love to rescue me from this dismal forest! And now am I a prisoner of a monster, and when my love arrives he will be eaten by this awful beast, and I abandoned to my fate! Alas, that I should come to this!'
The dragon looked considerably taken aback. It turned to Shiara and me. 'This is a princess?'
'Yes, she is,' I said, and Shiara nodded.
The Princess had heard the question, too, and she raised her head.
'Indeed, I am a princess, and the daughter of a king, and see to what misery I have been brought!' she said tragically. 'Alas, the day I left my father's house! Yet would I flee again, and endure with patience all the trials and woes which have come upon me, only to be with my love once more!'
The dragon backed up a pace. 'Are you sure this is a princess?'
'Alas! Now even my birth is doubted, and to whom shall I turn in my distress? Ah, pity my sad state! For I am alone and friendless, and parted from my love. Ah, woe! That ever I let him leave my side! For he is mighty among men, most brave and fearsome in battle, and of a fair and pleasing appearance in all things, and he would not leave me thus, did he but know my fate.' She went back to crying.
'If this is a princess, I'm not sure I want one after all,' the dragon said.
It looked at the Princess speculatively. 'Maybe I could eat her instead.'
'Ah, help!' said the Princess.
'I really don't think you should eat her,' I said. 'After all, you did say you wouldn't.'
'That's right, I did.' The dragon looked at the Princess, who was crying again, and sighed. 'Nobody told me princesses were like this,' it said in an aggrieved tone. 'And who is this love she keeps talking about?'
'We haven't met him yet, I'm afraid,' I said. 'She says he's a knight that she ran away with because her father wanted her to marry someone else.'
'A knight?' The dragon backed up a little farther. 'I don't think I'm ready for knights yet. They're so unpredictable. I don't suppose you could find me a princess without a knight?'
'All really good princesses have knights,' Shiara said firmly. 'And you wouldn't want a second-rate princess, would you?'
'All of them?' the dragon asked plaintively.
'Well, not all of them,' I said. 'Some of them have princes instead.'
'Princes are much worse than knights,' Shiara said thoughtfully.
'They have magic rings and sorceresses for godmothers and things like that. With knights you only have to worry about their armor and weapons, and maybe once in a while an enchanted sword.'
'My love has no need of magic!' the Princess broke in indignantly.
'For he is most strong and skilled, and never has he been beaten in combat with sword or spear. Woe that he is no longer at my side!'
'I don't like the sound of this,' the dragon said uneasily. 'Maybe if I just-' There was a loud crash from the bushes at the edge of the clearing, and then a rather tinny-sounding voice said, 'What ho! A dragon?'
The Princess stopped crying very suddenly and sat up quite straight.
'Hark! My love approaches! Now shall you see his prowess for yourselves!'
There were more crashing noises. The dragon backed up again, looking nervous. A moment later a knight in a dented suit of armor fell through the middle of the thickest clump of bushes, right in front of the dragon.
'On guard, monster!' the knight said as he picked himself up.
'Prepare to die!' He pulled out a sword and waved it at the dragon.
Well, actually, he waved it a couple of feet to one side. His helmet had slipped a little, and evidently he couldn't see very well. The dragon looked at him, and then back at Shiara.
'This is a knight?' it said.
'My love is the bravest and best of knights!' the Princess cried.
'If this is a knight, maybe I can handle him after all,' the dragon said.
'He doesn't look so bad.'
'Ah, hideous reptile! No longer do I fear you, for my love will defend me! Yea, he will defend me even unto death!'
'Now, wait a minute, Isabelle,' the knight said. He pulled off his helmet, looked at it disgustedly, and threw it on the ground behind him.
'I'm perfectly willing to kill dragons for you, but who said anything about dying?'
'You are my knight, and my brave love!' the Princess said dramatically.
'Oh, save me from this awful monster, who would carry me off and eat me!' She sprang up and threw her arms around the knight.
'It's going to be a bit difficult for me to save you if you hang about my neck like that,' the knight said apologetically. 'It's quite awkward. If you'll just sit down, I can see about doing this properly.'
The Princess only hung on to him more tightly, which made his aim almost as bad as it had been when he was wearing his helmet crooked.
The dragon was watching them closely, and its eyes were starting to glow. 'You certainly aren't very polite,' it said.
'My love is the soul of courtesy!' the Princess said from behind the knight. 'For he is a knight most gentle and well spoken, much given to-' 'I say, Isabelle, must you go on like that?' the knight said.
'It's embarrassing.
Do, please, sit down and let me fight the dragon. Then you won't have to worry about being eaten, you know.'
The Princess gave a small scream. 'Alas? she said in a quavery voice.
'Behold my sad state! For now must I watch a bloody battle, and perhaps see my love slain before my eyes, and become a captive of this monster.'
'This is ridiculous,' said Shiara, and before I could stop her she marched over to stand between the dragon and the knight. I followed her, hoping I could get her out of trouble if I had to.
'Ah, save me!' the Princess said as we got closer. I wasn't sure whether she wanted to be saved from the dragon or from Shiara.
Shiara glared at her. 'You shut up,' she told the Princess. 'You've caused enough trouble already.'
'I say,' said the knight. 'If we're going to discuss politeness-' 'We aren't,' said Shiara. 'We're going to discuss battles. Battles between dragons and knights. Why do you want to fight this dragon?'
'Knights are sworn to do battle with the beasts that ravage the fields, carry off innocent maidens, and generally make a nuisance of themselves,' the knight said. He sounded as if he were reciting something, and he didn't look very pleased about the idea, but the Princess nodded approvingly.
'Well, this dragon isn't ravaging anything, and it doesn't even want your stupid princess,' Shiara said.
'I do, too!' the dragon broke in. 'If I'm not going to carry her off I could eat her, after all. And if I fought a knight no one could say I'm not a proper dragon, even if I don't have a princess.'
'I really don't think that's a good idea,' I said. 'Princesses aren't all that common, after all.'
'Besides, you promised me you wouldn't,' Shiara said.
'I did not!' the dragon said. 'I only said I wouldn't waste a perfectly good princess, and this one's not so great. Eating her wouldn't be much of a waste.'
'I don't think that would be very polite,' I said. 'Especially when you've talked to her this long without bringing it up. You really ought to ease into these things gradually, you know.'
'Are you sure?' the dragon said.
I nodded.
'Oh, all right,' said the dragon. 'I won't eat her, then. But couldn't I fight the knight anyway? Just for practice?'
'I say, that sounds like an excellent idea,' the knight said, brightening perceptibly. 'A sort of exercise for both of us.'
'A tourney!' the Princess cried. 'Oh, brave and clever, to think of such a thing!'
The knight looked pleased. So did the dragon. It nodded, then whispered to Shiara, 'What's a tourney?'
'It's like a battle, only no one gets hurt. Usually.'
