Kevin returned to the strange village, Great Hope, and the guards merely waved him through at the gate. It was actually nice to be recognized. Unfortunately, he feared for the town. Mentally shaking his head, he grunted. These people were trying to screen for polymorphed dragons. It was obvious that these people, no matter how powerful they were for humans, knew nothing about dragons.

If a dragon actually wanted into this town, they could easily sneak in or force their way in, whichever they decided. The glamor magic above the town that would theoretically obscure details from anyone or anything flying overhead would likely also not be powerful enough to actually fool a dragon’s eyes. But while all of this was true, Kevin didn't know any dragons that would actually care about what these humans were doing.

In the last twenty years, Kevin had probably met at least a third of the living dragons on the entire planet, maybe even up to half of them. At first, he hadn't understood why his parents had so many social calls, but now that he was a little bit wiser, understood this world better, and more importantly, understood his parents better, he knew it was for his protection. Networking with the powerful was its own kind of power in any world.

None of the dragons that Kevin's parents had introduced him to would ever be able to feign ignorance about who Kevin was. Meeting him once was enough; they would never forget him or his unique aura–something dragons could perceive at close range if they wanted to.

He didn’t even go back to his room–Kevin had everything of any value on him already anyway. His pack went with him on every hunt. Because he didn’t need to go anywhere else, he headed directly for the government building in the center of the large village.

This was only the second time he’d come this direction, but on some level, he was actually surprised when guards in front of the decorative drawbridge called "HALT."

Luckily, these guards were two that Kevin recognized by now, although he only knew one of their names: Gerholt, a middle-aged man with a mustache and a beer belly who could move far faster and more gracefully than his size might suggest.

Kevin held his hands up. "I'm really sorry, but I just don't have time for this. The truth is I really need to talk to Genevieve."

“Sorry.” Gerholt scratched his cheek." The problem, Kevin, is you're still an outsider, and you haven't been here that long. And besides, letting you through isn't a call that we can make on our own anyway."

"Then call someone who can, please," said Kevin. “Fast.” He knew that Branch was watching because he’d asked him to, and he could just imagine the little fairy laughing at Kevin being stalled while he was trying to do something nice for these people.

"Okay, just wait here for a bit," said Gerholt. Then he disappeared into the building. The other guard, whose name Kevin was trying to rack his brain in case he’d ever been told, nodded in a friendly way. His eyes were firm, though.

In a different situation, Kevin would have asked the man's name, risking the embarrassment of possibly already being told in the past, and maybe struck up a conversation. But at the moment, he was too stressed. The lake where he had just killed Baron Titus wasn’t too far from this village, even as a regular human would travel. Of course, for Kevin, it had taken far less time to travel the distance. Moving through dense forest as a chipmunk had its benefits.

The wait was uncomfortably long before the door creaked open, and Gerholt returned along with Frida. She looked in mild surprise at Kevin and asked, "What is this all about?"

"I need to talk to Genevieve," Kevin said. “It concerns the safety of your town."

She frowned. "Well, you should tell me then."

Kevin stubbornly shook his head. "No, I need to make sure that Genevieve gets the message. You should come with me if you want to hear it. Once she knows, it's not my problem anymore; then she can decide what to do with the information."

Frida eyed Kevin and said, "This is highly irregular."

"Everything about me is irregular, isn't it?" Kevin smiled to soften the edge to his words.

Luckily, the woman chuckled a bit and nodded agreement. "This is true, and you have been here for a while, now. It seems you've been successfully hunting some of the most dangerous or problematic monsters that villagers have been worried about too. These good deeds speak well for you. Hmm. Give me a moment.” She went inside the double doors and disappeared for a few moments. When she returned, she said, “Preparations are being made for an audience. Apologies for the delay, but we have Genevieve’s safety to think of.”

“That seems reasonable as long as everyone hurries,” said Kevin.

“You are lucky that Genevieve will see you at all. She is very busy. Anyway, this wait will be at least a few minutes, but these security precautions are something we can't afford not to do. Especially since we have allowed a handful of outsiders into the village over the last year. Of course, you're the newest, and that makes you the least trusted. Sorry about that."

"No offense taken," reassured Kevin.

"Well then, since I'm going to take you to see Genevieve eventually now. Can you at least tell me what this is about"

Kevin eyed the guards before saying, "No, but I will whisper it in your ear if you are that impatient to hear."

