The following text is an excerpt from a letter a Princess wrote to her lover, a knight of the kingdom who had been away on a military mission.  In it, she revisits the events leading up to their engagement, and adds a portion of the story that was before unknown to any but herself.

Today is a day I hold dear in my heart.  Today is a day I celebrate.  Today is a day I give thanks, for today is the day we were engaged to be married, not so long ago.  Do you remember?  I shall recount those events for you, so that we might remember together.

***

A dry, dusty path stretches before our carriage.  My brother gazes out the window, bored.  I sit beside him, mind wandering, fantasizing.  The carriage halts its slow progression.

      "Why have we stopped?" I ask, leaning out the window to speak to the driver.

      "It's the horse, m'lady.  He can't go on any longer without any water.  I'm sorry, m'lady."

      "There mightn't be a stream or such somewhere hereabouts?"

      "Not for a ways further."

      "We shall have to go by foot, then?"

      "Unfortunately so, m'lady.  He should be able to pull an empty carriage."

      "...All right.  Brother, did you hear?" I ask as I pull my head back inside.

      "Ah, yes, I did.  Rather unfortunate turn of events, isn't it?"

      "Yes, quite."

We exit the carriage and trudge onward through the afternoon haze.  It hasn't rained for months, now, and water is very scarce.  It will be a while before we find any.

Soon our clothes and shoes are full of dust, dust so fine I know it will never really come out.  Suddenly, the carriage is lit afire.  The poor horse rears, breaking his harness (it had become brittle from the heat), and charges off.  The driver runs after it, yelling.  My brother is also yelling.  I can only just hear what he says over the crackle and roar of the flames.

      "DRAGON!!" he screams at me.  "GET DOWN!"

I do, and he unsheathes his sword.  I'm glad, now, that he is never without it.  The dragon, an awesome creature to behold, lands before us.  It is somehow both red and gold at once, sparkling with reflected rays of sunlight.  My brother charges at it, yelling.  It glances down, as if looking at an irritating insect, and brings its claws down around him, effectively caging my sibling.  His sword bounces harmlessly off the steel-hard claws, ringing loudly.  He is yelling again.

      "FIGHT ME!  BATTLE ME HONORABLY, DRAGON!  LIFT YOUR CLAWS AND FIGHT ME!"

The dragon brings its head level with its captive.  A voice of deep and rumbling thunder emanates from its open jaws.  The words are deliberately pronounced, half-lidded eyes staring in depressed disinterest.

      "I do not seek a fight.  So I will not battle you."

      "I DO seek a fight!  Release me so that I might face you!"

      "I will not release you, Human.  You have dared to go against me and must face the consequences of your actions," and he picks up my brother, looks at him apathetically, and brings him above his mouth as though to swallow him whole.  My brother struggles, thrashing back and forth, continuing his shouting, but the grip of the dragon is like that of hardened steel, impossible to break by any normal means.

Still hiding behind the wreckage of the carriage, I begin to weep at the hopelessness of the situation.  An idea forms in my mind and I stand slowly, tears still streaming down my face.  I approach my brother's jailer.

      "O, Great Dragon, I make you an offer.  I cannot fight you for I know not how, and even if I could, I know you would defeat me.  So please, release my brother and take me instead!  I willingly volunteer and will not resist you.  I offer you a life for a life.  Please accept, Dragon!"

      As I begin to speak, he lowers his arm and stares at me, his unwavering gaze betraying no emotion but the lack of any.  He sighs tiredly, then answers me, "Why would you, Beautiful Princess, offer your life for his?  Why throw away your existence like this?"

      "He is my brother, Dragon, and I love him."

      "Your brother?"  He considers me for a moment, eyes opened fully now with renewed interest, then lifts his claws from around my brother, saying, "I accept."

I run to my sibling, and we embrace, though his arms are stiff, as if from shock.

      "O, sister mine, why would you do this?  You should have left me and escaped!"

      "I could not do that, ever.  I love you, brother.  I could not bear to see you killed."

      "Princess, fulfill your promise," the voice of thunder reminds me.  It has lost its tone of indifference and is now a voice that commands attention and compels compliance.

With tears in our eyes, my brother and I bid each other farewell.  To my surprise, the dragon picks me up gently in his claws, and does not end my life but instead takes off for his cavernous mountain lair.

