The Dragon's Prize Read online

  After the queen’s brief address, Sandra and Mira were escorted to Sandra’s chamber by one of the queen’s guards. The captain slyly offered to provide the escort, but the queen knew better than to let him. Sandra had to admit, for a woman that was rarely seen around the castle, the queen was remarkably well-informed about the politics of the day. She was even more surprised that the queen knew enough about Sandra's own predicament to understand the danger Sandra would be in if one of the captain’s men were left alone with her.

  When they got through the door and were finally alone, Sandra immediately collapsed on the bed. It felt good. Great! It felt great. She could just stay there forever…

  She rolled over to the side of the bed and coughed out a glob of blood onto the ground. Not a great sign.

  “Umm…” Mira looked confused and a little unsure of herself now.

  “Want to do some of that squiring now?” Sandra kept her voice low to avoid stressing her battered self. “Learn on the job and all that?”

  “Oh! Of course… you look like you’re barely able to stand!”

  “That’s a good way to put it.”

  “Okay… okay. What do I do?”

  “For now: pack.” Sandra gave a wan smile. “We’ll need clothes, supplies and gear.”

  “Gear?”

  “Weapons. Armor. Something to take down a dragon.”

  “Oh… oh! You have something like that?”

  “No.”

  Mira let that sink in for a second. Then she stuck out her tongue in defiance and went about raiding Sandra’s wardrobe.

  The room itself was sparse, with only the cot, a small dresser and the wardrobe. It was more than a lot of peasants had to themselves, and it was far more than enough for Sandra. She’d gotten her own room due to the fact that she was the lone female in the guard. There had been some grumbling about it, but she was grateful not to have to share a bunk with one of the other men.

  She imagined that Mira’s room was much the same, although the maid probably had a roommate or two.

  Mira turned out to be very methodical when it came to packing. She quickly stripped out the most important items: extra underclothes, plenty of socks and comfortable tunics. She started to look confused at that point.

  “Umm… Sandra?”

  “Yes?”

  “Where are your skirts?”

  “Skirts?”

  “Skirts! You can’t wear those awful pants all the time, can you?” Mira made a derisive gesture at the stained and torn pants Sandra was currently wearing. Sandra raised on weary eyebrow.

  “Why not?”

  “You’re a lady! In armor it’s fine, but otherwise it’s… indecent!”

  “Indecent? Really?”

  “I can’t think of a better word.” Mira pouted. “Fine. No skirts.”

  “You probably shouldn’t pack any either.”

  “Oh?” With purpose again, Mira grabbed several pairs of pants, then she set about rolling everything together. She rolled each item into a tight cylinder, then packed the underclothes between the outerwear, at the bottom of Sandra’s pack. Sandra had to admit, it was very meticulous and seemed to have a method to it.

  “Skirts aren’t great for horse riding.”

  “I’ll ride side saddle!”

  “For two weeks?”

  Mira got quiet for a moment.

  “Oh.”

  “Take some of my pants.”

  “Thanks!” Mira nodded, and Sandra guessed that the maid probably didn’t even own a riding skirt. Why should she? Chamber maids don’t spend a lot of time on horse back.

  “What are you doing with my clothes, by the way?” Sandra gestured at the precise order Mira was packing things in. Watching her was keeping Sandra’s mind off the pain lancing through her gut.

  “Packing them.”

  “…”

  “Okay, fine. If you roll them like this, then they take up less room and you can fit more in a single pack. And if you pack the shirts and… pants around the underclothes, then if the inside of the pack gets wet you’re more likely to have dry underwear.”

  “Oh.” Sandra never would have thought of any of that. “Where did you learn that?”

  “Wasn’t always a maid…”

  Sandra was about to press on that point, since it was the second time that Mira brought it up, but didn’t get the chance. They heard the guard outside conversing with someone, and then the door opened.

  The queen.

