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"Danger?" Beth asked as she stood next to Ryan and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Mr. Sulvius nodded curtly, still staring at Tanner. "And who are you?"

"Tanner Wilberforce, at your service," Tanner said curtly. Ryan noticed that his hand was in his pocket, gripping some object. Oh Lord, he has a gun, Ryan thought.

Mr. Sulvius's eyes narrowed. "I work for St George Steel, ever heard of them?"

Tanner seemed to relax. "I'm a senior contractor."

Mr. Sulvius nodded and his form blurred blue as he shifted to his bipedal form. Allen swore and stepped back and his mother made a startled sound. Tanner simply stood in front of Ryan, still looking wary. Allen turned and looked at Ryan with a grim expression.

"I am so very sorry father. I did not know he was a dragon until yesterday," Ryan said quietly.

He grunted. "What do you mean by danger, dragon?"

Mr. Sulvius hesitated for a moment. "Unless I am mistaken you have been keeping Ryan away from other dragons by the wishes of his parents?" Allen nodded slowly. "He may have been discovered by those he was being hidden from and we have to get him to a safe place as quickly as possible. I have transportation arranged and room arranged for us in California City until other arrangements can be made. We can discuss this further there."

"You're assuming that we are coming with you. How do we know you're not the dragons we were warned about?"

"If I were, he'd never have made it home," Mr. Sulvius said bluntly.

"Father, he is right, he could have taken me yesterday if that was what he wanted. I trust Mr. Sulvius," Ryan said. He looked up at the larger dragon and shifted to his full from. "You are a good dragon, right?"

Mr. Sulvius laughed. "Well, if I were not I scarcely think I would say so, but yes you are right, I am on your side, Ryan. And please, call me Sulvius from now on."

"Yes Sulvius!" Ryan chirped happily.

Sulvius turned to Tanner who was still looking at him warily. "What's your stake in this?"

Tanner sighed. "I fear I may have accidentally set this in motion by asking certain questions."

"Why did you come here?"

Tanner shrugged. "I'm not sure. To try to warn them I guess, not that there's much I can do but tell them what I know of dragons and try to keep them safe until I could get in touch with Norian again."

Sulvius blinked. "Norian? Of the conclave?"

"The same."

Sulvius grunted. "Very well. Are you going with us?"

"I'm already on the lam as it were, so yes."

Sulvius turned to the rest of them. "Get packed; we have a long ways to go."

"Where are we going?" Beth asked, hand resting on the back of Ryan's head.

"Arizona. There's a safe house there."

"Why not go there directly?" Allen asked.

"It takes time to set up entry and make sure that it's clear for what we're doing. Don't worry about it; Ryan will be safe."

Allen stared. "Fine"

Beth patted Ryan on the shoulder. "Go get some clothes packed up."

He sighed. "Yes mother," he said, shifting back to human form and walking into his room.

Ryan's head spun as he packed some of his clothes. He wished he could pack in dragon form so he might be able to hear what the adults were discussing in the other room. He was sure it was something to do with him and the situation. When would he be considered old enough in their eyes to actually be told what was going on? It was so frustrating, being kept ignorant. Whoever said ignorance is bliss was a raving idiot, Ryan thought.

He looked over at his books wondering if he should take any. Where they ever coming back here? He turned away from the shelves. Books could be replaced easily enough and none of his toys were really that important. He started to zip his suitcase and changed his mind, grabbing a couple of scenery books. He loved looking at them while lying on the bed in his dragon form, imaging ing that he were flying over the landscape. Perhaps some day...

He lugged his suitcase into the living room and watched the adults as they spoke nervously amongst themselves. Sulvius was still in his pedal form, talking quietly with his father and Tanner, his tail twitching idly back and forth, his wing rustling occasionally. His mother brought a couple of heavy looking suitcases into the living room and looked at him. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yes mother," he said trying to sound brave. It was exciting, what was going on, but at the same time frighting as well, the thought that someone, some dragon worse yet, could be out to hurt him for reasons he didn't understand. Who was after him and why? He hadn't done anything to anybody.

"Are you sure you have everything?"

