Dragon Heart

Chapter 7

"We've found you!" Cassandra shouted finally finding Prince Nicholas in a field surrounded by rotting trolls. "You've been missing for three whole days. I thought the dragon got the best of you."

Nicholas sat up slowly. "Three days? That means I've been lying in this filthy field of rotting trolls for two full days?"

"Well at least you were smart enough to spread that Troll blood all over your neck. The stench probably saved you from the goblins." Cassandra said wrinkling her nose.

"I need a bath!" Nicholas stated rubbing his head. At least two days rest meant that he was feeling stronger than in recent days.

"Where is the princess?" Cassandra asked helping Nicholas to his feet.

"She left me here." Nicholas said flatly.

"The poor dear must have been scared out of her mind." Cassandra said.

"She wasn't that scared." Nicholas said. "Or if she were scared it didn't stop her from trying to kill me."

"Why on earth would she do that?" Cassandra asked helping Nicholas to a stream.

"She loved the dragon." He said.

"What, the princess has Stockholm syndrome?" Cassandra gasped.

"Wouldn't it be my luck lately." Nicholas winked as Cassandra helped him out of his shirt so that he could bathe the troll stench off his skin.

"It's my fault." Cassandra said looking down at her feet.

Nicholas gently lifted her chin looking his love in her bright blue eyes. "I wouldn't change a thing." He said.

"Not even my mother?"

"Oh, I'd definitely change her." He winked.

"Since the Princess ran away does that mean you no longer have to marry her?" Cassandra asked.

Nicholas smiled before diving into the stream.

"The witch didn't get the best of us after all." He called floating in the stream thinking about how his life went so off track.

The truth was simple, he fell in love. And he would do it all over again. The sun beat on his skin as he enjoyed his float. The witch was jealous of Cassandra's beauty. She was jealous that Nicholas wanted Cassandra and she was jealous of the time that her daughter spent with him.

The witch tried to beguile the Prince. She tried to cast a love spell on him but it didn't work because he was already in true love with another woman.

The witch tried to get her daughter to break up with the Prince but she was in love as well. In the end, the witch cursed the prince. Death in two weeks. But all curses needed an out clause. A potion would save him. Of course, the potion required the crystalized heart of a slayed dragon who happened to be guarding a princess.

Nicholas thought Cassandra would be relieved to hear about his way to break the curse, but she only cried harder.

"Even if you live, my mother has found a way to keep us apart." Cassandra cried.

"What do you mean." Nicholas asked.

"If you slay a dragon guarding a princess, what happens to the princess?" Cassandra asked.

"Oh, monkey butts!" Nicholas said. "I don't want to marry the Northern Princess, I love you."

"You're just worried that she's fat and ugly." Cassandra hiccupped.

"Well of course she is." Nicholas said. "Anyone is, standing next to you."

"Flattery will get you, everywhere." Cassandra said. That day they agreed that they would survive her mother's curse together. If they were together they could get through anything. Even an unwanted marriage.  

Nicholas opened his eyes and put his hand over his forehead trying to shield the sun from his face. "The dragon's heart is in my knapsack. Once we make the potion, we're free to marry." He said. "Since the princess has Stockholm's and all."

Cassandra grabbed the knapsack from the ground near Nicholas's shirt and opened the bag.

"Babe," She said after fishing through the bag for a moment. "There is no heart in here."