Ticklish&InLove
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In the dungeon below, the dragon woke up to find himself still in human form. Surprised at first, he soon discovered the reason why when he realized he was bound by iron on his wrists and ankles. The cuffs were impenetrable to fae, and as dragons were a close relative, they were completely binding to him. Growling, he stood up and looked longingly at the barred window, wistfully thinking of how easily he could tear the whole place down were he in his normal state.
“I wouldn’t think of it, if I were you.”, a sharp voice spoke from the darkness.
Whirling around, the dragon turned to see Clíona of Carrigcleena step out of the shadows.
“You! I should have known you would be the one to come up with the idea of putting a woman in man’s armor just to defeat me!”, he roared as he hurled himself at the bars to his cell.
“That’s all very true…”, the fairy queen mused as she ran her long nails across the bars, demonstrating how little she feared him, “But it wasn’t my idea to show you mercy, so you should be grateful for that.”
Enraged, the dragon tried to touch her with his cuffed hands, searing her fingertips as she dodged away.
The queen turned livid eyes onto the beast in human form, “Were it anyone else other than Princess Clíona, I would never do what I am about to do for you!”, and reaching into the cell, grasped his throat, lifting him off the ground, her nails digging into his skin so that he screamed. She tossed him hard against the wall, “There. I did it. You should be without pain now. I didn’t promise her I wouldn’t make the process painless though.”, and in a whoosh, she was gone.
The dragon reached up to his throat, realizing the pain was indeed gone. Though, when he tried to breathe out fire, he couldn’t.
In that moment a key unlocked the huge doors at the end of the hall and the princess walked in, with knights at either side of her and a page following swiftly behind.
She walked up to the bars of his cell fearlessly, her eyes dancing with amusement, “Feel better?”
Speechless, the dragon could only shake his head, “Yes.”
“Good.”, she smiled and gestured to her page who carried a tray of food, his body shaking so much he almost spilled the contents.
The princess, took the tray from him and ordered the guards to open the door to the cell.
“My lady, I don’t think that is very wise…” one of the knights began.
“Open it.”, she replied with authority, cutting him off. The door was opened and she brought the tray in, “You will be taken care of here. We do not treat our prisoners inhumanly. Even if they are not human.”
“Why didn’t you kill me?”, he growled as he dug into the meat, every inch of him the predator.
“Because that wouldn’t be good for relations between your king’s kingdom and mine, now would it?”, she answered, smiling, as she poured him some ale, “Today is Sunday. So you must have some ale.”
The dragon sneered, “I would prefer a pair of pants.”
Laughing, the princess remarked, “I thought dragons didn’t care about such things.”
“Well, we aren’t usually in our human forms this long, your highness.”, he leaned in towards her and smirked.
Standing up she nodded, unaffected, “Very well. I will see that you are properly cleaned and given some clothes to wear.”
“With all due respect, your majesty, shouldn’t we wait until we hear from the Golden Knight before doing anything with the prisoner?”, one of the knights interjected.
“No. The Golden Knight does my bidding, not the other way around.”, she replied curtly, then turning to look over her shoulder sent the dragon a quick wink while her page boy stifled a chuckle too faint for the knights to hear. But dragons have good ears, and the dragon found himself winking back, while marveling at the splendid creature who had caught him. He’d like her for himself, he admitted. But he was not a royal. Yet, she valued the existence of dragons, and that made him wonder if she might be the perfect match for his king…
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A year had come and gone, and the whole land was in thrall with tales of The Golden Knight who stopped dragons from wreaking havoc across the land, but who somehow captured them in their human forms, dragging them back to the castle.
The princess’ dungeon was literally full of them, having long past the goal set for the princess by the Fairy Queen. And yet there was not one among them who, despite their resentment, didn’t find some degree of amusement and charm in the princess. None of them dared tell the truth of who the Golden Knight was, for fear it would give rise to other mortals knowing what she knew.
As the castle’s staff was too scared to bring them their meals, the princess would carry them herself into their cells, generously pouring them meade and ale while taking her time to speak with them. She found an ironic sense of camaraderie with the prisoners who knew her secret. And they found it hilarious to have been captured by a princess when dragons were legendary for capturing princesses.
Yet, while the kingdom had eased up on pressuring her to marry thanks to the protection of the now legendary Golden Knight, the court renewed its insistence that she find a king. The nobles packed the halls of the castle, each trying to flirt with the princess in all the ways that she abhorred. The knights, her brothers in every way, would help her sneak out the back to join their hunts much to consternation of her advisors. So one day, the court’s advisors took pains to preoccupy the knights while hosting a grand gala wherein princes and single kings from surrounding lands came to the court, each trying to impress her with ridiculous tales of battles with dragons in their own lands. Finally, exasperated, the princess placed a sleeping drought into the wine and once the suitors, advisors and members of the court were fast asleep, snuck out of the great hall to don her armor, then quietly made it down to the dungeons where she planned to escape through a secret door. Her page would have her horse saddled and waiting on the other side. But to make it, she would have to walk down the hallway between the prison cells. She had prepared for this, seeing that the sleeping draught had been placed into the dragons’ food.
