Sunrise on a Dragon

Work in Progress

Fantasy Pre-Romance

Diedre was a princess who rode in the best of carriages... to be sacrificed to a dragon.

---

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three

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Sunrise on a Dragon - Chapter Three

“Come,” Cyrus said. “Let’s away from this dreadful place.”

Diedre peered at him in confusion. “You’re speaking strangely.”

“Ah, well.” Cyrus pulled Diedre up by the hand, even though Diedre hadn’t quite wanted to get up yet. “I just meant that it must be uncomfortable here and you might want to go somewhere more comfortable.”

Diedre snatched her hand back. “Didn’t you hear a word of what I said?” she asked him. When he didn’t answer, she continued, “I am staying here, waiting for an evil, ugly dragon to gobble me up.”

Cyrus took offense to being described as “evil” and “ugly”, but since she was obviously not conscious of referring to him in particular, he supposed he should let her ignorance slide. “And… you are going to wait here to be gobbled up?”

“Obviously, you didn’t hear a word of what I said.”

“I did,” Cyrus protested. “Do you want to be eaten?”

Diedre refrained from rolling her eyes at his utter stupidity, though she supposed that the beautiful must also be vapid, even if she had only thought so of women before. “Of course I don’t want to be eaten by a dragon… nobody does!”

“Then why do you insist on waiting here, uncomfortably, for an unpleasant fate?”

“Because I’m the sacrifice.” Diedre picked up her dress and started pacing in the cave in her agitation. “I’m the martyr. I have to willingly go to my death so appease the dragon so that my people can live in peace.”

She was behind Cyrus now and he turned to watch her with his steady gaze. “But you’re not willing.”

She stopped and rounded on him. “I most definitely am!”

“But you don’t want to be eaten…”

Diedre sighed. “Just because I don’t want to do something, doesn’t mean I won’t. So, just leave me alone and leave, or the dragon might eat you, too. This is, after all, a dragon cave.”

Cyrus had never heard of such a strange tale. He almost told her that no dragon would live in a cave this small—he would not even fit in the cave in his dragon form. He might have told her that he was the dragon and that he didn’t plan on eating her, but then he thought she might put up a fuss about how he must eat her for her imperative sacrifice to be complete.

“Fine,” he said, finally. He would have to think of another way to remove her from this cave, preferably before she got herself sick with exhaustion or starvation.

---

Diedre stared after Cyrus as he left.

She was all alone in the cave again, and she felt even more miserable than before.

She didn’t know quite what she had expected of Cyrus. After all, this was their first acquaintance, but she could have been secretly hoping that he would convince her that her sacrifice was unnecessary, she supposed, or that she was too pretty to be sacrificed. But of course, she knew she wasn’t very pretty, at least not compared to him, and he probably didn’t care very much either way that she was to be sacrificed.

Oh, well, she thought. He really couldn’t have talked her out of it, since she was determined. She had decided to be determined.

Diedre wondered if she was allowed to explore the forest around the cave. It looked wild, but it couldn’t be too wild, with a human—Cyrus—living there. She should stay in the cave and wait for the dragon, but the dragon was already dreadfully late and surely, it wouldn’t mind not meeting her for a bit longer.

Maybe it thought that she was running away. Diedre looked around the cave. Her cloak was still there, and surely the dragon would be smart enough to know that she would not run into the cold, dark night without her cloak.

Taking one last look to make sure that everything was in order—the cave was still free from dragons and her cloak lay visibly on the floor—she took placed a satin slipper on the earthy forest ground.

“So, the princess doth runneth away.”

Diedre froze and looked around, only to see Cyrus—the cad!—leaning casually against a tree trunk. “Oh! I am not running away,” she told him again, hoping that he could somehow understand it this time. She had never met anybody as obtuse as him. “Surely, the dragon doesn’t expect me to expire out of boredom before it even has a chance to eat me. Besides, I left my cloak in there, and the dragon must have some modicum of intelligence if it can comprehend the idea of a trade.”

Cyrus scoffed at that. “The dragon has more than a modicum of intelligence.”

“You know the dragon?”

Cyrus thought about that. “Yes, I suppose I do.”

Diedre gave him a strange look out of her blue eyes. “What do you mean you ‘suppose’ you do. You do, or you don’t.”

“Hmm… I do.”

“Does he live here?” she asked.

“Not in the cave, actually,” Cyrus answered carefully. “But somewhere in the forest.”

