The Dread Knight's Hilda Drakken's faith in her ability as a servant of the Kingdom had been slowly whittled down for weeks. With her slaying murder of Dirt Doren Drakken she saw no honor in being a knight any longer.

Being summoned by the virgin princess Bellodonna would have once excited her, but arrives somber to the outside of Castle Drakken.

"MY LADY. I AM HERE TO ESCORT YOU TO THE DAWN KNIGHTS. DESPITE THE EMBARRASSMENT THAT HAPPENED AT THE ARENA, I WISH YOU TO KNOW THAT I AM MORE THAN FIT TO LEAD AND PROTECT YOU IN THEIR DEN OF WIRES AND METAL."

Bellodonna was sitting at a window-side table, having spent the time waiting for her summoned knight, besides gazing out the window, contemplating her immediate future as well as the deep stretch of time beyond it, a contemplation that is gratefully interrupted by Hilda's proclamation. "Ah yes, good, you've finally arrived, the waiting was beginning to turn unbearable."

"I trust that you are..." She worried with her hands a bit as she thought back to the arena. "You are well... yes, my knight?"

"............I AM THE KNIGHT THAT WAS ASSIGNED TO YOU. DO YOU QUESTION THAT, OR MY KNIGHTHOOD?"

Hilda takes off her helmet. "I am no imposter, if that is what you suspected, my Princess."

"...No I...your capacity as a knight has... never been in question in my eyes...It is simply..." She fretted about herself as she pondered the right words.

"......Indeed, you are my ineffable knight, there is no doubt of that... there is no doubt in that at all, and I am quite glad I can rely upon you for a while more."

"IF YOU QUESTION MY LOYALTY AFTER YOU LAUGHED AT ME IN THE ARENA, I STILL STAND LOYAL."

"I was........"

"Told you might have wanted to see me......but I do not know how true those rumors are, princess of Drakkens."

She tries to keep it verge to allow herself an escape if need be. "And if those terrible rumors are true, I will strike down-"

She pauses to think. "-I will remind them that rumors are ill fit for all but the lowest of worms."

"...And what was it..." she hedges, "That you would be hoping for... were it to be the case..."

"What would you hope to... do... if I had invited you here in such a manner......"

Hilda can't take the risk of being wrong, least she be struck down where she stood. "Well, they called you a queer woman! But surely not! I do not know what would put such thoughts in the head of James, or why he might have thought I were a fey women too!"

"TO HAVE SIR JAMES HARASS THE PRINCESS IN SUCH A WAY. THE PRINCESS IS A VIRGIN, NOT BECAUSE SHE IS FEY IN MANNERISMS, BUT BECAUSE HER VIRGINITY BRINGS LUCK TO THE KINGDOM, AND SHE CAN ONLY HAVE THE BEST MAN, APPROVED BY THE OLD GODS AND NEW."

"I have heard such rumors for ages...........but I know it to not be true, of course."

"Aye, James can be so dreadfully cruel at times, can he not, to play such a tasteless game on someone as stalwart as you..."

"...Although... would it truly be so terrible a thing in fact... were it... to be... true... She gets quieter as she trails off.

"OF COURSE IT WOULD NEVER BE A TERRIBLE THING, PRINCESS. ALL WOMEN PARTAKE IN THE FEY WAYS SOMETIMES, BEFORE MARRIAGE. IT IS OK TO BE FEY IN SUCH WAYS." Hilda tries to reassure herself as much as she does Bellodonna.

"I did want to know though. Your maid said you kept my rose. Is that true?"

"The rose... why of course, it would have been... terrible to toss such a thing away... where was it that I put it again..." It was of course placed carefully in a pot on one of the bedside tables, though the princess made a show of not immediately remembering this.

She made an attempt to ease some tension. "A rose is a truly wicked flower, you know, it is dreadfully beautiful, elegant, yet ringed with thorns to menace, I do think I love things like that..........." An unqualified success.

"PRINCESS BELLODONNA, I CANNOT HOLD BACK MY THOUGHTS ANYMORE....I HAD.......A QUESTION. A MOST DIRE ONE....."

"Ahem....."

"Is this vampwelf women in your room your girlfriend....? I had assumed you wanted me but I am starting to fear I am too late?"

