Lodin woke up in the early morning hours as always. It had been especially early ever since moving to the sofa though. He slowly and carefully stretched his back, making his entire spine pop back into place in the most pleasant way imaginable.

Sure, it didn't completely remove the pain from sleeping on a sofa for several nights, but it was certainly better than nothing.

He soundlessly slipped off the sofa in the same manner he'd gotten used to doing it and picked out whatever lay on top in the wardrobe.

He closed the creaking door, cringing at the loud sound. As he had become used to doing, he glanced up at his own bed to make sure he hadn't awoken the young girl lying in it.

He found it completely empty.

Well, that was strange. Not once had she woken up before him, despite always going to bed earlier than him. Maybe she'd simply been unable to sleep for once.

He sighed and shook his head. It could hardly be anything else. He went to the bathroom, freshened himself up and got properly dressed before Mathilda could come flying in, demanding to help him with it.

He ran a quick hand through his quite long hair and opened the door to the hall. As usual, two young guards stood there, half asleep as they were, though they tried to hide it. Had the princess woken that early?

Oh well, if just for the sake of doing things right.

"Did the princess leave ahead of me?"

The one on the right blinked furiously. "The princess?" He shook his head. "Have not seen her, my king."

Lodin clenched his jaw. "Hells." He whirled around, back into the room.

He crossed the room with long strides, roughly throwing the balcony doors open. However, she was nowhere to be seen here, either.

He went to the railing and looked down at the ground, where he knew that dragon always stayed. It was curled up on itself and seemed to be peacefully asleep. And there wasn't a tiny, blonde girl anywhere near it either.

He growled under his breath and went inside again. Where in all the levels of Hell could that damned girl have gone?!

Surely, nothing could have happened to her with two - albeit drowsy - guards standing out front, the dragon outside and him right there in the room. Not without a single one of them noticing.

Then again, if it'd been one of those highly trained assassins from the East, then it might just be possible. But as far as he knew, they had no business with him or her.

While his thoughts spun around, one of the princess' personal maids stepped into the room. He immediately whirled towards her.

"Have you seen the princess?"

"T-the princess?" the young maid stammered. "N-no, my king. I have not." The maid paused for a moment to check the bed, then to stare at him with increasingly worried eyes. "Did something happen to her?"

He ignored the out-of-place show of affection from the maid.

"I do not know," he revealed. "When I woke up, she was nowhere to be found and no one has seen where she went." He sighed deeply in frustration as he met the guards' eyes. "Commence a search immediately. I want her found before the sun rises."

They bopped their head quickly. "Of course, my king." One of them quickly hurried out.

He also strode out of his chambers, barely noting the other guard had opted to follow him, until he turned to the him.

"Spread the word - the princess is to be found before sunrise."

He immediately scurried off.

Seeing as it was winter and Lodin woke as early as he did, that gave them an hour or two. If she wasn't found by then, he'd have to declare war on someone. That is, if that dragon didn't do it for him.

He had absolutely no clue where to start, so he started with the places he knew - his office and the throne room.

Naturally, searching those two places was fruitless - not even her shadow graced them. Why would she even be there? He sighed and raked his hands through his hair for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Lodin!" He turned around and saw Sergon come running over. "Is it really true that the princess is gone?" For the first time ever, actually out of breath.

"Yes."

"Did you try asking Kaisog?"

"That is the dragon, right?" Lodin rolled his eyes when he got a nod. "What help would it be?"

Sergon sighed. "First off, he knows and cares for her much better and more than we do. If anyone knows her whereabouts, he would be the one," he pointed out as though all of that was supposed to be obvious. "And second, he has the nose of a bloodhound and the intelligence of a man - he would find her within minutes."

"Fine. Let us ask the dragon, then," Lodin conceded. He had no better suggestion anyway.

Alas, the two quickly made it outside, where the first signs of the sun's arrival were present on the sky. The dim light only made everything on the ground all the darker, however. Except that dragon's eyes.

And they weren't happy in the slightest. It was warily watching everyone around it, hissing lowly and baring its teeth.

All the workers - Royal Guards, servants and maids alike - seemed confused about this and didn't dare do anything else.

