"It seems like everyone has gotten a little more used to Kaisog's presence here of late, does it not?" Elias asked, both he and Ciara watching one of the castle maids, who'd brought her daughter to work.

Ciara nodded and smiled when Kaisog gave them a happy yelp. "It does," she agreed. "And I could not be any happier for it." She turned to her scaly friend. "What about you?"

Kaisog immediately leaned back, spread his wings out wide and squealed happily. All the while, he was giving them a toothy smile and sliding his tail from side to side in his eagerness.

Alex laughed and patted the dragon's leg when he relaxed again. "I bet it is because he acts like such a giant kid all the time - he is a completely open book."

Elias nodded. "Indeed. I do believe his playing so carefully with the children the other day also had its hand to play in this," he said, also watching the little girl, who was eyeing them - and especially the drake - from afar.

Ciara smiled at this and cheerfully waved at the girl. "It is likely so." She was getting just as excited as the dragon. "I do hope so, at least." She lowered her arm. "I hope everyone will come to see dragons the way those children did."

"It will happen." Alex nodded. "You just have to give people enough time, and I am sure they will come around. Especially with the work you have been putting in recently," he said. "Everyone just needs to see this side of them - just as we did."

Elias sighed and crossed his arms. "I regret to dampen your moods, however it will not be that easy for everyone to simply change their beliefs and fears. For some, the hatred of dragons is so ingrained, a single act of kindness or two would never be enough. Nothing in this world may ever be." He sent the other guard a look.

Alex nodded slowly as he averted his gaze to the ground. "Yes. There are probably those who will never be changed, especially from the Dragon Slayers. People who have seen their friends and loved ones fall to the claws of a dragon."

She frowned deeply. "Yes, but that is only because they were misunderstood."

"Even so, they were still killed - misunderstanding or not, I am sure even you have not forgotten the first Dragon Slayer you met. You still flinch when you see some out on patrol," Elias pointed out.

She flinched at his words, and at the truth of them. How could she ever forget something like that? It all still appeared too clearly in her mind, even if she chose not to dwell on it.

"Also," Alex said, drawing their attention again. "They are all trained to hate dragons with every fiber of their being - not to mention far the majority join for that reason exactly."

She sighed deeply. "I understand."

Even if it was disappointing to have to face it, she did understand what they were saying. She understood there'd be some people she couldn't convince.

"Still, you have managed to convince two of us completely, at the very least," Alex said, his voice light in contrast to the sullen atmosphere that had been created around them. "I mean, I believe that is worthy of celebration, do you not?"

She smiled just as brightly - she couldn't help it in the face of his contagiousness.

"Yes, you are right. It is."

Alex, Elias and Sergon. She'd convinced them for sure.

Elias nodded. "And that is only the ones we know of. There may even be some in this castle and in Crocus who are unafraid as well."

She also nodded. If she had to guess at someone, she'd say the crew she'd sailed with would be pretty convinced around now as well.

"How is everything going here?" a voice suddenly asked. The two guards immediately straightened up at the sight of the owner. She also knew who it was long before turning around.

"Your majesty," she quickly greeted him and curtsied. "It is going quite well, I believe."

The king nodded. "I see. That is good."

She frowned when she realized he had nothing more to say about that.

"Pardon me for asking, your majesty, however surely that is not what brought you out here to see us?" Last time she'd seen him had been when he brought her back from the square.

He shifted his steely eyes to hers. "You are right, that is not all I came to do." His eyes switched to the two guards." I would like to borrow princess Ciara for a moment. Alone." Those simple words made them withdraw. He looked to her again and gestured ahead of them. "Walk with me," he asked of her, though she could see in his eyes that this was hardly a request. Just like having her alone hadn't been one either.

She gingerly followed along when he strode right ahead of her. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest, proof of how disconcerting it was for her to have her friends pushed away and then being dragged away from Kaisog. She felt truly alone in facing the man, even though Alex and Elias were following them at a distance.

It didn't help all she could do was stare at his imposing back as he walked ahead of her, not uttering a single word to lighten the already heavy mood. She had absolutely no clue where he was taking her - neither if he was really taking her anywhere at all.

"Uhm, so... Will you not be behind with your work?"

He glanced back at her over his shoulder, then turned ahead again before replying.

"That is not for you to worry about, it will be fine." He luckily didn't see how she curled in on herself at his sharp words as though having been stabbed by a dagger. "Besides, this is about as important," he muttered to himself, though she knew he knew she could hear it just fine.

She sighed lightly, so that he wouldn't hear. He sure wasn't making this easy for her, was he? But she wouldn't give up just like that.

"Where are you taking me?"

He audibly sighed ahead of her, not making any attempts to hide it. "We will be there shortly."

Which only made her try a little harder.

"Why are you taking me, then?"

"Because it is a little removed from the castle, so there will be no prying ears."

Even so, she could quite literally not see any other people around her besides the two of them and her two guards. And those two were too far away to hear even a single word they said as long as she and the king didn't yell. Again.

Seeing as she would be getting nothing out of him, she took to admiring their surroundings. She hadn't even known this place existed, as it was on the other side of the castle - with a beautiful, marble pavilion overseeing a small lake, surrounded by a forest of deep, green trees.

"So, what did you want to talk about, your majesty?" she asked him in a way she knew he wouldn't misunderstand.

He turned to her then, deciding this was far enough. His steely eyes seemed even sharper than she could remember ever having seen them.

"I know of your little escapade to Crocus."