The princess in the tower

The old oak wooden door burst open, the curtain behind the door swayed away with the rush of air. A long tall blonde knight in shining armour and a long broadsword stood tall. “Princess I am here to save you from the wretched dragon." The small round room was decorated with purple and blue, it was worn out over the years. One wall was chalked with stripes, counting the days a princess was not saved from a dragon. The princes lying in bed, her skin pale, blue eyes and ginger red hair. She was dressed in maiden white, ready for her king. She opened her eyes when the door opened, no knight has come so far.

 “My prince!" she looked up “You saved me!?" She was perplexed, knowing that her true love had come to save her. It was everything was promised to her. “First I have to slay the dragon. Come" He offered his hand, yet doubt struck in her mind, he has yet to slay the dragon, he had not yet proven himself worthy. Or is it just getting past the dragon that counted, she looked at the carvings on the wall. “You really have to slay the dragon?" She asked the knight and he nodded. “It's destiny" She did not dare to argue with that, the magic spell that bound her to this place was also the magic broken by true loves kiss. After all princes where supposed to be rescued from a tower by a knight.

Before she realised what was doing on, the knight stepped outside again, to hunt the dragon of course. She followed but at the door opening she was stopped by a loud sound. Metal on stone, she turned just around to see the knight pushed against the wall by a dark scaled shape with two shining red eyes. A growl emanated from the dragon “Stop! No!" she tried to stop the anthropomorphic dragon from killing her true love but it helped none, the dragon took the knights broadsword and pushed it up through his armour. The knight's pained shout stopped once the top of the broadsword pushed out of his maw. The dragon's claws where covered in blood. “no, no, no" She cried at the dragon, water forming in the corners of her eyes. She threw herself at the dragon “no, you ruined everything!" she slapped and hit the dragon's chest, to no avail. “He was going to kill me" The dragon growled at her. While he never hurt her before, the dragon's angry look and growl always scared her. “It is my true love" The princess protested.

“True love, don't make me laugh" The dragon pushed the princess back into her chamber, he was strong beyond believe, she could not even try push back against the dragon.  “there is no true love here. These knights who keep on dying here, they don't know you. They only come to claim my head to be the next king." The princess shouted back at the growling dragon “what you know about love! You are a scally, ugly dragon! No one loves you" The dragon raised an eye ridge, not impressed by her words. “Wow, harsh words princess, coming from someone who is willing to marry every single knight who can come here. Look princess, if it was not for this magic who bound me here, I would be gone!" He pushed a claw to her chest, just under her neck. “I don't fancy dying for your fantasy"

“And then why didn't you speak to me before? Only now that there was a knight near to catching me" She slapped his claw away from her body. “Because my little princess, I care little about you, or your true love. I just want to keep my head and if that will include slapping you awake from this fantasy, so will I" The princess threw her pillow at the dragon “You know nothing, this will be my happily ever after." The dragon threw his claws up in the air, angry. “You know, Next time around I don't be around. And ask your true love, why he has to slay the dragon. Ask him why he came to rescue you." The door slammed close and the princess resumed to curl up in the bed, crying.

Weeks passed and the door of the princess opened for one thing and that is roasted food from her protector dragon. She did not want to eat at first, starve herself until the dragon listened to her. Hunger gotten the better for her, and the scents of roasted meat that the dragon prepared each morning did not make it much easier.

It took her three days of hunger before she gave in to the dragon. She ate like a savage, not even a dragon would eat in such a way. The dragon stood and watched the princess eat, finding it amusing to watch someone who was supposed to be prime of finesse and excellence among her people. Hunger, hunger turned everyone into savage animals. “And so, I shall be trapped here another day" The dragon's low growling voice caught the poor princess of guard. “W-What are you doing here dragon! Shouldn't you be out there killing something." The princess tried to regain her posture and authority over the dragon, if she ever had any. “I came to watch you eat like a savage animal, nothing too fancy about it." He watched with his keen eyes how a dribble of warm molten meat juice dripped down her chin and onto the floor. “Because deep down, we are not too different. You just need to experience hunger to feel it."

