"Introducing; William Hartford Caldera, Head of the King's Royal Guard, and his wife and daughters," a man announced as Sierra and her family entered the ballroom. She felt hot already, sweating from all the layers of fabric, but she forced herself to push her shoulders back and hold her head high.

Crystal soon disappeared in the crowd, and soon after, her parents went to introduce themselves to the King of Garrigan and his wife, leaving Sierra all on her own.

"Sierra! We've been looking all over for you!" A familiar voice said from behind her.

"Esther!" She recognized her friend's voice, turned and saw Esther, Tia, and Diana, all looking rather uncomfortable in their dresses, but glad to see her.

She hugged them, then stepped back, noting that they looked nothing like themselves.

Diana had on a fancy emerald and gold dress, and her hair was forced back into a tight braid. Tia wore a long- sleeved scarlet dress in the same style as her sister, through Esther's was royal blue.

"Did you guys get hassled too?" she asked, beckoning at their flouncy gowns.

Diana wrinkled her nose. "I hate this dress."

"You hate all dresses," Tia pointed out.

Esther waved their remarks away. "Let's just try to make the best out of this. I've heard the Duke of Garrigan's son is really cute-"

Sierra rolled her eyes, but before she could do anything, Esther grabbed her by the wrist tugging her along to where a group of noblemen chatted in the corner. Tia and Diana exchanged amused looks and followed close behind.

"Hello, ladies," said a young man who looked about seventeen or eighteen. He had dark, wavy hair and startling blue eyes. "I'm Jaron, son of the Duke of Garrigan."

Esther's cheeks turned a rosy pink. "Um... hi. I'm Esther." She stated, staring at Jaron.

The young noblemen continued to stare at her, waiting.

Tia nudged her sister, mouthing, Your title.

"Oh! I'm daughter of the Duke of Cleston." She finished awkwardly.

Diana and Sierra shared a knowing glance.

Jaron stared at his comrades. "Well? Aren't you going to introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Harry," a brown haired boy said.

"I'm Gary," said another boy, who must have been his twin.

"We're the sons of the Prime Minister," they chirped simultaneously.

Sierra didn't listen much while the others introduced themselves. She didn't come here to listen to a bunch of boys drone about their titles.

She began tracing the designs on her skirt absentmindedly, but stopped when she realized that the boys had gone quiet and were all staring at her.

"Oh!" She said as realization hit her. "I'm Sierra, and you shouldn't much care about my title because you'll all end up forgetting in a couple days."

There was a stunned silence when she thought she'd gone too far. Stupid! Sierra quietly thought to herself. Can't you be proper just once?

Her thoughts were interrupted by loud, jubilant laughter. She looked up to see that the boys and her friends were all laughing.

Smiling, although it was slightly forced, Sierra excused herself to get a breath of fresh air outside. She exited through one of the gold and purple silk curtains and stepped out onto the balcony to look at the moon. To her surprise, a young man about her age was already there.

"Oh! Um... sorry, I'll go to another balcony," she turned to leave, but he stopped her.

"No, it's fine," he said, his warm hazel eyes showed kindness. "I'm Reed, by the way."

She waited, but he didn't state his title.

"I'm Sierra," she responded.

"That's an unusual name," Reed commented, but immediately rushed, "Not in an offensive way- I mean-"

"It's fine," Sierra replied.

"Do you like to hunt?" He nodded towards her fingers, which were making the motion of pulling back a bowstring. They did that when she was nervous.

"Yes! I'm actually an archer!" Sierra responded, and they began chatting. As the night wore on, she was starting to feel more at ease. She had finally found someone that she could be around and not worry about titles or proper royal introductions. She could be herself around Reed, and he made her laugh. He was in the middle of telling a hilarious story when he was interrupted by a loud scream coming from inside. Reed's eyes widened, and they dashed back inside the ballroom to see what that was about.

An old man had stumbled into the room, his clothes torn and his face bloody. He screamed again, running up to the King, who was sitting on his throne, chatting with the Queen.

"King D-David, there is t- terrible news," he stuttered.

"Who are you?" The King of Cleston asked calmly.

"A d-d-dragon h-has attacked the v-village of Ballia!" He wheezed.

The aristocrats gasped.

"What kind?" A woman from the crowd asked.

"W- wyvern..." the man coughed up blood, then collapsed on the floor.

Reed turned to Sierra. "It's not safe here." He said suddenly.

"What do you mean? Ballia is forty miles from here!"

"You're not safe!" Reed insisted. "The dragon- it's coming."

"I need to find my friends," Sierra tore away from his gaze and burst through the crowd, but a firm hand grasped her wrist. She turned to Reed, who was clutching her arm.

"Promise me you'll be safe. Even if the dragon comes, promise me you'll escape," Reed said.

"I- I promise." Sierra agreed, then watched as he disappeared into the crowd. But I'm not sure if it's a promise I can keep...

A/N: Bada bing bada boom! Another chapter under the belt! If you enjoyed, check out our other stories- 

Lost: The Forgotten 

Warriors: Starfall

Foster- Keefe Fanfiction (KOTLC)

Thanks for reading, y'all! XD

~ Falcon