He nodded. "Yes mother, I double checked." He looked over at some of the photo albums sitting on the bookshelf. "May we take those?" he asked, pointing at them. She looked over to see what it was and nodded and Ryan picked them up and stuffed them in his suitcase.

"Are we ready then?" Sulvius asked. Everyone nodded and he shifted back to his human form. "We're going to pick up some cars that are waiting for us, then we will head to the hotel."

They hauled the luggage out to the their cars. After putting his in the back of their red wagon, he looked up at the dark green apartment complex he had called home since he could remember. He felt his mother's hand on his shoulder and looked up at her. "Will come back?"

She ruffled his hair. "I hope so, Ryan."

They followed Sulvius through town to a nondescript looking store front with a large shop behind it. He got out of his car and unlocked the gate and the followed him in, waiting again while he opened the garage door and waved them inside. There was easily enough room for all of their cars. Parked over in the corner was a van that would easily fit all of them and their luggage. They quickly transferred everything to the van and piled in. "Tanner, I'll have your rental car taken care of as well."

Tanner nudged Ryan. "Work for dragons; they're rich,'" he said and Ryan laughed.

"Everyone ready? Alright, lets go then," Sulvius said and pulled the van out onto the road, only stopping to lock the gate behind them. As they drove away Ryan wondered where the road would lead them and, for that matter, where it would end.

It seemed to take the better part of forever to get to the hotel. Ryan wanted to ask questions about what was going on, but everyone seemed so tense that he didn't want to say anything and Sulvius said he would explain what was happening when they got there.

Ryan watched the desert landscape as it rolled past. He appreciated the desert, knowing that it wasn't the barren, lifeless place that people made it out to be. Having grown up in the desert, he knew how to survive in it, and where to find beauty in the seemingly desolate landscape. During the rainy season, the desert actually bloomed brighter than most meadows with cacti, shrubs, and all sorts of flowers springing up that most people wouldn't expect to find in a desert.

He looked back to see what Tanner was doing. The same as he was: looking out the window at desert. Tanner looked over at him, feeling eyes on him and smiled. Ryan smiled back and Tanner reached over the seat and ruffled his hair. Ryan jerked back and sighed. Must everyone do that?

"How are you doing, Ryan?"

"I am well, Tanner. Nervous but well."

"That's certainly understandable!" Tanner laughed quietly. "Don't worry Ryan, no one here would ever allow anything to happen to you."

"I know, Tanner."

"It'll work out; you'll see."

Allen put an arm over his shoulders. "Tanner's right. Things will work out just fine," he said. Ryan couldn't help but wonder at which one of them he was trying to convince.

The drone of the tires and the excitement of the day, plus short sleep the night before, started to wear on Ryan and he yawned tiredly. "Father, may I sleep in the back seat?" he asked, barely stifling a yawn.

"Why the back seat?" Allen asked, glancing over at it and Tanner, who sat there.

"It is larger and I would be able to stretch out more easily," Ryan said, wondering at why his father was asking.

Allen looked over at Tanner who nodded. "Plenty of room for him to stretch out. I don't mind it."

"I suppose," Allen said and Ryan looked at him uncertainly, wondering if he should just stay put, but his father waved him over. "Go lay down, Ryan, you're fine."

Ryan hugged him tightly and then climbed over to the backseat of the van. Tanner moved aside to give him as much room as he could, not that Ryan needed a great deal, and he laid himself out on the backseat, stretching out with a sigh as he made himself comfortable. He looked up at Tanner from where he was laying, wondering if he should lean on him at all, if he should ask permission. Tanner smiled down at him and patted his leg. "Go ahead and rest your head, Ryan. It's fine."

Ryan laid his head against Tanner's leg and Tanner rubbed his back comfortingly. With the sound of the tires rumbling over the asphalt and the warmth of Tanner's hand rubbing his back he was soon fast asleep.

He barely awoke when someone picked up him and carried him into a hotel room. They set him down and he shifted forms and curled up tightly, still worn out from the excitement and stress of the last several days. He could have sworn that everyone was standing around him, looking at him, before sleep fully overtook him. He fell back to sleep, thrumming softly, as someone rubbed his neck.

