He managed to NOT jump out of his skin by virtue of his awareness ability, and had felt her teleport in just before she spoke. He still stiffened, though his tone was completely respectful but still playful, refusing to let her know that she had managed to unnerve him. "Ma'am, the pleasure of your company is enough to warrant these situations. As for this, soldier, not mage. I think I might be able to do something about it, by draining mana from it, but Winter would have arrived before I could finish, and I refuse to give them the ability to snipe our Court. Of course, I could just throw the sacrifices and Murphy through, but the dragon would try to eat me, I would lose the support of the metallic dragons, and that is enough of a headache to not warrant consideration.<br/><br/>Or did I miss something else incredibly obvious?"