As she neared the hallway her helmet and sword under her arm, her shield in the other, she saw the dragons fast asleep. Knowing if awakened, they could still roar loud enough to waken the household, even in their human form, she prayed they would stay asleep.
But dragons are impervious to all kinds of poisons and draughts, you see. But their sense of smell is keen, and having recognized the scent, they had agreed to pretend to sleep until they learned what mischief was afoot.
Princess Clíona felt a hand reach between the bars and grab her ankle in a grip of steel. Surprised, she tripped, but another pair of hands reached through the bars and caught her just before she fell, yet held her against the prison bars.
Smirking the dragons were all at the bars, staring at the princess, their eyes lit with mischief.
“Well, what have we here, brothers?”, the one nearest her ear whispered teasingly, “Do we actually behold the great Golden Knight sneaking out of her own castle out of cowardice?”
Princess Clíona shook them off and they let her, chuckling.
“Come now, princess, you have already caught us. So why not tell us what makes you quake in fear when we already know that giant fangs and fiery breath doesn’t do it for you.”, one leaned against the bars, offering her a teasing grin.
“Why are you running? And from what are you running from that you would drug the castle?”, another smirked.
Frustrated, the princess glowered at them, blowing her hair out of her face, “Marriage.”
The answer caught them all by such surprise that they just stared at her dumbfounded for a whole moment before bursting into gales of laughter.
“Glad you find my source of terror such a source of jocularity for you.”, she scoffed before beginning to walk quickly down the hallway.
“Now wait just a second there, my beauty,”, one of the dragons sung out teasingly after her, “Any one of us could wake the entire castle up before you even make it to the door. So I think that earns us a few more minutes of your company.”
Stopping in her tracks, she heaved a breath and turned around, her hand on her hip, “What do you want?”
“It’s really not about what we want. It’s about what you want, my princess.”, his sharp eyes darted around her body, then back up to her eyes, “You want a king who you wouldn’t have to hide this part of your life from, don’t you? You want a king who would more than let you hunt by his side, but rather would want you to do so based on your own desire, rather than his allowing anything. Someone who would appreciate the fiery spirit that simmers in your heart enough to make you spare dragons.”, he finished with a smirk.
Gasping at hearing the thoughts in her heart spoken aloud, the princess took a quick intake of breath, stunned, then blushed crimson at the thought.
All eyes staring at her from the cells seemed to light up with mirth and the dragon who’d addressed her began to chuckle, “Ah, so now I see what can disarm the Golden Knight. If I’d only known before being captured, I would have found a way to make it to my advantage. But seeing as I’m in your prison, the best way to turn things to my advantage would be to have someone who doesn’t hate dragons capture your heart.”
“Good luck with that.”, the princess laughed and then bowing to the dragons added, “Gentlemen, gentle dragons, sirs, I now take my leave of you.”
As she left, closing the door behind her, her page boy entered, having been relieved of the horse. Once inside, he began collecting the dirty dishes the dragons handed him between the cell bars. His body shook with fear, but much less so than when he first began.
The dragons regarded him with gentle eyes, not wanting to frighten him. But the page, normally silent, spoke up, “She would be a great king if the laws of our age were different. Were she fae, no one would bother her with talk of marriage. As it is, only men such as you would suit a woman like her, and like the queen she will become.”
“And from what source of grand experience do you draw this wisdom, page?”, one of the dragons replied sardonically.
“From thousands of years that might well match your own, Leannán Dóiteáin.”, the page replied, smiling as the dragon’s eyes grew upon hearing his name, never shared with mortals. Then picking up the last of the plates, the boy set them to the side, waving an arm, instantly making the plates clean and neatly stacked. Then rising, the boy’s form grew taller, muscles firming and lengthening until Clíona of Carrigcleena stood in front of them, a smile of amusement crossing her face. She turned to the dragon who’d asked the question, her arm reaching easily through the bars as if they weren’t there, caressing his cheek, “Leannán Dóiteáin, your name would be any easy guess for a dragon, Fire Lover.”
Embarrassed, he bowed, “Forgive me your majesty, I didn’t know…”
She patted his check twice before pulling her hand back, “Of course not. But that was always part of the plan.”, she cleaned her hand off with her skirt and continued walking down the hallway.
“Plan for what, my queen?”, another asked.
“Why to get the princess a king who is worthy, of course!”, the queen answered as if it were the simplest, most obvious thing in the world.
“You would have us imprisoned for over a year just to get her a mate?”, one cried incredulously at her through the bars.
She looked over at him, her gaze calm and at ease, “Why I’d imprison a thousand of you if that is what it took.”
