Ciara ran down the hall once she saw the familiar back ahead of her.

"Sergon!"

Right after what had happened at the ball the day before, she'd immediately retired to her own room, not sure she could take it if she went and made another mistake.

That said, it didn't mean she got any sleep whatsoever, even when the castle quietened down. No, she was far too worried about what she'd have to face when she'd wake up again.

When morning came, however, no one had called to summon her. That only worried her even more.

Which was why she'd decided to go and seek it out herself.

The Commander slowly turned when he heard her call, his always amiable smile on his face even now.

"Ciara, good morning."

Winded though she was, she returned that smile, grateful to see no changes in his behavior.

"Good morning," she said between inhales of breaths. All while Alex and Greg weren't even the slightest bit winded.

His smile broadened just a little, perhaps in amusement.

"What might I help you with?"

She looked up at him, her smile faltering.

"I only wanted to apologize for everything I did yesterday. Especially calling for Kaisog and Sunrose."

She averted her gaze as soon as she finished, awaiting his reply. For a far too long moment, he remained silent. The lack of words made small beads collect on her neck as she started shifting from one foot to the other.

"Yes, it was not the best situation," he finally agreed. "But it cannot be changed now, and no one was hurt, so it will be okay eventually."

"Yes..." She glanced up at him. "I only wanted to show them how wonderful dragons can be, just as I did you."

"We all know that is all you wanted, Ciara, but it is not possible to change a person's opinion of something like this overnight," Sergon reminded her. "It took all of us some time as well."

While she hung her head low and nodded, Greg spoke up.

"I apologize for saying this, princess. But perhaps shoving them in their faces in that way was not the best option."

She nodded. "You are right. Both of you." In hindsight, it really hadn't been the brightest of moves she could've made.she hardly understood how she'd thought it was a good idea back then.

"While I would ordinarily agree, this time the fault does not lie on her shoulders alone," Alex suddenly said, making all three of them turn to him.

Her eyes widened. "What?"

Sergon was probably equally surprised but showed it quite differently. "Explain."

"The old couple you spoke with, Ciara, set you up for failure." Alex' gaze shifted from her to the Commander. "It was Lord Boryn and his wife."

Greg clicked his tongue. "Hells. Those two are known for not supporting this alliance..." He left the rest to their imagination.

Her eyes widened once she realized what they really meant.

"You do realize accusing someone of betraying the throne and being wrong is a heavily punished offence, do you not?" Sergon narrowed his eyes into barely anything more than slits.

Alex snorted, crossing his arms. "Sure, I do. And that is why I do not run around accusing people of things all the time."

Sergon gauged him in silence.

"You have to admit it is suspicious, Commander." Greg broke the silence once again. "Why would people, who are not silent with their opinions of dragons, ask her to summon them if not to set her up?"

Sergon kept his gaze locked on the man for a while, then sighed deeply.

"I do not know, Greg." He raked a hand through his dark hair. "But I intend to figure out, I can promise you that much." He looked from the guards and down at her.

She nodded and smiled. "Thank you so much, I would appreciate that."

He was undoubtedly a busy man, being the Commander and all, so the fact that he'd clear some time to solve something like this was amazing of him.

Sergon gave her a quick nod, the smile eased back onto his face at the sight of hers.

"As for your wish to show everyone the good friendships with dragons can bring, why not start with the inner palace?"

"The inner palace?" she asked at the sudden change of topic.

He nodded. "Yes, the people working for us here every day; maids, guards, servants, stable-boys."

That was a good idea. They were here every day and had already seen just how nice and calm both dragons were. Or at least could be. It was quite a long time ago that Ciara had seen someone seriously tense up at the sight of Kaisog on the castle grounds. Still, it was also true they didn't entirely relax in their presence either.

Alex quickly nodded, a grand smile filling his face. "That is a great idea! They will be easy to convince, and then they will be going back home and tell their families of what they learned."

Sergon nodded. "Yes. It might even spread from there. Especially since many already admire you for your efforts in the town square."

She nodded, the idea taking root in her as well. "Yes. I will do that."

The moment was broken by the sound of heavy, fast footsteps approaching them.

"Commander Sergon!" A guard came running towards them in a hurry.

Sergon turned around, facing his subordinate.

"What is the problem?"

He might as well have turned into another person, the gentle Sergon now gone and replaced by Commander Sergon Galias of the Southern Kingdom. Even his whole posture had changed.

"It is at the training grounds, my lord. We accidentally hit a rotten tree, and it fell right down on Thomas!" the guard said, calm as he started but getting more panicked towards the end.

"Hells! Is he stuck under it?"

