Embers of Peace

3

  Illyria walked out into the courtyard with her hood pulled up and the prince glanced over at her with a frown. The matron grinned at her as Illyria stopped in front of them and Prince Sevran towered over her with a look of annoyance glinted in his eyes.
"Do you have everything you might need, Winters?" the matron inquired warmly as she saw the excitement in the younger woman's face and Illyria answered, "I have gathered everything I  could possibly need and a few things I almost certainly won't need."
"you sound like you have everything under control. Hopefully you'll be back in a few days with the prince" the matron sighed as she watched the prince scowl impatiently and Illyria frowned at him.
"Enough talking. My brother's life is at stake. Let's get going" Prince Sevran barked as he turned on his heel and turned towards the dragon.
"Um, how am I supposed to get up there?" Illyria asked bluntly and Sevran blinked as he glanced back at her flatly.
"I forget your people have not lived among dragons" he sighed coldly he turned back to his dragon and the beast snorted in amusement, eyeing the young woman with large golden reptilian eyes. Then the massive dragon dropped his head so the saddle at the base of his neck, between his shoulders, was low enough for the prince to vault into. Illyria scowled for a long moment before she attempted to clamber up the dragon's neck and started to slide down his flick scales.  Before she could fall, the prince grabbed her arm, the metal of his gauntlet cold against her skin as he dragged her up and settled her on the saddle in front of him.  She chewed her lip, refusing to lift her gaze as a hot blush warmed her cheeks. This man had made her feel like a small child being handled by a parent and that was not a feeling she enjoyed.
"good luck" the matron called just before the massive black dragon bunched its muscles and launched itself into the sky pulling a small squeal of terror from the woman seated in front of the Prince. Sevran frowned as he felt the terror pulsing off of the woman and sighed, "I won't let you fall. I need you alive to heal my brother after all."  Unfortunately, these words of encouragement didn't seem to quell any of the poor woman's terror and she just looked up at him with wide eyes.
  "I just realized I am afraid of heights" she whimpered and made Sevran almost burst out laughing as he gaped at her.
" How could you just realize your fear of heights? You have no problem with being in the tower..."  She cut him off with a glare as she snapped, "we are quite a bit higher then the roof of the tower."
Sevran smirked as he shook his head and his dragon chuffed in laughter.
"Just breathe, once you get used to flying you'll be amazed how much more enjoyable it is than riding a dumb horse" Sevran mused and Illyria scowled at him as she grumbled, "I'd take the horse over this any day. I have a fare less chance of plummeting to my death off a horse." The prince just stared at her speechless for a long moment before he just chuckled. The woman was quite amusing for a while before she finally relaxed a little.
By the time they reached the camp, the Sun was beginning to dip below the mountains and shroud everything in hazy darkness that accompanied the dusk. The moment the dragon landed the small woman leaped from his back to the safety of solid ground drawing the attention of all of the soldiers around. Many of them had not expected to see a woman because most of their healers were men.
"Oh thank the goddess! I am so glad to be on solid ground again" she gushed as she danced on her feet for a moment before she realized how many eyes were on her.  She immediately sobered and regained her stoic composure.