The oldest chuckled from where he sat, lazily on the floor. He was the first to have been caught and smiled up at her, “She would make a good bride for a dragon.”
The queen smiled back at him, “Indeed. But I am content to let her carry on capturing as many of your kind as it takes for your king to notice, Tine Dearg.”
The dragon on the ground looked up at his name, a look of concern played about his face, “But he’ll kill her.”
The queen was facing a metal shield hanging on a nearby wall, touching up her hair, “Oh, he’ll try of course. Then, he’ll fail. Then, he’ll settle for capturing her once he sees she’s a female. Then, he’ll be charmed and she will by him.”
One of the younger dragons protested, “But how? She has a heart of stone when it comes to men. The only ones she responds to are our kind, and then for the most part she easily ignores our teasing.”
The queen laughed, “No, she doesn’t ignore any of you easily. She just knows how to keep it hidden. She’s very proficient that way. One just has to discover her weaknesses to get under the skin.”, she winked at them.
“I don’t suppose you’d care to share?”, Tine Dearg joked.
She surprised him by turning around and grinning wickedly, “Oh, but I do. I plan to share it with all of you. For she needs to begin thinking that the company of dragons is not so bad before being captured by your king.”
The dragons now were all pressed to the bars of their cells, echoing her mischievous smile with their own.
“If I tell you these things, you will promise to use them to charm her, but never to harm her?”, the queen cautioned, “Otherwise, I will see to it you all spend the rest of your days as lizards fleeing for your lives from the earth’s predators.”
Nodding the dragons smiled, but it was Tine Dearg who continued to look worried, “I’ve grown quite fond of this mortal. She’s shown mercy when few others would have. She’s taught me mercy. The day she caught me, I tried to devour her and she still let me live. She only imprisoned me after I showed her disrespect when I should have known better. In every way, she saved me from being kicked out of our king’s court.”
Clíona of Carrigcleena smiled warmly at him, “I will suggest to her that she remove you from the prison and make you an ambassador to her court. You will become her best friend and confident. And when the time is right, you will allow her to be captured so that her heart might be.”
Tine Dearg shook his head, “I would not betray her. Leave me in my cell if that is what you require.”
Sighing, the queen tilted her head, “Fine. Don’t betray her. But play the matchmaking brother.”
Tine Dearg looked up and smirked, “That I’d be only too happy to do.”
“It is settled then.”, the queen nodded to the dragons who all nodded in turn. “I shall share her weakness then, for the sake of her heart…”
While their whispers couldn’t be heard by the human ear, one shout rang out that would have been hard for any mortal to miss…”What? THAT’s her weakness?????”, followed by stifled chuckling into the night….
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Princess Clíona strode through the halls of her castle, wishing that the long dresses required by ladies of the court allowed for better movement. Then maybe she could outpace the suitors who followed her around like flurry of mosquitos. Every one of them just as blood thirsty, she thought. Every one of them who’d willingly drain her kingdom’s coffers dry for their own kingdoms or for their own personal pursuits.
One of her advisors caught her in the hallway, “Please, princess. I need a moment of your time alone.”
Grateful for any reason to rid herself to the pests that called themselves suitors, she nodded and curtsied to the suitors, “Please excuse me.”
Followed only by the page, she entered a room and walked to the window, “What do you require, Sir Henry?”
The elderly man walked up towards her, making her feel badly enough that she fetched a chair and offered it to him.
He sat down even as he protested, “Princess, you shouldn’t be waiting on me. You should already be a queen free of any physical labor.”
She smiled fondly down at him and kissed his forehead, “There are a lot of ‘should be’s ’going around about me these days. I’m guessing this talk is to be another one?”
Chided, he huffed, “It is the same one. You cannot keep leaving in the midst of your own galas.”
“It’s not my fault that I can hold my liquor better than any of those men out there.”, she smiled sweetly, “And I’m not interested in any knight, prince or king who can’t hold it as well as I can.”, she winked at him, “What would you have me do? Sit for hours listening to their insufferable snoring?”
She stood up and paced, “I barely get a chance to hunt or ride as it is. Forgive me if I’d rather be doing that instead of listening to sleeping men.”
Sir Henry nodded, his white beard shaking as he laughed, “I can understand that easily enough, princess. But what about this Golden Knight that the kingdom is so enchanted with? Surely a match made with him would make everyone happy and he’d probably be so focused on capturing dragons that he’d leave you to your own time often enough to keep you from going insane.”
Clíona almost burst out laughing, but held it inside as she answered, “Well, we get along well enough I suppose, but he is like a brother more than a lover.”
“Every man is like a brother to you. That’s the problem.”
In that moment, the page looked up at her, clearly feeling awkward to be hearing such talk. Clíona felt sorry for him and sent him away.
