Ciara carefully knocked on the door in front of her, unsure of what she was supposed to do.

Quickly, a voice sounded from the other side.

"Yes?"

She took a short moment to brace herself.

"It is Ciara, your majesty. You summoned me?" she asked the door in front of her.

"Come in," was the curt reply to that, and so, she slowly pushed the door to the king's office open.

She found the king sitting behind his desk, not even looking up at her as she stepped in. She was immediately acutely aware of Sergon's lack of presence.

"Take a seat." He didn't even look up as he spoke.

Her nerves peaked as she slowly did so. She could feel herself bracing for a scolding she was growing increasingly certain that she'd get. Even if she wasn't sure what she could've possibly done.

Maybe Kaisog had gotten himself into trouble? She wouldn't put it past the drake.

Suddenly, a snort sounded from the man.

"At ease, princess. You have done nothing wrong this time."

Her eyes fluttered from the king, who had yet to explain himself, to Narza, who she had seen as little as she had the king recently. None of them made a move to say anything though.

And, just like that, her own patience wore thin.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Uhm... If you do not mind my asking, your majesty, why have I been summoned here?"

And finally, his steely eyes met hers as he pushed his work aside.

"I was wondering when you would ask," he said as though this had been a fun, little game to him.

Well, what else was new with this man?

Still, despite saying as much, he passed the word to Narza with a swipe of his hand. Instead, he leaned back comfortably in his seat, arms crossed.

"It has come to our attention that many of our own people do not believe in the union of our kingdoms," the advisor spoke, wasting no time. "Not to mention the West."

Even she could easily figure out how bad that was. It was the only reason she was here in the first place

"So, what do we do?" she asked, already ready to agree to anything they'd suggest. Anything to prevent war.

"We are hosting a ball," the king declared, awaiting her reaction with a smirk.

"A ball?"

"Indeed," Narza confirmed, swiftly elaborating. "The reason for this will be to make our kingdoms' union official to the nobles of our own kingdom. Dissuade their doubts."

She nodded slowly, starting to understand. Once the nobles knew, it'd spread to the common populace and spread further through them. It was an interesting way to announce it. She'd kind of wanted to attend one for quite a while now as well.

"Of course, we also expect this to reach the West one way or another." The king uncrossed his arms and instead rested them on the desk in front of him. "Either through common speech or through the spies they will no doubt send our way. That is part of the reason we are making such a spectacle of it."

She frowned. "Is that really okay?"

"You do not need to worry, princess. Spies are nothing like assassins - they are only here to gather information, so they will not be attempting anything. That would be incredibly counter-productive." He easily read her worries. "Besides, we want them here, so we will not be doing anything either, even if we discover who they are. As such, they should not feel the need to draw their weapons," he confidently said. Like he'd done this a thousand times before.

Unable to release the frown from her face, she silently nodded. She kind of understood what he was saying, but to freely let in the enemy for something like that and using them...

She had to trust him. He wasn't on the throne for no reason; he knew what he was doing.

"When will it be?"

"Oh, it will be a while yet," Narza said. "Likely about two moon-cycles or longer."

"That long?"

"Naturally," the advisor easily replied as though it was a matter of course. "For starters, word will have to reach our entire kingdom, and then people will also need the time to travel. Not to mention preparations. As a matter of fact, it is quite a short warning." He sent the king a pointed look.

"Well, this is war." The king shrugged. "I have to speed things up," he said with absolutely no remorse. "Besides which, I take no pleasure in those things, so the quicker I can get it over and done with, the better."

She nodded primarily to herself. When he put it like that, it made sense that they had to put off that much time. She even understood how it might be a short amount of time. Still, she couldn't help but feel butterflies already.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

The king's eyes widened to an almost comical size.

"Help?" he asked as though he didn't know the meaning of the word.

Narza looked about just as stunned at the suggestion.

"Heavens no, girl! Everything will be taken care of by the maids and every other hand we have in the castle."

She frowned, her hopes squandered. "Bu-"

"All you have to worry about is the seamstress' work on your gown. You do not have to lift even a single finger." Narza's dark eyes told her to surrender already.

With a sigh, she nodded slowly. "All right."

It seemed like she'd have to find something else to entertain herself with these coming, long days.

...

Preparations were in full swing already; maids and stable hands frantically running around everywhere. Merchants travelled in and out every day, hauling in heavy carts and leaving instead with heavy pouches.

Still, rushing around as they were, the answer remained the same.

"Oh dear, princess. You do not have to worry at all!" the head maid, Mathilda, told her, eyes as wide as saucers. Just like everyone else when Ciara had offered her help. "We are not yet so busy we have to ask for assistance from royalty!" She laughed as though this was merely a joke. "No, please, you just take it easy and rest up so that you are ready when the day comes." Her smile pushed her cheeks up and made lovely wrinkles appear around her eyes.

With that said, however, the rotund woman ran off again.

Ciara had completely lost count of how many times she'd gotten that same answer. She was on the verge of giving up.

Just then, two of the workers came walking past her, their conversation reaching her ear.

"How much wood do we need for the entrance?" the young one asked the older, probably apprentice carpenter and master.

The older one sighed quite heavily. "At least ten full carts. Baobab, preferably. The darkest you can find."

"That is quite a lot, sir. We do not even have that many carts."

"Not to mention horses strong enough to pull that kind of load," the older one agreed, growing no less exhausted. "We will simply have to go back and forth as many times as it takes."

"Not even our two strongest horses will be able to pull any more than two carts a day, sir."

The older one sighed tiredly. "I know."

And, just like that, she eyed her chance.

"Excuse me, gentlemen?" she said as she approached quickly, hoping she was fast enough for their long strides.

They turned to her all the same. At first indifferent, until they saw who she was and immediately rushed to bow.

"Princess! Forgive us, we did not see you there," the older one quickly took the word.

She smiled at them, though the formalities well and truly weren't to her taste.

"Oh, as you were, please. You do not have to worry about that." She gestured for them to straighten up again.

"I-is there anything we can assist you with, princess?"

"Well, actually-" She paused, a smile growing on her face. "I was hoping I might be able to assist you. I heard your dilemma, and I think I might have a solution."

"You do?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yes!" she told them. "You see, I am sure both Kaisog and Sunrose would love to help out - then it would take no time at all."

While the older one paled, the young one looked confused.

"Kaisog and Sunrose? Who are they?"

"The dragons," the older one muttered, making the young one pale as well. "I thank you for your gracious offer, princess, however I think our neighbor has some horses we might be able to borrow when the time comes. So, if you will excuse us," he quickly muttered and pushed the boy away ahead of him.

She sighed, rubbing her arm. She really hoped someone would say yes at some point.

"Horses can do the trick just fine. Just as they always have," she heard the older one tell the younger, faint though it was.

She sighed deeply again, her eyes prickling. This was all much harder than she initially realized.