The sound of news on the TV and warm sunlight filling the room woke Ryan. His head snapped up in alarm at the sunlight, but he relaxed when he saw that it was just the upper portions of the blinds that were open. His mother sat in one of the chairs next to a small table, half reading her book, half watching the news.

"Good morning, mother," Ryan said as he stretched out his full length like a cat, chest pressed to the bed, hind end up in the air as he groaned happily.

"Good morning, little dragon," she said, smiling at him. "Don't put holes in the bed with your claws, please."

He grunted at the comment and looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"Tanner and Sulvius are out getting breakfast. Your father is calling his work telling them there's been a family emergency and he won't be in."

"I wish we could eat out," Ryan grumbled.

"We thought about it, but Sulvius is going to explain more about what's going on while we wait for the signal to go."

"I thought you would have spoken about that where I could not hear," he said a little resentfully.

"We're not deliberately keeping you ignorant, Ryan. Your father and I really know little and Sulvius has only given us a little more information on top of that. Sulvius didn't want to discuss it without you being awake, as most of it involves you and he felt it would be unfair."

"Oh," Ryan said, ducking his head in embarrassment at his assumption. He jumped down off the bed and went to the bathroom to perform his morning ablutions. When he padded back into the room his father was there talking to his mother.

"I told them I'd be out for a week at least. They're not happy but there's nothing to be done," he said. Ryan walked over to him reared up, putting his fore claws up on his leg, and Allen briefly scratched him behind the ears. He gave a soft trill and leaped up on the bed.

"Father, do you know what is going on?"

He shook his head. "Not really, Ryan. I know you probably think we know a lot of things about you that you don't, but honestly we don't know any more than you do in most cases, less probably as we're not dragons. Your parents didn't really give us much more information. It's been hard on us as well, Ryan, trying to do what your parents asked of us without really knowing why."

"I understand, father; I do not mean to complain so," Ryan said, lowering his head.

"Oh stop that; there's no reason to duck your head," he said as he reached over to pet the little dragon. Ryan thrummed for him, lifting his head again.

There was a brief rap at the door, two short knocks, a pause, followed by short knocks again. Allen waved Ryan to hide behind the bed and cracked the door, then opened it fully to admit Sulvius and Tanner. Ryan poked his head out to see them setting bags of groceries down on the table, along with one of those cardboard containers of coffee, two news papers, and a box of donuts.

"Paranoid much?" Tanner asked Allen with a grin.

"Secret knocks can be found out, you know," Allen said with an air of stiff superiority and Tanner laughed.

"You brought enough food to feed a group twice our size," Beth remarked.

We didn't know what everyone wanted so we got a little of everything," Tanner said cheerfully. "You yanks have a much larger selection of things than we do back home." He started pulling out cups and plates, a box of danishes, and some coffee cake. Sulvius simply set down the coffee container and poured himself a cup.

"What would you like, Ryan?" Tanner asked.

Ryan scented the air. "Maple bar?"

"I think we have one," Tanner said and Beth handed him one from the package with a slight tightness around her mouth. "Here you go, Ryan," he said, holding it out to him.

Ryan scented the air again and extended his neck to take a bite when Sulvius said "Tanner" in an abrupt and firm voice. Tanner jerked the maple bar back and Ryan drew his head back in confusion. Tanner looked guilty for a moment and then put the donut on a plate. "There you go, Ryan," he said cheerfully.

Beth looked at Tanner and then at Sulvius with an unreadable expression. Allen's jaw tightened. "What was that about?"

"Nothing to worry about," Sulvius said.

"Didn't look like nothing."

Sulvius looked over at him. "It is nothing to be concerned with," he said very firmly. Allen started to open his mouth to say something but Sulvius just stared at him.

Tanner coughed. "Anyone else want something while I'm up?"

Sulvius turned. "A danish, if you would."

Allen sat down looking disgruntled but subsided. Everyone finished their second or third donuts or on their next cup of coffee when Sulvius went through the door that separated the two rooms they had taken, bringing in a chair from the other side. Everyone sat down and Ryan crawled into his other's lap, rustling his wings nervously. She murmured quietly to him, trying to sooth him, feeling his heart pounding.

