Stories That Don't Take Long to Read

The Red Dragon (Fantasy, Fiction)

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived two brothers. Each brother was King to his own town and land on opposite sides of a large mountain. To the North of the mountain, lived the older brother, who had a loving Queen and a daughter. To the South of the mountain lived the younger brother who also had a loving Queen, but he had a son and a younger daughter.

Though the two brothers spent as much time together and were very close, they were also very competitive with each other; each wanted to be better than the other. When a Prince of a Kingdom far to the East sent word that he wished to meet with their daughters, for possible marriage, both Kings jumped at the chance.

It was decided that the Eastern Prince would stay in the Northern Kingdom with the royal family, since it was closer, and the Southern royal family would also stay with the Northern royal family. Upon the Southern families arrival days before the Eastern Prince was to arrive, the two Princesses were together as much as possible. Though, that was very little since each father wanted to ensure that his girl would be the one to wed the Eastern Prince.

The two Princesses were like sisters and both had a shared secret. Whenever together, they would usually sneak out at night and escape their towns to travel to the top of the mountain that divided their Kingdoms. At the top of the mountain resided a fearsome, red dragon, who would surely end both Kingdoms if they did not offer up their best livestock to him each month.

The two Princesses stole away from the Northern Kingdom the night before the Eastern Prince was to arrive, to meet the red dragon. They had done this many times before and the red dragon was friendly to them and never attempted to eat them like villagers said he would if anyone were to see him. Upon arriving at the top of the mountain, they were met and greeted by the red dragon and his hoard of stolen treasures. They told him of the Eastern Prince and their father's turning the Prince meeting them into a competition between the girls. Neither Princess wanted to marry the Prince, especially after hearing how the red dragon, with his ancient magic, knew that the Prince was a cruel and evil man. They wished to stay with the dragon and hide away until the Prince from the East left, but the dragon sent them on their way home and back to bed.

The next morning, they were dressed in their finest silk gowns and jewels to meet the Prince. He was shown around the Northern castle by the King and Queen as servants put his things into his room. Once the tour was done, each Princess had to spend some time alone with him to get to know him and, as expected by their father's, woo him. He spent lunch with them and afterwards, the two Princesses met up in a secluded corner of the castle's library as the Prince went into the town to explore it and get to know its citizens.

The girls quietly talked of how the Prince truly was mean and cruel. He had insulted them for being Princesses to Kingdoms that were wealthy by farming, saying that he could make into real Princesses, should he take one of them for a wife. Each Princess agreed to go to their mother and tell of the Prince's vile words and say that they wished to not marry him, but their pleas fell on deaf ears as the mother's assured that he was merely tired from his journey and would surely be nicer after a few days of proper rest.

Each girl was forced to spend more time with the Prince after dinner, the older Princess of the North having to go first. The Prince was still mean and said he liked the seeing the two girls be unwillingly pit against each other. He said that he liked her better than the younger Princess of the South, even though he should choose the younger girl to be his wife. Worried, the older Princess left him when her time was up and it was time for the younger girl to walk with him through the castles large garden.

The next morning was rainy and full of mourning as the Eastern Prince tells a tale of how after the younger Princess left him for the night, he'd noticed her sneaking away from the castle. Worried for her safety and curious of where she was going, he followed her all the way to the top of the mountain, where she begged the dragon to make it so that the Prince would not choose to marry her. The dragon obliged by devouring her before the Prince could save her. The Southern Queen blamed herself for not listening to her daughter, thinking that she was the cause of her daughters death, while the King blamed himself for being so competitive about it. A funeral was held and the East Prince stayed to join a group of soldiers to march upon the mountain and confront the dragon the next day.

The Northern Princess, though grieving, sneaked out that night and went to the mountain. She didn't want to believe the evil Eastern Prince. After telling the red dragon what he'd said she realizes that his tale was a lie. The dragon was furious at the Prince for blaming him for something he had no reason to do, and agreed to help the Northern Princess prove him guilty, for a price. He promised to prove the Prince guilty and give the Northern Princess the freedom she'd always longed for, if she promised him her hand in marriage. She doesn't understand why the dragon would ask for such a thing, but knows that she cannot reveal the truth without the dragon's help. So she agreed to his deal and took and ancient oath to bind her to her promise, and him to his.

He bid her farewell after telling her to return to him the next night. She left and the next day, the Prince and the soldiers march for the mountain, returning hours later with the Prince in chains and the Southern Princess' body. She had been spotted washed up on the shore of the lake they must pass by to get to the mountain, and the soldiers knew then and there that the Eastern Prince had lied.

The Prince was marched back to his Kingdom that same day by soldiers from both Kingdoms and the truth told by each King in letters to the Prince's father. The Southern King and Queen held another funeral and left shortly after, taking their daughters body with them to properly lay her to rest.

The Northern Princess grieved for her passed cousin and that she now had to keep her promise to the dragon, not knowing what would happen to her. She wrote a letter to her parents, saying that she was sorry to go, but she made a promise and was bound to it. She told of her and her passed cousins secret friendship with the dragon, and that the Eastern Prince would not be proven guilty had she not bargained with the dragon. She tells that she wishes her father and uncle had not fought and been so competitive, and that her mother had listened to her. Perhaps she would not have to go and her cousin would still be living. She left the letter where anyone could easily spot it and hoped to not be found as she escaped the castle one last time and heads to the mountain.

Her mother is the one to find the letter hours later and immediately runs to her husband, who rides out with his soldiers to the mountain in the hopes that his daughter is not yet there and still alive. They arrive at the mountaintop to find no dragon or Princess. Not even his hoard of stolen treasures is there, save for a few gold coins scattered about, and the bones of past livestock the dragon had feasted upon.

No one knows what happened to Northern Princess. It said that the Southern Kingdom was ruled by the King and Queens son, but neither them or the Northern King and Queen bore anymore children. It is said that the Kings were no longer competitive, later joining their Kingdoms together and prospering well into the centuries to come.