Frida made a face. "Seriously, most irregular. However, I must admit,you have my attention. Now I am curious.” She tapped one finger on her lips. “Okay, fine." Then she took a few steps forward and turned her head to one side.

Kevin leaned in and whispered, "A dragon is heading in this direction."

Frida jerked back as if she were struck, and the two guards nearby tensed. They relaxed when they saw that she was unharmed, but after they noticed her expression, they tensed again. "Are you sure about this?" she demanded.

"Yes," said Kevin.

"And you swear? This is the truth?"

"I'm not going to appeal to the god of contracts over this, but yes, I promise I’m not lying. Besides, why would I?"

"Okay, good enough. Give it two more minutes and we will go.” A few moment passed before Frida said, “I think we’ve given them enough time so I won't get fussed at…I don't think. Hans, come with us." The guard whose name Kevin hadn't known nodded and followed the two of them inside.

I guess his name was Hans, thought Kevin.

Then the three of them traverse the long hallway that he’d gone down a week ago. In the audience room, Genevive was seated on her throne, and there were several guards around the room, including some familiar faces.

Genevieve didn't look quite as stately or put together as before. Kevin suspected that she'd been wearing something a bit more comfortable while doing day-to-day work and had thrown more regal clothing in the last couple of minutes. He sketched a bow and, without preamble, Kevin said, "In the next day or two, three at most, you are probably going to be visited by a dragon."

Almost everyone in the room hissed or made some other obvious reaction. Genevieve was the only person who didn’t. "This is quite sudden," she said. "I allowed you into this town, and now you're demanding to see me and not even offering a greeting, or being polite at all before giving me such shocking, and likely unsubstantiated news?"

"Sorry about that," said Kevin. And he really was. "I just don't have much time because the truth is she's after me, and if I stay here, not only will it put you in danger, it will probably be annoying for me. But me leaving means that she might still come here to continue tracking me, and I don't want to live with any regrets. I also don't want to be dishonest with you. Can I speak really candidly, please?"

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Genevieve slowly nodded, her expression equal parts bemused, irritated, and alarmed. Kevin put his hands behind his back in a more scholarly and non-threatening way. His hands were very obviously now also nowhere near the hilt of his sword sticking up over his shoulder. He said, "All of you have severely underestimated dragons. I know that this is an extremely powerful town. I have even guessed what at least some of your circumstances are, even though all the townspeople are very loyal and won't divulge anything of substance, but you are living by one of the mountain ranges with the highest concentration of the dragons in the world.

No matter how strong your mages are, no matter how strong your warriors are, a dragon is something you do not want to attack or offend past the point of no return unless you are willing to watch your fellow villagers die. If Lydia comes here and you disrespect her the way I was disrespected at first, well, she is proud. You would be extremely lucky if she would just leave after smashing one of your walls. I don't think that with her personality she would actually kill any of you unless you attacked her or threatened her, but if any of your guards made the first move, well… And in that case, she wouldn't be in the wrong.”

He tried to let his voice carry his utmost sincerity. “But what would be worse is if she went home at some point and told her father how she was disrespected here. Because although Lydia is brash, she has a relatively kind nature. But her father is old school and he also has a soft spot for his daughter. Her mother is worse. Your town might be wiped off the map."

"You sound like..." Frida paused and began again. "You sound almost as if you are claiming to know this beast."

"Yes, I do know her," admitted Kevin. "I've known her for a while."

"So she's not... I thought she was tracking you down to kill you," said Frida.

"No. It might actually be easier if that was the case," Kevin frowned. He groaned and told the truth. "My mother probably sent her to be my travel companion."

"Travel companion?" Genevieve quietly mused. Her initial alarm seemed to be fading from her face, and Kevin took that as a bad sign.

"Okay, I can see how this is going to go," he said. "You all don't believe me, but that's because you are ignorant about dragons, which is also why you started that charade at the gate, which wouldn't actually stop a dragon. And I'm not sure why you're worried about dragons in the first place. They wouldn't care about this town. Dragons don't really care what humans do unless there's war involved or it destroys other cultures or civilizations or completely demolishes nature. You aren't doing any of that here, so dragons wouldn't care!"

"But we're encroaching on the Paxdraconis domain," Frida blurted out. Genevieve gave her a reproachful look.

Kevin facepalmed. “Oh wow, you all must have been reading some old, corny books, huh?"

