The City of Rubies, the human city, was rather more vibrant than the dragon city. Considering this information, it makes me wonder what happened at Velvet, to the dragons there.

I continued walking on the path heading to the city gate, accompanied by many other people, or humans if you wish further specification, and they didn't seem to have a sorrowful feel in the air, they seemed rather joyful and chatty.

Even the six guards, two on each side, and one on each tower, seemed rather relaxed. Although, they stood firmly with their glistening armor in the sun, the glare of their shields, and the razor sharp blades upon their halberds.

Their metallic armor, most likely a composite of iron and bronze, maybe carbon, but, I'm not entirely sure, it's been awhile since I took a look at our metal research in a long while.

But anyways, their armor looked rather stunning, gracefully forged most likely by their best blacksmiths.

They wore capes of green and a golden cross for design, made from what looked like a silky velvet cloth.

I made my way in and took in my surroundings, children were playing in one of the alley ways, people were going and leaving, some even just chatting to others, talking.

The city was vibrant and bustling.

In the distance stood a statue on a water fountain, the same as the one in the dragon city, but far more decorated, with flowers of colors and banners.

The castle in the distance, which what I presumed to be the center of the city stood tall and proud, with banners hanging from pretty much every window, and a beautiful garden surrounding it from what I could see.

As I continued walking down the main path of the city, I gazed upwards towards the clear blue sky, there were a couple of dragons flying above, but were just small specks, where you could barely make out their shape.

I turned my attention back towards the city and took in more of my surroundings, it was certainly larger than I imagined.

Stone walls surrounded the entire city with towers at the gates, with even larger stone walls with towers surrounding the castle, which comprised of lots of towers and large halls from the looks of it. There were many colorful, large windows of glass.

As I reached the center of the city where the statue stood upon the fountain, I read what was inscribed below it, and it too said the same thing as the dragon city, although it had more decoration of flowers, banners, and other small things.

I gazed to both sides of me, peering down the pathways to see what laid ahead of them, to the right of me was what appeared to lead off into a park place.

To the left me seemed to lead to a military training area, I could see soldiers exercising, sparring, and I could hear a lot of yelling.

To the front of me was of course the giant castle, the castle gate was closed, and warriors stood posted, guarding it.

How else can I at least see the Queen?

To the right of the guards were some billboards with posters and papers nailed onto it.

I approached the board, and I began reading the papers.

Some of the subjects that the papers were about were wanted criminals, upcoming festivals, advertisements, but what really caught my eye was a vibrant poster that advertised a "parade" featuring the Queen and in honor of her victory in the human war between this human city and another across a few mountains farther North from here, and in doing so, was made Queen by the council of the human city here.

There was more information on the bottom of the poster, such as where she would be parading around and at what time, which was at noon.

Well, at least I know how I can see the Queen now, although, that means I have to wait three hours. You could say I have to kill three hours.

I settled on visiting the park place and taking a stroll in it, taking my time reaching it by observing everything around me.

There was some shouting at a nearby stall, most likely a customer and shop owner arguing about a price, bartering I think is what it's called.

Three children ran in front of me, chasing the one in the lead whom seemed to be holding a doll in their hands, and they were gone as soon as they were there.

A convoy of horses passed by me, the crowd splitting to let them on through, they wore shining armor, and the same banners as before. The one in the lead had their helmet off and were carrying it in their hand. They had light brown hair, a rugged face, and blue eyes.

Finally, I reached the park area, it had luscious trees with their branches swaying ever so slightly, and those with different color such as white, brown, and dark brown bark, their leaves a many different shades of green.

The grass was well trimmed, and there were paths of dirt going throughout the area.

I spent roughly half an hour strolling through it, gazing around and taking in all the different senses, such as smell, hearing, seeing, and feeling.

I left the park place and back into the city.

The queen of this city seems very thoughtful and intelligent, they appear to know how to keep the citizens happy and hold a strong point when surrounded by dragons.

Now that I think about, I can't quite recall what Mother's name was, I don't think Father ever told me, did he even tell me his own name? How can I compare it once I learn of the queen's name, there are so many questions, and there always seem to be no answers?

I looked up to the sun, shielding my eyes only to just glimpse at it, if I'm calculating it correctly, it should be around ten thirty in the morning, maybe even eleven.

Suddenly, I thought I felt a small shaking in the ground. I had barely noticed it, a tremor perhaps? It would make sense, the Skywing Kingdom is made of mountains, and Father and I concluded that there might be some greater force that must form these large formations that we called mountains. Also, that the Skywing Kingdom seems to encounter lots of earthquakes per year based on the scrolls from the Nightwing Library.

The Nightwings sure did seem to know a lot, like lots of information about the world, and I love it, sometimes I would spend days in there reading scrolls.

Enough about home, I must stay focused, how can I ask the Queen questions?

Since I obviously can't go up to the Queen during the parade to ask, I would probably be stopped since she will most likely have an elite escort, all I can do is attend the parade to see what she looks like.

I think I may have to secretly sneak into her chambers at night, no doubt that the doors would be locked up there, but just to leave a message perhaps? It would also help in avoiding the guards, they would never let me talk the queen, but I so very much need to know. Perhaps even try to get us to meet somewhere outside of the city.

I'm going to have to test out my abilities again to see if I can change slightly only to where I can have my wings while in my human form, since a dragon is so big and bulky that the night guards would see.

Although, I am part Nightwing and so they do blend in perfectly with the night sky but just to be safe, I should try to stay in my human form.

As I continued to ponder about plans on how to reach the queen without trouble, the sun reached noon and the parade was soon to begin.

A large bell began ringing throughout the city and trumpets blew somewhere near the front gate of the castle.

There at the castle gates was a squadron of knights on horses, decorated amazingly with the banners and in glimmering armor, with even more soldiers behind them, as well as a group of archers following, most likely to stop any dragons trying to attack them or the queen.

In the center of it all was a white stallion in silver reflective armor, also wearing the banners, and on top was a lady, wearing a suit of armor, although it seemed to be tinted with a golden color, and they had a crown upon their head.

She had the color of emerald in their eyes, and the silky brown hair that I once remembered from my childhood.

Could it really be? No, it can't be, after all this time? How did she get here, what if it is really her?

These thoughts continued to race through my head as they passed by, I continued to watch them from the crowd.

That's when I knew I had to know, I had to know if it really was her, and so I decided to leave a message.