“Is he big and mean and purple?”

“He’s purple.” Cyrus had always been considered one of the smallest dragons, because he was one of the younger ones, barely over a hundred years old. Although, he had heard that some plague had happened in the east and the older ones had been wiped out… He certainly did not consider himself ‘mean’, especially to Princess Diedre. He had even invited her to stay in the comfort of his own home.

“He’s not mean?” Diedre asked. Then, she made an all-encompassing motion with her hands. “Or big?”

“No, not really.”

“Oh, bother,” Diedre sighed. “What am I going to do now? Do you know how awful this is?”

Cyrus shook his head.

“Don’t you see?” Diedre grabbed fistfuls of her skirt. “I am going to be sacrificed to a small, nice dragon. What kind of story is that? What will my father tell my people? ‘Oh, yes,’ he’d say. ‘My littlest Diedre was eaten by a very nice dragon. He was kind of small, too, and not fearsome at all.’”

“Well, how about this?” Cyrus offered, “You can come stay at my home, and I’ll let the dragon know that you’re in the forest. That way, you can be comfortable and well rested and the dragon won’t have to hurry to come get you, which, I am sure, would upset him, or you can wait for a bigger dragon to pass by the area and I can ask him if he would like to eat you.”

“Would you really?” Diedre asked. She should refuse, but since she was to be eaten anyways… “But won’t it eat you?”

Cyrus grinned. It was a crooked grin with a secret. “No, dragons only eat young maidens.”

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Sunrise on a Dragon - Chapter Two

Diedre didn't know what she had expected. She hadn't been thinking much beyond the dragon.

The cave was small enough that she could see all of it from the long rays of morning sun, and it was empty. There was no dragon, or even the mountain of glittering jewels that Diedre had expected.

She could run away, Diedre realized suddenly. She had no change of clothing or money and her satin slippers were disgracefully dirty, but if she ran now, she would still have her life.

And feel guilty for as long as she lived.

Diedre paced a bit at the entrance of the cave. Maybe the dragon was testing her purity of heart. If she stayed, the dragon would... take her, but leave the kingdom intact. Otherwise, it would destroy more of the kingdom. And probably chase after her anyways.

She took a careful step into the cave and looked a bit more carefully. Maybe the dragon was hiding in a chamber in the back. Maybe it was still sleeping. Diedre even went so far as to pick up a skinny, brittle branch to poke the dragon in the eye and kill it for the kingdom before she realized the folly of it. After all, if dragons were so easy to kill, she would not be here. Her father would not sacrifice her just if his soldiers could kill dragons.

But there was no hidden inner chamber, and obviously no dragon.

So, Diedre spread her cloak out on the ground of the cave and sat down on it to wait.

And wait.

A squirrel ventured near the mouth of the cave, once, but then darted away.

Then, she waited some more started yawning. She hadn't slept well last night, knowing that it would be her last night in this world, and she had woken up this morning, all anxiety and nerves in the carriage. Sleep hadn't mattered, anyways, since she was being sent to a dragon.

But it was dull waiting around. When she started nodding off, she thought of how disgraceful it would be for the sacrifice to be sleeping in the dragon's lair, even if there was no sign of the dragon.

Then, Diedre thought morosely, maybe if she was sleeping when the dragon came upon her, she wouldn't notice when it eats her. She shivered at that thought.

So, she lay down, settled herself as well as she could on the stone ground, and fell asleep.

---

Cyrus folded his purple wings as he landed in the clearing in the forest, but the leaves still flew everywhere with the gusts of wind he brought. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he changed into a human shape.

There had been a human here.

He could smell it.

Cyrus sighed in frustration. He thought that he had made it quite clear with some king or another that the forest was not to be disturbed by any human. Even if humans had short memories, they couldn't have possibly forgotten already! It had only been a hundred years or so.

Although, it was the first human since his warning and only one of it, so he supposed he could just find the human and make him leave. Maybe tell it a proper dragon lore to scare it away for a while.

Then, again, the human might just decide to organize a dragon hunt. Cyrus didn't really mind the fire, seeing as he made fire, too, but he hated the smell of a burning forest and lugging water from the lake was always a pain.

Carefully, Cyrus followed the smell of the human... his bare feet already familiar with the forest paths.

He followed its smell until he reached a cave. It was a small cave, too, barely big enough to distinguish it from just another big boulder. He wondered what a human could possibly be doing there before he ventured inside. It was definitely barren inside, and dreary. But the human was definitely inside.

