Eyan took the princess’ arm in his and walked out the door into the courtyard. The wind had finally died down. The crater from the dragon’s dive remained, along with Eyan’s broken hook and chain, tattered breastplate, and cracked shield. He gathered his items and continued on with Thea. When they reached the rope bridge, which was in tatters from being battered about by the wind, Thea murmured a few words. The bridge suddenly became a sturdy archway of marble that clung solidly to the sides of the ravine.

“Are you serious?” Eyan exclaimed. Thea just smiled at him and winked. “I don’t suppose you could turn into a horse?” he continued, “I sent mine off. Didn’t really expect to be coming back.”

“Oh, how safe you make me feel, my rescuer.” she replied sarcastically. “But no, I can’t. Not for lack of ability, but once we cross that bridge, I promised to not use magic in the open. Witch hunters abound, and I’d rather not take the chance of trying to explain that I’m actually the long-lost daughter of the king to a group of blood-crazed headhunters.”

“Point taken.” Eyan replied. “We can make our way to the river and follow it to the first village we come across. I’ll buy us a boat and take us south to Silverwall. From there, passage to Minhold will be easy to come by.” Thea nodded to show she understood and the two crossed the bridge, where Eyan’s supply bag waited, and began their trek down the mountain.

The journey down was much quicker than it had been going up, for which Eyan was mightily grateful. Thea picked herbs and berries the whole time, talking to herself about potions and poultices. Eyan was lost in his thoughts. It didn’t truly occur to him that he expected to die until he told Thea. What’s more is that he almost didn’t mind how close to death he had truly come. He knew Frederick would be let go if word reached his father that he died, so that was certainly one way to win his freedom. Then again, was he ever really that close to death? The witch had only been toying with him, after all. The wound on his back spiked with pain. Maybe a little close, then.

What was it that had gotten the others killed? He only ever met Sir Proust. He thought about the banquet held for Sir Proust on his way to the mountain as he passed through his father’s castle. He seemed truly determined to free a princess from cruel captivity. Earnest, confident. Cruel captivity. Eyan thought about what Thea called cruel. If he thought about it, he could see him being just the same. Controlling, abrasive. Eyan remembered how he ordered others about with the unmistakable air of self-importance that came with a life of wielding unchallenged authority like a cudgel. The same thing he saw in his father. Sir Proust had many a good thing to say about this princess he’d never met, about how he’d love her and treat her, but those were only words. Apparently Thea’s grandmother thought so too.

Eyan and Thea set up camp just as the sun set, a few miles from the mountain. Thea combined some of the herbs and berries into the pot of stew Eyan had set up with a rabbit from a snare he had set up during his path up the mountain. As the stew cooked, Thea brought a loaf of rye bread out from her satchel, broke it in half and offered some to Eyan.

“Thank you.” he said, accepting the bread.

“You’re welcome. Now take your tunic off.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Take your tunic off, now.” She ordered.

“What do-”

“Do it or so help me I will turn you into a toad and fly back to the tower to await the next gay knight that comes around.”

Eyan complied, unbuckling his belt and removing what armor he had left on the upper half of his body. Removing his tunic, he felt the blood from his back wound peel off with a sting, attached to the cloth. Thea took a wet rag and wiped the wound down, then placed a mushy paste over it. She had him lie down on his stomach while she applied it, and then lift himself by his elbows while she bandaged his torso.

“I thought you weren’t going to do magic outside the keep.”

“I’m not, this is a natural remedy.”

“Could have fooled me, witch.” he retorted playfully. She laughed with him and helped him get his tunic back on. The stew was ready then. Eyan gave Thea the bowl in his pack while he ate out of the pot with the spoon. After they finished eating and washing their utensils in the river they sat and stared at the fire. “It occurs to me now,” Eyan began, “that you might say I’m using you, not just my father.”

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“How do you mean?” Thea replied in a serious tone.