  Sandra tried once to get out of bed so she could bow like Mira, but she couldn’t manage it. Her arms wouldn’t summon the strength, and her abdominal muscles refused to cooperate. She settled for blushing.

  “No need to get up.” The queen smiled kindly. Behind her came a small man who smelled like sulfur. He bustled over to Sandra and prodded her in the gut.

  Hard.

  Sandra grunted in pain and lashed out for the man in reflex. He was fast enough to get out of the way, but only because Sandra was not at her best right now. If she were feeling okay he would not have escaped. That didn’t bode well for her chances against the dragon…

  “As I thought!” The little man exclaimed cheerfully and came back over to Sandra. He didn’t look like he was going to do that again soon, so she let him be. “Internal bleeding in addition to the external damage, your majesty.”

  “Sandra, this is my personal physician.”

  The little man beamed.

  “Your majesty?” Sandra was confused.

  “I know what happened to you, my dear… in fact, I had my own little escape plan all ready for you if that dragon hadn’t shown up.”

  “You…?”

  “Don’t look so shocked, dear. I know how fond my son used to be of you, and I heard all about that ridiculous sparring match. The captain should have known better than to put a commoner in the ring with a royal, and then to let the prince goad you into hitting him like that?”

  “I…”

  “And of course, the captain did know better. As I’m sure you already guessed, he planned the whole thing.”

  “Yes.” Sandra nodded. “I figured he-… urk!” She was interrupted by the little man jamming a bottle of herbaceous liquid against her lips. The suddenness of the motion caused her to swallow some of it without thinking. It tasted like thyme, but lit up like a starburst of fire when it started going down her throat.

  Sandra started to cough and struggle against the doctor, but for now he was stronger. He held her against the bed with one hand and poured the rest of the medicine down her throat. Mollified by the idea that if the queen were going to have her killed, this would not be the chosen method, Sandra stopped fighting. The liquid burned in Sandra’s throat. And, when it hit her stomach, it felt good. Strange.

  When he was done and pulled the now-empty flask away from her mouth, she realized her stomach felt better. The lancing pain was gone, as was the vivid ache of the bruises. In their place was a creeping itch.

  “Cure serious wounds! The whole thing!” The doctor held up the empty flask. “She’s a tough one. Most other people would be dead from that injury.”

  “Well. I guess it’s a good thing you’re the one finding my son, then.”

  “If you say so, your majesty…” Sandra was inordinately grateful to this woman she barely knew. If the doctor was right about the internal bleeding, the queen had just saved Sandra’s life.

  “I do! You are a wonderful candidate. I would have picked you myself if it weren’t for this morning’s ugliness. Speaking of which.” The queen blinked and her eyes moved away from Sandra’s. She was obviously not happy about this next part. “After you save my son, it might be better for you if you… don’t return.”

  “What!?”

  “I am on your side in all of this, Sandra, remember that. But there are… some in the castle who have other opinions. The commoner who would be a guard offends them, and their very deepest sensibilities about the role of nobility.” The queen’s face was grave as she said it. “No
matter how much bravery you show now, no matter how much gratitude you have from my family, you will still be hated for that one fact.” She sighed.

  “Majesty…” Tears welled up unbidden in Sandra’s eyes. Leave her home? Permanently? She had never imagined it would come to that.

  “Take what you can of the dragon’s hoard and go somewhere else. Buy lands and a title so that your children never have the same experience you do.”

  “Surely, we could buy lands here.”

  “No. I’m afraid that, even then, you would still be a target. For some… many, you are an insult to this kingdom.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” Sandra shook her head. She was still processing the idea of leaving the only world she’d ever known for good.

  “Consider it. You would have a hero’s welcome when you return with my son.”

  “If I succeed…”

  “When you succeed. But you would still always suspect poison in your cup, or a dagger waiting in the shadows. No. Getting out of the kingdom is your only option.”

  “Majesty. If you think so.”

  “I do. And you, too, Mira dear.”

  “Me?” Mira looked shocked the queen even knew her name.