Sulvius closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "Some of this may be hard to hear and, for that, I am sorry. I also do not know everything that went on and some things I do know may be sketchy at best or perhaps even wrong. I am also not telling you everything; I leave that to others who have more knowledge of these things than I do." He paused and cleared his throat. "A long time ago, even as dragons count years, there was a large schism amongst dragonkind. On one side you had those that believed that humans should be allowed to go their own way and not interfered with, so long as they were not a threat to dragonkind. This group believed that is how the old laws about humankind were meant to be intended. They also believed in a loose knit government of dragons, allowing dragons to act as their conscience dictated to them with little interference.

"The other group believed that humans were little more than talking apes and that dragons were the pinnacle of creation and should rule the world, subjugating the human race into slavery and destroying those dragons who refused their rule. They believed that dragons should be ruled by the strength of the mighty, by those who would cease power and use it, rather than any sort of consensus. Might makes right, as it were.

"I suppose the ironic thing about this is that there was a ruling group of dragons after a fashion, a particular breed that was treated as almost royalty, and very highly respected. So all they really wanted to do was remove these dragons and their influence and rule in their stead. The royal breed, I guess you could say, didn't rule outright, but merely oversaw the council and handled disputes, broke up ties, and guided dragons as best they could.

"Really, there was little for them do to. Dragons self rule quite easily for the most part. Most dragons are very well behaved and law abiding, contrary to what you may have read in books. Certainly, we have our instincts and are predators by nature, but we do not usually allow ourselves to be ruled by those instincts. Each breed has their own tendencies and their own ways of controlling them.

"So dragonkind at large supported the monarchy, I guess you could call it, and leaving humans be. The only way they would be able to cease power is to create distrust of the royal breed and somehow show that they were doing something evil. And so they schemed to discredit them and finally did so: they accused them of using their abilities to control and manipulate dragons into doing as they wished, controlling the very minds of the council themselves, then parading around as if they had no real power at all.

"The plan worked better than it should have and it started to raise questions about the royal dragons and their doings. The royal dragons submitted to questioning and did their best to reassure all dragons that they would never do such things. Something happened, some event that no one is really quite certain of, but somehow, someway, one of the royal dragons was found with his jaws locked around the daughter of a high ranking council member. He protested, saying that he did not do anything wrong and that he had no memory of how he got there and so on.

"The evil ones pushed and a war was started which eventually involved most of dragonkind. It was a very dark period in our history. Our side eventually won and the royal family exonerated of all wrong doing. The plot to discredit them was brought to light, including the murder of the council members daughter, seemingly in the jaws of one of the royals. The dragons that started the war were banished and things were at peace again, mostly. The royal family, in light of what had happened, decided to disband their part of government and refused to take part save for the most ceremonial of fashions, rather like the English monarchy today.

"Centuries passed and it was thought that the fight was over. Unfortunately, some dragons hold grudges and dragons memories are long. As I said before the royal dragons have an ability that can influence a dragons instincts, and it was on that ability that the accusation was made. It is not truly mind control, but it can heavily influence a dragons instincts."

He turned and looked at Ryan who drew himself up closer to his mother, and looked back at him with wide eyes, trembling. "You may have noticed that Ryan makes a trilling sound when he's nervous or distressed, or perhaps even when he is happy. That sound is the mechanism by which the influence works. Dragons simply refer to it as the trill."

"But you said only the royal--" Allen said and stopped, looking at Ryan in astonishment. Tanner inhaled sharply and looked over at Ryan.

"I did," Sulvius said and sighed, looking down for a moment, and then back up at Ryan. "And that is why they are after you, my prince."

It seemed for a moment that the world went totally sideways, like everything he knew to be true about himself shifted suddenly, leaving him adrift and anchor less with no stability to be found anywhere. Himself? A prince? That was crazy! "I am not a prince," he said uncertainly.

"You are, Ryan, but do not let that worry you for now," Sulvius said quietly. "There will be time enough to sort that out later, for now, lets concentrate on getting you to safety."

"Blast it all I should have known!" Tanner burst out. "Ryan I am so very sorry; I should have known that the dragons reluctance to discuss you had something to do with this. Even I knew something about it; I just never put it together."

"It is all right, Tanner, you did not do it on purpose," Ryan said, mind still reeling.

