So I finally submitted my dissertation! :O. It has been a long time coming, but it is finally finished. Maybe now I'll have some more time to write. The last months I think I wrote two paragraphs ( this story is pre-written and already finished, don't worry)

RPOV

The next morning was back to training. Dimitri was making some preparations for tomorrow, both because we had to take some supplies but also because he would be gone a day or two and had to make sure everything was running smoothly here.

So Eddie, Mason and I were stuck with Christian for the day.

The three of us were standing in the courtyard waiting for Christian. Now, I had a tendency to be late, but Christian wasn't winning any punctuality points either. We were just hanging around. I wonder what was taking him so long. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Lissa had been gone a few days, and I had noticed Christian training a lot to keep busy and not think about Lissa too much. So I wondered what he was doing now? Maybe he was still in his bed, daydreaming about her?

When the thought entered my head, and the images associated with this 'daydreaming' seeped into my conscious brain, I couldn't help but shriek, and voicing rather loud 'ews.' Eddie and Mason were looking at me like I was crazy.

"I was just wondering why Christian was late. A disturbing thought entered my head."

I saw the boys thinking about it for a second and then their face contorted into a similar grimace as I had when their thoughts went in the same direction as mine.

"Great Rose, now I'll have that image in my head all day."

I laughed. Shared pain was always better.

"Well, we should find Christian and make him pay for making us wait so long."

I saw Mason perk up a bit at the mention of some mischief, but Eddie was much more conservative and kept his ground.

"He is our superior, Rose, we can't do anything about it."

I simply waved my hand.

"I am not officially a part of the military yet, so he isn't my superior. Besides, he is dating my best friend. He needs to keep me in his good graces, or I will badmouth him to Lissa, and I know that she will listen to me - or at least start doubting him - so I have nothing to fear."

Eddie shrugged. I guess he was in. That didn't take much convincing. So much for the good boy.

"So, what do you have in mind?" Mason asked.

I put my finger to my chin and looked at the sky, thinking it over. My pranks in the palace usually weren't that elaborate, and I had contemplated using some itching powder on Eddie for the comment the other day, but I had actually no idea what would work on Dragons. I wondered if putting a Talon in hot water when they slept had a similar effect as it did on humans? But that meant having to wait until he was asleep again. I had also used men's shaving cream in the hand palm in the past, but it was a hassle to make, and I would need a lot for a Dragon. So in the end, I shrugged.

"We need to find him first."

And with that, we left the courtyard in pursuit of Christian.

We crept through the palace. I knew we were supposed to be training, and I also knew a certain General would not be pleased, so we were trying to stay out of sight. I knew approximately where Christian's chambers were, but I didn't know the palace very well, so I was relying on Mason and Eddie, but they seemed as lost as me.

We were at an intersection, looking around the corner. We must have looked comical, because we were just three heads, in perfect stacking order, poking around the corner.

And we must have looked even funnier when we jumped three feet into the air when we heard someone call me from behind us.

"What are you doing, little human?"

I turned around to yell at him. Adrian was in Dragon form. I had mostly seen him in his human form, and even I had to admit he wasn't bad to look at, but he didn't seem to have the same finesse in his Dragon form. Or maybe I just couldn't appreciate it. But then again, Dimitri looked as handsome as a Dragon as he did in his human form.

I hadn't forgotten about what he had said the other day. I don't let anyone dictate my life, and that included him.

"I thought I made it pretty clear that my business is not your concern."

I saw him roll his eyes.

"Yeah, sorry about that.I was just surprised. Now I know, Rose has got some balls."

He leaned down and looked from left to right, checking if no one was walking by.

"But what are you doing, sneaking around this place. Are you in trouble?"

I looked over at Eddie and Mason. Both were just staring at me. For what reason, I had no idea.

"Christian was late for training: we thought we would surprise him."

My tone must have betrayed our true purpose because his eyes narrowed and his mouth turned up into a smirk.

"So any ideas on how to surprise him?" Adrian asked.

I groaned and threw my hands up in the air.

"No, I used to be so good at this. But with Dragons, it is a whole different ballgame, and it is frustrating I can't come up with something good."

He shrugged.

"I usually just spread some rumors about people. Either they are promiscuous or celibate, depending on who I am spreading rumors about. I could start a rumor he has a venereal disease, or I could say he has been sleeping around. I am sure your friend will love that."

I had to smile despite myself.

"You are incorrigible, but Lissa would kill me."

He shrugged and started to walk away, waving a claw in the air.

"Let me know when you change your mind. Christian's room is that way if you were wondering."

