Damien was waiting for her in the study with a pile of papers for her to sign. He smiled in acknowledgement and pulled out the seat for her. She smiled back faintly and sat down with a sigh, ready for a day of burying herself in documents.

A couple of hours later, she took her afternoon tea break out in the balcony, with some chai and shortbread cookies. Damien had left her alone for a while now, and as she gazed down at the gardens, she twirled the green teardrop necklace she was wearing in her hand and recited a spell in her head.

Light smoke appeared, and the outline of a small dragon enveloped her, slowly getting more apparent. Finally, the smoke cleared to reveal a thin, green, scaly dragon with red whiskers wrapped around Reyna’s body in a snake-like fashion, wings tucked in neatly, tail around her waist, head resting on her shoulder.

‘Any luck?’ said the dragon.

‘No,’ Reyna said listlessly.

‘You’ll get there,’ she said soothingly.

Reyna sighed. ‘At this point, I don’t know.’

                                             *       *         *         *        

The morning of their visit to the five bordering cities arrived. They had to check up on the progress to the magical barriers and the destruction the Creatures had left behind before being driven out.

A maid had taken her bags down to the carriage. Reyna sprayed a bottle of Laqosh’s Anti-Frizz on her hair, while Damien patiently stood at the door to her closet.

‘How many people are downstairs?’ she asked.

‘About 15 or so, according to the guards,’ he said. ‘I think they want you to say something.’

‘Well, I won't,’ she huffed. ‘We already sent out a statement to the newspapers.’

Damien shrugged. ‘They’re wondering if City Three is really in danger. People are still scared… You don’t have to say anything right now. The spokesperson can announce that we’ll make a statement when we get to the city.’

Damien walked beside her as she exited the castle doors and made her way to the carriage. There were a few servants to see them off, as well as the three court advisors standing on top of the stairs. The advisors were old, two men and a woman, draped in white furry coats. Standing side by side, they had a commanding presence.

Damien whispered to them, and they nodded, whispering back their goodbyes. Reyna drew her cloak closer as she turned to go down the stairs, her heels clicking above the chirping of the birds.

The carriage stood majestically, gold and red, with the driver and the guards sitting ahead. Damien helped her in and climbed in after her. The curtains to the windows had already been drawn, so she was shut off from the rest of the world as she sat on the velvet seat.

‘Are you comfortable, my lady?’ Damien asked as they began to move, floating gently above the ground to gather momentum. Reyna nodded. ‘It’s been a while since I’ve been out of the castle,’ she said. ‘The last time was when I came for the crowning.’

Damien smiled gently. ‘You’ll have more opportunities when things settle down,’ he said.

They felt the carriage tip backwards as it rose in the air. The cushion on the seat in front of them fell over, and they both reached forward to grab it at the same time.

‘Sorry!’ said Damien, immediately letting go. Reyna held the cushion on her lap, twirling the corner awkwardly.

The carriage rose further, then stabilised. They were finally in the sky.

‘Can we open the windows now?’ she asked Damien, pulling the curtains back slightly to see.

‘I think we should be safe,’ he said, drawing back the curtains on his own side.

They were surrounded by white clouds and a stretch of blue sky. Reyna opened the window by an inch to let in the cool breeze and sighed contently. The journey to City Three was only two hours. It was a small kingdom.

‘Say, why did you become a knight?’ she asked Damien, wanting to break the silence. ‘I don’t think you ever mentioned it.’

Damien looked at her, surprised, then smiled shyly. ‘My grandfather was a knight. I only have memories of him when he was really old, but he often used to speak about his adventures. As a kid, it seemed very exciting. I wanted to do my duty to the kingdom too. You weren’t raised here, but in our schools, patriotism was a very big part of everything we studied. When you grow up you realise it’s not so great, and our monarchs were in fact very corrupt… But I do like the people. Even though I’m a knight, I decided my loyalty would be to the people. That’s why, when the king chose to flee, I decided to stay with the advisors instead.’

The king had fled with some of his knights, leaving only a few who chose to stay, and lower-ranking apprentices not directly under him.

‘What about you?’ Damien asked. ‘You don’t talk about your past. All I know is you came to the kingdom a few years ago.’

Reyna grinned. ‘I like to keep the mystery alive,’ she teased. ‘The short of it is that my mother married a wizard who taught me magic,’ she said.

‘And the long of it?’ Damien pressed.

‘What, do you want to know my whole life story before I came to this kingdom?’

‘Sure. We have a long journey.’ He smiled slightly but continued to look at her intensely till she started to speak.