The Ring of Dragons

Part 2: In Which the Princess Gets Drunk, and the General Meets the Reader

caroline.mimi.choline:

Part 2 of the princess story.

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The princess continued to walk. And walk. And walk. And walk some more. "How big are these damn east woods anyway?" the princess muttered. She managed to at least take care of her clothes better this time in order to look presentable and buy food. She didn't want another reader-experience ever again.

The princess was unsure how much longer she would have to walk until she had passed the border of her country and was in the next one already. The princess paused. Fuck. Which country was east of hers?

No. The princess's eyes widened. Not his.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT AGGHH," the princess cried in defeat. "I needed to use the west woods in order to be free." The princess groaned, walking in circles and tearing out her hair. "I can't turn around and go back. I would run right into the troops and the Black Dragon General. The princess collapsed on a log in defeat.

Only, she wasn't the only one on the log. The princess jumped up screaming. A lady in her late twenties had collapsed on the log. She wore a fancy red gown. Her brown hair was in limp curls, nearly blending in completely with the bark.

The princess's sit-uation caused the alcoholic to sit up. The alcoholic used her hands to pull herself into a sitting position. She ran a hand through her hair and started mumbling, "Does this fit your dress code now?" The alcoholic shook her head to clear it, and looked up to notice the startled princess.

"Well you look stressed," the alcoholic said in a deep voice. She coughed and repeated herself, only this time higher.

"No shit, Sherlock," the princess replied. The alcoholic rearranged herself on the log and pulled out a bottle of liquor. She took a couple of chugs before passing it to the princess.

The princess took it warily, sitting down beside the alcoholic. The princess raised the bottle to her lips and let a little drop fell on her tongue. The princess took a bigger sip, and then a full out swig. "Damn that stuff is good!" the princess cried. In a minute, she managed to empty the bottle.

"Aww," the princess sighed. "I want more." The alcoholic smirked and pulled out a bag full of liquor from behind the log. The princess's face lit up with joy. The princess stole the top bottle and started to drain it.

About ten hours later, the alcoholic lifted her pounding head. "Shit," she muttered. The alcoholic pulled herself up clumsily, taking sight of the ground littered with empty glass bottles and the princess still out on the log, and empty bottle slouching in the princess's hand.

"Great," the alcoholic complained. "Now I have to go to the nearest town for more liquor." But first, the alcoholic inspected the princess for any valuables she could sell. All the alcoholic managed to find was half a loaf of bread, a small velvet pouch of gold coins (which the alcoholic pocketed), and a thin gold choker, with a little disk like a dog tag hanging from it. But it was the engraving on the disk that made the alcoholic gasp. "This is the missing princess!"

The engraving was the royal family crest.

"I can't steal this from her! I need to turn her in to get the reward money for more liquor!" the alcoholic hit a lightbulb. "The army will be in town soon if they're searching for her! Maybe in a couple of hours they'll be here and I can direct them to the still passed out princess! I might even be knighted!" the alcoholic grabbed her bag and started to run.

Meanwhile, the princess slept on...

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