Scared of the dragon, the princess wants to do evil to him.
However, he is very virtuous.
Will he be able to save himself?
Caterina Nikolaus
The Dragon and the Princess
- A Fantasy Story -
Copyright 2021 Caterina Nikolaus
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Contents:
The Dragon and the Princess
About the author:
The Dragon and the Princess
The sun is rising. It’s going to be a wonderful summer’s day.
Puff the dragon goes for a walk. He crosses through a large forest. The tree trunks are brown; the leaves are green. The trees greet him and stroke him with their branches.
He sees the sea from afar.
A squirrel climbs a tree. Three deer greet Puff with their legs.
A wren flutters out of a flock of birds, lands on a branch and begins to sing.
Puff stands still. “What did you say? Please say it again.”
The wren answers, “Look at the sky: it’s beautiful. The sun is rising. The other birds are flying in the sky. The sky is azure blue. The sun is yellow; the clouds are white. And the sky is beautiful. But be careful. Someone’s coming. A deer. He’s looking at you: Hide behind a tree.”
The squirrels that heard him jump into the bushes; the small, cute, brown and black squirrels.
The deer, big and beautiful, keep grazing.
However, Puff walks on. He comes to a meadow. The meadow is green and there are fragrant flowers.
The birds, big and small, fly in the sky; some of the rather small ones are pretty.
And Puff is careful.
A man walks out of the forest, sees the dragon and is frightened.
The wren says to Puff, “Come with me somewhere else. The people here are scared of you.”
They head back into the forest; it’s cool and beautiful in there.
But Puff is carrying a hoard of gold in a sack.
That’s why when he meets someone another time, Puff asks him, “Who are you?”
The dragon gives the poor men gold coins.
Because of that, the people aren’t scared of the dragon any more. Instead, they’re happy to have a little gold. They can go home and buy something for themselves.
And the dragon and the wren are happy that they are allowed to live with the people.
***
Not far from the dragon’s mountains there is a kingdom. An old king reigns over it.
King Frédéric lives in a castle in Marseille and has two grown children: Princess Manon and Prince Joffrey. Princess Manon is married to Duke Jean Baptiste of Lesparre, the capital of Médoc. They have two daughters, Élise and Béatrice.
On Sunday, Manon goes to church.
She is very beautiful and looks magnificent in a red dress with gold embroidery, a long, white veil, and jewellery. And she also showered.
A man enters the church. He sees Princess Manon, who is praying there. He has never seen Manon looking so beautiful. She looks glorious.
He approaches her. Then Manon turns her head and looks him in the eye. And he tells her about the dragon.
Manon is frightened. She runs away.
Manon runs to the castle and says to the King and to Queen Fanny, “I’m scared! A man told me that someone saw a dragon.”
They comfort Manon.
Manon says, “Will you help me, so we don’t have to fight the dragon?”
Fanny answers, “Yes of course, my dear. We’ll do it this way.”
Manon says, “How?”
Fanny answers, “I will do some magic.”
Manon says, “Then he’ll fly away.”
But of course, Fanny can’t work miracles.
Manon says, “Where is Joffrey?”
Frédéric says, “He is in the forest. He’ll be back in the castle in a minute.”
And Joffrey comes galloping in.
Manon says to him: “I’m scared of the dragon. So I have to take action. We must do something about the dragon.”
***
On Monday, Manon dresses in a gown with red and yellow embroidery, but she leaves the jewellery at home. She calls the stable master to saddle her a horse. Then she calls the knight Giuseppe and orders him to accompany her.
After that, Manon leaves the castle to ride into the forest. She crosses the mountains, followed by Giuseppe. Then they ride south and then to the sea.
In the afternoon, they meet the elf, Jago Jory.
Manon says, “Have you seen the dragon?”
Jago Jory answers, “Yes, I’ve seen the dragon.”
Manon asks, “Where?”
Jago Jory answers, “In the mountains.”
And finally, Manon asks, “What is the dragon like? I’m scared of the dragon.”
Jago Jory says, “The dragon is black and red.”
Manon says, “And lives in the mountains.”
Jago Jory says, “Yes. There is a dragon family. It is a special family.”
Manon asks, “Why is it such a special family?”
Jago Jory answers, “They can breathe fire.”
Giuseppe says nothing, but he listens carefully.
The elf leaves and Manon stays in the forest, thinking.
It’s cool in the forest.
The wren comes down from the sky. He says to her, “Look, how beautiful: the sky is azure blue. The birds are flying in the sky. But look out.”
“Is someone coming?”
The wren answers, “Hide behind a tree.”
A man, who is searching for the dragon, comes into the forest. He is scared when he sees the princess. So he begins to run.
“Wait,” says Manon. “Are you talking about a dragon too?”
