Across the northern scrublands, a band of travelers resplendent in shining armor, and mounted on powerful and fiery steeds, heads deeper into hostile, yet allied territory. A dark shadow passes over the band of twenty-two, causing the horses to balk. Their high pitched screams echo across the flat and sparsely populated land, followed by the shouts of men as they try to calm the animals down. A mare the color of starlight bolts out of the middle of the group, her rider desperately clinging to the reins, pulling with all her might to slow down the reckless charge, but to no avail. She loses her seat when the mare throws her back feet into the air, bucking viciously, and tumbles roughly to the ground.

Two of the armored men break away to the group, sprinting to her side. She doesn't seem to be moving. The traitorous beast of burden stands not far away, grazing placidly on small shreds of dry, brown grass. Tossing his armor off as he runs, the captain of the guard slides through the muddy ground to the young woman's side, reaching towards her and cradling her head gently in his hands.

"Your Highness! Can you hear me? Annalei, come on now girl. Wake up!" He shakes her gently, her silver-blonde hair hanging loosely around her face, stained with mud and tangled mercilessly. Her head lolls on her shoulders, and the captain feels a sinking in the pit of his stomach, sure he has just killed Faraley's one and only heir.

He shakes her shoulders once more, as his men near his side, leading the now reassured and calmed horses. "I never should have let you bring that blasted horse, no matter how good of a rider you are. Wake up, Annalei!"

With a rasping, sucking in of air, Princess Annalei springs back to life. She clutches the captain's arms tightly, coughing and sputtering. Relief floods through his entire body, knowing that while he may die in this gods-forsaken land, he won't be returning to his homeland just to lose his head and have it mounted on a spike.

Annalei groans, every inch of her body aching. It will only be worse tomorrow, as she knows full well. "What happened, James? Where's Snowflake?" She breathes, reaching up to rub her head.

He shakes his head. "She's fine, she's grazing just over there. I don't know what you see in that animal, Annalei. She'd be more reliable if all she had was three legs." He stands up, letting Annalei readjust to a sitting position. He extends out his arm, helping her to her feet. Once standing, she brushes off what dirt and mud she can, then limps towards her horse, climbing back into the saddle.

She turns back to her personal guard, and every one of them holds their breath in anticipation. Even at the young age of 19, Annalei holds all the charisma and power she will need to be the next leader of her country. She turns her nose up in the air, as haughty as any princess could be, covered in mud head to toe, and commands her men to retake their positions. "Captain Reargan, it is of the utmost importance that we arrive at the castle in one piece. I shouldn't have our host thinking I am too weak to even journey across his land. Onward we march, then. I'd like to make it there before nightfall."

Yes, Your Highness." Captain James Reargan says with a formal salute. Annalei wrinkles her nose at it. Before he had been Captain of the Royal Guard, James had been her closest friend, and she always felt his salutes were a little too correct, a little too formal, and a little too close to being mockery. She couldn't be mad at him for long, however, as his lopsided grin and sparkling blue eyes never fails to charm her.

Once everyone was firmly seated in their saddles again, they set off on their forward march towards what could potentially be Faraley's last hope of salvation. Annalei tried very hard to not worry about the fate of her homeland-and that of her mother and father-but found herself chewing on the dried skin of her lip more than once. James pulled up his great grey warhorse beside her, and lifted up the visor of his helmet. "What's on your mind, Princess?" He asked, innocently.

Annalei hated that from her much shorter mare, she had to look up at him. It makes her feel like a child. "Nothing more than the weight on my shoulders, as usual." She mutters, looking down at her horse's neck, twisting a bit of the mare's mane in between her fingers.

"Really, this was the best answer, Annalei. I know it might not feel like it, but your parents just want you to be safe." He rides beside her, silent for a moment. "I just want you to be safe." He adds.

A smile plays around the edges of her lips. "Thank you, James, for caring so deeply about your charge."

He chuckles, his laugh deep and throaty. "You make me sound like some kind of wet-nurse, Annalei."

"Well, aren't you? Children are always sent away during war. So the adults don't have any distractions." Her tone is sulky and not untinged by defiance.

"No, kings send their only daughter away to a powerful ally so that should he fall in battle, she can take up the mantle and reclaim her homeland. That is what parents do in war. Everyone is having to make sacrifices in order to survive, and I hardly think a holiday in a foreign land is much of a sacrifice." He tells her, checking his sturdy mount as it lunges towards one of the other horses.

"Of course you would say that. You'd much rather be slinging mud and blood at the enemy and claiming all the glory." She sticks out her bottom lip, pouting. "While Father won't so much as let me touch a sword."

He shakes his head. "Since when has that stopped you? Look at you, dressed in men's clothes on a half-trained horse because you like how fast she runs. You never take no for an answer." He laughs again. "Plus, I happened to know you were taking fencing lessons from Ol' Gerund before we left." He leans over in his seat, winking.

She scoffs, pretending to be offended. "I would never!"

He straightens himself in his seat. "Hmm-hmm. Sure. You also didn't fall off your horse today."

"That's not my fault. Everyone's horses spooked today. What was that anyway?" She queries, expecting James to have the answer for everything, yet again.

He sighs deeply, settling firmly into his seat, clenching the reins tightly, as if prepared for his horse to jump again at even the mention of what had scared him. "A dragon, and a large one at that. Damn things are everywhere here."

Annalei swallows hard, fear creeping up her throat. "You don't think it will come back, do you?"

"If it had wanted to eat us, it would have tried back there. No, it was probably just curious as to what humans were doing here." Another deep sigh escapes him. "If there had been anyone closer, who also had the military strength King Xeraxes has, we wouldn't have risked going this far into dragon territory." He feels miserable just at the very thought of having to face down one of those fire spitting beasts.

"Well, hopefully we'll be safe within the castle walls by the time it gets hungry." Annalei adds, half tempted to push her mare into a trot and get her company of soldiers moving much faster.

The sun began sinking behind the horizon much faster than anyone expected. In a month's journey, they had come much farther north, and in the depths of winter, the days had grown short. Annalei felt the anxiety and dread of yet another night out on the plains creeping up on her. Luckily, as they come to the crest of one of the rare sloping hills, great black spires can be seen in the distance. Annalei smiles broadly when one of the men gives a loud celebratory whoop.

The journey is finally over, or so Annalei thinks. She hears James draw in his breath sharply as he lunges out of his seat, grabbing for Annalei's reins. The same large black shadow crosses over them, sending most of the horses into panic yet again. The more experienced mounts like James' warhorse merely snort and roll their eyes, while Annalei's Snowflake loses her head and tries to rear. James, with all the patience and strength in the world, hangs on to the reins as tightly as he can. He will not be losing Annalei twice today. In the confusion, Annalei just manages to keep her seat, but she can't help to look towards the castle, and sees a great, black dragon circling slowly above it, the sunset reflecting off its scales, painting it in garish shades of orange and red, a reminder of the heat and flames that rest within the great beast's chest.