Disclaimer: Again, none of TP's characters are mine, and neither are Jimmy Eat World's lyrics to Get It Faster.

Chapter 3:

The group that met them at the docks was a large one. The ambassadors from every other country had already arrived, so Tortall was the last. Numair's expensive black robes billowed out in the wind as he, Daine, Rikash and Sarra walked down the gangplank towards the welcoming party. Aly hugged her aunt and uncle and greeted the two children. Alanna and George hurried down and hugged their daughter tightly. Alanna was actually crying. Dragonfly looked on as the rest of the delegation left the ship. Dragonfly was the last to leave, dressed in the plain clothes of a maidservant and leading her horse and kitten.

Dragonfly did her best to look unremarkable as possible, and succeeded. Everyone assumed the expensive Arabian belonged to one of the nobles, and the little maid was just a particularly useful one.

Aly was introducing her fiancé to her parents. A taller youth with crow black hair and dark skin, he was handsome. At least in the same way Dragonfly called her old cat, Seville, handsome. Dragonfly could feel eyes on the back of her neck as she walked over to the line of wagons, which were unloading the cargo ship. She spun around, to meet the intent gaze of a lean part native with laughable ears.

Dragonfly's eyes narrowed. "May I request of you that you NOT stare at me?"

He didn't answer.

Tigress swung her head around to glare at the young man. He's a mage, you know. I should kick him.

Dragonfly shook her head slightly.

"Dragonfly! Come here please?" Daine yelled from the group.

With a last scathing look at her watcher, Dragonfly hurried over to Daine. "What can I do for you?"

"This is Aly, Alanna's daughter. And Nawat, Aly's fiancé." Numair introduced the two.

"Pleased to meet you," Dragonfly curtsied. Aly looked curious as to why she was being introduced to a servant girl. Daine noticed.

"Dragonfly isn't really a servant," Daine smirked. "She's a mage, both with the gift and Wild Magic. She's a right pain in the rear. And you'll want to look out for her horse too."

Aly looked startled. "You're the girl Emperor Kaddar is looking for aren't you? He had one of his servants ask about you earlier this morning."

"He's HERE!" Dragonfly exclaimed, the surprise and worry crackled around her in the form of her lime colored gift. "Shit! You said he wouldn't come in person!" she looked at Daine scathingly.

"Usually royals don't! How was I supposed to know he'd show up!"

"Calm down! If you don't quit giving off your aura in waves every hedge witch in the city will know you're here!" Alanna scolded.

"This is so not going to be a good season…"

"Well, you may as well meet our mage too," Aly remarked.

"I'd really rather not, thanks." Dragonfly flinched. "The fewer people who know I'm running around the city the better."

"Suit yourself then." Aly shrugged. The cargo had been loaded and most of the party was ready to leave. Dragonfly swung up onto Tigress, carrying a protesting Morticia with her. The party rode off towards the place. And a god, his eyes crinkling with amusement, watched and plotted.

Ysul was puzzled, to say the least, as he rode off with the rest of the party. The source of his puzzlement was the blonde luarin who came with the Tortallian delegation. She nearly blinded him when he first looked at her. Her gift was so powerful as to be nearly obnoxious. And it was bi-colored blue and green. The blue had a coppery tinge to it. She had an odd accent, and she spoke with no respect for her own nobles. And one of the nobles she'd been talking to was a black-robe mage, so there was no doubt that he at least knew of the servant's powers.

To say that she wasn't attractive was a lie, and the smudges of dirt and ash did little to mask it. Thick, blonde hair tied into a bun, beautiful blue eyes, and a curving figure that was only a little bit too thin added to her character.

Ysul watched as she shied away from the Carthaki ambassadors, giving them an assessing glance. One of the ambassadors looked at her curiously, then decided she wasn't worth his time. The girl let out a sigh of relief. She stayed right where she was when the Tyrans passed, not even glancing at them. So she's worried about Carthak, eh? But why? A servant shouldn't interest them in the least…This is something to ponder certainly. Ysul rode off, promising himself he'd figure out this intruder's business sooner rather than later.

The Palace:

Dragonfly looked around at the jewel of the Eastern lands with a certain amount of awe. She blinked at it, before handing off Tigress to a hostler for care. She hoisted Morticia from the saddlebags, and looked around at the people coming and going. They entered a large pavilion meant for the Tortallian delegation. It was comfortable, large, and airy. Dragonfly quickly slipped away after grabbing her bags and trunk. She found herself a room to change in and opened her trunk. Inside were a collection of sari's she'd bought while in the market place. The northern clothes she usually wore were much too hot for this climate, and Kaddar was less likely to recognize her if he didn't know she was Tortallian, or at least with the Tortallian party.

The one she chose was a deep lilac color with a gold sash. Two pairs of gold hoop earrings and a pearl necklace and she could pass for a luarin who'd been here all her life. At least so long as she never had to open her mouth. Dragonfly hurried back out to take care of Rikash and Sarra, who were not going to be attending the banquet tonight, for which Dragonfly was infinitely grateful. She gathered up her charges and decided to walk around a little. Sarra trotted ahead, looking through bushes and into the shallow ponds while Dragonfly carried young Rikash.