"She does not wish to be here." She allowed a beat to pass. "This puppy has been placed in my care for the time being......"

"I see............are you friends with Dorothy?"

"Nnn... I do not think so... she simply glares at me like that most of the time." Privately, she admits, it is rather cute.

"I see, well, she is a prisoner, that is typical of them." She trails off in thought, having accidentally admitted to the Princess her feelings, even if it was quickly swept under a rug, much like Dorothy's existence. "I'm sorry, one moment, I feel more confident with my helm on. Right now, I feel nude in this room."

"VIRGIN PRINCESS BELLODONNA. I HAVE ADMIRED YOU FROM AFAR FOR SO VERY LONG. THOUGH I FEAR I MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU EXPECT."

"I AM NOT A KNIGHT. I HAVE BEEN FORCED INTO THIS ROLE, AND I WISH TO REQUEST OF YOU, THAT I BE FIRED FROM THIS POSITION, WITH HONOR, AFTER TODAY, OR BE ASSIGNED AS A PERSONAL KNIGHT. I CANNOT BENEFIT THE KINGDOM ANYMORE WITH THE SHAME I HOLD. I NO LONGER TAKE JOY IN THE HONOR ONCE GIVEN TO ME."

"ALSO, WILL YOU GO ON A DATE WITH ME? MAYBE. LATER?" Hilda did not know how to add on the last part without just tacking it on like a side piece.

"Oh, is that... so... huh?"

"I WOULD DO BEST AS A BATTLE NURSE. I HAVE BEEN STUDYING THE WAYS, I PROMISE, IN MY SPARE TIME. I BELIEVE THERE IS STILL MUCH HONOR TO HAVE IN SUCH A PROFESSION. I AM......"

"Just tired of being my father's "false son." I see no honor in being something that will be tossed aside should a male be born into the family."

"If... If... If that is your true... desire than I... I..."

"I apologize, I had prepared myself for the possibility that you would request some form of resignation... I knew all the words I would say to that... but... but... I am... distracted, by your other request.

"I REGRET BRINGING UP THE OTHER REQUEST. IT'S MAKING EVERYTHING AWKWARD."

"Did I hear you correctly that you... wish to... date... me?"

"I mean, if you want to."

"I MEAN, YES. I WOULD WANT THAT, POSSIBLY."

"I REALLY SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT THIS UP AFTER WE WENT TO SPEAK TO THE DAWN KNIGHTS. THE RIDE OVER THERE IS GOING TO BE TENSE NOW."

"I... well... if you truly wish to... that is something... we could do......" Her mind was spinning a little.

"Nnn... no that won't do..." She inhales and exhales. "Yes, Yes... I would be alright with that. Afterward, of course."

Bellodonna calms herself a bit more. "...And as for your other request, I'm afraid I still have need of you, as a Knight for the time being, but if you would be willing to serve as such for just a while longer than I would be more than pleased to grant any request you ask, when my task is done, and The Beast is slain."

"Beast? What Beast?"

"Ah... I had meant to tell you of this... Father has charged me with..." She ponders how much she should say. "the slaying of a dreadful Beast of Regret, deep in the woods, it is actually for this task that I seek the Dawn Knights, in fact..."

"I do assure you, it is a task of grave import, for more reasons than petty honor, prestige... of things bards might sing about, no, this is something I must do, as a matter of responsibility... personal responsibility."

"I fear that, now knowing the truth of it, I cannot simply let it lay, I could not bare the thought of it, it has anxiously occupied my thoughts of late... and it would be to my great relief if I could have the services of those I find... nnn... trustworthy." She can't help but feel a little embarrassed about that word now that, well, things have been laid bare.

"DO NOT WORRY, MY PRINCESS. I SHALL LEAD YOU TO THE DAWN KNIGHTS, AND WE SHALL CLAIM WHAT YOU REQUIRE. THEY ARE MEN OF HONOR, THEY WILL UNDERSTAND YOUR PLEA."

"WE SHALL TAKE OUR STEEDS AT ONCE, AND REMEMBER."

"SHOULD ANYTHING HAPPEN. I AM YOUR KNIGHT, YOUR LANCE."

