Having learned of the dragons and their ability to make pocket realms like that of Agartha, Lila wondered if some kind of similar enchantment was passed over Lady Anagharad's backyard. For the perfectly-trimmed emerald green hills gently rolled far beyond what Lila would have expected to see from the outside of the estate, with a picturesque sky the color of Lady Anagharad's eyes overhead, spotted with the perfect amount of fluffy white clouds. 

They all stood out in the center of the field, with enough space between the three princesses to accommodate the full size of a dragon. 

Aideen was the first to transform. She merely closed her eyes, and was surrounded by a golden glow. That glow expanded, then dissipated to reveal a dragon of red and gold. 

Of course, Lila had seen a true dragon before, in the form of Kira. But in the panic of it all, she hadn't really registered it. The scales shimmered in metallic tones, with large horns atop the head with a smattering of crimson fringe and scarlet ridges that went down Aideen's back. The wings were bat-like, primarily gold with some patches of red and orange, and a long tail with a tuft of fluff that matched the top of the head. The claws were long, and staring up at Aideen's draconic form, Lila understood all the legends and depictions of dragons. 

It was like the story about the blind men in the cave with the elephant. Every culture had picked up a part of the dragon, an aspect to them, a detail. None quite right until all summed into the picture in front of her. And it was all ethereal, all awe-inspiring. 

Aideen blinked down at them with the same dark brown eyes and nodded her head like, now you try.

Kira pressed her lips together. "Does it hurt?"

"No, no, not at all." In a blink and a shower of gold, Aideen was back in her human form. "Not like the first time at all."

That made Lila more nervous. Would it hurt like that for her, because she'd never accessed that form before?

She wasn't sure. She thought she even spotted uncertainty in Lady Anagharad's haughty features. 

Kira was next—she closed her eyes and was enveloped in what looked like a cloud of violet smoke. When she emerged, Lila saw the form of the first dragon she ever saw, with purple and green scales. Kira's eyes widened in relief and let out a series of bird-like clicks and chirps. 

It was a far cry from what Lila had seen before. 

She had to remind herself of that. 

"Okay." She nodded and clenched her fists at the hemline of her skirt. She closed her eyes and tried to think dragonly thoughts—whatever that was supposed to be.

Lizard—lizard—lizard—

She didn't feel any different. 

Lila opened her eyes. Still human.

Frustration singed the corners of her eyes. Resentment bubbled in her stomach. She hadn't asked for this. She didn't want to compete for a throne that threw a wrench at her plans. But she had to—and for a people that wouldn't respect her just because she couldn't transform into a dragon, never mind whether or not she was good or kind or wise as a ruler?

For the first time, an image came to her—Lila on a bejeweled throne. Utterly exhausted, and bitter from all her dreams thrown by the wayside. Because she'd never had a choice. They'd rushed her into this and and made her vows for her. Something she couldn't break, if all the stories she'd read, all the fairytales on her shelf warned against. 

Why couldn't they just crown Aideen? Why did they have to compete, to break the curse? After all, Aideen was the only one who had grown up to learn about this world, about how to be a queen. 

Who was Lila to be a dragon queen when at least Aideen and Kira wanted it? Who was she to even try when she knew she wouldn't be as good at it as they were?

"I can't," she spat out. 

It was like trying to reach into a well for a bucket—when nothing was there and the water had dried up a long time ago. Whatever mysterious force she was supposed to tap into, the primeval form—it wasn't hers. 

Kira re-appeared as a human, and she shared a concerned look with Aideen.

"We can help you." Aideen approached. "This was the trick the Lady Grandmother used to help me transform the first time."

Lila glanced to Lady Anagharad, who watched them silently with narrowed eyes. If Lila squinted, she was sure she could see Lady Anagharad as a dragon, swishing her tail like a cat's when they were intrigued. 

She looked back to Aideen, who outstretched a hand to her.

"Take it, I'll help you find the right energy." Aideen smiled encouragingly. She nodded towards Kira, who also stepped forward. "We'll do it together. It's like a muscle—you just need to know where it is, how to access it, and then it'll be easier."

Lila bit her lip—she could only hope so. Then she nodded, resolute. "Okay."
She clasped the hands of the other girls. 