***

I have lived with the dragon for three months now, and though my brother (and many others besides) have battled the dragon countless times for my freedom, none have triumphed.  The dragon never kills them, though.  He simply sends them home in shame.  I have seen that desperate, pleading look far too many times when my champions beg for death rather than return empty-handed and disgraced.  Always, the dragon would glance at them and say, "You faced me in battle.  You got what you wanted.  Now live to see another day—I will not have your blood on my claws."  And he would turn and come back inside to me.

Then one day, you come.  You are a simple foot-soldier from my father's vast armies.  You look calmly at the dragon.  You do not appear fearful, but neither are you arrogant or overconfident in your abilities.  The dragon rears his head, looking down at you from high.

      "Do you seek to fight me?"

      "Yes."

      "I warn you, I grow weary of this.  If you lose, I will kill you.  I have had enough with your human heroics."

      "That is fine."

The dragon draws in a long breath, then exhales slowly, a tongue of flame dancing from his mouth.  He brings his head down to almost your level and looks you in the eye.

      "Are you afraid?"

      You return his gaze evenly and reply, "Dragon, I am frightened to within an inch of my life.  I see my death between your teeth.  I see the end beneath your claws.  Yet I will fight you, Dragon, because I must."

      "Frightened?  You?"  He throws his head back, letting out a great, rumbling chuckle.  He looks back at you.  "You hide it well, Soldier, better than those before you.  You are a wise one, yet still such a fool.  You are afraid, as everyone before you was.  But of all who have stood before me, only you admit it.  You recognize that battling me will be the last thing you ever do in this life.  But still you stand firm.  Tell me, soldier, what ends do you wish to accomplish through this pointless sacrifice?  Why stay here when death is inevitable?  What is your purpose?"

      "You would not know this, Dragon, but that I tell you.  Three months past you stole away to your cave the Princess of this land.  You know this much, of course, but what you do not know is that I love this maiden, and I could not accept that while she was kept prisoner, I could do nothing to help her.  And thus, I joined the army and learned to fight in order that I might try my luck against you.  So I stand before you now, Dragon, ready to fight, not for gold, not for glory, but for the most precious treasure I can think of.  Love."

      "Pretty words, but words will not save you from the doom you have chosen for yourself.  I will not pretend I know not of the power of love, but that will do nothing to help you either.  Princess!"  He turns his neck to the side, but his eyes remain fixed upon you.  "Come forth!  A champion has arrived to fight for you!"

Imagine my surprise when I step out of the cave and see you standing there—you, of all people.  Of course, you would remember how we met that night under the moon.  You would remember how I snuck out of the castle to catch some fresh air, and how I had fallen and twisted my ankle.  You would remember how you found me on the road and wrapped my foot in your beautifully long scarf and carried me home.  You would remember how you slipped past your fellow guards and brought me safely and secretly to my room and how you were able to fetch the healer with no one else the wiser.  You would remember all this and then you would remember how surprised you were when you were suddenly promoted, and how proud you were of your new post in my personal guard.  But would you remember the reason of your promotion?  Would you remember that I personally requested you?  Would you remember the looks I often gave you?  Had you even seen them?  But now as you gaze at me, the crimson band around your arm denoting you as no longer a guard, but a knight of the kingdom, I am reassured for I see in your eyes calm bravery, and, beneath that, holding it up, I see the truth of your words—I see love.  And that is when my eyes go wide in fearful realization and I speak out, "He is strong, and he will defeat you.  I fear for you!  Please, do not do this!"

But neither man nor beast will heed my plea as two figures spring forward, a sky-piercing battlecry and an earth-shattering roar.  Your battle is truly the stuff of legends.  It lasts for seven days and seven nights and upon the eighth morning the victor is named.  As the dust settles upon two still forms, I rush forward, freed from my helpless position.  "I warned you, my friend!  Why did you not listen?!"

      In a ragged whisper, a reply comes to me.  "I did listen, sweet Princess.  I listened and your words gave me the courage I needed to defeat him."

Wounded and limping heavily, you approach me, your battered sword serving as a crutch.

      "Oh Soldier, you misunderstand me!" and I rush to the dragon's side.

