"So, Ciara, I heard a little bird tweet about you and the king having your own little tea-party the other day." Alex had a big, revealing grin on his face. "Would you care to elaborate on that?"
Chanti never had been good at keeping things secret.
"Yes, it is true." She couldn't help beaming herself. "I was so surprised when he suggested it." Still was, as it happened.
Alex smiled at her innocently happy expression. "Yeah? That is surprising for him," he agreed. "What did you do, then?"
"Well, we did not do much else than talk, really," she said, remembering the long talk they had. "I think we were talking in there for over an hour - that is what the maids tell me, anyway," she explained. Time had seemed to fly by so fast it hardly felt like even a fraction of that long. "Mostly, he just let me talk about dragons, but I managed to get him to tell me something about himself as well." While she'd had to twist his arm to get it out of him, it remained the truth.
Alex' eyes gleamed. "Like what?"
She looked up at him from the corner of her eye. "As if I would tell you something like that. It is a secret!"
"Oh, please," he said. "You can tell me; I promise I will not tell."
She couldn't help but to roll her eyes at the blatant lie. He would tell Elias and Chanti would somehow catch on - she always did. Though she trusted Elias to keep it tight, Chanti would have told all of Crocus within a week.
She shook her head pointedly enough for her hair to swing with the movement.
"Not a chance, Alex. Just forget it." She smiled, having fun dangling it in front of his nose.
Still, she couldn't forget just how pleasant it'd been to talk with Lodin - there was no reason for her to feel as nervous as she had. He was quite nice. She just hoped it wouldn't be too long until she got the chance to do it again. And then to learn more about him this time.
She heard a familiar, disdainful huff behind her. "This is no reason for you to feel special, girl."
Ciara sighed and turned to see a much less pleasant face.
Why did Victoria not just give up, already? This was starting to grow dull.
Victoria scoffed. "Just because he talked with you once changes nothing - he has done much more than talk to me." There was a triumphant look in her eyes. "Neither does it that you are still sleeping in his room like the little girl you are."
Speaking of sleeping in his chambers; Ciara could clearly remember having chosen to sleep on the sofa that night to spare him from it. He had done it for so long now, and she was small enough to actually fit, so if anyone, she should be the one sleeping over there every night. Still, when she had woken up the morning after, she'd been lying in the bed.
For a change, though, the other side had been vaguely warm, so Lodin must have slept there after all, fortunately. Had she sleepwalked? She couldn't remember being told she had ever done something like that, though.
Suddenly, a pair of fingers snapped right before her.
"Hey! Are you listening to me at all, girl?!"
Alex took a threatening step forward, hand resting on his sword pointedly. "Mistress Victoria, I suggest you calm-"
"I apologize, Victoria, it seems I zoned out for a moment." Ciara quickly cut Alex off before he could finish his sentence. It was about time she fought her own fights. "What did you say, again?"
Victoria clicked her tongue, glaring at the younger lady.
"Pathetic." she muttered just loud enough for them to hear. "You really are a not-"
"CIARA!"
Looking in the direction, she saw Greg running at full speed towards her, a frantic look on his face.
"What is going on, Greg?" she asked, trying to calm him down as well. He was breathing awfully hard when he reached them.
"You have to come quickly!" he told her between gulps of air. "Sunrose has been spotted!"
"Sunrose!" She turned to the other woman. "I am sorry, Victoria, but this will have to wait." She looked at the two men alternately, a determined look in her eyes. "Let us go immediately, you two!" She hefted up in her skirts and took off down the hall he had come from.
If Victoria had called after them, none of them would've heard it as the collective sound of their feet pounding into the floor drowned it out.
As usual, neither Ciara's shape nor her attire allowed for much speed or stamina, so she needed to stop up and make sure to breathe as soon as they got out. Her lungs stung from the cold.
Her eyes quickly found the fast-approaching spot up in the sky. Kaisog's cry of joy only confirmed that it really was the dragonelle. Sunrose's cry in response was exactly how Ciara remembered it.
She watched with a fond smile as Kaisog leapt off the ground and raced to meet her in the air. He took a moment to nuzzle her mid-air, rubbing his forehead against hers.
He cut it strangely short, however, as something on her back seemed to have caught his attention. He squealed happily as he dove behind her and seemingly nuzzled her back.
At first, Ciara was confused as to what he was doing up there, unable to see anything from so far away. Her confusion was shattered when she heard high-pitched yelps. A sound none of the two had made the last hundred winters.
"So that is why you were gone for so long," she muttered to herself, not minding the others' attention on her.
She watched, stepping forward to meet them as the two turned towards the castle again, calmly approaching the courtyard in which they had spent so much time already.