The guard nodded. "Yes. His legs are stuck, he cannot move them. What do you suggest we do, Commander?"

Sergon paused for a moment, then turned to her with a little smile.

"Do you think this might be a job for Kaisog?"

"Definitely."

...

As she came running toward the grounds, Kaisog and Sunrose following her from above, she could immediately see why the guard had been so panicked.

It was a very grand tree they'd managed to fell, and rotten though it may be, it was no doubt still far too heavy for them to move just like that.

She gasped and almost ground to a halt when she saw the man, Thomas, stuck under it. She could see nothing of him from the waist down. He was disturbingly quiet, his face contorted in a pained grimace.

"Come on, Kaisog, Sunrose. We have to hurry!" she said, receiving yelps of agreements in return.

The other guards had already brought out their axes and begun hacking at either side of Thomas, but far enough away that he wouldn't be able to feel the shock of their hits as directly.

She and her companions were soon discovered, and one of the guards immediately approached, though still not too close with the two hovering above her.

"Princess! I am afraid we have had an accident, and it will take some time still. Can you-"

"I know. We are here to help." She was already fighting herself to not go running over there no matter how polite he was.

The guy glanced up at the dragons, unable to hide the frown that rose on his face.

"I am sorry, princess. This is not a place for either you or your... friends." His gaze barely strayed from the two above.

She gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowing.

"If you would let us, this area could be cleared up within minutes." Surely, he must also want Thomas out from under there as quickly as at all possible.

"I cannot do that, princess."

She could hear the dragons above responding to the frustration they no doubt felt wafting from her. She only barely managed to contain herself from stamping the ground like some child.

"Why? Why will you not allow me to help you?"

The man proceeded to sigh. "Be-"

"Let her pass."

The guard quickly bowed as Sergon stepped into view.

"Of course, Commander. I did not realize she was with you." He quickly moved so that he didn't stand in her way. "Please forgive me, princess," he told her, though it was clear to see this situation didn't sit well with him.

She smiled lightly, though he wasn't even looking at her.

"All is forgiven," she assured him softly, then stepped past him and towards Sergon. As a reflection of his, her expression morphed into something more serious as well.

"Do your thing, Ciara."

No more words needed to be shared between them. She gave him a curt nod and turned to look at her scaly friends as Sergon ordered his men to remove themselves from the tree. She could see they both were just as ready to turn things around as she was.

"Kaisog, Sunrose, please go on and pick that trunk up, we cannot let it stay there any longer. But make sure it does not break where they have begun cutting it," she told them calmly but firmly, wanting this to be a success.

They both gave her affirmative yelps and then flew over to the tree in question, hovering above it and positioning themselves properly in the air above it.

"Careful now."

They did just that, keeping themselves afloat with careful beats of their wings. They put no weight on the tree even as they simultaneously gripped the trunk, their claws digging into the bark right where the guards had been working on it just now.

Just as slowly and carefully, they ascended again in perfect unison, pulling the entire tree off the ground with little to no effort.

She smiled widely and clapped her hands together once the two were properly up in the air.

"Well done, you two! You did perfectly!" She bounced on her feet. Her expression elicited a just as happy squeal from Kaisog. This was exactly what they'd been working on for so long!

"Indeed," Sergon agreed, standing right beside her. "This is certainly much safer and easier on Thomas as well." he sent her a little smile, which she returned fully.

"I am glad to hear that." She looked up at the two dragons again, still hovering in the air with an entire tree in their grip, which was bound to get heavy at some point even for them. "Do you want the tree anywhere specific?"

"If they do not mind, just depositing it in the forest outside the castle-grounds would be wonderful."

She nodded and looked up at the two with the same, small smile.

"You two heard that, right?"

She was awarded with a pair of high-pitched squeals from them as they turned and flew off with it.

She watched the guards all group up around Thomas, Sergon included. Four of them picked the grunting and moaning man up and rushed him inside.

She could even hear the chattering of the men left behind from where she stood.

"Damn. I am glad I was not Thomas."

"I would have shit myself in fear with those two hanging above me like that, that is for certain," another agreed.

"Still, this was much easier than cutting it into manageable pieces and them moving them by horse," a third argued.

"For sure. This took no more than a pair of minutes and was much easier on Thomas, as the Commander said," the first one said.

"Hey, if those two will help with all the manual labor, then I do not mind them staying here - it is much easier on me!" Then they all burst into laughter.

Ciara felt an arm sneak around her shoulder then.

"You will convince these idiots in no time, Ciara." Alex flashed her a grin.

She nodded and looked back at the men. It certainly raised her hopes.