To Carnelian
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to you because you have been chosen to attend Jade Mountain Academy. You are among 5 SkyWing dragonets chosen to test the new school. I have one message for you: Don't forget where you came from.
Best of luck,
Queen Ruby of the Skywings
Carnelian sat at her ledge, remembering Queen Ruby's letter. She would never, never, forget where she came from, and the fact that her Queen had specifically told her not to made her blood boil. Does this mean she doesn't think I'm loyal enough to be in the kingdom anymore? She thought. I'll never become General. But I have to. It's the only thing I've ever dreamed of.
The sound of talonsteps snapped Carnelian back into reality. Her instinctive mind border went up, a buzz of hostility that calmed her brain. Carnelian peeked out of her cave and noticed three things unconsciously. One: They were her Clawmates. They would have to share a sleeping cave with her. Carnelian didn't know how to react when she saw them, so she just ducked back into her sleeping cave.
Two: They were a NightWing and a RainWing, neither of which had actually fought in the war she had. She brimmed with an angry feeling not unlike jealousy at them, who escaped the perils of war.
Three: Carnelian thought that the most alarming thing about them was that she felt a little prick at her mind border when she saw them. Moons. The NightWing was a mind reader. She seemed shy and reserved, as though she had way too many feelings— or thoughts that weren't hers, Carnelian thought with a pang of fear — pent up inside her head and she hadn't told anybody. Carnelian checked her mental wall and flew up to her ledge, blocking out the noise the way-too-bright RainWing was making. When Carnelian was a young dragonet, about the age she would be in the Wingery, her mother had taught her to make a mind border.
"Take all your worst thoughts and press them into little bricks," Her mother had said. "And build a wall around your mind with those bricks. It gives you a little security for yourself and protects it from invaders." Of course, her mother had died shortly after that in a battle with the SeaWings, but Carnelian still thought of her as a real dragon, waiting for her back home. That was why she had a certain dislike for SeaWings.
"Carnelian?" The RainWing asked. "What about you?"
It occurred to Carnelian just then that they were talking to her. She shook her head and faced the cave wall.
Ugh, Carnelian thought. Why can't I just be left alone?
She stormed out of the cave, not knowing why in the world she had been put in with these dragonets.
Why, Queen Ruby, She thought as she ran down the hall. Why would you do this to me?