Chapter Four
Ever since that night, something fundamental had shifted in Marea. She couldn't place a finger on it at first, because she wasn't generally that introspective. She still did chores every day, though this time, she found herself thinking through each one, trying to figure out ways to make her life easier, more efficient. In other words, to get better at doing the basic tasks she was assigned to. It amazed her, really, to discover that even the most basic, essential tasks that all peasants could do, having been raised up in households where they were expected to contribute, it still needed finesse and forethought to do efficiently.
For example, with the dishes, it made more sense to start with the cleanest items first, like mugs and glasses, and work her way to the cutlery last, so she could preserve more water. With mopping, she needed to start in one corner and replace the water often, and work out how much water covered what.
It felt rewarding to be able to achieve these simple tasks, when she stepped back to admire her handiwork, the cleaner floors, the fresher smells.
Slowly, but surely, she became more confident in her own abilities. She no longer felt pampered and aloof, and spent far less of her time whining.
Sometimes, Kazak came to her in the night to spice things up, to make her heart, mind and soul keep feeling the things she never used to experience.
Kazak watched her blossoming confidence with a tiny smile upon his lips, though he still locked her in the tower to prevent her escape whenever he left the cave on business. Whatever kind of business dragons got up to.
Once, one of Kazak's friends visited with his princess in tow, a rather grumpy, dark haired woman called Ness, who did nothing but lament her fate to Marea as they sat together at the servant's table, a short distance from the main feasting table, where the dragons maintained their eminently practical human forms for the smaller portioned feast.
“I've been captive for eight months,” Ness said, her voice holding that familiar whine that Marea herself utilized in the first few weeks of her imprisonment. “Eight months, forced to work every day, and only three knights have come to try and save me. Three! I'm so ashamed. It obviously means I'm not worth anything to Questers.”
Marea pursed her lips, thinking about the lack of knights that had come for her. A thirty-year old princess, unmarried and devalued, with a family that were more exasperated with her then pleased. They had probably offered an insultingly low price for her, not enough to encourage Questers to risk their lives for fame and glory.
Ness herself looked quite pretty, but clearly hadn't adapted to her fate after eight months, nor bothered to try. She as much admitted she cried herself to sleep every night, and did everything she could to sabotage the home, even though she'd have to end up cleaning it anyway.
“My life is a tragedy,” Ness declared, pasting a hand over her head in a dramatic gesture. “I will die old and unloved and the slave of a dragon. I swear if I have to see another cockroach, I will just die.”
Marea found herself getting irritated by Ness for some reason, even though she saw herself in the princess's manner. “So, your dragon just makes you work and locks you up?”
“Yes, as is typical of those beasts. And he has all his horrible friends coming over, though sometimes that can be a good opportunity for the other captive princesses to talk. It can be the only times we get to go outside.” Her beautiful dark eyes welled up with artful tears, temporarily making Marea at a loss for words.
So, what Kazak did with her, that wasn't typical dragon behaviour? She knew not to push the matter, not without aggravating this delicate buttercup of a princess. She hesitated at her mental phrasing.
Delicate buttercup?
She also suspected Kazak gave her a little more attention than the other dragons. Well, aside from the obvious thing, he did greet her, say goodnight, and sometimes ask about how her cleaning went, and occasionally probe into her past, though he gave nothing of his. She didn't know what kind of past a dragon had, though surely they started with some kind of mother and father, maybe siblings, before they became their monstrous adult forms.
What did she actually know about Kazak? A green scaled dragon who invited his friends over and held feasts in human forms. What did that mean? A network of a sort, of neighboring dragons, going to their places or having them come here. They showed off their princesses, so a princess was a status symbol. Did dragons have kings? Queens?
Were there even any female dragons? Marea hadn't seen any turn up at the cavern.
Marea smiled and nodded, listening to Ness's woes, before breathing a sigh of relief when she packed off and left. Eventually, it was just her and Kazak alone.
“You looked like you weren't enjoying that at all, princess,” Kazak said, with a faint smile. He always had that infuriatingly calm expression on his face.
“Ugh. She was so annoying. I guess that's why you lock princesses up all the time.”
He let out a roar of laughter. “Good logic.” Then he hesitated, eyes narrowing. “I'm afraid you'll have to go back to your tower, princess. We have another visitor.”
Baffled, Marea did as bid, running anxious fingers through her blonde hair, going up the stairwell in her flat soled shoes and simple peasant gear. At the top, she heard him lock the door behind her. Curious, she headed to the window, and peered out into the mountainous terrain below, the Wilderness of Kazak's home. She saw, with a leap of her heart, a knight, standing in full shining armor, sword and shield at the ready. In fact, he was clanging his shield for attention, and when he caught Marea staring from the appropriately designed tower, he shouted to her, and his voice came faint.
“Princess Marea! I'm here to rescue you!”
Oh, okay then. My first Quester. Marea watched in fascination as Kazak came bellowing out of the enormous entrance of his cave, fully clad in his dragon form, before rearing up.
