Faster than the crack of a whip, five or six smaller dragons fly up like a single, many-headed creature and catch her on their backs. They descend gently and to the far back of the field before they lower her from their backs and carefully adjust her wings to keep her as comfortable as possible. I continue to scream long after she's been brought down safely. I'm just terrified. When a pair of warriors charge me, I'm relieved by the distraction that they pose. I soon manage to get myself away from them.

I survey the battlefield like a general, even though I am most definitely not a general. Things are not going nearly as well as they were the night before. Everywhere I look, all I can see is Green soldiers. I feel the wind whipping through the air, shaking my braid. As I gaze into the sky, snow begins to fall. But it's different from the night before. The snow the night before was soft and peaceful and delicate, seeming as though it had been made especially for me. But this snow is different, and awful. It's huge and cold and falling in vision-obscuring flakes. It's collecting on the ground fast, and I have to slog through it to move anywhere. When another soldier attacks me, it's all I can do to even see who's trying to kill me. I smack back and forth with my sword, but I accidentally swing to the wrong place and throw myself off balance. I feel something flat and heavy smack me in the gut. I crumple, and then have to take several labored, painful breaths before the pain starts to subside.

I heave myself along, mostly on my knees. Anyone who has ever fallen from the jungle gym or been punched in the stomach has a good idea of how I feel. It's truly awful walking through a battlefield where your impending loss is evident. The fallen are everywhere, and it's all I can do not to curl into a tiny ball on the ground and cry the war to a pure halt. I suddenly hear a piercing shriek breaking the air. It sounds like my mother! I take a deep, painful breath, and then run towards the sound.

Well, obviously it wasn't as easy as all that. I had to slash and shove and tuck and roll all the way across the field. By the time I get nearer to the screams, I have several cuts all up and down my face, and I'm practically blinded by the snow. I see, in the midst of everything, a cluster of armored Greens, all with swords out. I move in closer. My mother, my father, Sene, and Sir Traice are all trapped inside of the cluster. My mother is screaming, Sene is crying, and my father is shaking. Sir Traice is grim-faced, and his knees are knocking. Glad of my smallness for the first time, I roll between the legs of one soldier, uncurling right before Sene's feet.

I stand.
"What is going on here?" Thank God my voice holds steady. My stomach is making odd noises, and my head is pounding, so I thought for sure my voice would shake. But it doesn't. It comes out firm and cold and more than a little scary.
One of the men laughs, a mirthless sound. "Following orders, missy." He steps forwards into my face, a classic intimidation technique. I scoff, but step back until my shoulders are aligned with my mother's.
"And your orders are?" My mother squeezes my hand.
Another man smiles cruelly. "Our orders are to kill the royal family, and anyone who might inherit the throne after them."

My mind reels. I can barely comprehend this. But one thought stands, illuminated, in my mind. "No." I say. The power of a single word can be little, or it can be great. This one shakes the Earth and makes lightning crack through the sky. I repeat it, partially for dramatic effect. "No. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever." My illuminated thought jumps forward, and I wrap myself around the idea. My voice shakes. "Everett is doing this just to spite me. What he really wants is me, and now he wants to make me regret everything I've ever done. If what he really wants is to see me dead, then he can have me. Let the rest of my family go free, and I will give myself to you. You may do what you wish with me."
My mother jumps forward. "No. Lorelei, I cannot allow you to."
I give her a wan smile. "You have to let me, Mother. This is my decision, and it may be my final one. But, even if I escaped and survived, I wouldn't have anything left to live for. You guys are my world, and-" My voice cracks, and my eyes overflow. "I love all of you. I need you to exist. Without all of you, I would just be an empty shell of a person." I take a deep, grating breath, and then look the soldier before me in the eye. "If I do this, you must all give me your word, as long as you all shall live and then longer, that you will not harm a hair on these people's heads."
The soldier before me nods. And then he lifts his sword, and I stand before him. Kneeling might make it faster, but I will not die kneeling. If I must die, I will die standing strong and proud, like the princess that I am. I see the sword descending, I feel the point scraping the back of my neck. And then......Nothing.