Sergon frowned as well. "He never behaves like this. I wonder what is going on," he muttered as he stepped closer to the great beast.

When it saw their approach, it turned and snarled warningly at the confused Commander and the king right behind him. They weren't allowed to step any closer.

This whole situation reminded Lodin of the night the princess had arrived here all of two seasons ago. It was the exact same look in its eyes.

While Sergon was still absolutely speechless, one of the Royal Guards stepped closer.

"Hey, my buddy, Kaisog!" Alex loudly said, gaining himself a skeptical look from the drake as well. No hissing, however. "What is with the behavior - none of us mean you any harm. You do know that, right?" He was flashed a row of pearly teeth. "We only wanted to know if you know where Ciara has gone. We have been unable to find her all morning, you know," he said, practically unaffected by the drake's hostility.

The dragon kept its glowing, yellow eyes on the armored man for a while. Contemplating, it seemed. Finally, it grunted and properly moved its head from the spot on the ground it had seemed almost rooted to so far. It lifted its wing up a little, so everyone could peer inside to see what it hid.

Right there. On top of a neatly curled tail, was the girl herself, sleeping soundly on what had to be a far less comfortable bed than even the sofa he'd been using.

Well, at the very least, that explained its quite frankly hostile behavior. It was impressive to see the calm Alex approached it with though, and how it reacted to him versus Sergon. Went to show just how much time he had spent with the drake.

When Sergon took a step forward to retrieve the girl, the dragon whirled and even snapped at him. All while folding its wing over her to once again hide her from the sight of the rapidly growing crowd.

Lodin sighed deeply. It was the exact same as back then. Nothing was ever easy with those two, was it?

While Sergon struggled to calm the big creature down, a soft voice spoke, only barely audible.

"At ease, Kaisog. It is all right," the princess spoke from underneath the wing, which had been lifted a little again. "I am awake already." She had laid palm flat against its side.

The dragon glared at Sergon, snorted, and then went to nuzzle the blonde girl as though it was a mere dog. All while she affectionately petted it back, resting her head against its snout as though there weren't rows of teeth as sharp as any blade right there.

Although he'd watched their exchanges occasionally, it always came as a surprise. How she seemed so content to pet and be near such a deadly creature, just like so many others her age did horses. Even sleeping right beside it - it could very well have squashed her in her sleep.

He watched as they pulled apart, uncaring of everyone's gazes, and she turned to them as it sat up properly. The light wasn't great, but even Lodin could see how much of a mess she was. Her posture tired, her hair and robe in all sorts of disorder and her eyes red. Whether that be from lack of sleep or something else, he couldn't confidently say.

It was at this moment she looked around, absorbing just how many people had gathered around the two of them.

Seeing her momentarily at a loss for words, Sergon quickly tore off his cape and draped it over her shoulders.

"You must have been freezing," he awkwardly commented, breaking the heavy silence.

She easily accepted it, pulling it closer around herself.

"Not at all," she reassured the Commander with a smile. "That is also how they keep their young warm during winter." She glanced back at the big dragon with a brighter smile. The creature puffed out its chest proudly.

Lodin gritted his teeth. He knew where all this would go if he didn't interfere at this moment in time.

"What the Hell were you thinking?!"

She, the drake and Sergon turned to him with frowns on their faces. Sergon's the deepest.

"I apologize if I caused you any trouble. It was not my intention." Her eyes were cast to the ground and unable to meet his as they usually would.

"Trouble?" He completely ignored Sergon's gestures. "Princess, I thought the West had taken you hostage in an act of war!"

She needed to understand this so that he wouldn't have to deal with it again.

Her eyes widened exponentially at that, swollen as they were.

"I did not- I only- We... just needed each other's company. It was nothing more than that," she whimpered. Like a child.

"I do not care." He crossed his arms. "Next time, you will tell me when you get the urge to play hide and seek." He stared into her eyes and alas deftly ignored the burning holes the drake's were trying to burn into him. "Now, if you will excuse me," he then said, seeing no point in continuing this conversation and promptly turned around to go start work the way he was supposed to have done a little over an hour ago.

The day had only just begun, but he had a horrible feeling it wouldn't be getting any better.