"I am sorry to have dropped all this on you so suddenly," Sulvius said. "I wish we could have broken it to you more gently."

"Who's putting him in danger? How do you know about it?" Beth asked and Sulvius shook his head.

"Not now. I will explain later when we are in a safer location."

"Where are we going?" Allen asked, looking at his son with an almost unbelieving expression. Ryan ducked his head, avoiding his gaze.

"Dragon's maintain certain ranches and homes in remote areas. We call them safe houses. They are used for recreation, gatherings, medical reasons, and in those rare times when a dragon has been discovered. The one we are heading to is in Arizona, tucked away in the mountains, and is very remote."

"And my son will be safe there?" Beth asked, pulling Ryan closer and pressing her lips against the smooth curve of his head, murmuring reassuringly.

"As safe as we can possibly make him," Sulvius assured her.

"And what if they find him there?" Allen demanded.

"All of the dragons there will rise up in defense of him," Sulvius said quietly. "Ryan is very important to dragonkind."

"I did not ask to be!" Ryan said, lifting his head, looking alarmed. "Please, I do not wish to be so very important! I do not wish--"

"Hush," his mother said, cutting him off, pulling his head back down to her chest. "Hush, Ryan."

"Everything will be fine, Ryan," Sulvius said. "You have no need to fear anyone there."

There was silence for awhile as everyone tried to come to grips with what they had learned. Finally, Sulvius cleared his throat. "Would you mind telling me how you found him?"

Allen looked over at Ryan, who returned his look with wide eyes. "Well, for that we need to go back about 14 years when we were driving back from my parents..."

"We were on our way home form my parents house after a visit. As we were turning onto the freeway that leads to town, we noticed a car sitting on the side of the road with a woman standing in front of it, watching as a man looked under the hood. We pulled over to see if we could help them out and they greeted us cautiously, friendly but cautiously, and introduced themselves as William and Sara. We offered to take them to the nearest town to find a mechanic. They agreed, but before we left, Sara took a large suitcase out of the back of the car and placed it in the back of ours. We though it to be a little odd, but paid it no mind really. Obviously we had no idea Ryan's egg was inside it at the time.

"We found a mechanic and had the car towed to him. After a brief inspection the mechanic said that it needed a new transaxle and that he would have to order one and that it would take about a week for it to get here, plus a few days to install. Ryan's parents discussed it and agreed to have the repair done. Beth encouraged me to offer them a place to stay as we had the space for them so I offered and, after another brief consultation, they accepted. "

Allen stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a sip of his coffee before continuing. "We brought them back to our apartment and I went to help them take in their luggage, going to get the large suitcase that Sara moved before, when she suddenly got very defensive, moving in front of it before I could pick it up. William quickly came over to her and spoke with her quietly a few moments before turning to me and telling me that it was an old family heirloom and she didn't care to have anyone else picking it up or touching it. Again, it sounded odd, but we shrugged it off.

"They turned out to be very good company. We found ourselves growing to like them more and more as the days went on. We did all sorts of things together, going to see movies, eating out most nights, shopping, and so on. It was a wonderful time for us all really.

"All to soon the week drew to a close and the mechanic called to say that their car was ready for them. It was a sad goodbye for all of us, but they said they had to continue on. Curiously enough, we never did ask them where they were going. They promised to keep in touch be we figured that was like most likely a nice sentiment that wouldn't last but a few months if that. Imagine our surprise when they called two weeks later saying that William had taken a job nearby and that they wanted us to come and see their new home. I think they already had it in mind to offer Ryan to us then. And so our friendship continued, we went to their house or they came over to ours several times during the week." Allen paused. "Looking back, it makes little sense. Here they were with a nice new home and yet were driving an old car with a busted transmission. They always had money for food and outings and the like." Allen shrugged.

"One day I got a call from William, inviting us to dinner, but he sounded very tense; I could tell something was wrong by his voice. We went of course, worried for our friends, and when we got there they were acting rather odd, very quiet during dinner, exchanging long looks at each other, not at all their normal cheerful, upbeat selves.