His eyes adjusted easily to the dark, and he saw a clump of something on the ground... probably a miserable old man kicked out from his house. Even so, he couldn't stay in Cyrus's forest. Cyrus approached the clump.

And stopped abruptly when he realized that it was a girl.

And a lovely girl at that, with ivory skin over delicate features. Perfect golden ringlets of hair framed her sleeping face. But most shocking of all was the circlet on her head, signifying that she was a princess.

It was a beautiful run-away princess, Cyrus thought, and wondered if he could keep her since she had run away anyways. But then he realized that if she had run away, there was probably a lover involved somewhere... obviously, not here.

Then, he realized that she wouldn't have worn her princess circlet if she had run away. For whatever reason she was not in palace, she had meant for others to know her status.

Maybe she had been kidnapped, Cyrus mused to himself as he watched her bosom rise and fall with her slow breaths. It couldn't have been for ransom; they would guard the girl. So, some poor human must have seen the princess and decided to steal her away in her sleep.

But with guards? And in her voluminous white dress?

Cyrus couldn't really puzzle it out. Either way, though, it was a human, and only his things stayed in his forest.

---

The first thing Diedre noticed when she woke up was beautiful blue eyes, with the prettiest color of purple tinting it.

Then she noticed the hard floor, her aching shoulders, her cramped neck, and the general impropriety of the situation in which there was a man in her room when she had been sleeping and that it wasn't actually her room but rather a dragon cave. And did propriety matter if she was going to be sacrificed to the dragon sometime soon anyways? (And please let it be soon so she could be spared of this embarrassing situation.)

She tried to sit up quickly, but only succeeded in drowning in her dress even more. Instead, she asked of the man with the most handsome face she had ever seen—which far surpassed any of the self-important princes and nobilities. "Who are you?"

"Cyrus." Cyrus seemed to consider before he asked, "Who are you?"

"Diedre."

"Princess Diedre," he corrected. At her confused look, he added, "You're wearing your circlet."

Since it wasn't a question, Diedre remained silent, pondering her next question.

"Why are you here?" They both asked at the same time.

Diedre glared at Cyrus for trying to steal her question, but ended admiring his eyes and his handsomely shaped jaws. The black hair was nice, too.

"I live here," Cyrus answered first. He hated female humans' tempers, and judging by its glare, it was a bit upset... about something. At her disbelieving look, he added, "in the forest."

Diedre nodded.

When she didn't say anything, Cyrus said, "Well, why are you here?"

"For the dragon," she answered simply.

"What?"

"I'm the maiden sacrificed to the dragon." When Cyrus still looked uncomprehending, Diedre sighed dramatically. "I'm waiting for the dragon to eat me."

Cyrus frowned slightly. "Why would the dragon eat you?"

In Diedre's frustration in communicating with this dense—but handsome—man, she managed to sit up in her dress, frothing with lace. "Because that's what dragons do." She sighed again. "The kingdom gave me to the dragon."

She's mine, Cyrus understood suddenly. All the kings and nobilities used to offer their spare daughters to dragons. There hadn't been any spare daughters recently, but Cyrus had been okay with that, since most of the girls had been ugly or obese or insufferable after two minutes of their acquaintances, but they had all tasted about the same, so he hadn't really minded.

Surely, though, Cyrus thought as he took in the girl's appearnce again in light of this new information, there were suitors for the girl. She might not be the perfect model for elegance or grace or beauty, but she was attractive enough. And if she was a touch dramatic, with her suffering sighs, well... it only emphasized the spark of life in her eyes.

Cyrus found it a bit upsetting that anybody would even think of putting out such liveliness—that she would be eaten by a dragon.

But... Cyrus thought suddenly, he didn't have to eat her.

After all, the kingdom had given her to him, but it never specified what he should do with her. Since he didn't want to eat her, he would keep her. Either way, she was his.

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Sunrise on a Dragon - Chapter One

"Diedre..." The King, his royal highness trailed off, desperately thinking of a way to comfort his daughter without recanting his decision. And failing. "It's not going to be that bad..."

"Yes, it is!" Diedre managed to wail in between her sobs. Being the youngest of the five princesses, she had been petulant and spoilt growing up. Whereas Melanie and Sandria had to marry advantageously, Leana had to serve The Lady, and Arya had to act in their mother's stead in more than one occasion, Diedre had never had any duties. "Father! It's going to be - " hic " - horrible!" Another hic. "The dragon's going to eat me!" Hic.

