"You do remember when I had searched through my book which contained things which could trigger a bloom of powers." He started.
"Technically, you blocked my view with a change of your position, with the words, comport yourself–"
Elvis raised his voice to stop her from saying anymore. "Please let's not get back to the past." He covered up his nervousness with a chuckle.
"Right." She conceded surrender, a smug look on her face.
"Well, I was a fool not to know what was happening to you when the answers were staring me in the eye." He facepalmed.
"Yes you are." Mae nodded her head, definitely not in the mood for soothing talk.
Elvis had a look of suprise at her reaction. Narrowing his eyes, he became suspicious of what she knew, "Why do I feel you know something?"
"You won't ever know if you don't tell me what you know first." She shrugged.
"Hmmm." He contemplated continuing with his trip down memory lane.
"When I found Skun, I had originally thought of leaving him, but then when I locked gaze with him, I had what one could call a shared memory with him."
"What did you see?" She pried, getting ecstatic all of a sudden.
"That is for another day, Mae." Elvis refused to speak on the major part of what he had witnessed.
"Awwww!" She whined, "You do know this is exactly what you told me last five years when I asked an important question." She accused.
"I know but this really can't be said except he does so himself, but I implore you, don't pry the answers from him as I had temporarily suppressed those memories, recalling them forcefully cause be detrimental to him. Do you understand?" He warned.
"I understand!" She frowned with a pout.
"But there are things I could still fill you in, things concerning you." He tried to make her feel better.
Her mood brightened up drastically, the once youthful vigor back.
"There was a prophecy which talked about a destined Princess who would befriend a dragon and she would awaken great powers." He recalled.
Mae went silent for a while, 'Father's words were true.'
"At that time I had thought it was just a pigment of my inner desire to actually see a prophecy come to fulfillment, so I took the dragon and hid him in the Castle." He chuckled at how streamlined he had unintentionally been.
"Yet, I didn't know I had a major role in fulfilling that prophecy," he looked right at Mae. "You are that Princess, you did befriend Skun, did you not?" He asked with a smile.
"But I was still little then, why didn't I awaken them then?" She tried her best to deny the fact it just might be true.
"You weren't of age then, but you have come of age and now you have a vast power at your disposal." Elvis marvelled.
"Was that the reason you didn't want me mentioning of his existence ?" She queried.
"Yes and no." He looked awkwardly to the side, knowing fully well his answer made Mae confused.
"Would you kindly pick one?" She started to feel irritated.
"Yes for his safety, he is a powerful creature and the most extinct–it is not everyday you take a walk in the forest and stumble on a dragon, announcing his existence is like giving away the truth about the fountain flowing with diamonds." He explained the first part of his answer.
"And... the no?" She stressed.
"The no, mainly because I didn't want you in danger or being termed as crazy by others. You were little, they might ridicule you and besides, that cave doesn't open to just anyone–I made it that way." He laughed at how cautious he could be.
"So you are telling me if I had thought of bringing someone along, the secret passageway would not have opened?" She gaped in shock.
"There are two ways to it." He rubbed his chin, thinking of the best way to explain the condition.
Snapping his fingers he finally got the best approach. "Aha! Got it."
"The first instance would be no it wouldn't open, then what do you think would have happened to you or your claim?" He threw in the question first.
"I uh... I see your point." She lowered her head at how naïve she had been all along, never asking the right questions.
"The second instance would be they are let in, but then two possibilities would present itself, either he attacks as a defensive mechanism or whoever that follows wouldn't be so patient as you were." He related the sad reality.
"Telling no one really is for the better." She sighed bitterly, the burden of the secret already having it's toll on her.
"Don't worry when all this is over, that stupid carefree dragon of ours would be as free as a dove." He assured while indirectly abusing Skun in the process.
"But be especially careful about the Princes from the three Kingdoms, never and I mean never mention a word of this to them while they are still here. If they go back to their respective Kingdoms with such news, we are all doomed, so are you–they would want you at all cost." His demeanor turned serious .
The sound of something falling to the floor outside his room jolted Elvis to the suspicion of someone had been listening to them.
"Did you hear that?" Mae questioned.
Rushing towards the door, he pulled open the door, but saw no one, the only thing that confirmed his suspicion was the fallen torch on the stairs.
"Someone had been listening to what we had been saying." He relayed in horror at their slip, kicking on a piece of wood which had chipped from the torch.
"How could that be? We have guards stationed at the door leading to the stairway, who could possibly have managed to get past them?" She came behind Elvis to have a view of what he had seen.
"Whoever it was knows of Skun's existence and your powers." Elvis levitated the torch, wanting to have a better look at it.
"Mae, come have a look at this." He found something odd about the torch.