Before the two, the Castle of Dawn stood. Wires hung around in a messy array, tightly coiling around various mechanisms that had not moved in many years. Even now, Dawn Knight mechanics followed their holy book to build a machine that they could no longer power.

The knight and her Princess are not halted at the door. As if the Dawn Knights could silently speak to each other, the drawbridge is lowered, and they are allowed to cross into the castle. The warriors were both trusted and feared, honorable hired knights employed in every Kingdom. It is said that they hold secrets from all kingdoms, but that to tell them would have them exiled from their people. Time and time again, Dawn Knights have been accused of telling secrets from kingdoms they work in to others for a small bit of coin. This insult is so offensive that a Dawn Knight would strike down even a well-paying client who speaks in such ways about them.

They were dwindling in units ever since many ages ago, their beloved yet famously annoying dragon was stolen by the Drakkens and sealed away, with it, taking the electricity that the Dawn Knights had worked so hard to bring across the planet. The leader of the Dawn Knights, Timothy's father sat on his throne, holy book in lap.

"My son has come from miles away to inform me of both of your arrivals, daughter of the dragon stealer, and crippler of my youngest! You'd best speak, and speak fast. What do you require from us? Of Dawn?"

"Dear and Honorable Knights of the Dawn, Honorable Lord of Knights, I come to you, but to humbly request your services in the slaying a Beast most Wicked and Foul, a terrible Fey Beast that has come to roost in our forest."

"Name the beast, so that we know we are telling no secrets!"

"This beast is..." She is beginning to feel ridiculous for how secretive she's being about this. "...a Beast of Regrets, a Fey of the Dishonored and miserable Prince of Dragons, who ought to have gone quietly into the night a long time ago."

"Secrets have already been told to you, thus we are not breaking vow."

"We have already informed your father of our payment for such a task. We will kill it, burn it to ash so no one may remember it, but we require our dragon back!"

"Your father, upon stealing our dragon, has left this world, but most importantly, the Dawn Knights, without the miniature suns that our god most holy has taught us to build!"

"Should you agree to return our dragon, then you will be able to enjoy your leisure. Sit back as we kill your brother, as WE were told to do so long ago, before the father of the awful DREAD KNIGHT had stolen our hunt and our glory!"

"It will be an exciting hunt! We may even pack a lunch, so you may watch the light of the undead kinslayer's eyes go out."

"The Dawn Knights have been studying their holy book, awaiting the day that the LIGHT is returned to this darkened land." The leader flips through to a page of the holy book. He shows it, expecting Bellodonna to be impressed.

"Wrong page, it is the next one over."

"You shall hand us back our dragon. Yes?"

Bellodonna looks upon the works of the Dawn Knights, keeping to a practiced balance of polite interest and imperious boredom, taking the time to compose her response. "Indeed, your works are grand, some would say divine, and I have no doubt that most who dwell upon this world would be greatly impressed by them, and eagerly grant you your request, for how dreadful it is that you have been denied your appointed calling."

"Indeed I am inclined to grant you your request, for I have myself born witness to such miracles taken for granted by alien eyes, and wielded thoughtlessly by alien hands, and it is for that reason that I might wonder what would happen if I acquiesced to you noble request without a thought for those that come from above."

"After all, is it not only for my Father's theft of your dragon that those impudent transgressors of the Federation have not been allowed to wield their terrors against us, for what they, in their kind and generous nature would see as grave crimes, not fit to be forgiven. Crimes for which the only suitable response would be to destroy us all?"

"Our beloved dragon told us about the Federation, the men in the stars. He told us that he, the holy dragon, is a pacifist! Should war come upon the land, he will steal all electricity away until they leave!"

"Unless you believe us to be working with the star men, there is nothing to fear. Do you DARE accuse us of such things?"

"Be that truly so? If you can swear upon what you hold most sacred, that your dragon can be trusted to do so... then I will truly have no objections to returning your dragon to you."

The Dawn Lord wastes no time agreeing. "I SWEAR ON MY LIFE, MY SONS, MY DAUGHTERS, MY WIFE, MY GOD!"

"If the dragon lies, you will be there to view its neck cut open so that you can have the first drink of it as the world falls dark again."

"I assure you, when you meet our dragon, you will understand that there is nothing to fear."

"In fact, I worry more for the Drakkens. He must be growing bored, and without entertainment, he may.....break out."

