Jonathan ran a rough yet fine-boned hand over his face. He was tired, and he missed his princess. Almost two weeks she'd been gone, and there hadn't been a trace.

He looked up at Hal, who looked just as exhausted as Jonathan felt, and met the king's kind blue eyes.

"My knights have found nothing, Your Grace. They're extending their search, but no one they've spoken with has seen or heard anything of value."

Hal rubbed his eyes and leaned forward on his elbows. "And the dragons your knights saw? Any sign of them?"

Jonathan shook his had, resentment rising inside him at the thought of the dragons. "Not since that night. None of my men saw the princess with them, but it was late and dark. It wouldn't be impossible that she was taken by them." The thought of Skylar in the grasp of monsters, with no one around to help her, it made him want to abandon everything and go after her himself. He'd wanted to follow up on the dragons, figure out where they were from, but the king forbid it. Their first and only priority was locating Skylar and bringing her home.

"It was like they just appeared and then vanished." Jonathan had no idea how beasts the size of dragons could manage something like that, they were just animals after all, but they'd snuck into the heart of the kingdom and then right back out.

Hal rubbed his chin, focused on the table in the council chambers before glancing back up at Jonathan. "What color were the dragons?"

"My men said silver and possibly gold. Hard to tell in the moonlight," Jonathan leaned back in his chair and stared at his king. "Why?"

Hal shrugged his broad shoulders. "Just making sure they haven't been making rounds and attacking my citizens. I usually get colors of the dragons before anything else." It was a logical enough reason, and Jonathan would have taken him at his word, except Hal had a hard time meeting his eyes as he said it.

"We should hunt them down anyway," the king's brother, Henry, suggested. "All and any dragons are a threat to the kingdom."

Hal spun on his brother. "Our focus is finding my daughter, Henry. You can hunt down dragons to your heart's desire any other time of the year, you're not good for much else. Now unless you have ideas on how to locate Skylar, I suggest you keep your mouth shut," he snarled.

Henry, a round, red-faced man, looked thoroughly chastened by his older brother. His beady brown eyes glanced around the room at the other council members in embarrassment. Even though the king's brother was six years his junior, the man looked a decade older. The brothers didn't get along well, not from what Jonathan had observed, but the king still kept him on the council from some unknown reason.

"Your Highness, what about the carriage Lord Greyson's men found?" Another council member nodded at Jonathan. He forgot sometimes that he was a Lord himself, that when his grandfather died he was due to inherit his title. Only the royal family called him by his first name, everyone else addressed him by his title.

"Unmarked," Jonathan answered the council member, an old man who was a duke of some kind. Jonathan knew he should know all their names and titles, but he didn't care for the men around him. They felt that just because they were on the king's council they were above everyone around them. "The men inside wouldn't talk. They don't remember what happened, how they ended up locked in the carriage or with those massive bumps on their heads. Either way, they wouldn't tell us anything about who they're working for, and a week and a half in the dungeon hasn't loosened any lips."

"Which tells me that they're more afraid of whoever hired them than they are of us," Hal frowned down at his intertwined fingers. "And that makes me more nervous than anything."

"Perhaps he paid them a lot," Henry offered, earning him a glare from the king.

"Money does not seal the lips of men with their lives on the line, fool," Hal snarled. He looked around at the six other council members, all old, noble men. Jonathan was by far the youngest man in the room, but he wasn't technically a council member. He was the head of the knights, the king's ward, and a close friend of the princess. He wouldn't be left out of the search for her.

Hal met the eyes of everyone in the room. "Does anyone have any other ideas about how we could search for my daughter?"

It was quiet for a moment before a portly gentleman spoke up. "Did we ever wonder why she left the ballroom that night?"

"She was tired. And I was a fool to not make her guards accompany her," Hal rubbed his temples. "I didn't think anyone would try anything with so many important people and their guards inside."

"Your Grace, no one is blaming you," the man assured him quickly. Jonathan laughed to himself. The king picked these men himself to be a part of his council, and yet they all felt the need to suck up to him. A part of Jonathan did blame Hal, but he also blamed himself. He was the one who left her all alone because he was pouting over her rejection, which wasn't even really a rejection. He was the one who let Draco dance with her, which gave the other king to opportunity to—a though struck him.

"Your Grace," Jonathan grabbed the king's attention, thoroughly cutting off whatever the portly man was about to ramble on about. "Have we checked the surrounding kingdoms?"

Hal cocked his head to the side slightly, staring at Jonathan. "We have sent word for them to be on the lookout, but we've heard nothing back. It's been less than two weeks and unfortunately these things take time."

"What if we search them ourselves?" Jonathan offered. "They're not far and if Draco- "

"Draco would never attack me in such a way," Hal argued, blood rushing to his cheeks in his anger. "He knows it would mean war."

