The walk back to the castle was silent. Both Morgianna and Fafnir deep in thought. Him thinking of his kingdom and how he would become stronger fo defend it, and her thinking of how she could become stronger to defend him.
The pact tied them irrevocably.
As they neared the wall they could hear the shouts from inside. It seems her father was already preparing the search party. Morgianna was not ready to lose her way of escape so she decided to use the front gate instead of her secret wall. Plus with Fafnir, his sudden appearance would not bode well for their goal.
Walking along the wall that stretched the property added another 10 minutes to their trip, but she knew it was the best way to get both of them inside. As they neared the gate she saw rows and rows of guards. In front of them was her father, ready to lead the search himself.
Morgianna could not help but shake her head. With his position he should be inside letting others go in his place.
Once she had walked a little closer she hid her smile and called out to him. "Father! I have returned."
His head snapped in her direction and foregoing all formality rushed to her side. "Where did you go! We were worried you had gotten lost, or worse been kidnapped!" As he finished talking he noticed Fafnir standing a little behind her and his once joyous mood immediately turned murderous.
He quickly hid Morgianna behind him drawing his sword. "Who are you and why are you with my daughter?" The words could barely leak through his tightly clenched teeth. Duke Ryland had earned his titles and knew that even with his strength the man in front of him would be a tough opponent.
Behind her father's back Morgianna could not help but roll her eyes in exasperation. "Father, this is Fafnir. From now on I would like him to be my personal guard. He is very strong and saved my life." She waited for him to look at her before batting her eyes and looking pitifully at him.
Ryland looked at his daughter and internally sighed when he saw her batting her eyes. He knew she only did it to get what she wanted, but at the same time he was weak to stop it. He wanted to make his daughter happy.
Duke Ryland looked back towards the man his daughter called Fafnir. He seemed young, but in their world age was a hard thing to calculate. He wanted to know what the man was but no matter how he tried Ryland could not tell what race he came from.
Fafnir had been watching the complex emotions flashing across the Duke's face. He had suppressed his dragon aura and knew the man was probably trying to feel him out to figure out just who and what he was.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Sir. I am Fafnir and I wish to pledge my service to the protection of your daughter." At the end of his introduction he very regally bowed at the waist slightly with one hand across his chest.
Both Morgianna and Duke Ryland was thrown off by how eloquently he moved just then. Even Morgianna who knew his true identity was surprised when he bowed at all. From what she knew dragons were proud creatures and would never bow to anyone.
She guessed that Fafnir saw the question in her eyes for the next moment she heard his voice in her mind. "I bow now so that later when I have gotten my strength up I will never have to bow to anyone again. I have nowhere else to go, so I will be in your service. I need his permission to stay."
Fafnir did not menace his words and was straightforward. She knew he had made his mind up and only gave a slight nod that only he noticed.
The whole time Ryland had been watching Fafnir he could not find any reason to not allow him to be in service of his daughter. Especially since it was her request.
He sighed once again, how troublesome.
"You may be in service of my daughter, however, you will report to me as well. She is still young and hopefully with your help we can keep her from sneaking out." He pinched his eyebrows. This was not the first time she had just disappeared, yet nobody could figure out how she had been escaping.
Turning back to Morgianna he could not help but ruffle her soft black hair. "Would you like to ride on my shoulders back to the castle?" He had always wanted to carry her, but she always refused to be carried.
Morgianna knew how much her father wished to carry her, but with her mentality of a grown woman she felt weird every time he asked. She looked towards Fafnir and saw the strange expression on his face. She could almost guess his thoughts. Something along the lines of "why would a noble duke carry a child on his shoulders." However she could not be more wrong, he saw how much the duke doted on his daughter and could not understand why she did not want to be close to her father.
He felt that maybe she was embarrassed by him being around and needed encouragement. "Miss Morgianna you should let him carry you back, you have been walking quite a distance."
Hearing Fafnir's word Morgianna frowned. Why would he suggest such a thing?
Her father had a completely different reaction. At first he did not like Fafnir but upon hearing his suggestion he found he disliked him a little less. Especially if he would convince his daughter to be closer to him.
With both teaming up on her it seemed she had no choice but to acquiesce. She nodded to her father and was almost blinded by the smile that stretched across his face. She felt humiliated, but if it made him that happy maybe doing it this one time wouldn't be so bad.
With Morgianna situated on his shoulders and Fafnir following behind him Duke Ryland made his way back to the gate. He was all smiles and could not care that Fafnir was joining them.
As they were entering the castle walls he passed a glance to the guards he had originally gathered to find his daughter and said, "This is Fafnir, he is a new guard. Treat him well."