Ciara sat on the bed in the king's chamber, rubbing her both swollen and tired eyes roughly.

She couldn't remember a time where she had had a tougher night than this one. Cried herself to sleep - and probably also in her sleep - and then being woken up like that.

It seemed her thoughts from the night had basically been confirmed, however.

She sighed as she got up. Even so, this was still a day she had to get through somehow. Besides, if she didn't calm Kaisog just a little, he might just go and do something both he and she would regret.

He really hadn't taken the king's words well and had she not stopped him, he might have torn the man's head clean off.

He wasn't usually this easy to rile up, but with everyone gone and her emotions going as wild as they did, it was no surprise. Even if it was just a little more problematic in this kingdom.

She exited the room and barely noted the guards following her - they changed every day, anyway. She was almost sleepwalking as she went down the halls, thinking of absolutely nothing as she let her feet take her wherever they wished.

She didn't even notice it when Victoria came storming down the hallway ahead of her, an angry look on her face.

"How dare you, you pitiful wench!" the woman hissed, in no way keeping her disdain subtle.

"Victoria," Ciara muttered. She honestly wasn't sure she was mentally prepared for whatever the woman had to say. Be it big or small.

"How dare you create such a spectacle of yourself?! Do you not get attention enough as it is?" The woman threw the questions at the princess as though they were knives. "You created so much trouble for everyone - Lodin especially."

Lodin? Were they so close they were on first-name basis?

"You know how busy he is, so why do you go and play stupid games like that? He does not have the time for it!" Victoria said, speaking as though she was talking to a child rather than an almost fully grown woman.

Ciara sighed lightly. "It was never my in-"

"That does not matter! Fact of the matter is you took precious hours away from his already strict program," the mistress cut her off, fires of ire burning behind her eyes. "Grow up already." She huffed, rolling her eyes. "Why are you even here?"

Ciara wasn't even sure she could answer that question. She wasn't sure she knew at this point.

Unaffected by the princess' silence - or reveling in it perhaps - the woman continued her quite one-sided rant.

"You do nothing to contribute here - all you do is force your beliefs of those deadly beasts down the throats of everyone," she said. "You, who has tamed such beasts, would never understand how we feel."

Ciara frowned at the ground. Was that how they saw it? Was it really true that she was forcing those beliefs on everyone in the way Victoria described? Had she misunderstood everything she'd done the last few moon-cycles? Why had no one ever told her anything?

"You bring nothing but trouble to this castle," Victoria said. "Splitting it into two - Dragon Slayers against Royal Guards. All because you managed to infatuate Commander Sergon with your vile ways, and even some of his men." She snarled just at the thought of it. "Who do you even think you are?"

Ciara had long since taken to staring at the floor they stood on, just listening to the woman's words.

"You are not even doing your job as a consort any justice either - simple as that is. That is why I am still here," Victoria continued. "I would bet everything I own that you do not even know the first thing about Lodin. And you have made no effort to either." She narrowed her eyes. "If you had, your scandal this morning could have easily been prevented."

Ciara closed her eyes and inwardly sighed. She could hardly deny it. If she'd only done a little more, all of this could've been prevented.

"You are worth nothing to anyone," Victoria stated with a scalding voice, watching the tears rise in the girl's eyes. "All you are is an alliance in a war. You are only worth the power you bring - but not even that is particularly great," she mercilessly told the girl. "Keeping you and your pathetic kingdom alive is nothing but a deadweight for us. I do not comprehend what could possibly possess him to still keep you here after all you have done already."

Ciara hadn't registered the scrutinizing glare the woman kept directed at her until its weight disappeared when she stepped right past her.

The blonde girl's lips parted lightly to take in the air her nose couldn't. She could deny none of the things the woman had said, because they were all true. She was nothing but a deadweight here. Nothing but problems stacked upon problems.

And she couldn't stand it any longer.

She whirled around and ran down the hall as fast as she possibly could, fueled by the emotions tumbling down her cheeks.

She ignored the two guards' calling and only ran faster than she had before. She wanted to be alone now, away from every one of them.

She stumbled outside, the first flakes of snow falling from the sky and landing on her skin, burning in its iciness. But she could hardly appreciate it any other way that that it seemed similar to how the tears fell from her as well.

She ran right up to the big, black drake, who was immediately on guard when he saw her. She pressed herself into his warm scales, truly doing her best to combat the strong sobs wreaking havoc on her body.

Finally, with his nuzzling, she calmed down enough to speak. She looked up into his worried, golden eyes.

"I want to go home."