I looked over to the direction Adrian was pointing and smiled. I turned back to Eddie and Mason, and they were still in staring mode.

"What?"

"Do you know who he is?"

"Yeah, Adrian the Charming. Although if you ask me, the charming part is highly exaggerated."

"He is also heir to the throne."

"I know."

That got an even larger reaction from Eddie and Mason.

"You know he is one of the most important Dragons, yet you talk to him like that?"

I shrugged.

"He doesn't seem to mind, besides, I am not big on the whole Royal thing, and I am still a little unclear if that means he will be my King someday. I mean are Hybrids considered subjects?"

That almost existential question seemed to have woken the boys from their stupor.

"I am out. I am going back to the field and wait for Christian. Getting caught by my future King is all the excitement I need today."

Eddie walked off, and I turned to Mason, my hands on my hips.

"How about you Red, you chickening out too?"

I saw him contemplating it, but in the end, his mischievous side or the side that wants to spend time with me won out.

"I am in. Any ideas yet?"

"I was thinking a simple prank. I don't want to embarrass him too much. With humans, I would have used some pepper in their pants, or switch their sugar for salt, but I have no idea what works for Dragons."

I saw Mason thinking about it.

"I have some mint stashed away in my room."

I raised an eyebrow, not sure how making him some fresh mint tea would be pranking him.

"We use mint sometimes to coat our throat and diminish our flame. Sometimes after a night of Ale, the alcohol is still in our system, and when we breathe or burp or something, we tend to be a little volatile with our flame. So we use mint to counteract it. But if we slip him something now, it will diminish the intensity of his flame, and when he finally comes to train us, he won't be able to use it very well."

I thought his plan over and smiled. That was perfect, absolutely, perfect. I could already imagine Christian boasting about his awesome flame and only a small bit of smoke coming out.

I told Mason to go and get it and was left standing alone in the hallway just waiting for him to return. In the meanwhile, I had located what was likely to be Christian's room.

When Mason returned he handed me a flask with what I could only assume was mint oil. I took the cap off and smelled it and immediately pulled back. That was strong, very strong.

"How is Christian not going to be able to detect this when we put it into his food or drink? This is strong stuff, he is going to smell it a mile away."

Mason looked confused and pulled the flask towards him. He took a large whiff but didn't seem to have a similar reaction. He tried again, with the same result.

"I don't smell anything. Must be a human thing."

Well, that solved that problem. I thought Dragons were supposed to have a better sense of smell, but I suppose there would be some interspecies differences in what we can detect. Interesting.

"Have you figured out where he is?"

I nodded and pointed towards a corridor which led towards Christian's chambers.

So Mason and I stalked towards the entrance. We were tiptoeing around, and whenever we would look at each other, we would giggle a little.

I was surprised at how easy friendship with Mason came. I liked Eddie too, but with Mason, it felt like I had known him for years. We apparently had the same sense of humor when it came to pranks, and I was glad I didn't have to do it alone but had a partner in crime. Somehow it felt so natural. When I thought back to all the times I had been sneaking around the palace as a child, I now imagined a red-haired boy sneaking with me. Maybe if I had had a lookout back then, I would have been caught less.

I signaled him to stop at the door and wait one second. I looked around one more time, before opening the door and pushing inside.

There he was. Christian was on his bedrock, snoring, very loudly. He had one hand on his belly, and he seemed to be scratching himself in his sleep. I rolled my eyes.

Mason had followed me in and was also looking at the scene.

"What now?" He whispered.

I looked around the room. There was a large pitcher of water on a table off to the side. I suppose that would be my best bet. I walked towards it and uncapped the bottle of mint oil.

"How much?" I mouthed towards Mason.

He squeezed his fingers together indicating a very small amount. I tried to put one drop in, but I tilted the bottle too much, and about half the bottle went in. I saw Mason's eyes bug out of his head.

I walked over to him.

"Will it hurt him, if he takes too much?"

"No, but…"

"Good."

"How are you going to make him drink it?"

I put my finger to my chin and smiled. I walked over to Christian and with my hands on my hips and yelled him awake.

"Rise and shine, Christian the Snarky. We have training to do."

Christian's eyes opened with a startle, and he fell off the rock from shock. I must admit, he did straighten out pretty fast. He cleared his throat and brushed some of the floor's dirt off of his body.

"What are you doing here?"

"You should have been in the courtyard an hour ago. We are all waiting. Here, drink this, wake up and let's go. You might have all the time in the world to dally around, but some of us actually want to train."

I handed him the pitcher of water, and he downed it in one go, then walked past me and speeded to the courtyard. I was behind Christian giving Mason the thumbs up.