Seconds later Clíona of Carrigcleena appeared in the room. Crossing to Sir Henry, she kissed him briefly on the lips, making the old man’s eyes light up.
Princess Clíona looked at both of them in shock.
“Close your mouth, dear. Sir Henry was not born into the world old.”, the fairy queen laughed.
Then turning to her added, while sitting beside Sir Henry and squeezing his hand, “I have come to you today in the role of advisor. It is typical for an ambassador position to be offered to the kingdom of whose people your own kingdom has multiple prisoners from. I think you should offer such a position to the first dragon you captured.”
“What?!?!?!?”, both Sir Henry and Princess Clíona sputtered in disbelief.
The princess caught herself, then closing her eyes, reopened them calmly, “They are not people. How would I know he wouldn’t find some way to remove the cuffs and terrorize my kingdom?”
“You wouldn’t.”, the queen answered her evenly, “That’s why it would be a show of trust. You would dispatch him with your page to deliver a letter to the Dragon King along with the key to the cuffs. The Dragon King would see such an act as bold and cunning. He will be intrigued enough to take the offer.”
“But my page is terrified of dragons!”
The queen smiled a secretive little smile, “Oh, I think I can help him to possess the courage.”
“An alliance between our kingdoms would be a decided asset for mine. But what benefit would he gain from such an alliance?”, the princess puzzled out loud.
Clíona of Carrigcleena stood up and brought the young girl into her arms, then held her back so that their eyes might meet, “You kingdom is the only one in all the lands that successfully battles dragons and yet doesn’t kill them. He will see every reason to explore relations.”, she winked.
Sir Henry was nodding now, “An even better reason for you to invite that Golden Knight to court, your highness.”
“What a lovely idea!”, the fairy queen exclaimed to the princess’s look of panic. She smiled a reassuring smile to her and took her hand, “Let me help you with preparations.”, and together they left, using lesser known passageways to keep away from the suitors while making their way down to the dungeon.
Once there, the princess accosted her, “What in the gods names where you thinking?”
Laughing, the queen walked up to Tine Dearg’s cell, “He can wear the armor. He can dance with you and no one will be the wiser.”
The princess looked at the grinning dragon through the bars and wrinkled her nose, “He can dance?”
“Oh, quite well in fact, my princess.”, Tine Dearg laughed through the bars.
In that moment, above the dungeon, they heard several feet coming down the steps and voices calling out for the princess by the various suitors looking for her. The fairy queen groaned. “I’ll get rid of them, you two get him into the armor.”, then turning into the very picture of the princess, she ran up the steps, ‘What on earth is the matter, gentlemen?”
Once the feet could be heard running away, Clíona exhaled and fell against the bars, with a deep sigh.
“That bad, huh?”, Tine Dearg asked.
“You have no idea.”, the princess answered with an exhausted tone while grabbing the keys hanging on the wall and crossing to unlock him from his cell. Then, setting her face in a determined expression, said, “Well let’s get this done and over with.”
“Hey!”, the dragon grabbed her arm, wiggling his brows, “Is that any way to refer to an evening spent in the arms of a charming, handsome and witty one such as me?”
Princess Clíona rolled her eyes, “Please. Let’s let go of the flirting. I’ve had it with flirting men. Let’s just…”
“Really? You’ve had it with flirting men? Well, that just means none of them have done it right.”, he twirled her under his arm and pulled her to him, then tickled her stomach with his other hand, making her instantly fall apart into a mess of giggles, “See? I think I know what works with a tough little lady like you. You just don’t have enough reasons to genuinely smile.”, he followed her down onto the floor as she felt to her knees laughing, struggling to catch his flying fingers with their sharp talons. He whispered into her ear, making her turn crimson as he moved towards her armpits and sides, making her giggles fill the dungeon walls where the other dragons smirked at the sight of the Golden Knight rolling on the ground in a helpless laughing mess, “I’ll tell you what I think, princess.”, he continued on, knowing speaking the truth would fluster her to no end, “I think there isn’t one suitor up there who is a match for you. I think you want to be defeated, devastated even, by a lover that can twist you around his little finger and make you love it. I think you secretly covet the dragon.”
The princess squealed, finally managing to shove him away, shocked at how his closeness had made her feel. Her heart raced for reasons other than the physical ordeal as she regarded his mischievous smile in a new way, still giggling. But then, standing straight, she forced her expression into one of serious resolve, “It doesn’t matter what I want. I must marry for the welfare of the kingdom, not for my happiness.”, then turning, she waved at him to follow.
Tine Dearg rose and followed her, a look of sadness on his face while another dragon, Leannán Dóiteáin, called out, “We may be the ones locked up, princess, but it seems that you are the real prisoner in these castle walls.”
Clíona turned and walked to his cell, her tears falling unhidden from her eyes, “You are ever the clever one aren’t you? You are right. But not for long.”, then she turned towards the stairs, not noticing the exchange of looks between the dragons behind her.
