Page 5

CHAPTER 5

E scaping took meticulous planning, but each step came with the immense satisfaction of knowing that my father would never be able to marry me off. I would be liberated.

“I have a bad feeling about tonight,” I fretted to the water maid on duty the following evening, furrowing my brow and fidgeting with my sleeve seams. “I can’t sleep.”

“Concerned about the upcoming dragon hunt, Your Highness?” she asked sympathetically, pouring me a drink and handing the cup over in the almost pitch blackness of the corridor.

“Yes.” I ran my finger over the rim of the large water barrel, discreetly slipping in the powdered wyrmsleep as I did so that the maid wouldn’t see. This had to work—it used the rest of my secret stash and I had none left. I idly picked up the ladle and dipped it into the water, lifting it and watching the liquid pour back down, churning up the water inside. After the ladle was empty, I gave the water a slow stir. “I don’t know of any way dragons can be killed.” I handed her back the ladle. “Do you?”

“I don’t know of what methods they use, but I know that dragon hunters have succeeded in the past,” she assured me, smiling as she bent to begin filling all the water skins for the guards on duty. “You’ll be safe.”

“I hope so,” I said with a smile, watching as she continued to unknowingly fill the water skins with the drugged liquid. “Do you have a lot to do tonight?”

“Just delivering water to everyone on duty,” she answered, still diligently filling each vessel and loading it onto her cart. “Same as every night.”

“I shan’t keep you, then,” I told her pleasantly. “Thank you for talking to me. It’s good to know dragon hunters will keep our kingdom safe.”

“I hope you can rest tonight,” she called.

“I’m sure I shall,” I responded.

Once safely locked in my room for the night, I stepped onto the balcony and daubed a message on the wall with letters two feet tall each.

I stood back to admire my disguised handwriting, glad my room had the highest balcony in the castle. Crimson paint dripped down the stone from the haunting words, large enough that one might assume the dragon had written them himself with the tip of one of his talons. Was the dragon even a he ? Perhaps it was a she . Ah, well. The message was clear enough. I scrubbed the brush I’d used to paint it to remove all evidence but left a healthy amount of paint splatters on the balcony. A dragon wouldn’t be concerned about being tidy.

There was no shortage of stories of dragons who could easily read and write; they certainly were shrewd and clever enough. I attempted to gouge marks into the stone to show talon marks, but found that the force required would have created a racket that would bring every servant running in alarm, and I doubted I was strong enough for such a task anyway. If I couldn’t show talon marks, scorch marks would have to suffice. I pulled a burned stick from the cold fireplace in my room and set about letting the blackened end leave traces of ash on the balcony door and furniture outside. To complete the effect, I knocked the stick against the ground so ash crumbled and smeared underfoot, leaving black streaks of soot, then scattered my small collection of dragon scales on the balcony. Thank goodness I’d had a fascination with dragon scales in my youth and collected them at every opportunity. My former nursemaid had teased that I was truly a dragon king’s daughter, complete with my own miniature hoard. After some thought, I ground some of the fireplace’s white ash into a fine powder and tucked it into a drawstring bag that I strapped to my waist.

I tore one of my nightgowns and left the shreds of pieces strewn about, imagining as I did so the staff’s reactions when they found it the following morning. Beatrix would be devastated, but Father might very well be glad I was gone. I studied the scene, using the moon’s glow to appraise my handiwork.

It still wasn’t enough.

As quietly as possible, I tipped over the chairs on my balcony, arranging them so it looked like there had been a struggle. I left the balcony doors open, gently swaying in the breeze. Did it look as though I’d been dragged away? If I was truly being stolen away by a dragon, what would I have done?

Would they hear if I shattered some of the glass panes? Had the wyrmsleep kicked in yet? Cautiously, I tiptoed across my room and pressed my ear against the door leading to the corridor beyond, listening hard. After several long moments, a tremendous snore thundered and my heart gave a jolt.

Giddy with excitement, I went back to my balcony door, wrapped my torn nightdress around the windowpane’s interior and exterior closest to the door handle, and hit it with one of my shoes. The muffled shattering sent a cascade of glass fragments tinkling to the ground, and I shook my nightdress over the balcony to scatter the rest.

There. I was finished.

Satisfied with the chaos, I took a lantern and the small pouch of white, powdered ash, then left everything else as it was. It was with a small amount of regret that I left all my possessions behind and tiptoed past the dozing guards. Wyrmsleep only lasted a few hours at best, and it would be severely diluted, so my time was very limited.

To add to my anxiety, not all the guards had drunk from the water the maid gave them, and there were a few muttered curses about lazy guards as they worked on rousing the men who had been drugged. Each time I saw a denseness to the shadows ahead, I shrank against the wall, silently moving along the hallways until I came to the entrance to the secret escape tunnel one of my ancestors had built in behind the throne room.

