corner of her eye and turns.

'Prince Consort.' she greets, curtseying politely.

'Nerida.' I nod in return.

'The princess is asleep, sir.'

'So she is. Can I have a minute with her? Alone, please?'

Any other servant would have obeyed and ran from the room within an instant but not Nerida. She was fiercely loyal to Meghan.

'Her Grace told me to stay with the princess at all times, sir.'

'And now I'm asking you to leave for a moment. I mean her no harm.'

'Of course not, sir. I wasn't suggesting that but-' the maid hesitated. 'Alright, sir. Call me back when you need me.'

'Thank you.' I murmured and Nerida left the room at last. I approach the cradle. She was no longer asleep.

God, she looks like me. So much so, I couldn't deny it. My daughter looked like a winter sidhe, though she was the blood of all three courts.

Skylar had lost the red tint on her skin; it was very pale. Defeating the well-known myth of baby blue eyes, her eyes were the colour of melted silver. She had a lot of hair for a newborn, jet black and silky as velvet.

I lift her up and hold her close. The girl weighed almost nothing; particularly slim but she was warm and strong in her own right. Her head rested against my shoulder, as I rocked her back and forth on my heels. I do as I swore and I whisper softly in her ear.

"My name is Ashallyn'darkmyr Tallyn, third son of the Unseelie Court. Let it be known—from this day forth, I vow to protect Skylar Tallyn, daughter of the Iron Queen and my own, with my sword, my honor, and my life. Her desires are mine. Her wishes are mine. Should even the world stand against her, my blade will be at her side. And should it fail to protect her, let my own existence forfeit. This I swear, on my honor, my True Name, and my life. From this day on, I am yours."

The scene shifts in a blur of white light.

In the pitch darkness of the night, our bedroom door swings open, letting in a shaft of bright light. A small figure scurries through. Sitting upright, I feel something move at the end of the bed.

"Skylar?" I call into the dark. She pops up beside me, her silver eyes wide with fear. With a sigh, I wrap my arms around her small, fragile body and pull her onto my lap. She's shaking like a leaf in autumn. "What's the matter, Sky?"

"The bad man came again." she mumbles, her voice muffled into my chest.

Skylar had bad dreams a lot. The 'bad man' existed in the worst of them. We didn't know who he was or what he looked like. Neither me, Meghan or Keirran could coax it out of her. I stroke her long, soft black hair. She had refused point-blank to let anyone cut it and it had grown thick and lustrous like a lion's mane.

"It's alright, princess." I reassure her softly, laying back down, Skylar curled up tightly by my side, the blankets reaching to the top of her head. "I'll always be here, Sky."

"I love you, Dad." she says sleepily, drifting back off to sleep beside me.

"I love you, to."

The scene changes to the castle courtyard of Mag Tuiredh.

Skylar, at least eight years older than the previous memory, duels with me. Ever since she was able to learn, I had taught her myself and she had grown to be a lethal fighter, a sufficient match for me.

It's a close battle until Skylar strikes the hilt of my sword with such force it knocks the blade from my hand. Like lightning, she grabs my sword from the floor, whirls around and brings the swords to my neck, one in front and one to the side. By executing that move perfectly, she had finally brought me to my knees.

The few watching knights stand in a shocked silence for a few moments then they erupt into cheer, clapping their princess. Skylar herself looks stunned with herself. She drops the blades from my neck and throws herself into my arms.

"Well done, princess." I murmur into her ear.

"I had a good teacher." she replies, feeling her warm breath on my cheek.

Skylar and Keirran, standing on the balcony last night. Both so grown up and changed, talking and laughing together. So close. The image shifts yet again but this time, it's not a memory. It's a vision. A blood soaked battlefield lays out under a stormy sky. A huge army stands on one side, a mixture of Winter and the odd Iron fey and at the head stands Keirran, swinging my own sword in his hand. On the opposite side stands the Summer and the remaining Iron fey. Oberon, Titania and Skylar and Puck stand in front. Skylar, hand in hand with Goodfellow, wears glistening silver armour, her sword strapped familiarly to her side. The two forces collide and Skylar and Keirran immediately engage each other. It's a long, brutal battle, both sustaining terrible wounds from each other. Combined with her unique glamours and excellent swordsmanship, Skylar ultimately defeats her brother, stabbing him through the chest with my sword. She drops her sword and crouches beside her dying sibling, smoothing back his blonde fringe . . .

I'm pulled from my dreams abruptly.

Meghan is fast asleep beside me, her head on my arm. The room is still relatively dark, only a thin stream of light coming in through the crack in the curtains. My head spins painfully from the dreams. They were a relatively new thing to me. I could only wonder if Skylar herself had seen it. She could sometimes see particularly potent memories of mine.

Not caring about waking Meghan, I jerk arm up to sit bolt upright. I run a hand through my hair and my breathing comes heavy.

"What's the matter, Ash?" she asks, opening her eyes.

I can't reply, I feel like I'm being choked.

Abandoning her questions for the moment, Meghan wrapped her arms around my chest and pulled me towards her, letting me lean on her shoulder. No matter how I try, I can't shake the image of the final battle. Can't get rid of Skylar finally killing her elder brother, the look in their eyes as she does it.

"What did you see, Ash?" Meghan asks me eventually, pulling away and straightening me up. I recap the whole thing to her, not censoring anything out. She turns as pale as I am. "What do we do, Ash? We can't let that happen."

"No, I won't." I say darkly, my knight's oath to Skylar kicking in.

If anything stood against her, it was my job to eliminate the threat, I had sworn it by my True Name. My knight side didn't care if her offender was my own son, my knight side's only goal was to keep the girl safe. If what the Oracle said was true, that both Meghan and I would be banished, this was my only chance to change fate. But could I really do that? Could I really bring the blade down on my own flesh and blood? Perhaps Prince Ash could have done it, an unfeeling, soulless fey. But I wasn't that Ash anymore. I had a mortal soul, I could shelter the more human emotions. I loved Keirran, he was my son. Ash, the Queen's consort, could never find it in him to kill the young prince. But if I didn't, Skylar and everyone else would have to pay for my affections.

"Ash." Meghan says quietly. "Did you swear the Knights Oath to Skylar?"

I wondered how she knew.

"Yes." I admit. "I don't know what to do. Sky means everything to me . . but so does Keirran. What this is, is choosing which one to save. I don't think I could ever raise a hand to Keirran anyway."

"You could, Ash. You're Skylar's knight, you have to keep her safe. You're bound to her. If Keirran turns . . you will kill him. I know that and you know that. You will because I know how strong the bond of a knight is." she says matter-of-factly.

"I'll try, Meghan, and I'll win, but I will not be able to deal the final blow. I'm telling you. It's all going wrong."