"I know who you are," Eira said gently, lifting her eyes to meet his as they stood in small space off to the side.  She could still see Bennington out of the corner of her eye, but his expression was more hopeful than suspicious.  Eira realized she needed to play this situation a certain way, to lure Bennington into believing Ylrid was no threat to him.  Bennington had gone on and on telling and retelling the story of how he had slayed the great dragon, so much so that Eira had started to worry it might be true.<br/><br/>She forced a joyous smile on her lips and pressed up onto the tips of her toes, flinging her arms around Ylrid like she was greeting an old friend.  It was a facade, but her face was buried in his should and Bennington could not see it. "Play along, embrace me.  Most of the people here are innocents and they don't deserve to be caught in the middle of Bennington's affairs."  She said, her mouth close enough to his ear that she could whisper.  It felt strange to hold him like this, in her mind he was still this grand thing.  His body was firm and sturdy under her hands, and she wondered why he had not revealed this side of him before.<br/><br/>"We can tell him you are the son of one of my father's generals, a friend of the family.  We can ask that he offer you lodging..."  She said, thinking as quickly as she could.  She released him from the hug, and stepped back, her chin lifting to meet his eyes again.  There was more she needed to tell him but this was neither the time nor the place.  Eira had long since assumed her father had died, but now the news had been confirmed.  He had tried to re-take his realm, only to fall in battle.  One of his trusted advisors had let her location slip to one of his men and that was how Bennington had discovered where the so-called "lost" princess was.  Bennington wanted her for her connections to Norlund, though she was certain her youth and beauty did not deter him.<br/><br/>"Patience, please?"  She asked.  The dragon had been a comfort, but she realizes now she did not know him well and could not predict how he might behave in this situation.