The Prince and His Dragon

🐲 8🌹

   The guards put Rose in a dress before burning his suit. After that, they tied his hands behind his back. Then they escorted him up a mountain towards a dragon's lair.

   "Let me go! This is treason!" The prince shouted as he tugged against her two captors. The men gripped him tightly, which made him squeal in pain. They led him up a mountain to dispose of him.

   They reached a giant hole on the mountain and they stopped. The prince continued to thrash and fight, but it was no use. One of the men put a rag against his mouth like a gag.

   "There. Now she'll shut up," he chuckled. The other man slapped him in the back of the head. "Och, what was that for?"

   "The dragon will find 'er easier if she isn't gagged, you dolt!" The other man whispered. And with that, they pushed him into the hole. He fell through the air, while letting out a muffled scream. He watched with mortified eyes as her captors spat at her and left.

   Down, down, down he fell until he hit something not quite hard but not quite squishy. He made a noise when he landed. Then he took a moment to take in the fact that he wasn't dead. He struggled against his restraints while grunting, but he froze when he heard a low, animalistic noise.

   Rose rolled onto his stomach and gazed into the eyes of a dragon. He had landed on their snout. He gulped in fear. Sweat started trickling down his face. The dragon didn't look angry. In fact, they looked confused and a bit nervous.

   Then they slowly lowered their snout, which caused the prince to slide off onto the dirt ground. He closed his eyes, afraid of what was to come. He braced himself... But nothing happened. So the prince slowly sat up and looked around.

   That's when he saw a man on one knee with his head bowed in front of him. He let out a confused noise and tilted his head slightly.

   "Your Majesty," the man softly spoke. Rose hummed. "If it pleases you, may I remove your gag and restraints?" He asked as he looked up. And, oh. He was beautiful. The kind of man the prince dreamt of and did other stuff at the thought of... Scratch that last part.

   He nodded frantically, so the man gently undid the rags that bound and gagged him. As soon as he was free, he rubbed and rolled his sore wrists.

   "Who are you, and where did the dragon go?" He asked. The man looked away and rubbed his neck nervously. "Well?"

   "The dragon... went out," the man hesitantly responded.

   "Went out?" Rose repeated. "So, the dragon left without eating me? Is that what you're saying?"

   "Um, well... yes...?"

   "You don't sound too confident with your answer."

   "Wow, you don't mince your words, do you, princess?" The man asked. That earned him a glare from Rose. "My apologies, your Highness. You have the authority, not me," he said with a bow.

   "Don't call me princess," Rose said between gritted teeth. The man blinked in confusion.

   "But you are the princess. Princess Rose... aren't you?"

   "Yes, but no," Rose huffed as he crossed his arms.

   "So you're the princess, but your name is not Rose?"

   "No."

   "Then what-? Ooooooh."

    "Ooooh yeah," Rose said in a mocking tone. "Now you get it, right?"

   "H-Hey, there's no need to be mean."

   "Well, I'm sorry. I was just sentenced to death because I identify as a man. And I was supposed to be eaten by a dragon. A dragon who has better plans, it seems." 'Keep it together. You don't want to terrify the guy after you just met him,' the man thought to himself. 'Just a bit longer.'

   He listened intently to Rose angrily rant and pace. But he knew it wouldn't be long before the dragon came back.

   "It's not like I wanted a replacement mom!" Rose exclaimed before pointing at the man, who was now sweating bullets and shaking slightly. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I tend to talk a lot."

   "No, I-" the man started to say before he burped out smoke. "I'm fine..."

   "You don't look okay. Do you need some space?"

   "A lot."

   "No problem." Rose turned and walked to the farthest wall of the cave. "Take as much time as you need."

   "I apologize for what's about to happen."

   "What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked with a tilt of his head.

   "I can't hold it back any longer. I'm sorry."

   "What are you tal-?" Before Rose could finish his question, a giant cloud exploded, causing his dress and hair to blow. He looked down and held the dress down with his hands. 'Now I know how Marilyn Monroe felt,' he thought.

   When he looked up, he couldn't help but scream. The dragon was right in front of him, towering ten feet over him. The dragon was fifteen feet and six inches tall, while he was only five feet and eight inches tall. He quickly scrambled back, away from the giant creature. He clawed at the dirt walls. 'Come on, climb!' He told himself.

   He yelped when something wrapped around his midsection and lifted him off the ground. He looked down and saw that the dragon's scaly tail was wrapped around him. It pulled him towards the dragon.

   "Nonononono! I don't wanna die!" Rose cried out before placing his arms in front of him. The dragon huffed, which ruffled the prince's hair. He grumbled and let the prince down. Rose popped one eye open and peeked at the creature.

   "Y-You're not gonna kill me...?" He asked. The dragon shook his head. "I don't understand." The dragon rolled his eyes and crawled to a corner. Then he laid down. "Hey, wait," Rose called out as he went to walk towards him. He winced when he took a step, and he realized he'd bruised his ankle from the fall. 'Guess the adrenaline wore off enough,' he thought.

   He slowly sat with a grunt.

   "Can you at least tell me where that man went? Did you eat him?" The dragon didn't respond. He only curled up and closed his eyes. "Is it that late already?" The prince asked as he looked up at where he'd fallen in. It was getting dark. "Would you look at that," he hummed.