"Now see here, some of the mages in our town are the most learned in..." Genevive began, but Kevin cut her off with a slash of the hand. She opened her mouth in pure astonishment that he had interrupted her, and the guards nearby tensed, about to commit violence. Kevin was not confident that he could take them on in a fight, not in the slightest, even with all his newly gained abilities. He didn't know for sure how powerful these people were, especially as a group.

However, one nice thing about being able to polymorph into a chipmunk was that most human buildings and fortifications were not exactly constructed to prevent chipmunk-sized creatures from entering or leaving. On top of that, he was far swifter than a standard chipmunk. He'd already scoped out a few arrow slits and other egresses he could use if it came to flight, but for now, he hadn't given up on convincing these stubborn townspeople that he was telling the truth.

"One moment, please," he said. He raised hand with one finger extended. Then he shouted, "Branch, come here, please! I really apologize, but I need you to appear!" A second later, there was a blur from one of the small windows high above that let in a bar of light, and suddenly, Branch was hovering in the air in front of his face.

"This is what you wanted me close for!?" Branch demanded. He glared around them at the humans standing in complete shock. His nail-sword was is his hand. "I thought we were going to be fighting, engaging in fisticuffs! Good old-fashioned righteous fury!" Then the little fairy brandished his makeshift weapon. "Avast ye!" he shouted.

“A fairy?” asked a guard.

"No. One of the Seelie court. High ranking, I am sure of it. Maybe even royalty!" Genevieve breathed. She stood uncertainly, walked forward two steps, and knelt on the ground. Every other person in the room did exactly the same, kneeling and placing both hands on one knee. "To think I would see one again." A tear started running down the noblewoman's cheek.

Now it was Kevin's turn to blink in astonishment. "What are they doing?" he asked Branch.

The little fairy puffed his chest out, even as he sheathed his weapon with a flash of disappointment. Branch said "Mortals, at least some mortals, are wise enough to value the counsel of the fair folk, especially the Seelie Court. I am not royalty, though. Even if I was, I wouldn’t be anymore after…well, you know.

“No, I don’t.”

“Well that’s fine. Anyway, about mortals and fairies. We still get captured from time to time. But because of the treaty by Little Wildbean, all mages should know now that if they actually harm any of us, all of fairykind will band together to destroy them. Being captured is still boring, though. Would you want to be stuck in a glass bottle for a few years? Not only that, most of us usually don't even talk to mortals in the first place because they're stinky and stupid and most of them have such weak souls they might as well be animals."

"That's not very nice, Branch," said Kevin. Genevieve looked horrified that he was openly chiding Branch, and then even more openly astonished when the fairy backed down.

"Yes, that probably wasn't nice to say with all of them listening. I'll have to wait until none of them can hear before I talk about how stupid and smelly they are."

Branch was being ridiculous again, so Kevin ignored the last thing he’d said. He tried to bring Branch back to the reason he’d called. "Anyway, I really need to convince these people of something."

Branch frowned. "You're trying to tell them about that dragon that's been calling your name, right?"

"That's right."

"Well, these humans are arrogant. But if they are so powerful, how can they not feel her coming? Oh, that's right. Stinky and stupid and weak." The fairy nodded.

Kevin very carefully kept his mouth shut since he hadn't known that his cousin was nearby until Branch had told him. Was his strange companion aware of the insult. Probably not, he thought. Out loud he said, “Fairies can lie, but I figured that with Branch here backing me up, you all might listen to me a bit more.”

"But even if you are telling the truth, what can we do?" asked Frida. The hand clutching her skirt was shaking.

"Oh, that's simple," said Kevin. Then he described what his cousin looked like and said, "If she shows up at the gate, be very respectful of her and simply tell her that Kevin left a message for her. Tell her the truth of how I came here, then I stayed in the village for a while. You can tell her that I warned you she was coming, and tell her that I left because I don't want to get caught by her. She’ll probably be able to sense if you're telling the truth, at least I think so most of the time, so that should go fine. When she asks you where I went, just tell her that I'm traveling away from the dragon mountains."

"We're on the east coast, so wouldn't you almost have to travel west?" asked Branch.

Kevin pointed and winked. "That's correct, but it's also the truth." The little fairy laughed, and Kevin grinned back. Then the two of them fist-bumped in the air.

"Just who are you?" asked Genevieve softly. Now some of the stress was gone from her face, and there was wonder in her voice. “Despite everything, I actually believe you entirely." To one side, Frida nodded, as did most of the guards.

