Nervousness was not an emotion that Santana was intimately familiar with. She was so used to being confident and simply taking what she wanted, but as she slowly approached the outdoor garden tea party, she could feel a prickly sensation underneath her skin. She could hear their laughter, it rang out and she could see a few of them turn to look at her. Were they laughing at her dress? It certainly wasn't the most fashionable one she had, but it was her most modest dress at least by the Agron Kingdom's standards.

"Santana!" Rachel waves at her. "Don't mind us, we were just reminiscing about the time Mike attempted to help Charlie learn to dance."

Santana blinked at the warm welcome from Rachel, she still thought the shorter woman talked far too much, but she was grateful for there to be someone she was familiar with at this tea party. "She was very talented at it—" Santana blinked when the rest of her mate's extended family began to laugh at her statement.

Judy smiled at Santana's confusion, the rumors about her youngest clearly hadn't reached the beastkin kingdom, which meant that there was still a chance that Santana would find Charlie attractive enough to be with, "Santana, dear, I assure you that what happened at the ball was a miracle."

Santana tilted her head, Charlie seemed to know what she was doing, she was certain that her mate wasn't the best dancer, but she didn't quite understand why everyone seemed to believe that her mate was a terrible dancer.

"But I didn't invite you here to reminisce about the ball and the dancing, though I assure you that you have my deepest gratitude, in getting my youngest to behave herself. I called you here, because my youngest seems quite—taken with you and it seems that you're quite taken with her."

"Is she taken with me?" Santana questions, she had looked for her mate but hadn't been able to find her. She had found Kara bitching about her mate, and promising vengeance for something or rather. She hadn't paid the dwarf much mind. "May I ask where she's hiding?"

Judy brought her teacup up to her lip to hide her lip quivering upward in delight. She could already hear Charlie's indignation at the word hiding, it would imply she was a coward of some sorts and she'd be in a mood for the rest of the day. She clears her throat, "Part of my daughter's military duties is to keep our borders safe, especially the border we share with the badlands. As a swordmaster, she's one of the few that can easily beat back the hordes of demons that are at our gates.I imagine she received word and went to take care of it quickly, these things have a habit of becoming bigger problems if they're not nipped in the bud."

Santana tilted her head, she had known her mate was strong but she had seen her two lieutenants, "She goes alone?"

"She goes with that demonic beast of hers," Rachel mutters under her breath.

"She takes Hiccup along, he's rather good at keeping her safe." Mike speaks up when a look of confusion on her features. "They keep each other alive."

~ O ~

Charlie gasped loudly as she tried to get up, only to feel a hand pushing her back down forcing her to stay still and she immediately struggled, but whoever was holding her was far stronger than she was, which was an oddity she could count the number of people on one hand who were physically stronger than she was, and as her eyes snapped open she spots golden blonde hair, and a very annoyed look on the face of her savior.

"Which one are you?" The woman asks, her hands glowing as she slowly heals Charlie's injuries.

"Which one am I?" Charlie echoes, confusion on her face before she immediately tries to get up once again, "The dragon, what happened to it?"

The woman raises a brow, "Ah, you're the stupid one. I can see why mother is overprotective of you."

"I'm not—what do you mean mother?" Charlie grimaced as she felt her skin being mended.

"Were you dropped on your head?" The woman asks, staring at Charlie with absolute disdain. "Don't answer that. We share a relative."

"We share a—" Charlie stared at the woman in front of her before smiling brightly. "You're my Aunt! Aunt Cassandra! No wonder the dragon ran away when you got to the scene."

Cassandra blinked slowly letting her hand drop as she stared at her niece, she had only intervened because if she had let her niece die she would need to leave the continent to avoid the wrath of her mother and sister. "Does it hurt to be that stupid?"

Charlie bristled at the insult, but really she had worse from Frannie, the personality type must run in the family. "I didn't enter these lands to hunt a dragon, I came to hunt crystal scorpions and my drake—where's Hiccup? Did the dragon get him?"

"You came here searching for crystal scorpions?"

"Yes, I'm courting someone and I was told that they liked shiny things. I believe bringing her a crystal scorpion will be an impressive feat and then she'll be so enraptured by me that we can get married. You'll be invited to the wedding of course!"

Cassandra stared at her niece for a moment before pointing to a rock formation, "There's a cavern, there is a whole host of beasts that are in the cavern. I'm not going to save you again. I've already done my duties, and anything that happens afterwards is your own fault."

"Don't worry, I'm sure I can handle it," Charlie said dismissively. "I spend a lot of time in the badlands."

Cassandra closed her eyes, her mother was far too busy to be dealing with this right now. Something was messing with magic, they could all feel it. Still she would need to check in with her mother and see what exactly her responsibilities were here. Crystal scorpions were dangerous and the cavern was mostly a den of them. "Your drake is hiding from me, you should probably take him along."

~ O ~

"While I did promise that I wouldn't truly interfere with my children's partners and marriages, Charlie's marriage is an entirely different situation."

Santana narrowed her eyes, "I don't truly believe that we need your permission."

"But you do, she's my daughter and as brash and headstrong as she is, she still seeks my counsel far more than her sisters. As the heir to the throne, any marriage candidate, which you are, must bring far more to the table than having my daughters affection."

"Charlie's the heir?"

"Oh, did you not know?" Judy lets out a chuckle at Santana's incredulous tone. "Haven't you been courting my daughter? You should know this, I believe it would be something that she would bemoan endlessly that she's the most fit to be the ruler. You saw how capable she was, which means you realized that she's faking quite a bit of her behavior, though at this point I'm not sure if she's faking it or being a contrarian is simply who she is."

Her mate certainly should have mentioned this in between the physical nature of their relationship, at the stares that she's getting from the rest of the party, "It's something that we will certainly have a discussion about once she returns, do you have any idea when that will be?"

"It could be by the end of the week or it could be a month," Mike spoke up, smiling at her. "Without knowing the threat it would be difficult to say, but I mean Charlie's practically indestructible, she should be fine."

"I can only bring what my people are willing to give me, even if I were to sit on the throne beside your daughter, the beastkin will never accept your daughter as their ruler. There will never be a consensus with my people, though they would certainly be open to trade routes and a more formal defense pact. As well as a cultural exchange of sorts."

Judy raised a brow, at Santana's audacity. She wasn't sure if her daughter had chosen correctly, it was clear that this relationship was new. It would be best to keep an eye on her daughter, Santana was certainly beautiful and she had somehow managed to attract the twins. "You should bring it to your people, being part of the kingdom can only help your people, access to our technology, freedom of movement, and settlement. All Primes would immediately be welcomed into the nobility, it would shift the balance of power considerably and there will be some growing pains—"

"My people would never bend the knee to a human, the Holy Empire has pillaged our lands, and killed our people. I understand that's your home, but they enslave our people. They will not agree, but perhaps a vassal state with very liberal terms."

Judy hummed, "Perhaps."