"And while I believe him to be honest when he calls himself a pacifist, a good guy, and an investor I worry that in his boredom he will take up new hobbies."

"His saved videos on coconut and melons cannot possibly keep him entertained for long!"

"Dragons are truly strange creatures..." Bellodonna mutters quietly to herself.

"Ahem. If then we have reached an accord on this matter, then I will agree, upon a simple additional request, that when you go out to slay this beast, that I, and those of my choosing, will be a part, and that you will not seize upon more glory than you are owed by right, and most importantly of all..."

"THE HONOR WILL BE ALL YOURS AND YOUR PEOPLE! We have already been denied our glory before, but in exchange for a dragon, we are willing to pay it all. Let us move and free our beloved, and then...."

The Dawn Lord seems to grow more nervous as they head down into the maze-like tunnels. "Ahem ah, please, when we meet the dragon, be prepared to forgive his oddities."

The man gestures wildly as he tries to explain. "Please understand, even us Dawn Knights don't like his personality, but in the same way a man needs to deal with, and still worship an angry god, we must still stand by an annoying one!"

"He is just............"

"Annoyingly satirical."

"You know how some men will draw a comic of your father, Boris, and they write in BIG TEXT "EVIL DRAKKEN KINGDOM" and under his feet, a crying child labeled "POOR INNOCENT LOWER CLASS?""

"Yes, I delighted in throwing them into the fireplace as a child..."

"I am ashamed to say that is 95% of his personality."

"So in advance, the Dawn Knights ask your forgiveness, and also beg you to not listen to him."

"You do not need to worry, I have more than perfected the art of ignoring the comments of certain..." Bellodonna attempts to think of a kinder word but quickly gives up. "...infuriating individuals."

"I will... be doing my best... to not hold it against you."

"Thank you, Princess. I hope, god willing, that these 200 years of imprisonment has turned him into a better person."

"My dear dragon, we are here to free you!"

"Mmmhmm....." The dragon seems....utterly uninterested.

"You....want to be freed right?"

".....Huh?" The dragon barely looks in the Dawn Knight's direction. "I want the internet turned back on...."

"Uh, look, don't mind them....It's like they barely want freedom most of the time, even when it's delivered to them...."

"Labeling you as "Old Man", and me as "The Youth.""

"................................................................."

"SO DO YOU WANT TO BE FREED OR NOT?"

"Doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things."

"Regardless of your desires, you are being released, Dragon, such as I have promised previously."

"We always knew the princess would release us. Labeling you as a "Squeeker" and your father's generation as the "Bleckers.""

"Check it! We can leave!" Barley, the holder of the dragon's head, tries to leave, but the rest of the dragon doesn't follow him.

"Guys.....we can literally leave."

"Internet is no longer being blocked." The sound of 100s of videos being played slowly pings up, as every person under the dragon goes back to streaming.

Bellodonna scrunches her nose and sighs wearily. "Pray, Dragon, is there any particular reason you are refusing to leave now that you have been freed?"

"It's been 200 years. I need to catch up on my shows."

"PLEASE STOP BEING ALLEGORICAL, DRAGON. YOU CAN DO THIS IN THE DAWN CASTLE."

"Not even a good allegory. Kind of overdone, you know?"

Bellodonna turns to the Dawn Knights. "I take it you will not be content until the dragon is safely in the confines of your own castle?"

"JUST....LOOK, IGNORE THIS FOR A MOMENT. I PROMISE YOU WE WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE IT."

"THE LONGER YOU WATCH, THE MORE EMBARRASSING IT BECOMES."

"I am sadly bound by honor to ensure this agreement proceeds in accordance to both our desires."

"Please refrain from commenting on it so I may keep what little dignity the dragon allows me, Princess."

"Well at least I appreciate you Dawn Knights."

"Sadly, you are only one of hundreds."

"It's like a metaphor on how your thoughts don't matter unless you go with the flow of the crowd."

"IT WAS NOT A METAPHOR. HE IS PHYSICALLY ONE MAN IN 100."

Barley stays quiet for a moment, tapping away at his device.

"Rally is going on at the Dawn Castle."

"....................................."

"Free cakes are being given out at the Dawn Castle.....?"

"You know we could be changing the world, right?"