Royalty is a Punishment

Chapter 3

A/N: The pic is King Helios in dragon form.

When we arrived in the throne room, my father, or King Helios, was there, sitting on his throne. I had a small throne beside his, but I never used it much, I always found sitting around listening to people talk all day, kinda...boring. When my father saw me come in, he instantly got up smiling and came over to me saying, "There you are Crystal, I've been waiting for you."

I smiled back and said, "I'm sorry for making you wait, I was reading and lost track of time." He chuckled a little and said, "Same old Crystal, always loves reading. Well let's go then. Sparks! Flame! Time to go." They both stood up straight and said in unison, "Yes, your majesty." And together we all left the throne room.

When we got outside, we all changed into our dragon forms and took off into the air, my father leading the way. When we were above the big town square, we landed right in the middle where there were people gathered. My father was adored by the people of this kingdom, so everyone was waiting to be able to talk to him.

My father was a great king, always visiting his people, this was one of the only times I've been able to accompany him. We changed back to human form only to be greeted by the townspeople. Many looked at me in surprise and I heard talk about me.

"Is that Princess Crystal?" "It's been quite sometime since we've seen her." "She's grown so beautiful." "Beautiful? She's gorgeous!" All this attention was making me nervous. I turned toward my father and whispered, "Father, may I please-" I was cut off by him smiling and saying, "Yes, you may go explore, but take Sparks, and don't go too far."

My eyes widen, he's letting me go? I smile wide and hug him saying, "Thank you, father. Let's go Sparks." I left the crowd of people, with Sparks following behind, and went straight to the market. I'd never been to the market before, and there was so much to see.

There were stands selling all kinds of things, from food and clothes to weapons and even jewelry. I stopped, looking at the beautiful jewelry, when my eyes caught sight of a beautiful diamond pendant. "How much for the diamond pendant?" The owner of the stand looked at me in awe and bowed a little saying, "For you, your highness, free of charge, consider it a gift."

I gasped, "Really? But I feel guilty not paying for something so beautiful." He simply shook his head, "Its nothing, your highness, please, take it, I insist." I took the pendant as he held it out to me, "Thank you so much, I really appreciate it." "Your welcome, feel free to stop by anytime." I nodded and left, holding the pendant with Sparks following.

When we got out of the market, I turned to Sparks and held out the pendant, "Sparks, could you put it on please?" "Of course princess." I turned around and pulled my hair out of the way as he tied it around my neck. When he finished, I turned around and he smiled, "It still doesn't compare to your beauty." I blushed slightly saying, "Shh, someone might hear you." He chuckled, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself."

After a little more exploring, we headed back to the town square where my father was just finishing up with his chats. "Are you ready to return to the castle Crystal?" I didn't really want to, but instead I smiled and said, "Yeah, if your finished." He nodded and we all transformed into dragon form and flew back to the castle.

After we landed and changed back to human form, I immediately headed for my room. My father stopped me before I could leave and told me, "Crystal, talking with the people got me thinking. I think it's about time for you to marry." If I had a glass of water, I would have spit it everywhere. My eyes widen in shock and I yell, "WHAT?!"