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The Dragon Knight (Ren Olvry & AlabasterDragoness)

So he did... but it didn't keep him from asking. Or generally being curious. "So you say. Well, I do know better than to ask, besides," Sebastian replied with a slight sigh. Well, but he'd not soon tell her what he was up to either... so perhaps they were even, in a way.

"Will you be going out again today, then? Given that you were in all day yesterday, one can only guess," he idly asked in turn, glancing momentarily over to Joanna.
 
"Later, yes," she told him. "I decided to do something with the family estate. Bring some life back into it." It saddened her that her uncle left it untouched the day their parents perished. "Something needs to be done to it."

Even if nobody lived in the estate for some time, it could at leastlook presentable. "Besides, it would be nice to fill it with laughter and the like again. Mother and Father would have wanted that."
 
The... estate, she said? That old place, a little ways off? To that, Sebastian exhaled a thoughtful little hum, before turning back to whatever it was he'd been writing. If she was doing something like that, then well... perhaps it would keep her a bit less occupied with the dragon. Perhaps.

"Let me know, if you would, when it's in better shape, then; I would quite like to see it again sometime," he requested. "For now, I shall leave you to that, if you'd like; I'm sure there are a number of servants here who would be plenty willing to go and help," he added. "Did something bring this on, though, or did you simply cross paths with a memory recently? Forgive my idle curiosity; I've just not heard anything of the place for years," he asked with another, curious glance back to her, plainly meaning just what he said.
 
"Well... I've thought about it quite a bit over the years. And I decided that something needed to be done with it." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "It would be nice if you went to see it once it's finished." She already had a few people in mind for helping with it.

"Although... if you'd like to spend some time there once it's livable again..."
 
On that note, Sebastian gave a small nod, another small hum escaping him at Joanna's next suggestion. Not the worst idea for a few different reasons, perhaps... though it would also have him around here less, he mused. Well...

"...I may consider it, yes. I can only imagine there would be much to be done; it's been a fair number of years since anyone last visited the place. For all I know, bandits or some such might even have made it their hideout..." he suggested, on that point a slight frown crossing his face. "Go with some guards at the very least, please. It's out of the way enough that I'd rather nothing happen; even if few know of the place, there's always a chance someone might have stumbled upon it since," he requested.

"But yes, please do tell me how things look there from time to time. It could be nice having somewhere to... get away a little."
 
"Don't worry, I'll take a few guards with me." Sebastian to worry a little more than what she liked, but if it made him feel better...

"I'll keep you updated." With that, she let him be in favor of looking for Drace, and she knew where he would be. Finding him in the library, she sat next to him and pulled a book out to read so that he could continue with his studies.
 
To that, then, Sebastian gave another small nod, before leaving Joanna to do whatever it was she needed to do from there. Back to work, of a sort, for him... and for Drace, in the meanwhile, he was otherwise occupied with her studies for the time, glancing over momentarily as she came in and tilting his head slightly in interest.

"Found some people for the task, shall I guess?" he went ahead and asked, idly glancing out the window for a moment afterward. Perhaps not quite lunchtime... but it likely wouldn't be too far off. But whatever timing or people she might have had in mind, he wouldn't exactly know anyway; he'd just leave it to her to determine the right time and all.
 
"Not quite," she said once he gave her his full attention. "I had to see what my brother was up to. He didn't want me to see who he was writing to, and I found that a bit odd." Relaxing in her seat, she placed the book in her lap. "He did want to visit the estate once we were finished with it. And he asked me about my suitor... I knew beter than to give it away."

She gave him a little smirk and a nudge as she rested her hands in her lap.
 
Not yet? Well, if that was fine, then... Drace couldn't help but be curious himself who Sebastian might be writing to, but he had a few guesses, at least. Not least of all Quentin, that he seemed to be so close with, even from what he had seen.

"I can only imagine he might guess it was me, given the timing and everything else," the dragon suggested with a little chuckle. "Though certainly, nobody will hear anything from me, even after my... performance, so to speak, back at the ball," he added, granting her a little grin and leaning over momentarily for a small nuzzle against her cheek. "If he wishes to visit the place later, though, it could certainly be arranged to have Valar... disappear from there for a time," he mused.

"Otherwise... I trust we'll still be fine to leave after lunchtime, then? Depending how many you feel might be needed."
 
"He did ask if it was you, but I wouldn't tell him." She knew better than to give Sebastian any ammunition. "Well, if anyone believes that it's you, they wouldn't dare say it ouy loud."

She sat in comfortable silence until she placed a hand on his. "I think three or four would be a good number to start with. I promised my brother I'd take some guards with me."
 
Perhaps not... but then, they'd still have time for that. For everything. And he could certainly keep a secret; so too would anyone going to the estate have to, at least for now.

