They walked in silence for a while, along the cobbled, deserted street, in the huge dog's wake. 

Strangely, Peregrine, who could talk to anyone and took pride in his diplomatic skills, found himself tongue-tied in the short woman's presence. And there were so many things he should be telling her... He cast his eyes towards the overcast night sky in search of inspiration. Where should he begin?! It wasn't his business to start enquiring about the boy's father. She might think he judged her, and he didn't; he understood her perfectly. And he couldn't even tell her that her son was a Highland Dragon just like that, and ask her whether she knew about it... He sighed, the soft sound obliterated by her voice as she spoke just then.

"I'll never come to my father with you, you know that, right? I want this clear between us. You may stay here with us as long as you want, but I'm not leaving. My... father," she pronounced the word with such resentment that her reluctance to meet Alaric suddenly started to make sense to Peregrine, "had never cared about me. And he still doesn't; he simply realised that he's getting old and needs an heir, I suppose. Fatherly love has nothing to do with this. Freddie's father left us just like he left Mum... You know, Peregrine, I saw what it did to her. And I know what Lagon's disappearance did to me, and Freddie, even though he had never met his father. These actions... leave signs, scars, and bruises that never entirely heal... I don't believe that my father deserves me to run home to him, now that I suddenly know that he's a mighty king. I don't care about his kingdom. I survived without it until now. And I don't need him, not really. He's just a character from my mother's bittersweet tales."

She paused and looked up at him, and his breath caught. He hadn't realised that he had been staring at her, craving to meet her eyes-- the most serious blue orbs he had ever seen-- devouring him from behind the large lenses reflecting the orange lights piercing through the night with varying intensity as they walked under the tall lamps towards the park. The longer he stayed around her, the more he admired her. What she had said made perfect sense to him. 

Peregrine was sorry that he couldn't allow her to decide for herself now. She had no idea about the danger she and her son had lived in all these years. He had to explain the situation to her and make her accept his reasoning without scaring her too much about the past, about what could have happened but hadn't. There was no point in that. The only thing that mattered was taking her home to Silmarea. Fast. And if she didn't want to live at Alaric's court... maybe she could stay at The Gate with Annwyn... No. He wasn't going to think about that. His continued presence in her life would bring her into greater danger than the other Highlander's had done. Lagon... The name sounded familiar. He would think about all that later; having the petite redhead at his side, all to himself, was too distracting.

Fiona entered the deserted park through the wrought iron gate, Peregrine close at her heels. She looked across the vast expanse of grass bordered by trees on all sides to locate Gollum. The enormous dog wasn't hard to find-- she spotted him bounding excitedly through the tall grasses at the far end of the park where he would spend the next fifteen minutes at least. 

She shrugged as she looked up at Peregrine who stood next to her, feeling suddenly self-conscious about being here alone with this stranger, a very attractive stranger who was making her feel so many things she hadn't felt for so long.

"Let's walk?" she proposed on a sigh, lacing her arm around his when he offered to lead her around the lawn like a perfect gentleman. The black sky was beginning to drizzle raindrops upon the sleeping world, and the long stems of grass were slippery, giving her the best excuse to draw closer to him. Goodness he smelled good; his was the scent of wild forests, deep turquoise lakes, and burning wood fires...

"I do understand how you feel, Fiona," he muttered, disturbing her train of thought as his free hand came to rest, most naturally, on hers which lay on his other arm, in a gentle caress, the touch of his warm, surprisingly soft skin making her shiver in the cool drizzle. "But I still think you should come with us. You don't have to stay with your father forever if you don't want to. Why don't you come for a visit? A holiday?" he asked, changing his tactics. 

Her eyes were intent on his large hand, enveloping hers in a feeling of company and protection, which had already started drifting towards something else... a possibility of a deeper feeling which he didn't mention, couldn't give her, of course-- How could someone like him feel that way about someone like her?-- while his words tried to trap her in a promise of adventure.

Botheration! Why of all the creatures her father apparently reigned over, did he have to send this dark dragon shifter to her? If he had only sent the elf and the dwarf, they would have been back at his court by now... But how was she supposed to send away this man who made her feel like no one had ever done before? Not even Lagon... Peregrine was dangerous for her. She needed to be strong. 

Fiona shook her head decisively as she let her eyes drop to the tips of her white trainers treading through the muddy grass. "And what would that be good for?" she asked.

"A holiday would do you good. You spend too many hours at work," he replied without missing a beat. "And... don't you think your son has a right to know his roots? So he can make his own decisions when he grows up?" he added carefully when she said nothing. 

He felt ashamed for uttering those words. She was a great mother, he was sure, he didn't want her to doubt herself. But he didn't see any other way of convincing her.

"He's only ten," she replied curtly, disentangling her arm from around his, taking a few steps away from him. 

The chill of the rainy night penetrated under his cloak immediately, making him feel her absence at his side almost painfully. Peregrine smiled when he noticed that she felt cold without him too, when she crossed her arms across her chest even as she turned away from him, towards the dog walking in their direction at a leisurely pace, as if he was afraid that he might disturb them if he reached them too fast. The dragon shifter remained silent for a while, feeling that she understood his logic, that she wasn't immune to his words... to him... Maybe she felt about him like he felt about her and... He closed his eyes; he couldn't afford to lose himself in fantasies.

His voice shook a little as he added, even as her dog finally reached his owner and cast a half questioning, half warning look at the dragon before preceding them towards the gate. "Your own grandfather was crowned when he was only twelve." That was the last thing he was going to tell her tonight for fear of pushing her too far. Hopefully, he would get a chance to speak to her mother before continuing this conversation; she might just tell him something that Peregrine might be able to use to change Fiona's mind. 

"I don't care," she said, following Gollum back into the empty streets of London. 

He didn't believe her. He could sense her curiosity about her other world and admired her strength when she managed to push all the questions he could see clearly forming behind her forehead away. There was one he was afraid of, particularly. She would realise, sooner or later, that they had a different life span compared to humans. It would be difficult to explain, and age seemed to be an unpleasant subject for women in general... Well, he would find or build the bridge when he reached that river.

Princess Fiona was quite something. He chuckled, then laughed when she turned to him, her eyebrows raised, demanding explanation of his behaviour. "Despite your size," he said, unable to stop himself from teasing her, "you are a very strong woman. Just like my sister." 

"You have a sister? Tell me about her," Fiona demanded, looking at him curiously, everything else forgotten momentarily. 

"Annwyn is wonderful. She isn't my real sister; her parents took me in after my parents died. She's a half-elf, half-dragon," Peregrine said. 

Her dark companion spoke in a manner which made Fiona understand that he was selecting the information he shared with her at the moment, that there would be so much more for her to learn once, if, they got to know each other better. 

Botheration! He knew very well what he was doing, she realised as she hung, breathless and almost open-mouthed, on every single word he said. Was he just as curious about Freddie and her as she was about him? she mused as she let him lead her back home, her arm laced tightly around his again without her knowing exactly how it got there, only that it felt like it was its right place.