Each of my nerves felt electrified as I silently lifted the trapdoor and slipped inside, replacing it above me without so much as breathing. Once inside and crouched on the platform, I lit my lantern and held the handle in my teeth, looking nervously over the edge at the ladder that extended beyond the lantern’s dim light. It had been many years since Father told me about the tunnel, and I’d never used it before. I fastened the small pouch of powdered ash to my belt, and each time I descended another ladder rung, I gently sprinkled a dusting onto the rung to replace the dust my hands and feet had displaced. It was a slow, laborious task that had my arms trembling by the time I finally reached the bottom.

The tunnel gaped ahead of me, the damp earth’s scent ripe in my nostrils as I carefully treaded along the compacted dirt passageway, grateful for the scurrying rats that disturbed the dirt enough to prevent the dust from settling. Even so, I let my cloak trail behind me to cover the footsteps that I made.

It seemed that I walked for an age, wending my way under the castle and the courtyards before the tunnel finally spit me out in the ancient ruins beyond the village. Dust and rubble had settled over the trapdoor, so it took several minutes of pushing before I was able to shove it open and clamber out, taking care to replace the trapdoor and heap many more stones over the top once I was done.

I sighed in relief and looked around as stars twinkled down at me. I had done it!

Now, I would have to make it farther than anyone would ever expect a princess to get on foot. If my fake kidnapping display wasn’t believed, I had to be out of range of where they would search. At least I didn’t have anything to carry. I might regret my decision not to stop for any supplies once the adrenaline faded and hunger and thirst set in, but I was also certain that I would regret stopping for supplies if I was recognized and reported. Better to go without than have my plot discovered.

For hours, I walked.

Even when my feet ached and my legs grew sore, I persisted in taking step after step, heading for the craggy mountain where the dragon was rumored to live and where I had seen it fly to so many times. In my mind, I rehearsed everything I would say once I met the dragon, from the benefits to teaming up to the ways in which I could be of use to the dragon, and how I had knowledge of the dangers that awaited it. What was the proper etiquette when greeting a dragon and pitching a proposition as diabolical as the one I had in mind? All I knew of dragons had been gleaned from the tales passed down from generation to generation.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, shifting from the inky black to a deep velvety blue, when a loud thrumming came from the trees ahead that lined the base of the mountain. I froze, listening hard. Something much larger than any bear was moving beyond what I could see, and chills exploded all up and down my body. I had expected to walk for days to reach the dragon’s cave, not stumble across it so soon.

The noise was like a cat’s purring but amplified a thousand times by powerful lungs and combined with a rumble of thunder so that the final sound made every part of my body tremble. Vibrations rippled through my chest as if the thrumming had palpable weight that pressed on me and made it difficult to breathe.

My feet refused to take another step as the shadows ahead of me shifted, forming a shape twice as large as I had imagined—and I had imagined a very large dragon indeed.

While I had seen the beast flying in the distance on a number of occasions, its sheer size directly in front of me paralyzed me, rooting me to the spot and stealing my voice.

The thrumming grew louder, and as the sky lightened to an azure color streaked with pink, a spiked, ferocious-looking dragon head snaked its way through the trees to stare at me. All the bravery I’d envisioned myself having—of confidently proposing an alliance and forging my own future—vanished now that I was face to face with the beast. What insanity had possessed me to go looking for a dragon? I was even more foolhardy than the knights who volunteered to challenge it clad in armor and carrying weapons. My heart raced and my palms turned to ice.

“A visitor,” the dragon rumbled, and a truly terrifying noise escaped its mouth, like the sawing from a hundred lumberjacks. “How amusing.”

The dragon blew a puff of smoke at me that smelled strongly of sulfur and brimstone. I coughed, eyes streaming as I fought to keep my gaze fixed on the creature. I’d never truly recognized how small and fragile humans were in comparison to dragons. It could end me with one bite or a single swipe of its ferocious claws.

I nearly leapt out of my skin as something went slithering through the trees to my left—a massive, spiked tail. The dragon’s entire body soon emerged, lumbering into view, and I was struck with awe so all-consuming that I was rendered speechless.

“Do you speak, human?” The dragon’s grating voice vibrated my chest once more.

My bold, rehearsed lines shriveled and evaporated. The only sound I managed to force out was a small squeak. Could I run and survive?

But the mental image of living my life in a cage, bound to a man I didn’t love, hardened my resolve. A steely fortitude lifted my chin and gave me voice, despite being more terrified than I’d ever been at any other point in my life.

“I come—” My voice trembled and I cleared my throat before trying again, forcing an air of confidence that I didn’t feel. “I come with a proposition, Master Dragon.”