"I quietly asked them what was wrong and they looked at each other, saying nothing for so long that Beth and I started to feel very uncomfortable. Sara finally nodded to him and William turned and said that he had something to tell us that would sound quite unbelievable, but was quite true.

"I told him ok, wondering what was going on, and they lead us to the living room. William paced back and forth a few dozen times and then abruptly said that they were not human. Beth and I stared at each other, wondering what had gotten into them, and I said 'Yes, that is very hard to believe. What are you then?' He said dragons, and I turned to Beth, wondering if they had lost their minds somehow. Williams next move dispelled any doubt of that: he took his bipedal form.

"It took us awhile to recover from the shock, needless to say, and they convince us that they were not going to hurt us, they had not up until this point, and that nothing had changed between us other than we now knew the truth. Sara also took her bipedal form and stood next to your father and he nuzzled her for awhile before she turned to us and asked said they had something very important to task of us. They lead us down to the basement, which was covered in fine, white sand, very brightly lit and very warm. That was odd enough, but what was even more amazing was the large egg resting on some pillows at the other end.

"They asked us if we would adopt Ryan. We protested, saying that we didn't know anything about raising a dragon! They said that Ryan would be in his human form, but that they would teach us as much as they could about raising a dragon just in case, and that they would give us some medication to keep him in human form. I honestly think they planned on coming back for him before he shaped changed.

"We told them we would have to think about it and they agreed, nervously, as I think they worried we were going to tell someone about them. After a long discussion, Beth and I decided to adopt Ryan. We didn't have any children and it didn't look like we were going to. Beth had wanted a child for years and I admit I was longing for a little one as well. I called William and told him that we would take Ryan in and he was happy to hear it, well, as happy as anyone could be in that situation.

"Over the next few weeks they taught us what they could about hatchlings, instincts, how to raise a baby dragon, and so on. It was a lot of information to absorb but we tried our best. Finally Ryan's hatching day came..." He trailed off, lost in his memory. He looked at Ryan. "Your mother has told you about it, I know." He fell silent again.

"We watched him hatch," he said, voice thickening with emotion. "It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. We weren't the first to hold him, that was Sara, we felt that was only right. When she went to nurse him you could have knocked me over with a feather. Dragons nurse their young! I guess it's just not something you would expect, inasmuch as you would expect anything from a previously mythological creature." He shook his head in amazement and then sighed.

"They only stayed a few more days after that, giving Ryan something to put him into human form and giving us a second dosage, just in case, and that they would last about 4 - 5 years. Again, I think they had planned to come back for him long before then, not that I have any complaints. Ryan is my son and I love him.

"14 years later it's been an interesting ride to say the least. I won't say it's always been easy caring for Ryan, he can be a handful, and his instincts can take us all by surprise at times, but I can say that I wouldn't trade the experience for all the gold in the world," he finished, his face wet with tears. Ryan swallowed hard, looking around, and no one's eyes were dry.

"Father, I..." he started and then reached his arms out to him. Allen took him into his arms and pet him, rocking him, feeling his little body tremble against him.

"I love you, Ryan," he said softly with a little catch in his voice.

Ryan could only wrap his wings and tail around him and thrum, his voice failing him.

Ryan rode in silence, leaning agains his father. It seemed with his father telling how they had found him, how he came to be his son, that their relationship was suddenly much closer. Ryan had always loved his father, but he couldn't deny that there was a certain amount of tension between them. Ryan hoped that things would improve from this point, though he was smart enough to realize that no one changes overnight.

His thoughts roamed back to what he had learned about himself. A prince? Him? It sounded like some fantasy novel. Adopted son finds out that he's really the prince of some kingdom and now must go back and save it and fulfill the prophecy! He was reasonably sure there was no prophecy involved (or so he hoped. The notion that his life could be totally preplanned for him was a little disconcerting) and as Sulvius said, the monarchy, or whatever it was, was largely ceremonial so he wouldn't be required to lead, which was also good as he had enough trouble leading himself to say nothing of anyone else.

But what did this really mean for him? Were the dragons going to be bowing and scraping to him at ever turn? Did he have a palace somewhere, perhaps a large hoard of gold and jewels to lie upon(which he had to admit sounded rather nice)? Should he act more regal now or something? He decided to keep on going as he was. If he needed to act different he was sure someone would tell him about it.