The man answers, “I’m only searching for the dragon so that he can’t give me a nasty surprise.”
“Don’t get upset,” says Manon. “There aren’t any dragons here.”
***
The apartment belonging to Princess Manon and her family is in the west tower of the royal castle in Marseille. It has three bedrooms and a room for the nanny.
The princess is in the living room. Near the left wall there is a table with four chairs. In the center of the room there are three sofas and a low, round table. There is a cupboard against the wall opposite the sofas. The sun shines through three windows and a glass door, which leads to the balcony.
At this moment, Manon is sitting on the small sofa, reading a book.
Someone knocks on the door.
Manon goes to the door and says, “Who’s there?”
“It’s me, Joffrey, and father and mother.”
They come in. They want to know if the princess knows anything new about the dragon.
Manon says, “I must go to war against the dragon.”
Frédéric answers, “The dragon is dangerous. Don’t start a war! He will destroy us all.”
Manon says, “Okay, I won’t start a war with the dragon. But Scott and Giuseppe have to find him and chase him away.”
On this morning, it rains. But Manon wants to hurry in sending Scott and Giuseppe after the dragon. She puts on a heavy coat and goes to a camp in a forest not far from the castle. Twenty tents for the soldiers and the knights stand there, along with a large
tent that acts as a kitchen, and a paddock for the horses.
Giuseppe is wearing a large metal helmet on his head and has a long sword to kill the dragon with. And a huge shield.
The knights are wearing expensive chain mail, red shirts, and long belts. Some wear short boots and others the long ones, to the knee. The knights have horses and can ride very well.
However, all the soldiers must get by with outmoded protection: a coarse, lined leather vest and a helmet that’s also made of leather. Their weapons are also simpler.
Scott, the captain of the soldiers, has a hat and a jacket with buttons, long trousers, and a long belt. He wears shoes instead of boots.
Manon says to the soldiers and the knights that they should find and kill the dragon.
One of the soldiers answers, “Yes, your highness. We’ll look for the dragon.”
Manon says, “He’s probably hidden behind some rocks. I have to go back to the castle. I’m wet through from the rain.”
As they prepare to carry out the princess’s orders, the king comes galloping up.
Frédéric says, “Don’t start a war!”
Giuseppe answers, “All right.”
Frédéric asks, “What do you think you are doing, then?”
Scott replies, “We’re searching for the dragon. Dragons are dangerous. We’ll chase him away.”
And Frédéric rides back to the castle again.
Scott says, “I have an idea about how we can catch the dragon.”
As Frédéric returns to the castle, Scott, Giuseppe and the other soldiers and knights build a trap with a big piece of canvas to catch the dragon.
***
In the meantime, Puff is walking through the forest; and then he returns to the wren.
The wren flies down from the sky, sits on a tree and says, “How nice; it’s raining. The sun is setting and the other birds are hiding under the leaves.”
Jago Jory thinks about what the princess said and begins to worry about the dragon. The elf goes to the camp.
There are a lot of tents; there are a lot of soldiers and knights, as well.
Jago Jory sees the canvas too and wonders at it.
The solders and the knights are sharpening their swords and forging new ones. They have arquebuses, bows and arrows, and lances. And they’re putting on their chainmail.
They begin to drag the canvas in the direction of the road.
Jago Jory watches everything and then he leaves.
***
The soldiers take the canvas and hide soldiers and knights under it. This way, it looks like there is a female dragon. They position themselves in the middle of the road. After an hour the dragon comes. The soldiers and the knights jump out to catch him.
But the dragon is too big. He manages to flee, completely terrified.
So the soldiers and the knights ask each other how they should go on.
The soldiers and the knights begin to search for the dragon. They cross half of the kingdom.
From afar, Puff sees the soldiers and knights, with their lances, their arquebuses, and their swords. He says, “But what are they doing here?”
Puff looks for a hiding place behind rocks and in the mountains. Finally, he goes into a cave, walking deep inside until he reaches the end of it. “They won’t see me. I’ll put out the light and stay here in the dark.”
The soldiers and the knights have followed the sound of the dragon’s footsteps. Finally, they find tracks. They come to the cave and go in.
A bear, sleeping in the cave, wakes up and says, “What are they doing in my home? I’m hibernating.”
Scott says, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
The bear says, “What are you doing here?”
Giuseppe answers, “We are searching for the dragon.”
The bear says, “There aren’t any dragons here.”
And the soldiers and the knights go away.
***
Whilst the soldiers search for the dragon, Prince Joffrey decides to go hunting with his falcon because it’s a nice autumn day. He calls the falconer to bring the falcon and horse.
Joffrey mounts the horse and the falconer puts the falcon on his fist.
Joffrey leaves the castle. When he arrives in the woods, he dismounts and tethers the horse to a tree.
