“So what is it?”
“I’ve always wanted to see a real dragon!”
“There are plenty of dragons! Only we got the worst one!”
“Well, not the worst…” Estella couldn’t take her eyes off the glittering scales, but the dragon ate his food and flew away too quickly.
“He’ll be asleep for another year,” Reason complained. “Oh, I used to think it was only the Princess who was defective, but now the dragon-keeper is defective, too. But you seem to be making amends. Well done for blowing off the king!”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have! When he keeps his mask on, he’s handsome.”
“He’s a womanizer and a flatterer! With him you could cry!”
“But you could cry your whole life without him. He’s the first and only fiancé I’ve ever had to chase away. The others ran away.”
“That was before! Now you’ll have lots of suitors.”
“I don’t believe it! Surely this was my only chance for happiness. Fiancés aren’t for me.”
“You’ll have hundreds of them! Thousands! And I’ll deal with them all!” Reason snatched a stiletto from one of the knights beside him and sharpened his claws.
The dragon left deep parched pits inВ the field from which strange creatures, either dwarves or dwarf-like monsters, were crawling. They shook their skinny black fists inВ displeasure and protested against the dragon.
“Who were they?” Estella had never seen such bizarre creatures in her life.
“Boggles,” said Reason, sounding reluctant. “I can’t stand them, though they’re better than boogeys.”
“What’s the difference?”
“They’re just as bad, but they’re werewolves, too. They can turn into dogs and attack,” Reason clung to Estella. “Get a grip on your horse!”
One of the boggles, with its weird red hat, galloped right out beneath the horse’s hooves, and the horse bucked.
“Don’t you know how to use spurs?” Reason reprimanded me. “Spur the horse, and let him gallop faster.”
The horse calmed down as soon as the boggle ran past. The knights, who had not seen Reason, spotted the boggles and began toВ baptize.
“What warriors they are! They’ll run to the temple at the first sign of trouble and leave the Princess alone in the field,” Reason hissed in frustration.
“Aren’t you afraid of boggles? They’re miniature goblins!”
“You got that right. The dragon disturbed them. They would have been slumbering under the battlefield. The blood of fallen warriors fed them. Look how red their hats have turned. They become so red from the blood spilled above, and the boggles themselves sit beneath the soil and laugh at the fighting humans.”
Reason spotted tiny creatures, each no bigger than Estella’s little finger. They were moving in a flock away from one of the dragon-burned pits.
“Hold your horse here!” He commanded Estella.
“What’s that for?”
“Don’t ask! Do it!”
Estella obeyed. Reason jumped down, climbed into the hole, brazenly dispersed a flock of midgets, and came back with a whole pot of gold coins. He threw away the pot of clay and poured the gold into the saddlebag of Estella’s horse.
“Leprechauns always have something to eat!” He explained. “I’ll hide it in a hiding place under the throne.”
“What do we need so much gold for?”
“It is just in case there is a rainy day.”
“Are we so poor that we have to steal from the leprechauns?” She turned her attention to the flock of midgets waving their fists in anger at Reason. He left them nothing but shards of broken pot, and took all the coins for himself. “Shall we give them all back?”
“And what shall we do ourselves when times of famine come?”
“Don’t joke, the country is prospering!”
“That’s for now! With a kindness like yours, it wouldn’t take long for the kingdom to be wasted,” Reason began lecturing her again. You might as well cover your ears for him!
“Promise you’ll never steal again!” Estella asked.
“You’d better tell that to the dragon. He’s probably back in the dungeons, sleeping rough and snacking on guards.”
“So that’s where cellar guards often disappear to. The dragon eats them!”
“And tell him not to drink anymore!” Reason quipped. “If you take away his keg of beer, he’ll be so angry he’ll snack on you.”
“I don’t believe you. They say dragons adore princesses.”
“It doesn’t care if it eats a princess or a man in a chain mail. Take my word for it. When he’s drunk, he doesn’t know the difference. And he’s drunk all the time.”
“All right, all right, I believe you!” Estella spurred her horse, and thought to herself that she would meet her dragon again. She liked him very much. He was beautiful, graceful, scaly, like a huge flying emerald. And what a protector he would be if she were to wean him off his alcoholic beverages.
If Reason were toВ slander him from the vein, what kind ofВ defender would he be? After all, if the dragon were obedient, with such aВ strong friend, the princess could rule without reason.
Entertainment
Estella wanted toВ throw aВ ball toВ celebrate the resolution ofВ the war problem. But Reason dissuadedВ her.
“A ball is too expensive,” he said. – And there will be a great many people there too. A dragon, attracted by the noise, might crawl into the ball and frighten away all the guests.
“Very well, then! I want to see it again!” Estella clapped her hands together in joy. “Let’s hurry up and make the ball so the dragon will come to us, or fly over.”
“You are fool, he will not give you a bouquet of roses, and will die fire so that the entire ballroom will burn!”
“Can he ask a girl to dance? Or does the difference in size prevent us from dancing?”
“He can. But it will be your last dance on fire and ashes.”
“Don’t scare me!”
“Did you see what he did to your knights?”
“But I’m a princess, not a knight.”
“Not everyone is gentle with princesses, either. The dragon is a savage! He won’t woo you.”
