A Dragon's Princess (no more tell published )

Chapter 3

"Oh, that's right, we shall be on our way now," Arthur said as he looked over at Zander.

Arthur started to walk out the door, but stopped. He looked behind him, looking for Zander, who was not there. He was still with the girl.

"Zander come on, we need to get ready too....you know!"

"Oh, that's right," Zander replied.

"Why, what do you have to get ready for?" The girl asked with a confused look on her face.

"You're not leaving me are you?" She asked Zander as she was starting to look worried.

"Just get ready and don't worry, I will be by your side at all times," Zander promised as he gave her a kiss on her forehead.

Zander got up from the bed and smiled down at her. Then, he walked out the door with Arthur following close behind. Hector had already left and was at the bottom of the stairs, after remembering he had a medicine delivery to make.

Arthur looked at Zander and asked, "Do you honestly think that she is ready for this? And if she is, do you think that the king and queen would accept the idea of letting her live in the castle?"

Zander replied, as they walked down the stairs, "I just don't want to lose her. We have to give it a try."

"What is it with you and that girl?" Arthur blurted out. "Ever since you saw her take down the Captain, you have been drawn to her. You were even disrespectful to the king when we got here, and for what, that stupid girl? Get over yourself! I have known you for fifteen years, and you have never been like this before."

Arthur put his hand on Zander's shoulder as they reached the bottom of the stairs and he said, "And if the king sees what she is doing to you, you know what he will do with her! He will make her leave the castle! Even if the king likes her, she will be a distraction to you. Just think, she might get caught up in the middle of any kind of trouble that you get into."

Then Arthur looked straight into Zander's eyes and said, "Zander look, I hate to say this, but you have to get rid of her!"

Zander reached up and pushed Arthurs hand off his shoulder, "NO, I will do no such thing! And for your information she is not stupid! Have you already forgotten what we saw in the forest? And stop treating her like a dog!" Zander snapped.

Arthur snapped back, "And what was it that we saw, Zander, tell me exactly, what was it that we saw in that forest? Because all I saw was a girl who picked a fight with the wrong person."

Zander looked Arthur straight in the eyes, "No, you are seeing it all wrong. Yes, she did do that, but now she is here with us, safe and not in that horrible Captain's grip. She ran all the way to us. Even though she was hurt very badly, she still ran straight to us, Arthur, that girl is strong. Did you even think how hard it must be for her? She watched the very same men who tried to capture her, kill her mother and father, and now, she wakes up in a strange place and is going to have to meet the king and queen. Not once have I seen her cry about her parents. Not even once! And just think, you out of everyone are the one who calls her stupid. It's you who are being mean to her. Did you even think about how she would feel if she overheard you say the things you just said about her? After all she has been through; it would destroy her trust in us if she overheard you. How would you feel knowing that you made things worse for her? HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?" Zander began to yell. "TELL ME ARTHUR?!!!"

Arthur dropped his head, "I... I would..., well... I would feel very bad now that you...but, it's just that..."

"Is everything okay?" The girl asked, as she appeared at the doorway and started to come down the stairs.

Zander quickly gave Arthur an angry look and then turned around and gave the girl a warm loving smile. "Yes, everything is okay my dear. What are you doing down here?"

"Well, the two ladies said that they need to draw my bath and then I heard you two fighting so I thought I'd come see if everything was alright. What were you two fighting about?" She asked. Zander and Arthur hesitated.

"I sure hope that it was not about me because I don't want to be in the way of anything, especially anything between you two,"

She glanced up the stairs, "Well I guess I just wanted to say thank you," She said as she curtsied.

"Well it is no problem," Zander said with a grin. "We save people every day."

"Oh you did more than that!" The young girl said as her eyes got wide with a loving smile on her face.

"What do you mean by that?" Arthur asked very confused.

The girl continued, "When I saw you two enter my village, I was so filled with joy. After seeing my mom and dad get killed, I had thought that I was the only one left on the earth, besides those bad men. But seeing you two, made me so happy I slid down the tree that I was in, so I could run to you. But I landed on one of those men, and well, you know what happened next."

"Miss, your bath is ready," a voice called down from her room.

"Okay, I'm coming," the girl called back.

She turned to Arthur and Zander, "Well, I have got to go now." She smiled and ran up the stairs leaving Arthur and Zander at the bottom.

She turned a corner and went into the room next to her bedroom. In front of her was a gold lined tub.

"It's beautiful," the girl gasped.

One of the maids came over and helped her out of her gown and then the young girl started to climb into the warm water that smelled of lavender.

The maid stopped her, "Miss, you must take that terrible necklace off. The king and queen would not accept that in the castle."

"What?" The girl was confused. "Oh you mean this?" She pointed to her dragon necklace.

"Yes, yes, you must take it off right now!" The maid said with a disgusted look on her face.

"Oh, no, I can't!" The girl said as she put her hand up to the pendent and wrapped her fingers tightly around it.

"Okay miss, if you won't take it off, then I will," the maid said as she moved towards the girl.

"Wait, I can't take it off, I have tried! I've had it ever since I was born. My mom and dad said that a man came and helped my mom deliver me. They said that when I was born the man put this necklace around my neck and then my hair turned red. You know, my hair started out brown," she added.

"My mom and dad hated this necklace and they tried and tried to get if off, but it would not come off. This necklace has never ever left my neck," she said, looking pleadingly at the maid.

The maid finally gave in and said, "Okay, get in the tub. Just don't let the queen see it.