The castle was remarkable. Jongin had never seen anything quite like it.

Sure, the queen had an enormous estate in Sivaria but he had been confined to a single room and he doubted it even compared to the size of this castle. 

Sure enough, as the brunette had said, there was a massive banquet laid out in the ballroom and Jongin was very welcome to the food.

One of the grooms, Joonmyun, if he remembered right, had fussed over him, pettting and brushing dead leaves out of his hair, before pushing him in the direction of the banquet table to get some food.

Jongin was ravenous with hunger. 

The queen often forgot to feed him, and it had been a long time since he had eaten.

He tried to go slow, so that the other party goers would not think him an absolute animal but the hunger ate at him.

It only abated when Joonmyun pulled him aside to introduce him to his husband.

“I know you!” He gasped at the sight of the wide eyed man. It was the very same man who had bear claws for hands and had pointed him in Sehun’s direction in the forest. 

The man seemed to have recognized him too, for his already wide eyes had grown bigger.

“You are that dragon looking for a boy,” He said tensely, “did you find him?”

The reminder made Jongin’s heart ache. He was terribly sorry that he had frightened the young prince so that he had fled. 

The forest could be dangerous and he was unsure if the prince had ever been outside of Sivaria for very long before.

“No,” he mumbled dejectedly, hugging his bowl to his chest, “I did not.”

Joonmyun patted his shoulder gently, taking the bowl from him.

“Perhaps you should ask Jongdae,” he murmured, pointing in the direction of a fairy Jongin had never seen before, “he is always happy to help.”

The brunette who had brought Jongin to the castle appeared, dimpling as Joonmyun’s husband took his hand, kissing his knuckles.

“Who needs help?” He asked, clapping a hand on Jongin’s shoulder. 

“Kyungsoo said he met this boy in the forest and that he was looking for someone,” Joonmyun explained as his husband, now known as Kyungsoo, took his leave to entertain other guests.

“He’s a prince,” Jongin blurted out, a pleading expression clmbing over his face, “I don’t think he’s ever been this far away from home before.”

“Oh,” the brunette frowned, turning to wave down the fairy Joonmyun had pointed to before.

After a quick explanation that had the fairy, Jongdae’s eyes gleaming, Jongin got the feeling that whatever he was saying, the fairy already knew.

“You should start with the spirit glade,” he said, prompting a groan from Kyungsoo who had just returned behind him. 

The prince was smiling, even as he wrapped an arm around Joonmyun’s waist, the latter glancing at him in surprise. 

“He said that to me too,” he replied in answer to everyone’s surprised looks. Jongdae smirked in response and took up Jongin’s hand. His fingers left trails of fairy dust all over the dragon’s hand as he led him away, towards the doors.

“Everything begins and ends in the spirit glade. As a creature of magic, you should be able to find your way there. The spirit glade will tell you everything you need to know.”