His amber eyes open half-way, and he looks down at me.  "Princess," he says, and his voice is also reduced to a whisper, graveled and low.  "Princess, do not forget me."  A single tear rolls down his scaled cheek, landing in my lap.  And lo! the tear has been transformed into a single, flawless diamond.  I look up again at the dragon as his eyes close in a long blink, open half-way as before, and focus on you.  "Love is a powerful force, Soldier; more powerful than either of us realized.  Protect her, Soldier, you must protect her always."  Then his eyes close again, and do not reopen.

As I stand and back slowly away, tears springing unbidden to my own eyes, a golden light shines from beneath his scales, spreading, growing ever brighter until it completely envelops him.  I stand now beside you, your arm raised to protect us both from the light.  It fades, slowly, and when it is gone, and we open our eyes, the dragon is gone as well.  All memory of him might have faded, too, for that is the way of magical creatures, except for the diamond still clasped in my hands.

***

Upon our return to the castle, bugles sound as the joyful news of my rescue is spread throughout the land.  My father, the King, gives his permission for our engagement, and celebrations last far into the night and several days beyond.  Although many requests are made for a reporting of your surely legendary battle, the two of us, of course, have eyes and ears and words solely for each other.

***

And now that our story has been recounted, I shall tell you the rest.  The dragon, you see, was only a being to be feared if you had wronged him.  He did not attack our carriage without reason, either.  A week previous, his own sister was killed by a contingent of the kingdom's knights when she threw herself in their path to protect him.  As she was bombarded with an insurmountable flurry of arrows, spears, and flaming missiles from the catapults, she ordered her younger brother to make his escape.  He did, reluctantly, but he could not forget her, nor could he forgive her killers.  So when he saw our carriage carrying the royal colors, he thought to make good his revenge, and blew fire at it from on high.  But when he landed and laid eyes upon my anger-driven brother, the fight simply went out of him.  He no longer cared about vengeance for he realized then that it only furthered a vicious cycle of hatred and violence.  If he were to wreak havoc on our kingdom, it would not be seen as righteous retribution, but instead as the work of a brutal and bloodthirsty beast.  My brother, needless to say, did not halt his headlong charge, so the dragon stopped him, and quite effectively, too.  Annoyed that my brother did not see he no longer posed any threat, the dragon moved to take his life anyway.  A dragon annoyed, I grant, is something to be afeared of, and rightfully so.  However, when he witnessed my sacrifice, he was instantly reminded of his sister and he became conscious that he had placed my brother and me in a situation almost identical to the one he had barely escaped.  He could not help feeling compassion toward me, leading him to spare my life.  The injustice done unto him by my brother, unfortunately, could not be simply ignored—thus are the unspoken codes of these times—and a promise had been made, so instead of ending my life, he took me with him to his mountain home.

When we arrived, I was naturally disinclined to speak with him or interact with him in any way.  The dragon, on the other hand, had no such qualms, and my days were filled with tales of his various adventures.  As much as I pretended otherwise, his stories fascinated me and I was always disappointed when they ended.  This went on for perhaps three weeks until I finally got up my courage and asked him, "Why did you not kill me?" and he told me about his sister and the knights who had brought her down.  A bond between us began to grow, then, something forged from our similar experiences.  It was not much, but it continued growing in strength during my time with him.

Although no one had come yet—the exact location of the cave was not common knowledge—we both knew many would come to try their hand at besting the dragon and saving their princess, and they would come soon, too.  The location of the cave might not have been well-known, but it was not completely hidden from view.  The dragon told me that after six months, if no one had yet beat him in battle, he would bring me back to the castle.  As you well know, this was not necessary, for only three months had passed when you came.

And now the full story has been told, and instead of rejoicing in the dragon's death, we might celebrate his life, and honor him in our memories, for he was truly a magnificent being.

The Princess continues her letter with news from home and other such topics.  Upon the Soldier's return, he and the Princess were wed, and they lived together to the end of their days.  From official records, we know the wedding bands were made of rose gold in a flame-like pattern, in remembrance of the Dragon.  The Princess' ring contained three small rubies.  The diamond the Princess received from the Dragon was kept on a special pedestal within the castle's main hall until the fall of the kingdom, long after the royal couple had passed from this earth.  After that, its location remains hidden from us, despite the best efforts of our artifact recovery team.

____________________________________________________________

A/N: Originally written February 2014