“Leannán Dóiteáin,” one of the dragons spoke up after she and Tine Dearg had left, “If we were free I would have killed you for that.”
(Continued in Chapter 3 at http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=80388 )
“I wouldn’t think of it, if I were you.”, a sharp voice spoke from the darkness.
Whirling around, the dragon turned to see Clíona of Carrigcleena step out of the shadows.
“You! I should have known you would be the one to come up with the idea of putting a woman in man’s armor just to defeat me!”, he roared as he hurled himself at the bars to his cell.
“That’s all very true…”, the fairy queen mused as she ran her long nails across the bars, demonstrating how little she feared him, “But it wasn’t my idea to show you mercy, so you should be grateful for that.”
Enraged, the dragon tried to touch her with his cuffed hands, searing her fingertips as she dodged away.
The queen turned livid eyes onto the beast in human form, “Were it anyone else other than Princess Clíona, I would never do what I am about to do for you!”, and reaching into the cell, grasped his throat, lifting him off the ground, her nails digging into his skin so that he screamed. She tossed him hard against the wall, “There. I did it. You should be without pain now. I didn’t promise her I wouldn’t make the process painless though.”, and in a whoosh, she was gone.
The dragon reached up to his throat, realizing the pain was indeed gone. Though, when he tried to breathe out fire, he couldn’t.
In that moment a key unlocked the huge doors at the end of the hall and the princess walked in, with knights at either side of her and a page following swiftly behind.
She walked up to the bars of his cell fearlessly, her eyes dancing with amusement, “Feel better?”
Speechless, the dragon could only shake his head, “Yes.”
“Good.”, she smiled and gestured to her page who carried a tray of food, his body shaking so much he almost spilled the contents.
The princess, took the tray from him and ordered the guards to open the door to the cell.
“My lady, I don’t think that is very wise…” one of the knights began.
“Open it.”, she replied with authority, cutting him off. The door was opened and she brought the tray in, “You will be taken care of here. We do not treat our prisoners inhumanly. Even if they are not human.”
“Why didn’t you kill me?”, he growled as he dug into the meat, every inch of him the predator.
“Because that wouldn’t be good for relations between your king’s kingdom and mine, now would it?”, she answered, smiling, as she poured him some ale, “Today is Sunday. So you must have some ale.”
The dragon sneered, “I would prefer a pair of pants.”
Laughing, the princess remarked, “I thought dragons didn’t care about such things.”
“Well, we aren’t usually in our human forms this long, your highness.”, he leaned in towards her and smirked.
Standing up she nodded, unaffected, “Very well. I will see that you are properly cleaned and given some clothes to wear.”
“With all due respect, your majesty, shouldn’t we wait until we hear from the Golden Knight before doing anything with the prisoner?”, one of the knights interjected.
“No. The Golden Knight does my bidding, not the other way around.”, she replied curtly, then turning to look over her shoulder sent the dragon a quick wink while her page boy stifled a chuckle too faint for the knights to hear. But dragons have good ears, and the dragon found himself winking back, while marveling at the splendid creature who had caught him. He’d like her for himself, he admitted. But he was not a royal. Yet, she valued the existence of dragons, and that made him wonder if she might be the perfect match for his king…
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A year had come and gone, and the whole land was in thrall with tales of The Golden Knight who stopped dragons from wreaking havoc across the land, but who somehow captured them in their human forms, dragging them back to the castle.
The princess’ dungeon was literally full of them, having long past the goal set for the princess by the Fairy Queen. And yet there was not one among them who, despite their resentment, didn’t find some degree of amusement and charm in the princess. None of them dared tell the truth of who the Golden Knight was, for fear it would give rise to other mortals knowing what she knew.
As the castle’s staff was too scared to bring them their meals, the princess would carry them herself into their cells, generously pouring them meade and ale while taking her time to speak with them. She found an ironic sense of camaraderie with the prisoners who knew her secret. And they found it hilarious to have been captured by a princess when dragons were legendary for capturing princesses.
Yet, while the kingdom had eased up on pressuring her to marry thanks to the protection of the now legendary Golden Knight, the court renewed its insistence that she find a king. The nobles packed the halls of the castle, each trying to flirt with the princess in all the ways that she abhorred. The knights, her brothers in every way, would help her sneak out the back to join their hunts much to consternation of her advisors. So one day, the court’s advisors took pains to preoccupy the knights while hosting a grand gala wherein princes and single kings from surrounding lands came to the court, each trying to impress her with ridiculous tales of battles with dragons in their own lands. Finally, exasperated, the princess placed a sleeping drought into the wine and once the suitors, advisors and members of the court were fast asleep, snuck out of the great hall to don her armor, then quietly made it down to the dungeons where she planned to escape through a secret door. Her page would have her horse saddled and waiting on the other side. But to make it, she would have to walk down the hallway between the prison cells. She had prepared for this, seeing that the sleeping draught had been placed into the dragons’ food.
