Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede Page A

Princess burst into tears. The dragon pulled back, eyeing her uncomfortably. “Did I say something wrong?”
    The Princess just cried harder. “Alas! Ah, woe is me! So recently was I happy, awaiting the coming of my 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?”
    â€œYes, 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?”
    â€œAlas! 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.
    â€œIf 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.”
    â€œAh, help!” said the Princess.
    â€œI really don’t think you should eat her,” I said. “After all, you did say you wouldn’t.”
    â€œThat’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?”
    â€œWe 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.”
    â€œA 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?”
    â€œAll really good princesses have knights,” Shiara said firmly. “And you wouldn’t want a second-rate princess, would you?”
    â€œAll of them?” the dragon asked plaintively.
    â€œWell, not all of them,” I said. “Some of them have princes instead.”
    â€œPrinces 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.”
    â€œMy 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!”
    â€œI 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.
    â€œOn guard, monster!” the knight said as he picked himself up. “Prepare to die!” He pulled