Grey spirals of smoke furled from the dragon’s nostrils, and a hissing noise made goosebumps erupt all up and down my arms as scalding saliva dripped down from the creature’s fanged jaw and puddled at its clawed feet.

Ought I have said Mistress Dragon? What was the correct way to address the beast? If I said Mistress and it was male, would it be more offended than if I called a female a Master ?

The dragon cocked its head at me, considering my words. A deep voice rumbled up from the depths of its chest. “Usually, I would not bother with the plea of a human, but I’m feeling indulgent today. Amuse me.”

I set my jaw. “You seek treasure, and I can help you increase your riches.”

The dragon tapped one of its talons in an angry beat against a flat stone on the forest floor as its tail thrashed back and forth. “What makes you think I care only for treasure?” The dragon’s black pupils were narrow like a cat’s, but its eyeballs were a yellow color that shifted in hue the longer I looked at him.

My mouth went dry. I had assumed that all dragons coveted gold, but what if that wasn’t what the dragon desired most? Father complained that the dragon stole sheep and oxen, not gold and jewels. I must have heard stories…were they true? Should I have offered to help it gain a more stable food supply?

“I…I…” This conversation was nothing like what I’d imagined. “What do you want instead of treasure?”

The dragon’s forked tongue flicked through its teeth and more smoke furled from its nostrils. “I never said I didn’t care about it. I was simply curious why you are making assumptions about me.”

I took a deep, steadying breath. “I wish to form an alliance with you.”

The dragon opened its maw, and the sawing noise once again grated at my ears. It was laughing at me. “What could a human girl do?”

I curled and flexed my toes within my flat, slipper-like shoes, still determined to give no outward sign of fear. “I’m no mere girl. I’m Rapunzel, the Crown Princess of Rookwyn. Perhaps I’m not the only one here making assumptions.”

The dragon’s crafty black eyes gleamed with greed. “And what is your proposal? If your intention is to lure me into security then slaughter me in my sleep, I can assure you that you will be sorely disappointed. Dragons are difficult to kill.”

Its tail whipped from side to side again, uprooting several bushes. I refused to allow my gaze to stray from the dragon’s face and went on, “My father promised my hand in marriage to anyone who can slay you, and I came to warn you.”

“Is that all?”

“No.” I swallowed back the fear clogging my throat as I stared back. “I want to swindle other royalty out of their wealth.”

“Why?”

“To…” I kept getting distracted by the smoke gently furling from between his fangs, wondering how long it would take him to eject flame. How much warning would I have? Would I be able to dodge in time? “To give it back to my kingdom’s subjects who are struggling, since neither my father nor any of the other royalty will assist them. I plan for this to be a punishment for their abuse of power.”

“And you wish to use me to help you enact your revenge?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it using you, but…essentially yes. In return, I’m offering a pact. If you and I help each other, you could amass riches beyond your wildest imagination.”

The dragon’s wings opened and beat a few times, sending a wave of leaves and small sticks flying through the air in a flurry of dust. My dress blew back, and I shielded my eyes but held my ground. It was difficult to determine the dragon’s feelings by its facial expression, so different from a human’s, but the silence stretching after my statement was filled with intrigue.

“You would give your portion of your riches back to your people?”

“That’s right.” I quickly added, “Only my portion. None of yours. You can keep all of yours.”

“What sort of partnership do you propose? How exactly would this work?”

“Imagine a dragon who holds a princess hostage. I am sure there would be no end of wealthy princes and noblemen willing to rush to her aid if it meant that they would be rewarded with becoming the king of Rookwyn. What a shame it would be if said dragon captured them and claimed ransom for each one. They say a prince is worth his weight in gold.”

“Why should I trust you?”

Why should he trust me? I was the one putting my life on the line by approaching a dragon. My silence must have stretched too long, because the dragon clarified, “What do you have to gain by this proposal? Surely, you’re not lacking for wealth as crown princess, which begs the question—what do you seek by abandoning your crown to become an outlaw?”

I lifted my chin defiantly. “I don’t think my position as a princess would allow me to help my subjects the way I could teamed up with you. My father refuses to intervene, and the people are struggling.”

The dragon shifted its wings, eyes gleaming with a new interest. “Fascinating. And you believe you can accomplish this by robbing your fellow royalty blind?”

I nodded decisively. “I’d rather be seen as a threat than a means to an end.”

The dragon tilted its head to the side. “I would be willing to consider a trial period teamed up with a rogue princess. If it doesn’t work out, I could always eat you instead.”

“If you eat me, you will be missing the best opportunity to find treasure you’ve ever had,” I retorted.

The dragon snorted, and a shower of sparks rained down, singeing tiny holes in my dress. “You’re entertaining as far as humans go. Very well, I claim you as part of my hoard.”