Princess of Dragons

Chapter 54

Finally, a maid appeared with a tray in her hands.

"Do pardon my intrusion, my king," she said, looking to the king. "Princess," she added, looking at the princess as well.

Ciara couldn't remember a time where this had happened before. Where she'd been mentioned in lieu with the king like this. As though she was his equal.

Still, none of the two of them really noted her reaction and simply carried on.

"Please call if you should need anything else." The maid's eyes flew alternatingly between the two of them.

"This will be all for now," the king curtly replied. "Make sure we will not be disturbed for some time."

The maid nodded, hugging the tray to her chest.

"It shall be done, my king," she quickly said before just as quickly exiting the room.

He languidly reached out to take his cup, leaning back on the sofa and letting his eyes land on her.

"So, tell me about the Dragon Kingdom."

"Huh? W-what do you want to know?"

"Everything," he stated infuriatingly vaguely. "How do you manage to live on such a small island? Why are none of you concerned about the amount of dragons swarming you?"

"Well," she muttered, getting herself started. "The second question is simple. We are not afraid because we know they would never hurt us; they are our friends." She sent him a simple smile.

He, however, frowned. "But how can you be so sure of that? I would wager a guess and say it is not unlikely that there are double the amount of dragons that there are people. How can you keep creatures as dangerous as these so close to the general populace when they are not tamed?"

"Because we trust each other - just as you do your patrolling guards and family dogs," she explained, but she also knew he probably didn't understand completely. "You have to understand that after the Great War the territories dragons could reside in became much smaller. They would be hunted down by your Dragon Slayers and feared by the people."

His expression didn't change much at that, but she could see in his eyes that he was beginning to understand where she was coming from. And where she was going.

"Dragons are intelligent creatures. Even more so than us," she said. "They know that there are things we can do for them that they cannot themselves - such as stitch up a wing - and they know that there are things they can do that we cannot." She smiled lightly. "That is why they flock to us, yet still would not dare hurt us," she summed up. "It is also the answer to your first question - it is because they help us that we can make do for ourselves."

"I see." He paused for just a moment. "In what way do they help you, exactly? Surely, it must be more than simply moving a fallen tree?"

"Yes, much more." She nodded. "We cannot grow a wide variety of crops because the earth is as dry as it is, but the ones we can grow, the dragons help us maintain," she explained. "While we still do not have many of either, it is especially water or earth dragons which help us with this. Sometimes, wind dragons can help us with the water as well, though. They also help us with simple things such as taking care of the children while the parents work and such."

He nodded slowly, his brows a little furrowed still.

"Earth dragons I understand, as they usually do not have wings, but why do you only have few water dragons?"

She shrugged lightly. "We are not quite sure of it ourselves, but we have not seen many new water dragons apart from the ones already living on the island. No one understands it." As a matter of fact, it was quite a big conundrum in the kingdom.