We followed him towards the courtyard, and he didn't waste any time with barking his orders at us. I rolled my eyes, but Mason and Eddie were standing to attention.

"Right, I am glad you two came looking for me, I was testing your willingness to train. Rose and Mason, great job being proactive. Eddie, good job following orders and having faith in your superior to show up."

Wow, he was full of crap.

After a warm-up, he instructed us how to use our flame. He mostly just said what we needed to do and let us take it from there. I was disappointed, we needed him to show us how, if I were to see the effects of the mint oil.

"Uhm. Sir? Christian? Would you mind showing us? I personally learn better by example."

I was proud of myself for getting that sentence out with a straight face. I saw Mason, who was behind Christian, trying very hard not to roll around and laugh, his hands covering his mouth.

"Of course, Rose, I am glad you realize I have something valuable to teach you."

He inhaled deeply, and I could see the scales on his chest light up, he was preparing for a show, I could see that. He built up the tension and then released. It was funny, his mouth was open, and he even made a slight roar sound, that was normally not audible over the sound of the blaze. But all that came out after a couple of seconds was a small puff of black smoke.

With a steel face I looked straight at him and in my most neutral voice, I told him.

"That was amazing, Sir."

Mason lost it after that, and I joined him. We were rolling around on the ground laughing and crying. Tears were flowing down our faces, we were laughing so hard.

Christian was becoming furious. Now, normally a Dragon would maybe release some smoke from his nostrils when angry. I had seen it a few times with Dimitri, but Christian couldn't even muster up that, which only made us laugh harder. I was starting to scream because my stomach muscles were cramping up and the sound was rather comical when mixed with my laughter.

After much glaring from Christian and more laughing from us, we eventually calmed down and so did Christian. I wouldn't say we did much training that day, but we at least got a few tips on how to use a small flame to your advantage. I was getting a little concerned I might have overdone it with the mint oil, but I could see he was able to muster up a small flame at the end of the day, so I knew the effect was wearing off. Mason had told me, he would be at full capacity in a day or two. I was glad I was away with Dimitri.

Christian left quickly still trying to kick-start his flame as he walked away.

This sent Mason and me into a frenzy again. Eddie was hovering nearby, staring at us.

"What did you do to him?"

Between bouts of laughter, I managed to say something in the line of mint oil. I was actually amazed Eddie had understood me. I don't think I was being very articulate.

"Who's idea was that?"

Mason and I looked at each other a grin on both our faces.

"It was a team effort," Mason said and raised his hand to high five me.

I clapped it enthusiastically, and we both went into another fit of laughter.

Eddie walked away, supposedly mad, but I could tell he found our antics amusing.

"You two deserve each other."

I know Eddie hadn't meant anything by it, but I saw a definite hope in Mason's eyes. I looked away, instead choosing to stare at the sky.

"That was epic," Mason said after a moment of awkward silence.

"Now, I could like that nickname. Rose, the Epic. It does have a nice ring to it."

Mason laughed.

"No Dragon is ever going to give you that nickname."

"Why not?"

He shrugged.

"Dragons are too arrogant; they won't give such a strong nickname to someone. Although I wouldn't mind being called Mason the Epic, or Mason the Awesome, or Mason the Brave, something like that. What about you?"

I thought about it for a while. Getting a nickname was more about how other people viewed you and it doesn't always have to be your best feature. But mostly it was an accurate description.

"Maybe Rose the Reckless, Rose the Rebellious, or Rose the Passionate. But I am still shooting for Rose the Epic. What about you, now that Epic is obviously taken?"

I saw Mason look contemplative.

"I just want to be remembered. I want to contribute something. I want people to know that I have dedicated my life to fighting for my Queen and country."

It was funny, we were so similar in some ways, and yet so different in others. I wasn't afraid to go to war, and neither was Mason, but Mason wanted to go to prove himself. He wanted to go out of loyalty perhaps. I needed to go to protect the people I love, not just by stopping the Snow Dragons, but by learning how to control myself. But I did hope he would find what he was looking for. I suppose Mason the Loyal would be a good nickname, much better than Snarky.

"This was fun Red, I needed this."

"Anytime Rose, Eddie can be a bit of a stiff when it comes to these things, I have missed a partner in crime."

"Anytime Red, anytime."

We finally got up, having to get back to reality.

"Training again tomorrow?" He asked.

"Sorry, Dimitri is taking me to Arthur. He said he might be able to give me some guidance Christian can't, and from what I have seen from today, that is pretty accurate."

We both laughed as we parted, and I tried very hard to just see his smile and not the jealous look in his eyes.