  “You attacked four noble guards trying to save your friend here. I think I could have gotten your sentence bargained away, but there will be danger attached to that distinction as well.”

  Both women looked worried, shocked and awed to be in the presence of the queen and receiving this advice from her.

  “Now get ready. Horses will be waiting for you when you are prepared. Normally we would have a feast in your honor, but time is of the essence. For you and for my son.”

  With that, the queen and her entourage left.

  Sandra and Mira didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, Sandra leapt to her feet.

  “No pain!” She shadow-boxed the air, then threw a bear hug around Mira. Mira ‘meep’ed and tentatively hugged back.

  “Really?”

  “Really!”

  “Is that even possible?” Mira poked at Sandra’s stomach, curious.

  “I don’t know! I guess so!” Sandra twirled, then settled down. The queen’s sobering words rang in her ears. Leave her home. Leave everything she knew. And take Mira with her… “I’m sorry I’ve ruined your life.”

  “Don’t worry. I was the one who ruined it.” Mira sighed and collapsed onto the bed. The bounce of energy from earlier when she was helping Sandra was gone. She ran a hand along the back of her neck, then across her forehead. “Although I wasn’t really thinking about that at the time.”

  Sandra nodded. She understood the feeling. She realized now that running at the dragon with nothing but a borrowed sword should have been a death sentence. Especially given the amount of damage she’d already sustained. Somehow, she lived through it. Somehow, Mira would live through this.

  “Alright. Time to get the gear.”

  Sandra opened the wardrobe, shoved the unpacked clothes to the ground and opened the second set of doors hidden at the back.

  “Oh!” Mira perked up and watched as the inner door swung open and revealed a suit of armor as well as a surprising variety of weapons. “We’re taking all of that too?”

  “Of course.” Sandra grabbed a mace and hooked it to the pack. “How else do you think we’re going to kill a dragon?”

  “With stern words and a glare.” Mira winked. “I actually hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

  “Fair enough. Why don’t you go get packed while I deal with all the weapons and extra bits? I’ll probably need your help with the armor.”

  “Oh?” Mira watched as Sandra expertly stowed knives, swords and crossbows in hooks and catches that she hadn’t noticed on the pack before. It quickly took Sandra’s bag from looking like a regular travelling pack to a frightening armory.

  “Welcome to squiring.”

  “Yeah. Thanks.”

  *

  “How do I look?”

  Sandra was busy packing their horses when Mira arrived in the stables. The queen had given Sandra one of the big war chargers that they kept around for official functions and actual guard duty, which was kind, while Mira was going to have to make due with a sturdy, older nag. The war horse had no problem shouldering the burden of Sandra’s weapons, so she’d been busy balancing them on his saddle. She even had extra room to pack a few bows for hunting.

  Sandra turned to look at Mira and grinned.

  “I thought you didn’t have pants?”

  “I stole some of yours.”

  “They look good.” Sandra nodded appreciatively. “Though you probably shouldn’t admit to theft around a guard.” She winked.

  “Then don’t tell the guard that I took one of her ribbons, either.” Mira flipped a strip of white cloth that she’d used to tie her hair back in a ponytail. Sandra tried to, but couldn’t, stifle a giggle. “What?”

  “Do I look like I use a lot of ribbons?”

  “Umm… no, now that you mention it. But there was a whole drawer of these.”

  “It’s a polishing rag for armor.” Sandra motioned like she was wiping down the front of her armor.

  “Oh.” Mira ran her hand along the ribbon tentatively, then looked at her fingers. They were clean. “Well, I choose to think you secretly like putting ribbons in your hair.”

  “Okay.” Sandra shook her head, then checked her horse. He was standing still and calm despite all of the extra weight she’d just added to him. She wasn’t particularly equestrian, but even she could tell that he was extremely well-behaved. “Are you ready?”

  “Yup!” Sandra slung a couple of bags off her back and set about tying them to her nag’s saddle. Her horse was less well-behaved and danced back and forth as Mira fought to get her heavy packs attached. One of them clanked and banged with such a racket that distant stable hands turned around to see what was happening.