The princess looked at him with annoyed eyes, those blue eyes trying to get at the dragon. “Unlike you, I choice to be this way!" Laughter came from the dragon's maw “You tried to manipulate me that's what" He closed in on the princess without missing a heartbeat in his walk. The princess moved backwards, actually quite scared of the dragon. “Through your negotiation skills could use some sharpening. Don't worry trough, I will give you some pointers" He traced his claw along the wooden bed post. “First off, never try to use your health to negotiate. Your death means I am free, if you are taken I am free." The dragon grinned at her with a devious grin that made her feel rather uneasy. “Then why don't they let me free! Send me off to the first knight to come this way" The dragon turned around with a snap, his wings nearly slapping the dragon across. “I would if a knight would have come, but do me one promise if I let you slip" The princess looked angry at the back of the dragon, not like her captor would care. “Anything to get out of your grip, Monster" The black dragon stopped in the door opening with a soft growl. “Okay" he turned his head over his shoulder, gazing into her eyes. “Ask your true love why he has to kill me." He slammed the door close.

“I came here too safe you!" A week has passed since the door fully opened again, the princess just finished putting his clothes on. Was this the day? Normally knights would have had a hard time reaching her. She stood up from her bed, flinging towards him. She fell in her grasp just like she always dreamed of. She was lifted from her feet by the knight. She looked at her knight, her princess with dreamy eyes. Down the stairs she saw so long ago and out of the ruins of the castle she was taken to so long ago. Yet at the gate of the castle, next to the white horse he ridden he stopped. “My saviour" she gasped at him, wondering. She wanted to be gone from this wretched place, the dragon could take it all away from her. She tried to calm herself, let her muscles loosen up, the thought of having someone in her life with the power to take everything away from her. “Let's get away before the dragon comes back" Yet the knight put her down, shaking his head with pride. “Without the dragon's head your father wouldn't make us queen and king." The princess started at her saviour with large eyes. “but why, we can be happily married without being king and queen. We still get our large dowry" The prince, his voice turning sour turned to the princess. “Really you want to talk about it now!? There is a dragon on the loose and I want to be king!"

“I'll told you that any knight would just come just for the fame and the power" The growling voice came from the pitch black. The eyes of the dragon stared from a shadow to the two humans. “Come out dragon! And fight" the knight shouted, his sword raised high to strike. “You have a change to run without any combat, without spilling blood." The dragon surged, walking from the shadow, letting the sun soak in its black scales. “You take the princess, and you set me free with that. That arrangement makes us all three happier. So take it." The knight looked at the dragon like the dragon insulted his all of his ancestor. “I don't take deals from monsters, what you think of all those knights you murdered" The dragon looked unchanged by the insults of the knight, his voice threatening yet calm. “When it's about my live against their lives, I rather keep on living." His gaze moved from the knight to the unsure princess, her face started to become more and more grim. The dragon could only smile, a sadistic pleasure in knowing he was right in the end and she knew it.

“Let's just go" She finally suggested, she felt nothing but distaste for the dragon and was eager to leave, trough, she knew he was right. It filled her with a bitter taste in her maw, drying out her tongue with the realisation. “No, I shall kill this dragon to become King, with you my noble queen at my side to advise me" His sword traced along the ground, he made his move towards the dragon, his walk turned into a run, his sword raised high to smash at the dragon. “No, I just want to be happy! Besides we should rule together!" She tried to convince her knight during his run. It had little to no avail, she could no nothing but watch when her Dragon and her Knight started their battle.

She wanted to stop him, to jump at the knight but with the dragon's might ready to strike, she would not risk it. The knight on the other hand took all the risk he wanted, sure of his victory like all those knights before him. He underestimated the speed and flexibility with which the dragon moved and avoided his strike. The dragon's tail swayed, hitting him in the armour and bending it. He was thrown backwards and the air was knocked out of his lunges. Regaining the air was near too impossible, the plate metal pushed against his chest, compressing it. His hands grasped desperately at the leather bounds holding the plate in place.

The dragon was near, his claw moved around the handle of the knight's sword and raced high. He was ready to strike, to kill the knight. “No!" A shout stopped him just before he wanted to strike. “Please, just let him go. I will stay with you" The princess looked with tears in her eyes at the battle before her. She did not want to see more blood spilled, not if she could stop it. The dragon tensed up just for a moment, still wanting to strike. In the last moment he relaxed, taking the sword with him. “Come with me" He extended his hand towards her. She took it with a mixed feeling of relieve and sadness, more days with the dragon where sure to come. “Don't come back." The dragon huffed his hot breath against the human's face, the hairs on his face started to riffle up and burn from the heat.