As she neared the hallway her helmet and sword under her arm, her shield in the other, she saw the dragons fast asleep. Knowing if awakened, they could still roar loud enough to waken the household, even in their human form, she prayed they would stay asleep.
But dragons are impervious to all kinds of poisons and draughts, you see. But their sense of smell is keen, and having recognized the scent, they had agreed to pretend to sleep until they learned what mischief was afoot.
Princess Clíona felt a hand reach between the bars and grab her ankle in a grip of steel. Surprised, she tripped, but another pair of hands reached through the bars and caught her just before she fell, yet held her against the prison bars.
Smirking the dragons were all at the bars, staring at the princess, their eyes lit with mischief.
“Well, what have we here, brothers?”, the one nearest her ear whispered teasingly, “Do we actually behold the great Golden Knight sneaking out of her own castle out of cowardice?”
Princess Clíona shook them off and they let her, chuckling.
“Come now, princess, you have already caught us. So why not tell us what makes you quake in fear when we already know that giant fangs and fiery breath doesn’t do it for you.”, one leaned against the bars, offering her a teasing grin.
“Why are you running? And from what are you running from that you would drug the castle?”, another smirked.
Frustrated, the princess glowered at them, blowing her hair out of her face, “Marriage.”
The answer caught them all by such surprise that they just stared at her dumbfounded for a whole moment before bursting into gales of laughter.
“Glad you find my source of terror such a source of jocularity for you.”, she scoffed before beginning to walk quickly down the hallway.
“Now wait just a second there, my beauty,”, one of the dragons sung out teasingly after her, “Any one of us could wake the entire castle up before you even make it to the door. So I think that earns us a few more minutes of your company.”
Stopping in her tracks, she heaved a breath and turned around, her hand on her hip, “What do you want?”
“It’s really not about what we want. It’s about what you want, my princess.”, his sharp eyes darted around her body, then back up to her eyes, “You want a king who you wouldn’t have to hide this part of your life from, don’t you? You want a king who would more than let you hunt by his side, but rather would want you to do so based on your own desire, rather than his allowing anything. Someone who would appreciate the fiery spirit that simmers in your heart enough to make you spare dragons.”, he finished with a smirk.
Gasping at hearing the thoughts in her heart spoken aloud, the princess took a quick intake of breath, stunned, then blushed crimson at the thought.
All eyes staring at her from the cells seemed to light up with mirth and the dragon who’d addressed her began to chuckle, “Ah, so now I see what can disarm the Golden Knight. If I’d only known before being captured, I would have found a way to make it to my advantage. But seeing as I’m in your prison, the best way to turn things to my advantage would be to have someone who doesn’t hate dragons capture your heart.”
“Good luck with that.”, the princess laughed and then bowing to the dragons added, “Gentlemen, gentle dragons, sirs, I now take my leave of you.”
As she left, closing the door behind her, her page boy entered, having been relieved of the horse. Once inside, he began collecting the dirty dishes the dragons handed him between the cell bars. His body shook with fear, but much less so than when he first began.
The dragons regarded him with gentle eyes, not wanting to frighten him. But the page, normally silent, spoke up, “She would be a great king if the laws of our age were different. Were she fae, no one would bother her with talk of marriage. As it is, only men such as you would suit a woman like her, and like the queen she will become.”
“And from what source of grand experience do you draw this wisdom, page?”, one of the dragons replied sardonically.
“From thousands of years that might well match your own, Leannán Dóiteáin.”, the page replied, smiling as the dragon’s eyes grew upon hearing his name, never shared with mortals. Then picking up the last of the plates, the boy set them to the side, waving an arm, instantly making the plates clean and neatly stacked. Then rising, the boy’s form grew taller, muscles firming and lengthening until Clíona of Carrigcleena stood in front of them, a smile of amusement crossing her face. She turned to the dragon who’d asked the question, her arm reaching easily through the bars as if they weren’t there, caressing his cheek, “Leannán Dóiteáin, your name would be any easy guess for a dragon, Fire Lover.”
Embarrassed, he bowed, “Forgive me your majesty, I didn’t know…”
She patted his check twice before pulling her hand back, “Of course not. But that was always part of the plan.”, she cleaned her hand off with her skirt and continued walking down the hallway.
“Plan for what, my queen?”, another asked.
“Why to get the princess a king who is worthy, of course!”, the queen answered as if it were the simplest, most obvious thing in the world.
“You would have us imprisoned for over a year just to get her a mate?”, one cried incredulously at her through the bars.
She looked over at him, her gaze calm and at ease, “Why I’d imprison a thousand of you if that is what it took.”
The oldest chuckled from where he sat, lazily on the floor. He was the first to have been caught and smiled up at her, “She would make a good bride for a dragon.”