Kevin scratched one cheek and debated what to say. When Branch looked like he was about to open his mouth, Kevin pointed and demanded, "Shush! Quiet, you!" The little fairy pretended he was buttoning up his lip and throwing the button away.

Finally, Kevin decided he didn't want to tell everybody exactly who his parents were because he still wanted to make his way in this world. He didn't want too much nepotism clouding his journey. Besides, if everybody knew he was the adopted son of the dragon rulers on this side of the planet, it could make things easier for him, but it also could put him in danger.

What he eventually said was, "I am a diplomat. I have met many dragons, and I am on my way inland on a mission to prevent a war."

"A war?" asked Genevieve.

"You are a diplomat?” Asked Frida. “That would suggest you are a noble. If so, what is your rank?"

"He's a prince!" shouted Branch gleefully, and dodged as Kevin took a swipe at the maniacally cackling little bastard.

Dammit, from a certain point of view he’s right. And I didn’t forbid him from saying this before! Damn!

Branch sped upward toward the window as the humans stood around gaping.

Kevin’s thoughts seemed to move faster than lightning as he ran through all the implications of the fairy naming him a prince. Fairies could lie about a lot of things, but this was actually one thing they could not, and unfortunately, everybody in the world knew that. Or at least Frida and Genevieve would, as would the many mages in town, some of whom were probably on the way.

He needed to get out of there, now. Talking his way out of this mess, much less dealing with all the tiresome human protocols involved with meeting royalty, was not in his best interest.

Kevin said, "Screw it." He polymorphed into a chipmunk and took off at a dead sprint for the wall. He was a good climber anyway, but his natural strength and [Wall Climbing Fingers] made it stupidly easy to scale the stone wall and disappear out the same window Branch had used.

A second later, and he was running from roof to room away from the government building. And another few seconds after that, he was at the gate and over it. He swung wide of the warms, going from the closest cover he could. And before the alarm in the village could even go up, Kevin was safely in the forest. He stayed polymorphed as he turned his flight to the east and didn't stop running for at least an hour.

Finally, dead tired from his running, he polymorphed back to his goblin form and sat on a stump, panting so hard he had to force down vomit. Unsurprisingly, Branch flitted down from the sky, still giggling. Kevin wasn't sure if he'd been watching the entire time Kevin had been running, but he suspected so.

"Okay, you little bastard," said Kevin. "Don't ever do that again."

Branch kept laughing until he realized that Kevin was serious."It was just a joke! I thought you like jokes!"

"It wasn't a funny joke. At least I didn't think so."

"Well, I thought it was funny."

"Yeah, but you're a fairy, and you have a thoroughly messed-up sense of humor and morality. It’s not possible for me to forbid you to do everything you could ever possibly do to get me in trouble. If you want to keep traveling with me, you need to agree not to screw me over like this. After all, I wouldn't touch iron to you and say it was a joke. That would be mean, wouldn't it?"

"Well, yes," Branch admitted.

"Okay, well this was mean to me. So, will you please promise me that you will not announce something like that again? In fact, ask me before you drop any secrets about me to anybody."

"Are you seriously serious?" asked Branch.

Kevin nodded with all the gravitas he could muster. "Yes, friend, I'm seriously serious.”

“Did I really hurt your feelings?"

"That's right," said Kevin. "Besides, dragons don't actually refer to my parents as royalty, so if dragons knew that I was running around calling myself a prince, quite a few of them would be…not happy." He opened his eyes wider in sudden realization. "That means they'd be irritated with you, too."

"Really?" said Branch. He seemed to be taking the conversation a lot more seriously now.

"Yes, I’m serious," said Kevin. Then he held out a pinky in the air. "Pinky swear you won't do that again."

Branch reluctantly flew forward and put his tiny pinky on Kevin's green one. "I swear," he muttered. The two shook.

And then, without another word, Kevin turned and began walking west again.

"Where are we going?" asked Branch. Whether genuine or forced, he was acting like nothing had happened.

"Today?"

"Yes, today."

"I have no idea," said Kevin. "But now that I know Lydia is following me, I think I need to get out of the wilderness and get somewhere more civilized where she is less likely to start a ruckus."

"Do you have anywhere in mind for that?" asked Branch.

"As a matter of fact, I do," said Kevin. "The most eastern city of this country that is also decent-sized is Clearmine. We're going to go there for rest and refit."

"Oh, I've never been there before," said Branch. "This should be fun!"

Kevin thought about his cousin pursuing them and muttered, "I sure hope so."