She was practically bouncing on her feet as they landed, just a little bit away from the three of them. She waited anxiously, a grand smile playing on her lips when a little head peeked out from Sunrose's back.
None of them said a single word as the little creature yelped and jumped down from the dragonelle's back and onto the snowy ground. Tears continued to gather in Ciara's eyes as the young one jumped around in the same snow excitedly, as though it was its first time meeting it.
Kaisog and Sunrose had become parents!
Sunrose had spent these last cycles on the nesting ground. That was why Kaisog had been so secretive, yet so happy at the mention of the dragonelle.
"A hatchling?" Alex muttered, clearly flabbergasted at the sight before him. Although they all were, really.
The little drake was no bigger than a pony, but with all the playful energy of a puppy. He was completely black - just like his father - and with a beautiful, yellow belly - just like his mother. His eyes were as strikingly yellow as Kaisog's as well.
She noted his build was much like Kaisog's - with the wings doubling as front feet - but not even close to as bulky as the grown dragon, and never would be. He would be very fast, there was no doubt about it.
His horns hadn't even begun budding yet, remaining two scaly bumps on top of his head. His teeth, however, seemed as pointy as the sharpest of needles already.
She approached the two big dragons slowly, giving the little one ample time to hide between his mother's legs. The two lowered their heads to her, welcoming her approach and letting the hatchling know she was all right.
She gingerly reached up and placed a hand on each side of their snouts, looking into their eyes alternately with tears glimmering in her own.
"I am so happy for the two of you." She felt Kaisog lean into her touch a little. "I cannot express myself in words."
Sunrose yelped comfortingly, gently nuzzling Ciara and in doing so hogging Kaisog's space. Which also made the big drake grumble in response.
None of the girls minded him though as Ciara wrapped her arms as far around Sunrose's head as she possibly could.
"I missed you too, Sunrose. More than you could ever know."
Sunrose nudged her gently in reply, staring at the blonde softly, returning the words she'd spoken with that alone.
It was broken off, however, when the little one made an attempt at growling, which ended up sounding more like purring, and then pounced at Ciara, nuzzling into her stomach much the same way he had seen his mother do it. Only he didn't realize his own weight and strength, making them both topple over to the ground with a whine. The confused look he gave her made it impossible for her to not giggle at him.
"You are absolutely precious, you know that?" she asked him, only smiling wider when he tilted his head confusedly, as though he didn't quite understand what she was saying.
Kaisog snorted, and then reached down and nudged the young drake off her, all of them watching as the young one uncaringly bounced away, continuing his own game in the snow.
She quickly got up from the ground with a helping hand from Alex.
"While I am excited for all this and the both of you-" He paused to look at the two newly hatched parents while she brushed herself off. "Is it really a good idea to have the kid bouncing around here?"
Ciara immediately understood. "He is right." She nodded. "The Dragon Slayers are always around - it might be dangerous for him." Her eyes followed the grinning hatchling for a moment before returning to the two. "Maybe you should bring him to the Dragon Kingdom instead?"
Sunrose looked over at Kaisog, who sat down pointedly, proudly puffing his chest out and thumping his tail on the ground.
Ciara smiled faintly. "I see there is no changing your mind on this, huh?" She got an affirmative look from the big drake.
"I still do not think that is a good idea, Ciara." Alex glanced up at the two shortly.
She smiled gently. She wasn't completely comfortable with it either, but if Kaisog judged that it would be okay, then she trusted that. Dragons - especially males - were nothing if not protective.
"I am sure they can protect him - they are both very fierce dragons," she assured him. "Besides, I will have a talk with Lodin and see if something can be done."
Sunrose looked to the hatchling and yelped at him lightly, making him stop whatever he was doing and quickly skip over to them. Sunrose gently nudged the drake around so that he sat facing Ciara. Sunrose then looked at the princess expectantly.
Ciara frowned. "What do you want me to do?" When Sunrose nodded towards the hatchling again, humming gently, Ciara's eyes widened. "You want me to name him?" Sunrose nodded.
It was a common enough practice back in the Dragon Kingdom, but she'd never tried being the one to actually name a hatchling. That didn't mean she hadn't anticipated and anxiously awaited the day she finally would, however. As a matter of fact, she had a whole list of names.
She smiled brightly, the perfect one popping up in her head.
"I know just what to call you!" She reached out and placed a hand on each of the young one's cheeks. "You will be called 'Basuril' from now on - an absolutely adorable name for an absolutely adorable drake!" she declared, getting a big grin and a yelp from the drake himself.
The name was approved of.