Ryan leaned against the counter of the nurses' station outside Kate's hospital room. He'd come to visit her, but after seeing how intent Josh and Castle both were on staying by her side, he felt bad about relieving them of their diligently held posts. He watched his sleeping friend from afar, wishing she would get better and trying not to worry.

An arm brushed against his, and he turned to see a college-age girl leaning against the counter beside him. "Sorry," she said quickly, a recently chewed lock of hair dropping out of her mouth.

"You okay?" he asked, then realized what a dumb question it was. Okay people didn't come to hospitals, visitors or otherwise.

"My uncle's second OD this month," she explained with a wave of her hand as if she didn't really care. "Who are you here for?"

"Her." She followed his gaze to see Beckett, still as ever.

"She your girlfriend or something?" asked the girl. Ryan couldn't keep a laugh from escaping his mouth- the idea was just so absurd.

"No, no," he said. "She's sort of my boss, sort of my sister." He tried to explain, but it was difficult to describe a family like theirs to an outsider. "One of those things."

She smiled, seeming to understand. "That's nice." She looked back at Beckett's room, where Josh and Castle sat hunched over Beckett while she dreamed. "So who are they?"

"Well, the one on the left," said Ryan, pointing but trying not to be ostentatious about it, "is her boyfriend. The other one is in love with her."

"Ooh, drama," said the girl. "I like it, it's like General Hospital." Ryan nodded and braced himself against the counter. He was willing to put up with any familial drama, any Mom-and-Dad-are-fighting, if only she'd wake up.

Serenity cantered to a stop in front of a moss-covered stone tavern at the edge of a large clearing. A faded wooden sign on the door declared it the headquarters for the North Yebecian Protective Dragon-fighters. Joshua's horse whinnied as he yanked it to a slow trot until he stopped it beside Kate and Sir Castle. "So this is it?" said Joshua.

"This is the place," replied Princess Kate, sliding off Serenity. Castle did the same, then proceeded to tie his horse to a post beside the building. Without looking back at the men who had escorted her here, she flounced into the building without worrying about knocking for permission. This was her turf.

"Princess," greeted a man across the room as she entered, bowing low. He was clad in usual dragon-slaying gear, thick leather armor and a long sword at his side.

"No need to bow, Esposito," she reminded him. "I'm not a princess here. No crown, no royalty." She didn't like her fellow dragon-fighters to treat her any differently, which was why she tended to not give out her full name to her colleagues. Of course, Esposito, her closest guild member, had figured it out.

"Sorry," he said, grinning as he straightened up. "Habit." She shrugged it off and waved half-heartedly at the others scattered around the spacious area as she made her way across it to Esposito, Joshua and Castle filing in after her. "Evening, Castle." He nodded to Esposito in greeting, busy looking around the room. Kate had never let him come with her to this central building before. Esposito made no motion to greet Joshua, whom he'd never met, so the doctor went to stand behind the princess silently.

"Is Elania downstairs?" asked Kate, looking towards the opening in the floor in the corner of the room that led to the morgue.

"Yes," said Esposito. His voice dropped to a lower tone, and the light air around both of them dissipated as they were reminded that this was not a social visit.

"Esposito, could you get Castle and Joshua some cider while I go and talk to Elania?" she said. Based on the letter she'd been sent, she would want to see the body without them first.

"Of course, Prin- er, Kate," he said, busying himself with the jug and goblets kept on the table behind him. She waited for Castle and Joshua to either try to follow her or converge on the beverage. When they did the latter, she spun around and began climbing down the ladder to the morgue.

There was a corpse stretched out on Elania's stone table, her tool-laden slab beside it. "Hello," said Kate to the woman behind the table, an apothecarist in a drab yellow dress with the sleeves pushed back.

"Kate," said Elania with a sympathetic smile. "You got my falcon?"

"Yes," she said, a lump in her throat. The question was more a formality than a necessity- obviously she'd gotten the falcon message or she wouldn't have come. "And you're certain?"

"I'm certain," said Elania, pulling back the linen covering the dead body to reveal deep gashes across his chest. "These slashes were created by the same talons that killed your mother." Kate closed her eyes, trying to take everything in without overreacting. It was a fresh lead on the dragon that had taken away the queen, her mother.

"Where was he found?" asked the princess.

"Up north," replied Elania. "In Hattania." It was a craggy region full of cliffs. And dragons. Travelers tended to avoid it at all costs, but evidently this man hadn't. This was the place where her mother's killer resided.

"I'm going." She patted a hand to her messenger bag against the outline of the dagger, and it reassured her.

"Kate," said Elania, knowing from experience that she couldn't stop her. "Please be careful."

"I'll be as careful as I can be," she promised, "but I won't let that stop me from avenging her." Elania nodded, willing herself to stay strong for her best friend. Kate was walking into a suicidal quest, and she wasn't looking back. When Elania bid her goodbye, she prayed to God that it wouldn't be the last time.

As Kate ascended the ladder, each rung beeped with her step.

"What's that beeping sound?" asked Castle as it broke his reverie.

"Pager," replied Josh, pointing to the pinging device he held in his hand. He hit a button to silence it. "Maureen!" he called, beckoning towards the door. A thin nurse in pink scrubs leaned in the door. "Could you tell Dr. Simmons that I'm not working at the moment due to a… personal emergency?" She nodded.

"Of course, Dr. Davidson," said the nurse, and then she was gone.

Castle thought about the word "personal" and wondered what he would say to Gina if she called and told him he had to get to a book signing or something. He wasn't sure, but he was pretty certain that there would be a generous amount of profanity in his response.