“Where are we going?" The princess asked, they walked past the stairs to the top and deeper into the castle. “To my lair" The dragon said, walking towards a glowing chamber. She followed, not wanting to displease the dragon. She cared little for his sarcasm now that he was smug with knowing he was right. The lair was protected with a large oak wooden door, half closed. Behind it was a large chamber, without a doubt a king's old bed room. The fire place was lit and surrounded with some cooking supplies, trough not enough to feed a dragon. Her eyes sought for horror images of half eaten meals. “I am no animal, never have your food where you sleep." The dragon said, following her gazed. He took place on what he made his nest, or lair. The bed itself, surrounded by pillows and other materials to create a soft hole to curl up in. “I just believe that you should no longer be locked up in the tower, I should guard to according to the spell, not keep you in the tower." The princess fumbled a bit with her cloths. “You, why you offer this now!? Not earlier!?" She suddenly shouted, angry and unsure. “Because what you just noticed, is that so hard to realise? You wanted not to go with him anymore!"

Silence fell over the two before the dragon started to speak again, he signalled to a spot next to him, with a hesitation in her walk she walked towards her spot and set down next to the dragon, his large and powerful posture made her feel small and submissive. His red eyes fell up on her. “Listen, I know it must be a pain to be locked up here. For me it's the same, I don't blame you, I blame your father and the mage in service. If I don't change your mind I will be here till me death. The only way for me to be free is for you to find the love of your life, knights will only try to kill me." He paused, trying to seek for his words. “But it would not be hard to spread the notion that anyone who can gain your heart, will be able to marry you without having to kill a dragon." The princess nodded softly not knowing where the dragon was aiming to, if it was as true like the dragon said, it was a tempting offer to take. “What you suggest?"

Now, she seen twenty sun rises since the dragon's plan. She still slept in the tower, but after making herself decent enough, she moved to the dragon's chamber. The mornings he spends with hunting, giving her time to prepare the array of cooking supplies for a nice meal. Just before the midst of day, he was back. Often with rabbit of a slap of meat from his own kill, A cow this time. He saved one of the more tender parts for the princess. She salted it, added some pepper and threw it on the fire. She waited for her meal and for a possible lover to come, knights, any knight wanting to kill the dragon was thrown from the tower. With her no longer being there, the knights where confused. Something the dragon took advantage from with all his pleasure. Those who came for love where introduced to the princess. A lot of farmer boys trough, actually almost only farmer boys. They all promised the same, their love, care and affection. Yet She felt not in place with any, today no difference.

“Good day your majesty. I come from a farm not far from here." She looked at the farmer's boy, then at the dragon who was sitting in the shadow. Judging in what he became to be, the unknown guardian. “I might just be humble farmer but my love is great and meeting you would be a ho…" The princess shook her head “No sorry, I heard this a thousand times before." With the words the dragon made his appearance, scaring the boy away. The princess looked at the black scales, the only one who really cared for her. It gave her a warm feeling to know to…was she falling in love with a dragon? The shock of the realisation was so great that her face turned pale white. “Everything alright?" the dragon moved to her. The princess did not answer, she not even knows his name, how could she? She stated before that he only cared to find her true love because he had to? But maybe? No, she was crazy, she must have been going crazy. “Princess?" the dragon asked again. She nodded, and hastily went inside.

The next day started the same, yet she did not want to hear another farmer boy, or another knight, she just wanted to stay inside warm near the fire and cosy inside of the dragon's nest. At first she did not think much of it, it was soft and comfortable, even the scent of the dragon by now was something she had gotten used to. Even worse, she felt comfortable to smell his scent. She pushed her body against the softness of the blanket.

“So, you going to tell me I should stay in the tower?" The princess gazed at the dragon, he was back earlier than normal, far earlier. She did not even prepare for the meat she was about to get. “You are back early" She shot back, not wanting to give more comment to the dragon's idea. “The sun is almost high in the sky, I say you were sleeping" He dumped her meal near to the fire, two rabbits, still with skin and all. “Yes I have" she stated dreamily, caught to her own imagination. The dragon started to prepare the meat for her, in the same way she did. “So" He started, ripping the skin from the rabbit. “I never asked your name." The second rabbit gave way to the dragon's strength. “Larissa of…" she stopped, knowing her surname did not care “Just Larissa, You my dragon guard?" The dragon huffed, dragging his claws along the chests from the rabbits, letting the guts roll out on the floor. “Grotagh of the norther caves." The dragon's attention was still not on the princess but rather her meal. “Long way from this hell hole of a castle, but a dragon got to fly to find a dragon of my kind." Larissa shifted and leaned forwards “A dragon lady of your kind? Are they so hard to find?" Grotagh nodded “Rather, well not the full fletched dragons, four legs, walk like animals and are the size of a house. But my kind of dragon, well they are hard to find. Often they hide, not wanting to fight of a thousand knights to stay a life."

