I tried everything I could to get Edwin to come back and visit me. I sang happier songs, read poems and even called him by name. I didn't know if Dragons had titles so I had to stick with what I knew and all I knew was that his name was Edwin. Every afternoon I called his name three times, waiting to hear the familiar sound of his wings flapping or to feel the wind as is blew harder signaling his approach, but they never came. It was even getting harder to hear the rhythmic pattern of his flying as he made his rounds, hour after hour without stopping.

I sighed as I stared out the window, wishing that I could see him, talk to him. Companionship was hard to come by when you were locked up in a tower with a Dragon keeping guard, the least he could have done was call something on the wind to me. I folded my arms over my chest, wondering how best to call to him today when a rather large spider catches my eye on the floor across the room.

I watch it lazily as it crawls across the floor towards me, its long legs quick as it scuttles ever closer. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks and I scream at the top of my lungs. Not two heartbeats later I hear the loud furious flapping of Edwin's wings and I prepare myself for the act. I pull my legs atop the bench and watch as Edwin comes into view, his face contorted into a strange emotion and I whimper pointing at the spider on the ground.

I watched, amused, as he lifted each of his taloned feet and then shook his head in defeat; but I was determined to keep this going. I reached out to him, swatting at his scales pleading for him to kill the poor thing and am surprised when he stretches out his enormous wings and reaches inside to bat at the spider, missing terribly each time.

I whimper and scream a few more times to give the spider time to find shelter before Edwin retracts his wings and stares at me in almost a triumphant way a knight would, saving his princess. I smile at him, imagining Edwin the Dragon as a knight in shining armor, saving his Dragon princess from harm and he gives me a look of genuine concern, a look I had only ever seen from my father and mother before and I find myself wishing he would stay longer.

Instead I tell him the truth, and to my surprise I don't see anger cross his features, instead a frustrated and somewhat charming glare is thrown in my direction as he flies away flicking his wing in annoyance. Before he gets too far away he turns towards me to send a few words along the wind before he goes back off on his rounds. The words he sent were full of emotion and as I heard them I couldn't help but wonder if this could possibly be true. If the words he sent to me were what I thought they were than I knew; I knew more than I would wish upon the sun, moon and stars that he loved me just as I had come to love him.

© 2015 Amber Steinbeigle. All Rights Reserved