The queen smiled back at him, “Indeed. But I am content to let her carry on capturing as many of your kind as it takes for your king to notice, Tine Dearg.”
The dragon on the ground looked up at his name, a look of concern played about his face, “But he’ll kill her.”
The queen was facing a metal shield hanging on a nearby wall, touching up her hair, “Oh, he’ll try of course. Then, he’ll fail. Then, he’ll settle for capturing her once he sees she’s a female. Then, he’ll be charmed and she will by him.”
One of the younger dragons protested, “But how? She has a heart of stone when it comes to men. The only ones she responds to are our kind, and then for the most part she easily ignores our teasing.”
The queen laughed, “No, she doesn’t ignore any of you easily. She just knows how to keep it hidden. She’s very proficient that way. One just has to discover her weaknesses to get under the skin.”, she winked at them.
“I don’t suppose you’d care to share?”, Tine Dearg joked.
She surprised him by turning around and grinning wickedly, “Oh, but I do. I plan to share it with all of you. For she needs to begin thinking that the company of dragons is not so bad before being captured by your king.”
The dragons now were all pressed to the bars of their cells, echoing her mischievous smile with their own.
“If I tell you these things, you will promise to use them to charm her, but never to harm her?”, the queen cautioned, “Otherwise, I will see to it you all spend the rest of your days as lizards fleeing for your lives from the earth’s predators.”
Nodding the dragons smiled, but it was Tine Dearg who continued to look worried, “I’ve grown quite fond of this mortal. She’s shown mercy when few others would have. She’s taught me mercy. The day she caught me, I tried to devour her and she still let me live. She only imprisoned me after I showed her disrespect when I should have known better. In every way, she saved me from being kicked out of our king’s court.”
Clíona of Carrigcleena smiled warmly at him, “I will suggest to her that she remove you from the prison and make you an ambassador to her court. You will become her best friend and confident. And when the time is right, you will allow her to be captured so that her heart might be.”
Tine Dearg shook his head, “I would not betray her. Leave me in my cell if that is what you require.”
Sighing, the queen tilted her head, “Fine. Don’t betray her. But play the matchmaking brother.”
Tine Dearg looked up and smirked, “That I’d be only too happy to do.”
“It is settled then.”, the queen nodded to the dragons who all nodded in turn. “I shall share her weakness then, for the sake of her heart…”
While their whispers couldn’t be heard by the human ear, one shout rang out that would have been hard for any mortal to miss…”What? THAT’s her weakness?????”, followed by stifled chuckling into the night….
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Princess Clíona strode through the halls of her castle, wishing that the long dresses required by ladies of the court allowed for better movement. Then maybe she could outpace the suitors who followed her around like flurry of mosquitos. Every one of them just as blood thirsty, she thought. Every one of them who’d willingly drain her kingdom’s coffers dry for their own kingdoms or for their own personal pursuits.
One of her advisors caught her in the hallway, “Please, princess. I need a moment of your time alone.”
Grateful for any reason to rid herself to the pests that called themselves suitors, she nodded and curtsied to the suitors, “Please excuse me.”
Followed only by the page, she entered a room and walked to the window, “What do you require, Sir Henry?”
The elderly man walked up towards her, making her feel badly enough that she fetched a chair and offered it to him.
He sat down even as he protested, “Princess, you shouldn’t be waiting on me. You should already be a queen free of any physical labor.”
She smiled fondly down at him and kissed his forehead, “There are a lot of ‘should be’s ’going around about me these days. I’m guessing this talk is to be another one?”
Chided, he huffed, “It is the same one. You cannot keep leaving in the midst of your own galas.”
“It’s not my fault that I can hold my liquor better than any of those men out there.”, she smiled sweetly, “And I’m not interested in any knight, prince or king who can’t hold it as well as I can.”, she winked at him, “What would you have me do? Sit for hours listening to their insufferable snoring?”
She stood up and paced, “I barely get a chance to hunt or ride as it is. Forgive me if I’d rather be doing that instead of listening to sleeping men.”
Sir Henry nodded, his white beard shaking as he laughed, “I can understand that easily enough, princess. But what about this Golden Knight that the kingdom is so enchanted with? Surely a match made with him would make everyone happy and he’d probably be so focused on capturing dragons that he’d leave you to your own time often enough to keep you from going insane.”
Clíona almost burst out laughing, but held it inside as she answered, “Well, we get along well enough I suppose, but he is like a brother more than a lover.”
“Every man is like a brother to you. That’s the problem.”
In that moment, the page looked up at her, clearly feeling awkward to be hearing such talk. Clíona felt sorry for him and sent him away.
Seconds later Clíona of Carrigcleena appeared in the room. Crossing to Sir Henry, she kissed him briefly on the lips, making the old man’s eyes light up.
Princess Clíona looked at both of them in shock.
“Close your mouth, dear. Sir Henry was not born into the world old.”, the fairy queen laughed.