Jonathan wasn't so sure that Draco wouldn't do such a thing. The other king made him nervous, and whenever he thought about him, a rock settled in his stomach. His gut had never been wrong before. He thought about how Draco tried to set him up the night of the party to make him look like he was the last one who saw Skylar, that he was the reason she was gone. Why the king would so blatantly lie to his fellow monarch was beyond Jonathan, but it didn't hurt to wonder. Jonathan didn't trust the other king. He didn't know why Hal insisted on believing the other man's innocence.

"Not only Draco," Jonathan recovered his argument quickly, "he's simply the closest. If some of my knights travel to the other kingdoms and ask the people there, we might get further. Citizens hear things faster than the monarchs."

Hal stared at him, his eyes skeptical of the plan, but it wasn't him that argued against it.

"Barging into other kingdoms wearing the Trael seal and colors while asking questions without the permission of the king is asking for trouble," Henry spat. "That's like walking up to the king and calling him incompetent to his face."

Hal glanced at his brother, but then back at Jonathan, as if waiting to see the knight's response to this point. Luckily, Jonathan had one.

"So we don't dress in our uniforms. We wear the same clothes as anyone else would. We do nothing to identify ourselves with Trael. Simply ask if people hear about the missing princess, say what she looks like, and see how they respond. It's as simple as that."

"And if people get suspicious?" A skinny, bald man asked. "This is Trael's future we're talking about."

"And my daughter's life," Hal snapped, causing the bald man to shrink into himself. "It seems efficient, and it keeps us from sitting here waiting to hear anything. Jonathan, if anyone suspects anything, you tell your men to leave immediately. I won't let word get around that my men are searching other kingdoms."

"Why don't we just get permission from the other kings?" Henry asked.

"Soldiers and knights make people nervous," Jonathan told him. "So even if we got permission, we wouldn't wear our uniforms. People are more likely to talk if they don't feel like they're being interrogated."

Hal nodded, and it appeared as if some of the weight was lifted from his shoulders with this plan. "Alright. Jonathan, go find your men. You leave tonight. How many knights are searching Trael?"

"Two dozen are spread across Trael. Another two dozen are here. I'll send out twelve to search the other kingdoms, so there are still twelve here to protect the castle along with the soldiers."

Hal nodded in approval before turning to the council. "You are all dismissed."

"But, Hal— " Henry began, shooting Jonathan a nasty look with his small, unimpressive eyes.

"I said, you're dismissed," Hal snapped at his brother. Jonathan began to leave when Hal grabbed his sleeve, holding him in place while the others left after bowing to their king.

"Jonathan, have you thought this through?" he asked after the chamber was empty.

"No," he admitted, "but there's been no sign of her anywhere else."

Hal nodded and sank back in his chair at the head of the table. "The dragons— " he quickly caught himself, as if he were about to say something he shouldn't have. Jonathan narrowed his eyes and knew he shouldn't push, this was his king, but it was also Hal. Hal was like a second father to him, had helped raise him after his own father was killed by the winged monsters of the sky.

"What about the dragons?"

Hal shook his head. "Their presence just worries me, that's all. It would seem that they just passed through since there were no reports of them attacking any farms, but just having them around at all is bad news."

"No dragon is good news, Hal," Jonathan pointed out. Hal glanced up at him and paused before nodding.

"No dragon is good news," he agreed.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

"C'mon, this way," Jonathan urged his horse further into the city closest to Draco's castle. The dark, shadowy castle loomed over the valley, keeping a close eye on all that fell under its rule. Jonathan had been there before, but it still gave him chills every time. It was nothing like the smooth sandstone of Hal's castle, which was welcoming and gave him great comfort. He felt out of place in Linester, and he was always on edge. He didn't belong here, none of his knights did.

"Should we split up or stay together?" Adam, one of Jonathan's knights, wondered. "We'd cover more ground if we split up."

"True," Jonathan contemplated as they made their way through the bustling city. People dashed around them and cursed their horses for being in the way. He was thankful he was up on his gelding, rather than where people could really reach him. "But we won't lose one another if we stay together. Neither of us know this city, and it might very well be more efficient if we don't spend the afternoon trying to find each other again."

Adam nodded glancing around, his brown eyes watchful. Jonathan had chosen him because he was skilled and reliable, but not the best. He needed his best leading a different group, further into Linester. Jonathan had wanted to take the busiest city in this neighboring kingdom because it was where they were in the most danger of discovery. It was unlikely anyone knew his face, but if there was anyone who did, it would be here. He smoothed the plain brown tunic over his chest as they rode deeper into the city. It was midmorning, it had taken them a few days of hard riding to get there, and activity was in full swing. Peddlers trying to sell their goods to anyone who passed within shouting distance, children screaming and rushing by, shop owners tempting passerby with creative window displays. Everyone had somewhere to be, and it wasn't where they were. If someone got in the way, a few harsh words and possibly some threats would move them. The people didn't seem so much different than their king.