"I might argue that Valar himself would be plenty enough of a guard... but if you think it best, and they can be trusted with the others, then I won't argue," Drace replied with a small shrug. Perhaps it would be best for some of the others... but if it came to recognizing and dealing with possible threats, he trusted his scout to be capable, at least. "Otherwise, shall I still wait for you here for a bit longer, then? I can be ready to leave whenever; it will just depend on you and the others," he suggested with a little tilt of his head, his hand shifting a little to gently clasp Joanna's that had settled over it.
 
She nodded. "I will see about having a few coming with us." Making sure no one was looking, she kissed his cheek and left the library. She was able to locate a guard and the servant from the day before; she also found a fairly young servant who was found in the garden doing his best to clear the cut branches from the pathways. She recalled that he was a minor noble's son who was sentenced to servitude due to his father's involvement in some scandal that nobody remembered... at least she didn't as she was too occupied in her books after her parents' deaths.

When the sun was reaching its peak, she went back to the library and found Drace where she left him.
 
Well, if that was what she thought was best, he wouldn't argue; besides, many of the guards were probably used to at least having him around by now anyway. A different... rather less intimidating dragon shouldn't be an issue, he had to imagine. Still, Drace gave a little grin at the kiss to his cheek, watching Joanna leave for a moment before returning to his study. He doubted he'd be able to help much with the actual search regardless.

When she returned, then, his ears flicked up a little in interest, his eyes momentarily glancing out the window in turn. About time, then... well, he'd made it far enough with his studies for now besides. "About time to get a bit of food and head out, shall I guess?" he asked, turning a bit more fully to her this time.
 
Joanna nodded, motioning for him to come along.

"Your Highness," the young man said, "is there a reason why you want us to come with you?"

"I'm fixing the estate," she answered.

"Oh! I thought that-"

"It doesn't need to sit in ruin forever."
 
With a small nod, Drace set aside the book he'd been browsing for the moment, only to slip out of the seat with a slight stretch to start to follow along after her. And... at least one of those she intended to bring along, he could only assume.

On that point, then, he cast Joanna a curious glance, as if wordlessly asking if she'd told them much... but whatever might be the case, if she thought it was fine, he was certain they'd manage. "There will no doubt be a chunk of it done by the time we get there; how much, I couldn't possibly say," the dragon offered for his own part, momentarily glancing off in that general direction. "If we're to make sure people would be able to stay the night if necessary, though, it may be best to leave sooner than later... if we're ready, of course," he suggested, glancing then over to Joanna.
 
While she didn't divulge much into who was already there, Joanna figured that the guard and two servants would be more willing to come with her and Drace if she made no mention of Valar. When he asked if it was better to go ahead and head out, she nodded. "That would be best."

"What was that look?" the guard asked.

"You'll see..." she said.
 
Hadn't she? Well... if Joanna insisted on doing it that way, the best Drace could do was exhale a slight sigh. He hoped this wouldn't be too troublesome, but if she trusted them enough, perhaps then it would be fine.

On that note, he went ahead and started to lead the way off toward the estate. Along a path that clearly looked to not have been trodden much for some time on its own, toward the building they'd visited those couple days ago and left Valar at for now. He'd little doubt the dragon might already be in the process of hiding when they got near, but it was also clear enough that he'd been to work, at least on the outside. Much of the weeds and vines had been cleared out from before, the gazebo itself was looking a fair bit better and more accessible... though would need a bit more work yet on its own. Inside... well, he supposed they'd see.

"Right then... seeing as Joanna doesn't appear to have said much," Drace spoke up when they neared the doors leading in, casting Joanna herself a bit of a look before continuing, "we left someone behind here when we came here last. If you'd prefer, I can simply call on him now... because you'd never find him if he didn't want to be found otherwise, no matter where you looked," he offered, momentarily glancing along the others that had come.
 
Pleased with progress that she saw, Joanna followed behind Drace until the stopped in the courtyard.

The timid servant looked at Drace when he said he would call out to his friend. "Is he dangerous?" she asked.

"He's harmless," Joanna said. "In fact, he would be more curious than anything else."
 
"Curious may be... putting it lightly. He's liable to pester you with any number of questions, but you're more than allowed to tell him to stop. I make no guarantee that he will, but you can certainly try," Drace offered with a slight sigh. He didn't doubt it would be... aggravating for some, but 'harmless' otherwise covered it. If he didn't have to hurt anything, he wouldn't.

Time, then, to get this part of the trip over with, he supposed.