  “What have you got in there?” Sandra walked over and helped Mira balance the bag, then get it secured to the horse. Once they’d tied the top and bottom down it stopped making quite so much noise.

  “My gear!”

  “Your gear?”

  “You get gear…”

  “For killing dragons.” Sandra motioned her head toward her horse, which was now carrying enough steel to outfit a small company. “I don’t see you as being the type to have a lot of daggers stashed in her room.”

  “Look. Gear!” Mira undid the buckle on a side pouch and produced a small, cast-iron pan from inside it.

  “Oh!”

  “Yeah. Didn’t think of that, did you miss dragon-killer?” Mira stuck out her tongue.

  “No. No, I didn’t.” Sandra stuck hers out, too. “Maybe you will be useful after all.”

  “Oh, I will. I will. Jury’s still out on you, though.”

  “You wound me.”

  “I’ve got something for that too!” Mira pulled a rolled-up bandage out of the pack and winked saucily. Sandra laughed and shook her head.

  “Where did you learn to be so prepared?” Sandra headed over to her horse and slung herself easily up and onto his back. With the doctor’s potion having worked its magic, she felt better than she had in a long time. Her muscles were supple and limber, all of the fatigue from the day’s activities was gone, and she felt like she could bench-press a thousand pounds.

  “Wasn’t always a maid.” Mira had a little more trouble with her nag.

  While she clearly knew what she was doing when packing for a trip, she just as clearly did not know what she was doing when it came to horses. Her first two attempts ended up with her on her butt in a pile of hay, and the third would have too if a stable hand hadn’t hustled over and helped boost her up. Once in the saddle, she settled down alright.

  “You keep saying that.”

  “It isn’t getting less true.” Mira reached out gingerly and patted her horse on the back of the neck. The nag whinnied and started to back up out of the stall. “Whoa! What did I do?”


  Sandra burst out laughing. The stable hand was more useful and grabbed Mira’s horse’s reins to steady her.

  “I guess in this mysterious past life of yours, you never handled horses very much?”

  “No. Not very much.” Mira was about to pat her horse again, then thought better of it. “How do I do it?”

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure she will enjoy following mine around just fine. Hey, boy.” Sandra leaned over and tapped the stable hand's shoulder before he could go back to what he was doing. He turned around, looking startled.

  “Ma’am?”

  “What are their names?”

  “Oh… oh! You’re riding Lightning, and Mira has Annie.”

  “You know Mira?”

  “Everyone knows Mira!”

  “Hey now!” Mira pouted from on top of Annie. “When you say it like that…”

  The boy blushed fiercely, turning away from the two women instinctively.

  “I didn’t mean…”

  “I know what you meant.” Sandra nodded. He was right, most people knew and adored Mira. She had a way about her that could make you immediately at ease.

  The boy nodded seriously, then hustled off. Sandra made a ‘click’ with her tongue and maneuvered Lightning out of the stable and into the bright, late-morning light. Everything seemed so normal. The ash and rubble from the dragon’s attack had been cleared, the courtyard swept, so the only remaining evidence of the morning’s events was some broken masonry high up on the keep’s wall.

  The two women took a nostalgic look around the bailey one more time before Sandra urged Lightning forward and through the castle gate. Mira made a noise of surprise, but managed to stay on as Annie followed. Sandra looked back to make sure Mira was okay and noticed that Annie was listing from side to side and stopping occasionally so she had to hurry to catch up to Lightning.

  “Mira?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t grip her so tight. She doesn’t like it.”

  “I… oh.” Mira looked sheepish.

  Annie immediately perked up when the pressure was lifted and she understood what she was supposed to do again. The horse stepped a few paces closer to Lightning, then happily trailed him, keeping up with his longer gait with no problem. It helped that she didn’t have hundreds of extra pounds of armor to carry like he did.