Just as they rounded a bend, Dragonfly heard footsteps and talking. She made a grab for Sarra but missed and the little girl trotted towards the voices.

"Sarra! Come here! Come to Aunt Dragon!" Sarra turned and trotted over to Dragonfly as Dragonfly herself dove into the bushes. She set Rikash by a tree and let Sarra wander towards another pond, doing a quick binding spell so that the girl couldn't go farther than a few feet from Dragonfly. She quickly peered through the thick hibiscus at who approached.

It was just as she feared: Kaddar. He was walking with Daine and Numair, chatting quietly.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to think. She disappears in the middle of the night, leaving no more than a note and a dagger."

"That's Dragonfly for you. We haven't seen her in ages either I'm afraid." Numair remarked tiredly. "She hasn't come to us for help."

Dragonfly was irritated now. Numair wasn't the most subtle of people, and she didn't want to be the one he slipped about if he did. Daine looked over at that exact moment to see a pair of blue eyes wide with fright. Daine's eyes widened as well, and she bit her lip. She looked away, but not before Kaddar noticed her staring at something.

"Did you see something, Daine? Why are you staring into the bushes?" Kaddar remarked.

"I thought I saw something, but it was nothing. Just a humming bird."

"Oh?" Kaddar walked over to 3 feet from Dragonfly. "I don't see any birds at all."

"Hmm. Must have been my imagination."

Kaddar walked off with Daine and Numair as Dragonfly let out a sigh of relief. That was too close for her comfort. She shifted into a tiger, one of her favorite forms, and picked up Rikash, settling him on her neck with Sarra on her back. Sarra laughed and giggled as she rode towards the hall that led to their pavilion.

It was only then that hell decided to break loose. Ysul, on his way from the bathroom towards the banquet, noticed a long, orange and black tail whip around a corner. Remembering the attacks of tigers years ago, he began to summon his eggplant colored gift into his palms and followed the tiger. He came up to find the Salmalín children riding in high style upon the cat. The cat spun around when it heard noises behind it and snarled.

Ysul threw some fireballs to spook the cat into tumbling the children off so he could kill it. The fireballs ricocheted off of a lime colored wall. Ysul threw some more powerful spells, which the wall absorbed before firing them back at him. The lime wall disappeared, revealing the children placed safely near a potted plant and the tiger, fangs bared, preparing to pounce. The muscles in its legs released, sending it hurtling towards Ysul with enough force to stop a charging wildebeest. As he prepared himself for the attack, he realized that it was taking much too long for the cat to reach him, and looked over. There was a thunk, and the cat hit a thick barrier of black fire, laced with purple.

"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" Daine yelled, glaring at the snarling tiger, hunched around her children.

The barrier disappeared, and Daine and Numair came forward to collect their two children. "Dragonfly, what have we told you about walking around looking like a ferocious animal in a foreign palace!" Numair asked sternly.

To Ysul's surprise, the tiger hung it's tail and head mockingly. "Actually, you've said nothing about it." The tiger replied.

"Is this your idea of protecting the children?" Daine demanded, as Alanna grinned.

"The children weren't in a lick of danger until quick draw over there decided he'd shoot first and ask questions later," the tiger replied pointedly, glaring ferociously at Ysul. "Not even a warning before he started blasting at me!"

"Did you think about the fact that maybe he COULDN'T warn you, Dragonfly?" George asked, amused.

"Why wouldn't he be able to, Hmm?"

"He's a freaking mute! That's why!" Daine said harshly. "If you would have let Aly introduce you to him you might have known that and we wouldn't have this issue at all!"

Dragonfly looked thoroughly ashamed of herself. "I'm so sorry", she bowed her head to him.

"You could have warned everyone you were going to strut around looking like a 250 lb. block of teeth and muscle, you know." Alanna remarked. "It would have saved Ysul over there a lot of heart strain."

By now, a small crowd had gathered to watch the scolding. His imperial Majesty, Kaddar, Emperor of Carthak pushed his way through the watchers to the small group. Aly and Nawat also made their way through, along with the young lady Dragonfly assumed was Queen Dovasary.

"Dragonfly?" Kaddar asked, looking at the glaring tiger.

"Kaddar." It was a statement, no question.

"You're here?"

"No, really! I had no notion!" The tiger remarked sarcastically.

"You're still bitter then?"

"Bitter? Me? Why would I be bitter? I was only left as second best and forgotten in the midst of a huge wedding ceremony, which you failed to even mention was going to happen when you whisked me off if you'll recall. So, no Kaddar. I'm not bitter. I'm furious." The tiger turned and stalked off, whipping it's tail in fury.

"I'm so sorry, your majesty," Numair apologized. "Dragonfly is… temperamental. And certain events haven't helped her attitude in the least." He bowed to Dove.

"That's alright, no damage done," The young queen replied breezily. Kaddar continued to stare after the tiger, knowing that nothing could undo the damage to her esteem. Ysul watched as well, in wonder. So that was the Dragonfly. The single most powerful mage in the world right now. He had to admit, she made first impressions last.

AN: So… What do you think? I love that song and it just seemed to fit. I actually like Kali/Kaddar and I think it'll work, but I'm still going to play with it a tad. It's just fun to ruin his life… D/N fluff next chapter! Maybe…