"Valar! At attention," he somewhat suddenly snapped, certainly not having lost all that he'd gained during his time as a head knight in Draconus... least of all order over those that directly followed him. Yet, for a short time, there seemed to be just nothing... at least, until the other, black-scaled dragon seemed to fade into being a little ways ahead of Drace. Just as the knight had said... Valar wouldn't be seen unless he wanted to be seen. Though even snapping to attention for his leader, it didn't stop the other dragon's eyes from curiously wandering along the humans that had come. An almost wide-eyed curiosity, no less.

"Right! Well... I've got the gazebo mostly cleared out, as ya can see, and most of the vines and stuff -- it's still kinda dusty in there, and I only really took care of one room where I'm staying yet, but well... welcome!" Valar offered with a friendly grin, his attention very much diverted from his old leader, who could only exhale another, slight sigh. "Should I be, um... showing them around at all? Maybe seeing about grabbing a bit of food around here?" he asked, glancing then to Joanna. "Ah... and you didn't bring a tailor or anything along, did you...?"
 
Letting Drace call for Valar, Joanna stood in place as the rest of her entourage flinched slightly. When Valar appeared, she listened to what he had to say about the progress he had made and looked to her group when he asked about her bringing a tailor.

"Not this time," she said. "But I will keep that in mind for next time."
 
No? Well, next time indeed, then, Valar supposed. It didn't really... answer his other questions at the moment, granted, but he could get to that.

"Mm... well, anyway! I've got a little bit of food around from hunting around a bit, and the kitchen is... well, clean enough, I think," the dragon mused, glancing momentarily back to the doorway. "So I guess, though it's not really my place to say it, more like hers... c'mon in!" he offered, putting back on a friendly grin as he turned to start to lead the way in, Drace meanwhile giving a slight shrug and moving to follow along.

Inside, the place was still... fairly dusty, suffice it to say, given that Valar hadn't really worked on the indoors much, nor had much idea where to start anyway... but if nothing else, the furnishings and everything else at least appeared to remain stable. "Oh! And um..." the black-scaled dragon spoke up after a moment, glancing somewhat hesitantly back -- in particular, to the shyer-seeming servant out of those that had been brought along. "It's not gonna be... a bother that I'm here and don't know much about cleaning, is it...?"
 
Following Valar inside, she glanced around the interior as the servants and guards looked around in awe.

The timid servant looked up at Valar. "It won't be," she said softly, noyicing how he looked at her hesitantly. "You don't need to worry about it. I can take care of it."

"You've made quite a bit of progress," Joanna remarked once the servant hadn't added much else.
 
On that note, then, Valar gave a small nod and grin. Momentarily glancing around at some of the others, his ears soon perked when Joanna spoke up, glancing quickly enough over to her. "Well, I've kinda been stuck here for the past few days anyway -- not that I'm blaming anyone, of course, since I'm the one that decided to try and follow after the commander -- and I did say I'd start working on it, didn't I?" he suggested with a little chuckle.

"If you all want, then, I can get started on a little food, for anyone that hasn't eaten yet, while you all look around, or whatever ya want to do? I'm not great at it, and I haven't got all that much to work with yet, but I can do well enough. Gotta have at least a few different skills and stuff to take care of myself as a scout, and all," he suggested, idly glancing around a little again at those that had come along to here.

"For the sake of seeing how this all might work -- and for keeping him at least a little quieter for the moment -- I might suggest it," Drace spoke up, to no apparent mind from the other, presumably rather self-aware dragon.
 
Once Valar asked, the servants and guard jodded their heads collectively before going to look around the estate.

"So far so good," Joanna whispered to Drace. "Let's hope it stays that way."

She began to walk the halls, taking in the granduer despite the heavy veil of dust on everything. She dwelled on days long past, recaling every moment she walked these halls. She even slipped into her old bedroom to simply wander around and sit on the bed.
 
Indeed... he could at least hope so, to which Drace himself gave a small nod. At the least, he was rather certain of Valar's harmlessness; whether he'd annoy people, however, or how they might otherwise take him, was a different matter. For his own part, Drace wandered a little along with Joanna while the others went along their own ways. When she made it to a bedroom, he let out a small hum, glancing a little around it. It would... definitely need to be dusted, at the very least, but it didn't seem a bad place to have stayed.

"Yours, then? Should it remain locked while people are to stay here, perhaps?" Drace idly suggested. "Besides that, though... so far, so good, indeed. I can only hope Valar doesn't annoy these people too much in the end... though I also slightly worry whether he might end up taking more a fancy to someone. He'll not do anything he shouldn't, certainly... but, shall we say, he's rather the gift-giving type. Perhaps more suitable for these lands than back home where it never got him much," he added with a small shrug.

"Though given who I'm telling this to... I might also worry that you'd only encourage him," he added in turn, granting the woman a little smirk.
 
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