Glory frowned. If it was up to her, she wouldn't need a bodyguard. 

She shot venom. She could camouflage. She could call invisible armies. 

But the rain wings and nightwings alike had agreed that she needed one. Apparently, Deathbringer had been popular. 

 Still, all of the bodyguards so far had been horrible. Some were females, which Glory actually liked the thought of, but all of them just wanted the same thing. 

This one was the last one for the day. He was big and handsome, with an aloof expression. His name was Guava. Her favorite fruit. 

He seemed nice enough. "Hello, your majesty."

"Hello. Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for inviting me." Even his smile was nice. 

"I didn't invite you. It was open to everyone."

"Oh, well I'll choose to believe it was especially for me."

Glory had to stifle an amused smile. This was the flirting she was used to. Harmless fun, not too uncomfortable for her at least. 

"If I sent out an invitation for just you, it would seem like favoritism." She said, feeling guilty but needing a distraction. 

"Am I your favorite?" He asked. 

"So far," Glory said, "you could be worse than the others, for what I know."

"Trust me, I'm better." Guava smirked. 

The smirk sent Glory memories too painful to withstand. Guava was handsome, a good distraction, and not a horrible jerk like the others. 

But the smirk made everything worse. 

"Stop giving me that smug face," she whispered to him

Guava looked at her, confused. "Sorry?"

This isn't my smug face, it's my heroic face. 

The reel of memories were so stabbingly familiar that she thought she was hallucinating when she saw the black dragon perching in front of her. 

But she soon found out she wasn't. 

Deathbringer stared at her for a second. "Glory."