Briana: The Middle Child

As the first child of her second husband, Briana was a bit... unusual. Then again, that made her a lot like her father.

Unlike Camilla's first husband, who had been a paragon of physical virtue, her second had been devastatingly intelligent. He had stopped more than a few potential wars from breaking out through his skills at negotiating, ability to read whoever he was dealing with, and his confidence despite his somewhat short stature had more than easily won Camilla over even before she had discovered him to be just as skilled in pleasuring her in the bed chamber.

That last point aside, Camilla knew Briana had many of the same qualities. She had displayed more than a few flashes of brilliance, even leaving some of her teachers flustered at her ability to outpace their lessons, as well as a quick wit and ability to talk much of the court into doing various favors for her. She also had ambition to spare and, of all her children, Camilla suspected she was the one who most desired to someday take the throne.

Of course, given how far down the line of succession she was, that seemed unlikely to occur. Perhaps, in a strange way, offering her the dragon's proposition might allow her the important place in history (if a somewhat secret one) she seemed to desire. On top of that, someone as intelligent and clever as Briana had to be appealing to one looking to have fine off-spring as the Dragon Prince would be.

The doors to the chamber opened and Camilla was drawn out of her thoughts as her daughter entered the room. Briana was on the short side, the top of her head only coming up to either of the guard's chests, her hair midnight black and her eyes jade green like her mother's. The dark blue dress she wore flattered her pale skin and figure, as she was not the roundest of women but her proportions as relative to her size made her look deceptively full-figured.

"Hello Mother," Briana said, her voice sounding detached and almost bored even as her eyes glittered in a way that showed she was always paying full attention to everything around her, "The guards tell me we have important matters to discuss."

Camilla nodded, though she was troubled that, with a wave of her hand, Briana was the one to dismiss the guards back into the hallway. The girl could be a little quick to flex what authority she did have (and sometimes some that she did not). "It concerns the prosperity of the entire kingdom," Camilla said, deciding to overlook the minor breach of protocol for the moment, "And I would like to have your measured opinion on it."

"JUST my opinion?" Briana replied, a small smirk coming to her thin lips, "Or is this something that may require a hands on approach as well?"

Camilla blinked in surprise and found herself at a loss for words as Briana added, "Though I suspect it may be more accurate to call it a 'hands on my body' approach. And it has something to do with the visitor you had earlier today."

The Queen's mouth worked open and closed a few times before she could ask, "How?"

Briana sighed and then replied, "I read our kingdom's history from time to time. I noticed an odd trend that every generation or two one of the Royal Princesses tends to just... disappear. No mention of her until years later of natural causes or any indication that the disappearance was the result of something nefarious. She is just not talked about any more. At the same time, two other events always occur around it. Two days before the disappearance, a messenger from the dragon's royalty is reported and, a year or so after, the dragon's population notably shoots upwards. So obviously, those events are connected and... well, there's generally one accepted way a population's number goes up, isn't there?"

Camilla's shock faded as a small, thoughtful scowl formed on her lips. One thing that made Briana different from her father (and sometimes a little insufferable) was that Briana was a little TOO quick to show off just how smart she could be.

"I suppose that saves me the time needed to explain the situation," the Queen finally replied, "Though it sounds like you already have decided you are not interested in such a... fate."

"On the contrary," Briana said, her smirk turning into a sly schemer's smile, "I MIGHT be convinced to tempt it. But only if you are willing to make a deal with me, Mother."