The King patted her daughter's hand for lack any comforting words. "We don't know what the dragons do, daughter. And you know that the legends dictate a maiden princess."

"Then send Leana!"

His Majesty sighed. He had already explained all this to Diedre once, and there were many other things he had to do: petitioners, floods, possible threats... the list was endless. Still, the ravaging dragon was on top priority because of its horrifying damage. So, he explained again, "Leana serves The Lady. So, in effect, she is no longer unattached."

"Send Arya!"

"Diedre... although the whole kingdom doesn't know, you and I do: Arya is no longer a maiden princess."

"Then - then..." Diedre raised her head from her hands. Her eyes and nose were both red and running like water fountains. Her normally delicate mouth gaped wide open and quivering. For a moment, she looked at some space in front of her. Then, she exhaled noisily through her congested nose and her shoulders sagged. She whispered, "But it's not fair."

No, it wasn't fair, and the king had to agree. Nor did he want this for his youngest and most sheltered daughter. To Diedre, though, he only said, "Would it have been more fair any of your other sisters?" At Diedre's nod, he continued, "We are royalty, Diedre, and that means we serve the country before we serve ourselves - at any time."

Diedre could only nod miserably.

Gruffly, the king patted Diedre's shoulder. "Go pack, daughter. We leave a candlemark before sunrise tomorrow."

---

Just a little before the time her father had told her to meet with him, Diedre still stood in her lavishly furnished room. She looked at the beautiful, bright silk sheets to her flowing satin gowns. Then stared at the paintings framed in gold on the walls and the emerald trinkets that brought her eyes out just so. And she took none of them, because she knew that she would need none of them in the stomach of a dragon.

So, instead, she packed a pair of comfortable shoes, day dress, and night gown, hoping that she would be able to live until she could sleep again. She also had a silver circlet on her head, to show her status as a princess. Besides, her mother had placed the circlet on her, and Diedre brought it mostly to remember her mother and her courage.

The knocks to her door came swiftly enough. Some guard had taken the unfortunate second night duty. He was probably escorting her to the dragon, too.

Just as well, it wouldn't do for her to be killed before she even reached the dragon.

---

The carriage she rode in - which was the best of the best since this was probably her last carriage ride ever - bounced rhythmically over the cobbled road. Through a window of the carriage, Diedre had seen the black shadows of houses cram together against a midnight blue colored sky. But those houses had started spacing out more and more and the sky had become lighter and lighter.

Until now. Now, it was almost full day, and surrounding her were the trees. Tall trees. Short bushes. Vines and evergreens. Diedre had never studied herbs - and didn't recognize trees much either - but she was sure that there were many useful herbs in this multifarious forest.

That was growing on a mountain.

With a cave in it.

With a dragon in it.

That ravaged villages, towns, and cities.

So much so that Diedre was going to be a sacrifice.

And that thought brought Diedre back to the present like a snap. To be given to a dragon. To be given to a dragon. To be...

Firmly, she tried to optimistic. There must be something good about this whole situation. After all, didn't every cloud have a silver lining? Well, she just had to find it.

The carriage rolled ominously deeper into the mountain.

And all Diedre could think of was that she would have a quick death - possibly - as opposed to a miserable life spent... locked up by the enemy? Married and miserable? Sending children off to dragons?

She hoped that there weren't that many dragons.

At that moment, the carriage chose to stop. The guard opened the door for her and politely helped her down. Her father, meanwhile, also slid down from his horse and came to give his daughter away. To a dragon.

He tried for a courageous smile, and Diedre appreciated the effort as the sky brightened some more, almost to the point of full day, but not quite yet.

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, but wouldn't quite look at her. Instead, he squeezed he hand and half whispered and half chocked out a "fare well".

Diedre didn't even manage that much. She gave her dad a nod and a squeeze back. Then, she clutched her bag in one hand, almost desperately, and gathered her courage as she walked towards the cave.

She could see it now, the mysterious dragon lair entrance, and she was loathe to let go of her father.

But a sacrifice had to be made freely. And though she didn't want to do it, she had to do it. For duty. For honor. For her family. For her country.

And laid that foot on the cool stone of the cave, so different from the damp dirt of the forest. She passed the point of no return.

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