Princess of Dragons

Chapter 14

Kaisog flew around in circles overhead, dissatisfied with the speed of the entourage underneath. Still, he didn't speed ahead, simply because Ciara was part of - and reason for - the slew of horses headed for the castle.

Immediately after the fire dragon had left, she was ordered to mount one of their horses and return to the castle as she'd promised. More specifically; she was ordered to mount the horse Sergon was riding.

So, she did, and was now stuck between the Commander's arms, trying not to let the deafening silence get to her. It wasn't only the silence though; it was also the anger that wafted from the king so clearly she could almost see flames around him. No one dared say even a single word in case it would set him off - save for Kaisog, who felt no reservations against voicing his displeasure. It made the atmosphere so tense it was difficult to even breathe.

She sighed and turned her gaze to the dragon above. Surely it hadn't been wrong of her to do what she did? If she hadn't, the dragon would've been killed and taken many Dragon Slayers down with it. Not to mention civilians.

No, it had to have been the right thing to do.

With that settled in her mind, Ciara - rather awkwardly - watched as they rode inside the gates that led to the castle.

As soon as they were far enough inside that the gates could be closed, the king slid down from his saddle. He handed the reins over to a stable-boy and never had she seen such simple actions filled with so much barely-under-control anger. He immediately turned to the two of them, his expression as stiff as she'd imagined.

"To my office. Immediately." He was already striding off towards that very room before they had even a fraction of a chance of replying.

Sergon sighed before sliding down as well, offering a hand to her. "Here, let me help you, princess," he said, still the perfect gentleman even in this kind of situation.

She gave him a light smile that she knew didn't reach her eyes the slightest. "Thank you."

He retuned her faint smile with a reassuring one of his own and easily helped her down from the horse. They left it to the stable-boy as well and walked towards the castle.

Even between the two of them, the silence remained. She had no clue what to talk with Sergon about, or even if she should at all. Neither did he, from the looks of it.

So, their walk was spent in silence and at a relatively fast pace - none of them felt the need to postpone this.

They finally reached the room that was the king's office - a much smaller room than the throne room. They found him leaning over the desk with his back to them, staring down at the dark wood.

"Close the door," he said, not facing any of them. His anger had diminished in comparison to just a little while ago. Purely by the force of his will she guessed.

Sergon did as told, secluding the three of them from the outside world.

The king seemed to be taking a deep breath before he finally spoke up again, not even twitching away from his position.

"Princess, I do not know how you do things in the Dragon Kingdom." He turned around to finally face her. "But what you did today is not how we do things here."

She frowned deeply, was he looking down on her? On her home?

"I am sorry, but what part of what I did was wrong, your majesty?"

He paused for a moment "Several things, now you ask." He crossed his arms. "Princesses do not go head-first into danger the moment they hear of it. They do not mingle so naturally with peasants. They definitely do not leave the castle so easily - especially not alone and on the back of a dragon. And they do not dirty themselves as you have today." He counted the number of things on his fingers and pointedly looked at her bloodied dress. "Simply to name a few."

She couldn't help the light glare that formed in her eyes. "So then perhaps you would have preferred having to deal with the body of a dead, adult dragon, several Dragon Slayers - not to mention common people - and the destruction that comes with that?"

"No," he honestly admitted before his gaze also grew cold. "However, that is not for you to worry about."

Her glare only deepened with her frown. "If I know of a peaceful solution to a violent situation, should I not react?" She clenched her hands behind her back.

"Not in the way you did, no," he continued. "You should come to me or another relevant party with a suggestion and we would take it into account before doing anything foolish."

Seeing how she was well on her way to blowing up, Sergon elaborated on what the king had said.

"Please understand, princess - our concerns are for your own safety and that of others'." He continued when her attention was on him. "Those dead bodies you mentioned may as well have included your own."

Her frown grew even deeper. "The dragon would never have hurt me." She thought he, of all people, understood that.

"Not the dragon - a stray arrow or spear," the king explained behind her. "Luckily the Slayers were all sensible enough to not do anything, but you cannot count on that always being the case."

"I had not thought of that." She felt the embarrassment of her lacking foresight grow on her cheeks.

"I thought you might not." He sighed as he shifted into a more relaxed position. "Also, I know you have some special connection with dragons, but I really would prefer if you did not so freely go around and invite them here."

"What?" was all she could say in the face of this very new topic.

"And so would most who work here as well," he added, ignoring her question. That is, until he saw she was still dumbfounded. "They are afraid of dragons."

"Then what would you suggest I tell him? No one else here would have done it." She felt anger flare dangerously in her once again.

"It could fly to your kingdom and get it fixed there."

She glared at him. "You would suggest he fly all that way with a wounded wing?!" She was disturbed by the mere thought of it. "Surely no one expect you to walk to Crocus port with a broken leg either?"

He shrugged lightly. "Never in all my life has a dragon ever gotten or needed healing in this kingdom - and those that did must have found other solutions."

"That is because you people think every crashing dragon is trying to attack you! You kill them before you try to even understand why they are there in the first place."

"Be that as it may," the king cut her off, his calm a stark contrast to her anger. "I do not want you inviting any more of those creatures inside the castle gates. You have already been allowed one, I do not see the need for more."

She stared at him for a moment, speechless. "'Those creatures', as you call them, are the last thing I have here," she said so lowly it would almost be a surprise if he heard her at all. "If all you wanted was a pretty wife, I am not the one." She bit back any tears that might threaten to fall. Why did absolutely nothing go smoothly for her ever since she got here? It well and truly felt like she'd never fit in in this place.

The king looked steadily at her, even as her emotions coiled up inside her.

"I noticed." He sighed, then seemed to mutter to himself. "Truthfully... not want... at all." was all she caught though she could easily piece together what he said. And it didn't help anything at all. "You ought to know I am placing you in a quarantine from today and onward."

She watched him with widened, disbelieving eyes. "A quarantine?"

He nodded. "You are not allowed to step out of the castle gates in any way, shape or form and you will have a pair of guards with you at all times." He was as annoyingly, emotionlessly calm as he'd been throughout this conversation.

He trusted in her so little he felt the need to have someone watch her all day? She felt her lower lip tremble at that implication.

She couldn't muster up any words to reply to that statement, so she simply whirled around and ran out of the room.

...

I just want to mention - I wrote this chapter way before corona was even a thing, so I the quarantine-stuff has nothing to do with that XD