Estella scowled like aВ hurt child. And why should she be the only one toВ obey Reason inВ everything? She wanted toВ do things her own way. But if she did her own way, without listening toВ Reason, she would be aВ fool again. How hard it is toВ live! If you do what you want, you will be called aВ fool, and if you submit toВ Reason, you will be deprived ofВ all the fun you want.
“Then there will be no ball!” Estella sighed.
“No, it is of course not. It will cost a great deal of money. Guests from other realms might come, and you’d have to feed and wine them all, and entertain them all to the highest standards. And if you don’t please them with the quality of drinks and refreshments, you can expect another war to be declared.”
“But you have so much gold stashed under the throne? Don’t you have enough for a decent ball?”
Reason clamped a clawed paw over her mouth. “The treasure’s in the hiding place for a special purpose.”
“For what purpose is it?”
Estella struggled toВ wriggle out ofВ his claws.
“Shall I tell you later?”
“What does it mean?”
“The right time comes. In the meantime, forget about balls, carnivals, masquerades, and feasts.”
“It is except the coronation,” Estella reminded him.
“Yes, the coronation is essential,” said Reason. “We can’t do without it,” Reason sighed. “But we’d better get it over to June or they’ll think you’re May’s queen,” he chuckled.
He chuckled muffled at his own joke. Estella was embarrassed, for even she knew that May queens were usually proclaimed the prettiest peasant women who attended the spring village dances. ToВ be May queen means toВ be queen for just oneВ day.
“I would set your coronation for the night. Midnight would be the best time.”
“Alas, tradition says you can only be crowned in the morning, no later than noon.”
“But then it won’t be your last coronation,” Reason muttered cryptically to himself, but Estella heard him.
“What do you mean?”
“About your destiny,” he scratched his paws. “I’ll make you the only queen on the planet, and I’ll be your only advisor.”
“Oh, well, that sounds like a fantastic plan, Reason.” Estella grumbled unhappily. She’s already finding Aluar’s crown too heavy for her, and he’s going on about the world.
“You do know there will be a fancy-dress ball after the coronation,” she quipped. “You can’t cancel it. My predecessor, the legendary Queen Raymonda, established the tradition of a masquerade ball after the coronation.”
“She was rumored to be a dragon! You’d better not compare yourself to her, or the people will revolt against you.”
“Why don’t we have the ball now instead of after the coronation? I want to dance.”
“It is absolutely not! We won’t be alone at the ball. You must spend more time in my company if you want to get wise. Let’s keep it simple and for only two people.”
And so he and Reason sat down toВ play chess. He climbed the board, rearranging the pieces, and resembled aВ bizarre black monkey. Except that his sharp, werewolf-like claws left deep scratches on the chessboard.
Vines and flower vines wrapped around the chess tower ofВ the castle where the game was played. The smell ofВ honeysuckle and roses was pleasantly invigorating. Estella thought that some butterflies, fluttering inВ the flowers, and suspiciously resembling pixies, were whispering aВ warning.
“Is the princess playing with an evil spirit or a demon? We must tell her that she is in danger! But she’s not likely to understand our language. People don’t usually understand us.”
But Estella heard and understood. They must have mistaken Reason for an evil spirit. Should she tell them they were wrong? Or would that be an insult toВ Reason, who for some reason could not hear them?
He was so engrossed in the game that he didn’t notice anything. He preferred to play with black pieces. Estella got the white chess pieces, which had the privilege of making the first move, but it didn’t help her. She too often lost to Reason. Only once or twice did he let her win. It was only because he was distracted by looking at himself in the wall mirror. He really did look like he’d been dragged out of the furnace like a chimney demon. No wonder why the pixies mistook him for an evil spirit. She didn’t like his appearance herself, but she was used to him. For the sake of achievement, it was worth tolerating his ugliness. If it weren’t for Reason, she wouldn’t even know the rules of chess combat.
“They say it’s a game for the clever!” Estella remarked, rearranging the pieces. “I play it, so I am clever!”
“It is with my help. Don’t you forget! I am your cleverness. Without me you are as without a head,” Reason himself dragged the pieces with both paws and hurt Estella’s white chess pieces with his tail, so that she regularly had to correct them. Playing with him was really the most amusing thing about it.
“And they say I’ve been bewitched, so I’m stupid.”
“They’re comforting you.”
“What do you say?” She almost dropped her queen.
“Don’t ask me every word, like a dummy. Take more of my advice, and you’ll get smarter.”
“It’s that simple?”
“How do you think people learn the wisdom of life?”
“I don’t know. I think they’re born smart.”
Estella tensed. Her head felt like it was aВ mess. Her mind echoed inВ her head as if someone was pounding on an invisible door inside her mind with aВ fist. The healer said it happens toВ all victims ofВ witchcraft. But Reason assured her otherwise.
“All men listen to wise counsel, and gain wisdom for themselves,” he said. “So with me you are on the right track.”
“But you cause a lot of trouble in the state. The palace has been in turmoil every day since I rescued you from captivity.”
“It’s not my fault. It’s the intrigues of those who envy you. They envy you for having me.”
“Can anyone see you? You said you were invisible?”
“Silly, they sense that you have something in you worthy of envy. People, even when they’re blind, can smell it and get angry. It’s human nature to be jealous.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“That’s because you’re lucky. There’s no one to envy you. Envy isn’t for those born princesses.”