“What I mean is that, well, what if I’m using you...to save Frederick? Not for land or title, but using who you are all the same.”

“I’m choosing to help you with that, Sir Eyan.” she said, looking over at him, “Big difference in my book.”

“Oh. Good.” he sighed, “Glad you don’t want to turn me into a toad.”

A few moments passed in silence before Thea asked, “Why don’t you tell me about this Frederick? How did you meet him? Why is he worth fighting a dragon?”

“Okay, I guess there’s no harm in telling you.” he hesitated, “I’m not used to talking about him so...openly, so forgive me for awkwardness.”

“Forgiven.”

“Well, if you’re wondering whether he was my first, of either sex, he wasn’t. But to make a long story short, I met him as he was tending to my horse, Henry. The very one we would be riding on this journey, in fact, if I hadn’t sent him home.”

“Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, there was just something about him that immediately intrigued me. His hair is wavy and long and dark. His eyes are these big round moons that just stare out from the deep. Honestly you could pass him off as an elf if you wanted to. But he did good work on my horse, and I offered to take him riding with me. Of course there was an escort of guards with us when we went, and he was all nervous at first. But he’s a good rider and together we ditched them and rode off to some lonely hill somewhere. We talked into the evening on that day, and then on every day after.”

“What about?”

“Oh I don’t even know.” Eyan said dismissively, “Sometimes it was about our lives, and what we did during the day. That was usually tough with people I’d been with before. I felt like I had to hide what it was like being a lord’s son just to avoid the awkwardness with someone who was technically my subject. With him though, I could just say what I felt, and he would listen without judgment. I always felt horrible about it, but it was good to get some of that stuff off my chest, even if it might have seemed trivial to a stablehand. And when he told me about his problems, I’d try to find ways of fixing them for him. He’d always scold me for it, but what else could I do?

Mostly he made me feel like I had a home with him when my own father shunned me. I suggested many times that we flee into the wilderness. He always refused, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.” Eyan stopped himself before going on, dwelling on what happened.

“Because?” Thea asked. She waited patiently for a reply and when she got none said, “I told you about how a band of witch hunters killed my mother and I was going to be the wife of some ancient baron in a frozen backwater.”

“You’re right. Um...one night I was with him. Both of us had shirked our duties and my father knew about us. He sent a few guards to find us and they did. We were separated. I was brought to my father for a scolding and a lecture. It was all very routine, lasted for almost two hours. But then he brought me to the dungeon.” Eyan swallowed a sob, “They had him in chains, covered in blood. My father made it clear that I had done this, and that I was forbidden from seeing him again.” Tears kissed his cheek, but he took a deep breath, kept his voice from wavering, “I kept a secret correspondence with him for a few months. He said that my father’s men would beat him if he ever got too close to the castle. I was forbidden from leaving its walls until I ‘learned my lesson.’ I told him to run away, but he wouldn’t. He kept saying that we’d see each other again.”

“And then my father’s offer.” Thea offered. Eyan nodded, wiping away a tear. The princess scooched over and hugged the knight. He sobbed into her cloak for a few seconds, but regained his composure. “You’ll do right by Frederick, I know it.” she said, holding onto Eyan’s shoulders. “And you’ll not submit to your father. Of that I am certain, dragonslayer.”

“You keep saying I killed a dragon. Why?”

Thea cocked her head and said, “My grandmother takes no prisoners. If you had refused to rescue me in the tower, you would have died right there.”

Eyan didn’t understand, “I saw her change form right in front of me. She was the dragon. She was completely fine afterward. Besides, if you’d seen the fight, you’d know she was only toying with me.”

“True, I didn’t see the fight, but I know her. She’s a big believer in fate. She always said to me that if fate wants someone alive, it will stay your blade at their neck. If the blade makes the kill, it was meant to be.”

“So you’re saying I didn’t defeat the dragon, but fate did?”

“That’s what she would say.”

“What would you say?”

“I would say that you killed a dragon.”