“Who dares challenge me!” Kazak said. His words had the ring of tradition. For some reason, Marea found it amusing to see this huge dragon, which could probably bite the Quester in two, standing on his hind legs, tail swishing, leathery wings furled behind him as he balanced on the hard stone.
The knight raised his sword. “It is I, lord Godric of Larusa kingdom! I come for princess Marea, fiend, who you've cruelly kept imprisoned. Prepare to die!”
Larusa kingdom? That was one of the center kingdoms. Bigger than her one, interestingly enough. If he won, he'd return her to her parents and ask for a boon, which could be anything from gold to asking her hand in marriage.
Suddenly, she realized she didn't want Godric to win. She wanted Kazak to escape from this unscathed.
Sun and Stars, I want the DRAGON to win?
“I accept your challenge!” Kazak swished his tail violently, and the knight clanged his shield in reply.
Even monsters follow tradition, like the kingdoms. Perhaps they're not so monstrous, after all.
The knight looked as if he had good gear. He'd likely Quested to some forest witch to get better items, gone into some mysterious cave for the sword, or rifled all the gear from a mysterious trader travelling on a rickety cart with a hood obscuring their features. The harder the Quest, the better the item.
Didn’t people fight dragons as well for a chance to reach their treasure hoard?
The knight struck first. He whirled the sword, and some kind of shockwave came from it, which Kazak buffeted aside with his tail, before crushing down on the knight with his front paws. The knight rolled out of the way, and held up his shield in time to deflect a blast of fire, which dissipated into the shield.
Basic anti-dragonfire shield. He's Quested well.
“Taste darkness!” Kazak roared, his wings spreading out to an impressive length, before around them, a black dome materialized, concealing the entire fight from Marea's view.
Wait. Dragons cast spells?
Belatedly, she realized the stupidity of her thought. If dragons could breathe fire and shift into humans, of course they knew how to cast spells. It made her wish she'd paid attention in magic class, since even if you weren't a natural mage, you could still learn some basic chants – though it'd be nothing compared to a trueborn.
She heard an awful lot of shrieking, yelling and clashes of sword against scales, before she saw the Quester suddenly fly out of the dome, hurtling away at an impossible speed, far across the mountains, no longer holding his magically enchanted sword.
“Curse you...!” she heard the Quester bellow, before he disappeared into the distance.
Marea hoped he'd at least possessed a Falling Feather or a null gravity enchant, to make his fall a slightly more pleasant event.
The black dome vanished, and Kazak stood there in dragon form, the sword between his teeth, looking rather smug with himself.
“Well done!” Marea said, clapping her hands, and Kazak glanced up with her, and even exaggerated a bow.
Marea immediately halted her reaction. She'd just cheered for a dragon. A sodding dragon.
He disappeared inside the cavern entrance, and was unlocking her door a moment later. “Phew!” He said. “We had a noble Quester this time. Some like to try trickery or to sneak into the tower. It's a full-time job protecting a princess, but certainly entertaining.”
Marea grinned, imitating his almost boyish enthusiasm, obviously fired up with adrenalin from his encounter. “Is that your first Quester?”
“Not my first,” Kazak replied. “I've helped other dragons before, when the Questers bring companions. You can get full bands of five, so it can be quite a challenge for a newly princessed dragon.” He flopped onto her bed, folding his arms behind his head. “But I've Quested on my own. It's basic for any good adventurer to have at least some enchanted weapons and items to succeed in this world. And I have a few witches as friends.”
“Do you kill Questers?” Marea asked, though she knew it was a foolish question. Dragons got slain. So did Questers.
“Sometimes. It depends on them and whatever conditions they state. And of course, upon the dragon. A perfect match is where both sides are shielded, and the first to break the shield wins. But you get dishonorable Questers and dragons, so that kind of event is exceedingly rare. Mostly, someone tends to die. Our little Quester here didn't state any conditions, and you might be a little averse to some blood, so... I sent him flying. Let's hope he was as well prepared as he looked for the fall, eh?”
Kazak was really talkative now, his face alight, the smile never leaving his face. Marea sat beside him, now stroking his hair, secretly delighted at the idea that he'd stopped himself from killing a Quester. For her.
He turned to face her, green eyes glowing. “Did you see me, though?”
“Well, up until the point when you conjured up the impenetrable cloud of darkness, yes,” Marea said, now settling into the bed next to him. “I'm sure it must have been impressive.”
“Probably.” On sudden impulse, Kazak turned and kissed her fully on the lips. Not a dainty, nice one, but a full one grab of her cheeks and a suck that made it feel like he was trying to draw all the air from her lungs, before he released her, laughing exuberantly. “We should feast tonight! I'll send invitations to some of the others over the mountains, and we can celebrate the event of your first Quester!”
Dragons are weird, Marea thought, slightly disorientated from his effort at sucking the soul out of her body. She couldn't help but smile along with him, though.