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At some point he had fallen asleep. The cold of the wooden floor beneath him within the 'apartment' as it was called, hardly compared to the cold dirt of the ground outside. And so even without sleeping in his new bedroom it was more comfortable than his many nights beneath the stars. Adventure and travel was exciting and stirred his blood, but there were definite downfalls. The lack of an inn, as well as a bed and pillows mainly. While he had adjusted out of necessity it was hardly comfortable.

His priority was the princess. And that hadn't changed simply due to a new location. With both Hak, Jae-Ha, and Shin-Ah gone, that left Kija as the primary defender. Zeno was also a dragon, but hardly a warrior and Kaya was new to the group. Her protection now rested within his hands and he was bound and determined to make sure that when they returned to the others not a single hair upon her sacred head would be disturbed.

Which was why he had insisted upon sleeping outside of her bedroom.

All of them were being held prisoner. Despite the magic and convenience of their new location, he knew better than to treat a gilded cage as anything other than a gilded cage. And so it was that after he gathered a pillow and a blanket from his own room, he set up for the night outside of her door upon the floor. A quick check for bugs revealed none- at least none that he had noticed. Back against the wall, his pillow and blanket in hand he fell asleep slumped forward like that.

That had been during the night. How he awoke was quite different.

Cheeks flushed so red that they burned, Kija felt a strangled sound barely cut off from inside his throat. To his right rested Zeno, practically sprawled upon him, mouth agap as he drooled unceremoniously upon Kija's orange suit. And against him rested Kaya, slightly more peaceful looking in appearance. To be honest, it was nothing new, waking up beside the other dragon. They all slept in tight quarters, and he was used to it by now. No. What caused his heart to beat so quickly he feared for his life was the woman pressed up against his opposite side, peacefully asleep against his shoulder; the princess.

Stiff as a board, Kija could barely breathe. When had they all joined him? And w-w-why was the princess pressed so warmly against him!? Every hair upon his body stood on end like a scared cat, and he felt completely too aware of her presence in a way that he hoped only had to do with his being her dragon. The soft weight of her warm body rested peacefully against him, oblivious to the way he felt frozen to the spot. To sleep so near her like this was wrong! She was his master, and he had no right, and couldn't believe that it wasn't until now that he had awoken. But worse was his dilemma.

He couldn't move without waking her and the others. Anguished and sure that he was going to die of the incurable disease Yoon had told him he was long suffering from, he remained ridged, breath caught within his chest. His pulse raced and his ears rang as they pounded with blood. Surely this was the power of King Hiryuu, to cause him to feel such a way. And yet she laid there so innocently, unaware of the way that she made his blood pound and his dragon claw ache. There was no hope that he would fall back to sleep by this point. All he could do was quietly wait.

Flushed, he swallowed thickly and quietly watched her. It was something that he rarely allowed himself to do for more than a moment. As she was right now, she seemed so defenseless. Not for the first time, he couldn't help but to wonder where all her strength came from. She was so small, her body petite. Looking at her like this, she seemed almost fragile, as though one touch would cause her to shatter within his hand. Softly, he curled his fingers and stared at his dragon claw. He was a weapon, meant to keep her safe. He was both happy and content with that. But he wondered why it made him ache sometimes, too. It wasn't like with Jae-Ha. Kija was proud to be a dragon warrior, and beyond honored to be able to serve beneath her.

'Don't you want to hug her with that arm of yours with all your might?' The words came back to him with horrifying clarity.

O-Of course not...! He internally sputtered. The image of Jae-Ha smirking appeared within his mind's eye and he clawed the image to pieces until it disappeared. Curse you, Jae-Ha! Saying such impure things! Now it was in his mind! That man always said whatever he wanted, no matter how inappropriate it was! But then, stuck here in the moment his mouth felt terribly dry. Outside of his village, most people acted repulsed by his dragon claw. A 'monster' they said, more often than not. It didn't really bother him. He was glad to possess the power to protect his master. He wondered, though, what she thought of it. Of its appearance, or if she would find the feel of his scales distasteful. Did she realize how important she was to all of them?

Her lips, gently parted within her sleep, looked so soft.

Even were my blood not strongly attached, I would never betray you, he thought as he silently watched her. Regardless of if she was or was not the reincarnation of King Hiryuu, which she claimed not to be true. He would still follow her. Even if his blood claimed otherwise. She was... someone precious. Someone who deserved only happiness in all things. And that had to be enough for him. His incredible, and beautiful master. Claw lifting, he gently reached out, and with the tenderest of touches softly brushed a scaled finger against her cheek.