“That sounds tough" She said before thinking about her words. A sharp “Sure it is." The dragon turned one eye, the two rabbits rotating above the fire.  “Nothing in life is easy Princess, especially when you are hunted and trapped by magic." Larissa fallen back into the nest, caught off guard by the furiousness of the dragon's voice. “I know…" She fell silent, wanting to bring up her hard life as princess, yet knowing that it all fell flat to fearing for one's life. “I have been forced by my father into a tower, guarded by a dragon to marry a knight whom I don't know, for the sole function to give birth to the next generation who will have to do the same." Her dragon surged “You know Larissa, you could break the circle, not pushing your daughter off to a tower" The princess rolled her eyes. “You really think that a woman has that power? No without murdering my husband, or letting him be murdered I have no power over what my children do."

“I had no idea" The dragons started “I never gone into human relations much" Larissa looked strange at the dragon. “Then what kind of power do women have in your culture?" The answer from the dragon was simple “A lot" trough he did explain how the dragon women where the rulers of the nest, while the males had to catch the prey for the often weakened dragoness. It was the male's task to be strong and powerful, to protect but the female decided what was best. “that…Is actually rather interesting" Larissa said when Grotagh finished his explanation. “So you respect your mate?" The dragon nodded, of course he did. “With dragons both the male and the female have to proof their strength and wit." Larissa leaned towards the dragon, wanting to know more about the dragon culture, a culture that seemed so much nicer to life in. “Yet trapped in here, I can't find my true love." He gave a toothy grin, whatever joke he made, she did not get it. “But when I am gone…" she protested a bit, knowing well that she might never be gone here, if her feelings towards the dragon started to develop more. “Even if you are gone, dragons don't find true love, we don't mate for life. Would you imagine? Being mated to the same person for ten thousand years? Your personality changes, and you shift away, it's part of life and you have to accept it. It's foolish to keep mated on the person you know hundred years ago."

With those words, Larissa felt her heart stop. Her face became white again, again her dragon did not know what was going on. “I think you are becoming ill" he said, with such a matter of fact in his voice it was blunt. “No I am not, just shocked." She said hiding her face a bit, turning to the rabbits that where gently cooking above the fire. “shocked about?" the dragon fired quickly, giving her no time to recover. Should she tell? The dragon made no advance towards her, but otherwise, only true love could set her free both of them actually. So if she felt in love with him, and he did not with her they were both trapped. “actually" she reasoned “We are both already strapped till the end"

“What did you say?" Grotagh stood up, looking at Larissa. “Nothing!" She tried to hide the fact she forgotten she was not alone. “No, not nothing, we are both trapped till the end? What does that mean? Did you give up for true love?" The princess felt a knot in her throat preventing her from talking. The dragon's gaze deepened, his gaze piercing into her soul. She never seen this gaze, understanding, reading and listening. It made her giggly, she tried not to swoon over her. Whatever the dragon did with his gaze, but it loosened up the knot till it disappeared. “I did not give up true love, in fact I found it."

Her dragon looked at her, confused at first. “Oh." He finally said after a long unconvertable moment of silence. “I see; I am free to go where I want." He stood up, walking to the door. Her heart started to sink when he reached for the door. Did he only care about that? She did not dare to look.

Her question was answered with a loud bang of the door that fell shut. She opened her eyes slowly, only to find the black figure that was her dragon still in the room. He had locked the door from the inside. “Yet for the first time I do not want to go somewhere." He turned around towards the princess. He sat down next to her in the nest and kissed her on her lips. She was shocked, at the same time filled with joy and warmth. The kiss was awkward and strange, not at all like she imagined true lovers kiss yet it was her kiss. She savoured the moment, in an amused shock.

“So for how long?" She asked her dragon “About a month now." “Then why didn't you…?" “I did not want to place my own need before yours." They stared at each other for a while. “So now what?" she asked him. “We mate. That is the dragon's way."