One store was quieter than the rest, and there were no horses tied up in front of the door that stood open in a welcoming fashion. There were just a few chickens pecking the ground. They didn't move as Jonathan and Adam rode up, dismounting their horses and nearly landing on top of the poultry. One chicken, a black and white speckled beast, lifted her head and stared at him with cold, dead eyes, as if challenging him to try anything. He eased his way around the poultry, feeling slightly ashamed to be nervous of a bird, but his gut told him not to mess with her.

He stepped in through the open door and realized why it was so quiet compared to the rest. It was a book store. It also had a sign that said "Room for Rent by Night" in crude writing nailed to the front desk, but it would appear than no one had taken up the offer.

"Do you think this is the best place to start?" Adam asked, looking over his shoulder at the chickens outside. The black and white one was still watching them closely, and Jonathan hoped Adam had his back with that one. He didn't trust it.

After giving the chicken a threatening look he turned to his partner. "It's the people who have nothing to do that hear and see the most, wouldn't you think?" Adam wasn't much younger than Jonathan, perhaps only twenty to Jonathan's twenty-four, but he had so little experience outside of training. Another good reason Jonathan took him into the main city of Linester.

Adam opened his mouth to answer when two angry voices reached them from somewhere amongst the bookshelves.

"I'm telling you, they should be arranged alphabetical by subject, then author, then by title!" the first voice growled.

The second voice was quick to answer. "And I'm telling you they should be arranged only by title! Who cares who the author is?"

"Most people. Ashley would want it my way."

"She's going to be gone for weeks, how will she know? Besides, she left me in charge, since I'm the oldest."

"You're older by ten minutes, Bonnie. And she wouldn't leave someone as incompetent as you to run the shop."

"How dare you, Alexis," the second voice, Bonnie, gasped. "At least I'm not ugly."

"Watch it. Those chickens of yours are looking awful plump lately," Alexis responded snidely.

Jonathan and Adam shared a slightly terrorized look before the former cleared his throat loudly enough to be heard in back. There was a moment of silence and then the sound of footsteps rushing forward. Two young women appeared, no older than nineteen, and they couldn't have looked less alike. From their argument, it sounded as though they were twins, but Jonathan would never have guessed it. One was short and blonde, the other not exactly tall, but taller than her sister, had curly brunette hair.

The one whose blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun stepped forward, smoothing out her dress, giving Jonathan a slightly flirtatious look. "Hello, how are you today?"

"Just fine, thank you," Jonathan bowed slightly to her. Based on her voice, which was now at an acceptable volume, this was Alexis, which made the other one Bonnie. Jonathan turned to bow to Bonnie, but found that she was not looking at him. Her gaze was focused right on Adam, who nodded to her, and then looked slightly uncomfortable by her lack of subtlety. What had they stumbled into?

"Is there anything specific you're looking for?"

"Umm..." Jonathan racked his brain. Of course, they couldn't just walk into a shop and start asking about Skylar! That was beyond obvious. They had to ease into it. In this case, it would start with one or both of the ladies helping them find books and then he could bring up what he wanted. He just said the first thing that came to his mind. "Do you have any books about dragons?"

Alexis arched an eyebrow and her eyes traveled up and down his body in a very scrutinizing way. "An aspiring dragon hunter, are we? You most certainly have the build for it."

The comment shocked Jonathan, but he didn't let it show on his face. These women were different from the noble women he had met. He didn't spend much time with commoners. Perhaps this was the way women were when not raised noble?

"Uh, thank you," he told her. "Yes, we're looking to hunt dragons. Figured we should be prepared."

Bonnie finally piped in. "A man with a good head on his shoulders, that's hard to find, isn't it, Alexis?" She looked over at her sister and grinned. Adam cleared his throat and looked down at his boots. Jonathan kept his face smooth as stone, or tried to, anyway.

"Of course we have books on dragons. Right this way, gentlemen," Alexis led them into the shelves of books, Jonathan close at her heel, Adam behind him, and Bonnie bringing up the rear. Jonathan couldn't help but feel expertly boxed in.

"Awful quiet in here today," Jonathan commented as she led him back.

Alexis waved a hand. "Quiet in here every day. Our sister Ashley got it into her head that she was going to sell books because they are her passion! Of course, it wasn't taken into consideration that not everyone shares her passion. Then she got a job in the castle and left it to us most of the time. She warned us not to scare her customers away." The little woman looked over her shoulder and grinned. "We're not scaring you away, are we?"

Jonathan cleared his throat and lied through his teeth. "Of course not."

"I didn't think so," she said smugly stopping at a shelf at pulling a book down after a quick scan of the spines to locate the right one. "There we go. This should be enough to get two dragon hunters started. It's your basic guide to dragons, or so I'm told. Can't say I've read it myself."