Then turning to her added, while sitting beside Sir Henry and squeezing his hand, “I have come to you today in the role of advisor. It is typical for an ambassador position to be offered to the kingdom of whose people your own kingdom has multiple prisoners from. I think you should offer such a position to the first dragon you captured.”
“What?!?!?!?”, both Sir Henry and Princess Clíona sputtered in disbelief.
The princess caught herself, then closing her eyes, reopened them calmly, “They are not people. How would I know he wouldn’t find some way to remove the cuffs and terrorize my kingdom?”
“You wouldn’t.”, the queen answered her evenly, “That’s why it would be a show of trust. You would dispatch him with your page to deliver a letter to the Dragon King along with the key to the cuffs. The Dragon King would see such an act as bold and cunning. He will be intrigued enough to take the offer.”
“But my page is terrified of dragons!”
The queen smiled a secretive little smile, “Oh, I think I can help him to possess the courage.”
“An alliance between our kingdoms would be a decided asset for mine. But what benefit would he gain from such an alliance?”, the princess puzzled out loud.
Clíona of Carrigcleena stood up and brought the young girl into her arms, then held her back so that their eyes might meet, “You kingdom is the only one in all the lands that successfully battles dragons and yet doesn’t kill them. He will see every reason to explore relations.”, she winked.
Sir Henry was nodding now, “An even better reason for you to invite that Golden Knight to court, your highness.”
“What a lovely idea!”, the fairy queen exclaimed to the princess’s look of panic. She smiled a reassuring smile to her and took her hand, “Let me help you with preparations.”, and together they left, using lesser known passageways to keep away from the suitors while making their way down to the dungeon.
Once there, the princess accosted her, “What in the gods names where you thinking?”
Laughing, the queen walked up to Tine Dearg’s cell, “He can wear the armor. He can dance with you and no one will be the wiser.”
The princess looked at the grinning dragon through the bars and wrinkled her nose, “He can dance?”
“Oh, quite well in fact, my princess.”, Tine Dearg laughed through the bars.
In that moment, above the dungeon, they heard several feet coming down the steps and voices calling out for the princess by the various suitors looking for her. The fairy queen groaned. “I’ll get rid of them, you two get him into the armor.”, then turning into the very picture of the princess, she ran up the steps, ‘What on earth is the matter, gentlemen?”
Once the feet could be heard running away, Clíona exhaled and fell against the bars, with a deep sigh.
“That bad, huh?”, Tine Dearg asked.
“You have no idea.”, the princess answered with an exhausted tone while grabbing the keys hanging on the wall and crossing to unlock him from his cell. Then, setting her face in a determined expression, said, “Well let’s get this done and over with.”
“Hey!”, the dragon grabbed her arm, wiggling his brows, “Is that any way to refer to an evening spent in the arms of a charming, handsome and witty one such as me?”
Princess Clíona rolled her eyes, “Please. Let’s let go of the flirting. I’ve had it with flirting men. Let’s just…”
“Really? You’ve had it with flirting men? Well, that just means none of them have done it right.”, he twirled her under his arm and pulled her to him, then tickled her stomach with his other hand, making her instantly fall apart into a mess of giggles, “See? I think I know what works with a tough little lady like you. You just don’t have enough reasons to genuinely smile.”, he followed her down onto the floor as she felt to her knees laughing, struggling to catch his flying fingers with their sharp talons. He whispered into her ear, making her turn crimson as he moved towards her armpits and sides, making her giggles fill the dungeon walls where the other dragons smirked at the sight of the Golden Knight rolling on the ground in a helpless laughing mess, “I’ll tell you what I think, princess.”, he continued on, knowing speaking the truth would fluster her to no end, “I think there isn’t one suitor up there who is a match for you. I think you want to be defeated, devastated even, by a lover that can twist you around his little finger and make you love it. I think you secretly covet the dragon.”
The princess squealed, finally managing to shove him away, shocked at how his closeness had made her feel. Her heart raced for reasons other than the physical ordeal as she regarded his mischievous smile in a new way, still giggling. But then, standing straight, she forced her expression into one of serious resolve, “It doesn’t matter what I want. I must marry for the welfare of the kingdom, not for my happiness.”, then turning, she waved at him to follow.
Tine Dearg rose and followed her, a look of sadness on his face while another dragon, Leannán Dóiteáin, called out, “We may be the ones locked up, princess, but it seems that you are the real prisoner in these castle walls.”
Clíona turned and walked to his cell, her tears falling unhidden from her eyes, “You are ever the clever one aren’t you? You are right. But not for long.”, then she turned towards the stairs, not noticing the exchange of looks between the dragons behind her.
“Leannán Dóiteáin,” one of the dragons spoke up after she and Tine Dearg had left, “If we were free I would have killed you for that.”
(Continued in Chapter 3 at http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=80388 )
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