"That's it, I'll carry you." Aideen paused. "Well, metaphorically-speaking."

First came the relief, washing over her like a cool wave on the beach on the first truly hot day of summer in Goldwater Harbor. Then she felt a surge of energy, coming from her chest. It blazed warm, but not uncomfortably so. She felt it race through her veins, rejuvenating its course as she grew and stretched. There was purpose to this, something that predated her and would continue after. The very imprint of legacy, of power.

When she opened her eyes, the three of them were dragons. 

Lila laughed—and a series of chirps came out of her mouth in their place.

She stretched her wings, could feel the movements of the air shifting under them. So then she did the only thing she could—she jumped into the air and soared.

It was the stuff of dreams—literally, something that Lila could only have ever dreamed of before. And she had, so many times.

Was this the call to the secret in her birthmark, the inheritance that Jinn had hidden from her?

The exhilaration of it filled Lila with a giggling glee. Nothing felt so right as twisting and turning in the air as she got used to being able to move in all directions. The rush of the wind was her ally, gravity her enemy as she adjusted, using her tail to correct her direction.

As the other girls arced and swooped around her, Lila felt something new forming between them. Deeper than friendship—it was sisterhood. It was the kinship of sharing something so special, so sacred. 

That was when Lila knew that no matter how the Council of Crowns would pit them against one another, force them to compete, that they could never come between three girls with a sisterhood of secrets.

Lila never wanted to land, or have anything bring the three of them down.

Still, gravity came for the three of them as it came for all. The sun had begun its downward trajectory and Lady Anagharad called them down with envy and pride in her eyes. 

"It's a start," she said as the three shifted back into their human forms. A small tear formed at the corner of her right eye—she was quick to swipe it away. "Treasure those forms, girls."

She pressed her lips together as she glanced away, skyward. "I'd give anything to fly again like that."

It was then that the gravity of the curse, of what they were doing hit Lila.

She couldn't really care about the curse before, the dragons. How could she? She'd never met any, at least, none that weren't strange adults that spoke vaguely of curses and took the reins of her life out of her hands. 

She still hadn't, not really.

But flying with Kira and Aideen, seeing what was hers by birthright—it awakened something within her. Now she could understand why the Council of Crowns was so desperate to have them break the curse.

That would have to be reason enough, to continue.

"That will be sufficient for today," Lady Anagharad continued. "I want you to remember it, when we continue our work. That is what we are fighting for."

She paused, and smiled—the first hint of something grandmotherly about her. "Aideen, dear, please escort them out."

"Yes, Lady Grandmother." 

When they were alone in the front corridor of the mansion, Aideen pulled the other two princesses aside.

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."

"What for?" Lila glanced at Kira.

"I wasn't the most friendly." Aideen crossed her arms over her chest. "I just wanted to say—I realized we don't have to be rivals, do we?"

Lila shook her head. "We don't."

Aideen paused and tilted her head. "I don't have many friends. True friends, that is. Most of the other girls at school don't know very much about me. They see what I want them to see."

"Neither do I." Kira smiled sympathetically. "Maybe we can be friends."

"True friends," Lila added, and Sabrina's face flashed into her mind.

It felt like a small betrayal of her oldest friend. But it wasn't—not really. Sabrina couldn't share what Lila, Kira, and Aideen did.

But they couldn't share what she and Sabrina shared either.

They were different dimensions, different planets. There was space in Lila's life for all of them.

"Well, if you do want to be friends, I wanted to ask you something." Aideen glanced down at her shoes, and when she looked back up, her expression was almost childlike. "I've never had a sleepover before. Like in the movies and stuff. Do you want to have one here?"

"What?" Lila blinked, unsure of what she was hearing.

"Neither have I!" Kira cried, and she clasped Aideen's hands. "We could have one—the three of us!"

Lila wondered how she'd swing that one by Jinn. She couldn't exactly get Sabrina to cover this for her. Maybe if she got dropped off at Kira's first. . . 

But looking at the other two girls, Lila knew she'd figure out a way. Even if it meant lying to her mother. Even if it meant that little knot in her stomach that had developed ever since her seventeenth birthday grew just a little bit bigger. 

"I'll be there."