"Alexis, you can't say that to a customer! You have to make him think we're legitimate," Bonnie protested before turning to Jonathan. "Of course we've read it. We love dragons."

"There's no way they can expect us to have read every book in this place, Bonnie. If Ashley were here it would be a different story, but she's not, so put a sock in it!" Alexis turned back to Jonathan, the irritation on her face melting away in an instant. "Is there anything else you're looking for?"

Jonathan shook his head, terrified at the thought of being in the shop a moment longer than necessary. "Not at the moment."

"Are you sure?" Bonnie whispered to Adam, who turned bright red as the brunette stepped toward him purposefully. "You can't think of anything else you might be interested in today?" Her hand found his chest and her fingers slowly closed around the fabric, locking him into place. For a moment, Jonathan wondered what exactly they expected that room to be rented out for. Considering it a learning experience for the young knight, Jonathan followed Alexis to the front and left him in Bonnie's grasp.

As Alexis took his money, she struck up conversation. "So, what was your inspiration to hunt dragons? There haven't been any problems recently that I know about, and my sister and I keep up on the local gossip."

Perfect. Perhaps this was the right place to start. "Oh, you didn't hear about the dragons spotted in Trael last week?"

Her eyes widened with interest. "Really? Did they attack anyone?"

"No, luckily, but they were two huge dragons. Can you imagine the damage they would have caused if they'd decided to raid a farm?" Jonathan shook his head in amazement. "The family would have been ruined."

"Makes sense now, why you'd want to go after them," the little woman clucked her tongue as she handed him his book. "Nasty creatures, those dragons."

"It would have been especially bad since they were seen the night of the princess's birthday party," Jonathan started in on the real reason they were here. "The same night she went missing."

Alexis's eyes grew even wider. She was nearly drooling over all the gossip. Jonathan could already see her telling all of her neighbors and the word spreading like wildfire, which was exactly what he wanted. The more people that knew, the better. He desperately wanted to find his princess. He needed her back safe and with him, where he could keep an eye on her and make sure she was never in danger again.

"Princess Skylar is missing?" she whispered. "How?"

Jonathan shrugged nonchalantly, even though the topic caused him to wind up tighter than a watch spring. "No idea. Some say she ran away, some say she was kidnapped, but everyone's looking for her."

"That's just awful. I don't even know if I've seen her," Alexis shook her head sadly. "We don't know what she looks like."

Jonathan could immediately pull her picture into his head. "Curly red hair, bright blue eyes, the prettiest smile you've ever seen. She's hard to miss."

Alexis's eyes narrowed knowingly, but she didn't comment. "I haven't seen anyone like that, but my sister and I will keep a lookout for her. That's just awful, a kingdom without its princess. The king and queen must be so scared for her."

She had no idea, but Jonathan shouldn't either, not in this little game he was playing. He just nodded his head in agreement and then held up his book.

"Thank you very much for this. My friend and I will get right on the tails of those dragons, right after we get some more supplies," he dismissed himself. "Adam, time to go!"

Adam appeared from between the bookstacks appearing slightly disheveled and glossy eyed, but with a silly smile on his face. There was also a little fear there, if Jonathan wasn't mistaken. Bonnie appeared looking exactly like she had before, with every hair in place and a flower print dress that looked like it was just ironed. The only difference was a slightly smugness as she stared after the two of them.

"Come back anytime!" she called as they walked back onto the busy street. The black and white chicken was still there, watching closely. Jonathan hopped up on his chestnut gelding, increasingly happy to have left the book shop and the strange girls who ran it. He could only imagine what the third sister was like, and didn't care to find out.

"If every place takes that long, we'll be here for a week," Adam sighed, glancing over his shoulder at the door as they rode away.

"I don't think all the shop owners will be quite like that," Jonathan reached over to pat the knight on the back. "Besides, we just need to find a few that will spread the word quickly. That was a productive place to start; they're the kind that will tell everyone."

As the knights rode away, they never saw the older man with the eye patch and green uniform staring after them before entering the bookstore and closing the door firmly behind him.

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Okay, I know this isn't the chapter you wanted, but I have to stretch it out just a little longer, don't I? And am I the only one who wanted more Jonathan and less Orion? (Just kidding, I don't mean that. Please don't tell Orion.)

This chapter does have a purpose, although that might not be clear right now. Bear with me, I promise we'll get there. Things are going to start getting interesting after this!

Once again, thank you for reading, I appreciate you, and you are the best!

--Megan

P.S. Feel free to comment and vote!

P.P.S. This is a PSA. My sister (she's sixteen) just read "Orion" out loud and said it "Oh-ree-on" (I'm actually dying right now). So just for clarification, it is pronounced "Oh-rye-on" as in Orion's Belt.