[Abandoned] The Dragon That Is Most Certainly Not a Prince

In Which He Takes a Ride

The morning brings even more planning and even more talking among the adults. Today I sit on the table next to Alice, who brought down a little game where you try to make squares before the other person does. She marks the lines for me, and I seem to be better at the game than I had thought, for never playing it before. Or Alice is being kind and letting me win, but the furrow of her brow tells a different story.

They order something to eat a few hours after midday, so I'm not quite sure what to call the meal, but Alice feeds me more than just a few cubes of meat, and scratches the base of my skull for me when Gavin leaves to go buy supplies and Bellwyn leaves to help him. Julika ignores Alice and I in favor of working out some numbers, and looking over the supply list, and shuffling around some numbers, and muttering to herself on the other side of the table.

Gavin and Bellwyn were gone for less than an hour before Alice slides out of her chair and wraps her hands around my middle, dragging me along with her, leaving our game unfinished at her seat. Out the door she runs, and I dig my claws into her shirt, bouncing with her excited steps. The door closes heavily behind us, and she dashes out into the streets, clinging to me as she careens into the main market space.

With her finally slowing down, I crawl around and lay around her shoulders, hunching in on myself on shoulders much narrower than what I'm used to. She walks around, looking at all the wares, and I move to perch on her head instead, my tail curling on her shoulder. Her fingers reach out to stroke shining gems, and she tips her head back to sniff at the air as we pass carts of pastries. A few coins find their way from one pocket to hers, then to the bakers for a few sweet pastries. Sitting in the shade of the large tree in the center of the square, she shares her pastries with me, then sets off to look at some of the stalls obviously with more to peddle to children using their parent's money.

Alice, laughing, picks up a stuffed doll and holds it out for me to see; it's a light green dragon with big, silly eyes and shimmering cloth for the claws and wing-skin. A mockery, but she buys it with money that isn't hers anyway, handing it up to me to hold onto, and I do, even though it's nearly as big as I am. She finds another stall of toys, and picks a small figurine of a knight, claiming it's for her brother, and paying for it with a stranger's money. This toy somehow finds its way between my paws and the stuffed dragon, and I end up clinging to Alice more with my tail and balancing with my wings than anything else.

She stays out until it grows late, but doesn't hand anything else up to me. More money slides from the pockets of strangers into her hands, and she uses the money to buy little trinkets, "for Gavin," she says about the little figure she paid to have carved for her, "for Bellwyn," she says as she waves the bracelet around above her head for me to see, "for Mother," she says with a sigh as her stolen money goes into an inkwell of bright red and an exquisite quill, and finally, "for you," she says with a giggle, as she takes the toys I'd been carrying and replaces them with a little cloak she requested from a kind old grandmother that had refused the money, instead sewing the cloak with as much care as possible, adorning the edges with a small pattern that I imagine must be hard for her to see with failing eyes.

Bellwyn and Gavin returned long before Alice brought me back, and Bellwyn only smiles to see the cloak on my back and the dolls in Alice's arms. The gifts are passed out, and thanks are given as I scamper down off of Alice's head and up onto the table. Julika accepts her gift with a quiet smile and a kiss on her daughter's forehead before turning to work, hesitating for a second before putting the new quill to work, much to Alice's delight.

We eat one more time, and Bellwyn readjusts the cloak over my back once or twice, smiling to herself. She leans over and whispers to Alice when she thinks I'm too busy begging for food from Gavin to listen in. "He looks like a little dragon prince in that cloak, doesn't he?"

Alice giggles, and nods. "He does! Do you think he was a prince in a past life, Bellwyn?"

"You know I don't believe in that, Alice, but if I did, I would say... yes. Maybe Verdant was a prince in one of his past lives. Who knows?"

I can hear the secret smile in Bellwyn's voice, and ignore it to munch on the bread Gavin finally gives me.

Once again, it's late when Bellwyn takes me upstairs. She sets me on the desk, and I don't move, curling up to stare out at the stars, and she washes again. Tonight, she gives me a scratch at the base of my skull before sitting down and going through her papers, speaking in a whisper. "I suppose you really did wish for adventure, sleeping all day in that cave of yours. It's kind of hard to remember you weren't always like this. In fact, it's hard to believe you were ever like that." She happily carries the conversation on without me, and I'm content to listen to her thoughts. "Do you think we'd need to get anything special for you? Maybe we could commission a few extra cloaks. You really do look like you were a prince, Verdant. The red looks good on you. Maybe we should get a few extras to help protect you against the weather. I'll ask Alice where she got this from and ask if they would make a few extras." As she talks, she plays a little with the edge of the cloak, admiring it under the moonlight streaming in through the window. I watch as she does, as the fabric of the cloak shimmers a little in the light, and the tiny design on the edges gleam like metal as she moves it, and I can't help but remember that the last time I wore a cloak so red, it had been when I had first met Gwendolyn.

Gwendolyn. It's been a while since I've thought of her, even though so little has happened in that time. Perhaps it is a good thing that I flew off before we could even plan the wedding properly. Someday, I would have grown tired of her, and I would have no choice but to suffer alongside her until the day one of us died.

Bellwyn goes to sleep earlier, and I join her in the bed, this time, curling up next to her head on the pillow. She gives me an extra scratch before she drifts off, and I rest my head on my back, watching the sky.