The falcon sits on Joffrey’s hand again. Then the prince moves his arm so that the falcon will fly.
The falcon beats its wings and flies up into the sky. It sees a pheasant and a partridge and the falcon plunges down to the earth. Ten minutes later it returns with a pheasant in its claws.
Joffrey taps two fingers against his glove so that the bird returns to his hand.
The falcon lays the pheasant in the grass and lands on Joffrey’s hand.
The prince returns to the castle.
Manon sees Joffrey and goes into the courtyard.
Manon hugs the prince. And the stable master takes the horse back to the stables.
Manon says, “Have you seen the dragon?”
Joffrey answers, “I haven’t seen the dragon.”
***
The mountains are high, the fields are wide, the roads are long, and the villages are large. The soldiers search for three and a half months. In the evenings they pitch their tents and sleep in the camp.
Finally, one day, Scott says, “I have an idea about how we can find the dragon. We’ll go to the peak of the tallest mountain, where we can see for miles.”
When they get to the top of the mountains, they see that the dragon is in a village. They climb down and look for the dragon in the village. They look around and between the houses.
Scott shouts, “I’ve found the dragon! He’s hiding behind the houses.”
Giuseppe answers, “Let’s catch the dragon. Let’s do it together, because the dragon is big.”
But Puff heard the shout and has run away.
The knights return to their camp. And the soldiers go to the castle.
Scott says to the princess, “We found the dragon. But then he vanished.”
Manon says to the soldiers: “Where did you look?”
Scott answers, “We looked for the dragon in the fields, in the mountains, and in the villages.”
Manon answers, “Keep looking.”
***
A few days later, Joffrey goes into the courtyard and calls the stable master to bring him his horse. Joffrey wants to ride in the forest.
When he gets to the forest, the dragon suddenly appears.
Puff says, “Stop.”
Joffrey sees the dragon and says to him, “Why are you here?”
Puff answers, “I came back. I want to help the poor.”
Joffrey says, “Be careful, the soldiers are coming.”
So Puff goes somewhere else to hide again.
Joffrey isn’t scared of the dragon; that’s why he lets him go. He returns to the castle.
Manon comes into the courtyard and says, “Have you seen the dragon?”
Joffrey says, “Yes, I saw him. But he ran away.”
Manon answers, “So much the better. Then I don’t need any guards.”
The next day, Joffrey asks the stable master to bring the girls’ ponies with his horse because the road to the forest is long.
The girls dress in linen gowns for the trip: Béatrice wears a brown skirt and a green jacket; Élise wears a blue skirt and a red jacket.
Once in the forest, the girls collect mushrooms and raspberries. Joffrey sits in the grass and keeps an eye on the girls.
The girls see the dragon’s tracks and are frightened because they think the dragon could be in the forest.
Béatrice shouts: “Help!”
Joffrey says, “What’s wrong?”
The girls run to the prince; Élise answers, “We saw the dragon’s tracks. We’re scared of the dragon.”
Joffrey says, “Don’t be scared. He’s good and not dangerous.”
Élise answers, “We have to go home.”
Jo
ffrey says, “Soon; and not on foot.”
Joffrey and the girls mount their horses and ride through the forest.
The next day, the girls go alone. They have forgotten, in fact, that they were scared of the dragon.
When Manon realizes that the girls have gone out alone, she asks the prince to search for them.
Joffrey finds the girls in the forest. The girls seem frightened.
“What’s wrong?” asks the prince.
Béatrice says, “There’s a dragon behind the bush.”
Joffrey laughs. “The dragon is too large to hide behind a bush. Perhaps it’s elves.”
And the elves come out of the bush. It’s Jago Jory and Blejan Meraud. Jago Jory is a tall man with brown hair and green eyes and he wears simple, green clothes. Blejan Meraud is a slender woman with red hair and green eyes and she wears a long skirt with purple flowers on it.
And Joffrey tells the elves that he met the dragon.
Jago Jory asks, “Where?”
Joffrey answers, “I met the dragon in the forest.”
The girls get closer to the elves.
When Joffrey returns to the castle, Manon is looking out of the window. She says, “Where are the girls?”
Joffrey answers, “They’re in the forest. The girls are staying with the elves.”
The girls accompany the elves to a lake in the forest where the elves live. They have a big house with three floors.
The elves and the girls stay out in the sun and start to tan. The girls are happy to have found the elves. The elves invite the girls to sleep in their house. And they all have dinner together in the evening.
In the morning, Blejan Meraud accompanies the girls back to the castle. The steward comes to the main entrance and says, “Who are you?”
Blejan Meraud says, “We are Blejan Meraud and the girls.”
The steward opens the gate; Blejan Meraud and the girls enter the courtyard.
Manon comes. The girls run to the princess and hug her.
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