Stunning Tales

Recycling the Dragon

Winner of the _Once_Upon June Dragon Princess contest!

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"That. Is. Hilarious." The dragon, or what was left of her, sat curled up on the floor looking quite amused.

Admittedly, Amelia felt ambivalent about Heretia's reaction. On the one hand it was overly frustrating for the closest thing she had to a confidant to not only have no sympathy for her but to take a sort of pleasure from Amelia's situation. On the other hand, if anyone was allowed to feel that way, it was most definitely the dragon she had murdered.

Amelia usually prided herself on her level headed-ness. But apparently everyone is capable of doing foolish things when their loved ones are in danger. Foolish things like killing pet dragons of beautiful princesses.

"It's also what you get for believing your wishy-washy nuisance of a brother & his ability to trust whatever banal story your parents tell him. I don't know why your parents thought kidnapping another kingdom's princess was a good idea. The political headache alone..."

Amelia's twin brother Amarte is in a word: characterless. Your typical go with the flow, 'whatever you want to do is fine' prince. And for some reason, Amelia's parents were dead set on having him marry Princess Deana. Princess Deana, having sense, was nowhere near interested. A few paid off magical mercenaries later, Princess Deana is trapped in a tower with a cursed dragon guarding her and waiting for Prince Amarte to "save" her. Of course, Amarte told Amelia of Deana's predicament, and of course Amelia quickly set out to rescue her dearest friend... and she was left with a dragon haunting her for her troubles.

The upside to Heretia being dead was she was no longer cursed. The downside was, of course, that she was dead.

"I don't know why you're so worried." Heretia watched the princess pace back and forth with what was now boredom, "She thought it was your brother. Just lie low, wait until she kills him, then explain yourself so you two can get married or whatever your endgame was here."

"Okay, first of all, I'm not going to sit back and let Deana murder my brother for something I did. Second of all, you're still here so.."

"Irrelevant. Dead is dead my dear. And if you're not willing to let Deana blow off some steam by murdering your brother in cold blood, you're gonna have to make me not dead and do it quick. You know how efficient Deana is."

***

Deana was studious and precise. She kept a tight work, sleep, and meditation schedule. Which is impressive and admirable, but also a hotbed for her great rage. When a creature of habit is forced out of said habit, negative feelings are sure to blossom. So being forcibly taken and thrown in a tower without a single library or hot spring... it would take very little to incite her wrath and Amarte had gone above and beyond very little.

Heretia had been her only solace while stuck in the damnable place. She was clever and kind and had helped her apply for a library card at the Great Mountain Library. The library was a treasure of a place that delivered so her studies had not fallen short during her captivity.

But now Heretia was gone and revenge was in order. She'd never liked Amarte. Few people who weren't storytellers, performers, or pun enthusiasts did. He was a patient and attentive audience.

After he was good and dead and no longer a nuisance she'd work on bringing Heretia back to life. A dragon's life is complicated and, when necessary,  recyclable. That's what Heretia always said, so Deana would recycle.

***

The Great Mountain Library had a very uninventive name but an accurate one. It was the largest library in the world, made by carving the inside of a mountain hollow and filling it to the brim with books, scrolls, tomes, musical stones, gardening equipment, comfortable furniture, meeting rooms, free community charm courses, a couple tasteful restaurants, and other library related necessities.