Someone was after him. That was another though in a long line of thoughts that pounded on his mental door for his consideration. The idea that someone was chasing after him wasn't in itself all that concerning, after all, he'd been running from bullies and hiding from others for a good chunk of his life now. No one had said it explicitly, but he was reasonably sure that they would kill him if they caught him. Now that was a bit unsettling. Most bullies just wanted to pound on you for awhile, not kill you.

Sulvius said that the dragons at the safe house would rise up in his defense. That was nice, he supposed, but who was he that dragons he didn't even know would lay down their lives to protect him? Ryan's concept of self worth was hardly expansive enough o cover such a distant notion. He knew what he was, or at least he thought he knew, and that was a small, soft, grey and blue colored hatchling. That was hardly the making of a prince or anyone important in his eyes.

Further, he had never much cared for attention in the first place, having been brought up to avoid it his whole life, and now he was going to be the center of it? Alarming.

He looked up at his father who dozed in the seat next to him and he smiled. He loved his father and it seemed now more so than ever. He looked to see what his mother was doing in the passenger seat. Reading. Now that was a huge shock. His mother almost always had a book tucked away somewhere. He laughed to himself, remembering the time they went to a see a movie, a very popular one with a long line, and his mother bought the book before they got there. She had finished it by the time they went inside to see it. Seemed silly to him, but that was his mother for you.

Tanner sat behind him, also dozing. He hoped that Tanner didn't feel badly about possibly having revealed him to the dragon that were chasing him. He hardly considered it Tanner's fault and didn't blame him in the slightest. He did worry, a little, that the dragons may take a different view of it. Well, what if they did? He was their prince, allegedly, and even if his rule was ceremonial he should have enough sway to make them leave Tanner alone should they ben interested in punishing him.

He laid back in his seat, listening to the rumble of the tires over the road, looking out the window at the scenery, wondering a little apprehensively what was going to happen next.

Ryan was wrong about one thing: Tanner was not actually sleeping. He was, in fact, mulling over some of the same things that Ryan was.

He kicked himself again, mentally. Why did he have to be so stupid? His father had told him often enough that one of these day his curiosity was going to get the better of him. He figured he was right, but never figured that it would put someone else in danger, and especially not a dragon.

A very special dragon, it seemed.

Why didn't he see it? He should have known...known...something! The more reasonable side of him said that there was not way he could have known what Ryan was as the dragons would say very little about it to outsiders. The only reason he knew anything at all was because Norian had told him a few things and the trust that Norian had for him and his family, a trust, he worried, that he had now broken. Even still he couldn't help but feel that he should have been more careful of Ryan, more careful about asking questions, more careful of what he told him.

Up to his point he assumed that the royal family still existed somewhere and it was just not something that a dragon friend would ever be allowed to see. He knew of the war, knew there had been a battle over something regarding politics and that the royal family had been regaled to ceremonial status, but very little else. He looked over at Ryan and sighed quietly. Sulvius hadn't said explicitly, but he was sure Ryan was the last of his breed unless his parents were still alive. That worried him. It would be even harder on Ryan if he were the only dragon of his kind left in the world. He wasn't sure that Ryan would be able to mate and produce hatchlings of his breed, so it may well be that they would be extinct after Ryan passed on, a horrible thought. His heart gave a little tug at the thought of it.

Well, he determined, Ryan wasn't going to face this alone. Even if all the dragons in all of creation were around him, he would stand by the little dragon; he was determined to continue their friendship. He would be there for him, and if he were kept away, well, Ryan would know that it wasn't him that chose to leave.

Ryan. Again. Why did he evoke such emotions? It scared him a little. It was probably just the situation, he reasoned. He liked young dragons well enough, had always enjoy their antics as they played, enjoyed their rambunctious energy, and their eagerness to learn. Dragons tended to be far more curious than human children and far more active as well. It was all one could do to keep up with the somedays.

That was it. Ryan was young, in an awkward situation, and he felt he need to be there for him, to help teach him in light of all that happened. He was absolutely determined to do so. He watched the boy as he stared out the window, his eyes a little glazed.

Yes. Very determined.