The Prince and the Dragon Slayer

The Dragon Slayer

There once was a girl who slayed dragons. Many knights and other heroes had wanted to join her, but she said they had to kiss her beforehand, and they'd all not wanted to do that.

The King of the kingdom said: "Girl, you have to stop demanding a kiss! All of my knights want to help slay the dragons. You're stealing their spotlights!"

But the girl turned her head and said: "No. They have to give me one kiss." Then she left.

The King was in despair after that.

The King was not without a heir. He had a son named the Prince. However, the Prince was too self-absorbed to care about kissing the dragon-slaying girl. He spent most of time admiring himself in the mirror, and enjoyed the attention and love of the King. His younger sister, the princess, a girl who had never been appreciated a day in her life, continued trying to surpass others in some way, but she never really found what her specialty was.

The princess had been sitting by her brother one day as he was telling a particularly stupid joke, and all the knights laughed. Even the King himself burst into laughter.

But the princess looked out the window and saw a storm in the distance, where a dragon was causing trouble, and she saw the lone figure facing against it. The legendary dragon slayer, the girl that demanded just a kiss. The princess looked at her brother, and wondered why he would turn down what the dragon slayer offered. He would get his dream of slaying dragons and possibly make a connection.

But the princess didn't know.

The Prince put his hand on her shoulder, laughing, telling another joke, and all the knights burst into laughter again.

The princess knew he was trying to involve her. He always did that. She appreciated it. But she kept thinking about the dragon slayer. So she said: "Brother, why don't you just go kiss the dragon slayer?"

The room instantly went quiet.

"Sister..." the prince said, his expression darkening. "You cannot say that..."

The king looked equally as serious. "Kissing is only for husband and wife," he said.

"True connections must be ordered, not made," one knight said.

The princess looked confused. "But... I thought that was the whole point of what you all do? Slaying dragons to get attention of a girl?"

The knights looked at eachother. Then one said: "Yes, but the whole point is for US to slay the dragon, not the girl."

The princess felt suddenly very self-conscious. She went quiet, and the jokes and laughter resumed again eventually. It was a lucky thing she had her brother here, because without him, the room would've stayed silent until dinner had ended.

Later in the night, however, when the Prince came to check on the princess, she couldn't help but feel angry at him. Why didn't he step up and do the forbidden thing? He wanted to slay dragons, didn't he? He wanted a girl, didn't he? And she knew he wasn't like the knights who wanted to occupy the slayer role.

But the Prince said gently: "Sister, some things, it's harder than one decision. If I left and struck out my own path, this kingdom would fall apart. Father relies on me. The knights. Everyone. For all the kingdom's power, we have little morale. Me and you-- the hope for the future-- is what's left. We must stay here."

"You're pretending like Father doesn't know what to do at all," the princess said. "Surely the kingdom isn't that weak."

"It is," the Prince said, and the tiredness in his voice explained it all.

But the princess couldn't help but get angrier. "You're just sitting there doing nothing. Letting one girl face off all the dragons because of rules."

The Prince finally became stern. He straightened up. "I'm sorry you see it that way, sister," he said, "But I have not sat idle. Every day here I spend my time taking care of this kingdom. I wish you would do the same." Then he left.

The princess, angry, slammed the door.