Author's Notes: This poem is a retelling of One Good Night, the second book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series by Mercedes Lackey. If you have never heard of her, I guarantee that some of her wonderful, amazing books will suit you. The series itself is a fantastic conglomeration of fairy tale retellings. Check it out! In the meantime, enjoy!
Warning: This is a fairly complete retelling. Spoilers alert!
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Disclaimer: I do not own One Good Night.
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Two Ladies and Their Dragons – Free Form format
The dragon came with mouth aflame, destroying towns and livestock.
The people cried to their great queen, "Save us, Lady, we plead!"
The Princess found, to her great sorrow, a deterrent for the beast,
From thence, weekly, a sacrifice, of young women they must make.
A lottery was soon devised, to make the proceedings fair.
Unfortunately, the queen and her adviser rigged the game.
The princess came close to uncovering this; the advisor told the queen.
The queen then had a quandary – where to find another heir.
The princess, innocent as a child, conspired with her friends,
When chained out for the dragon, she picked the lock with special hairpins.
A noble knight, if rather rude, attacked the vile dragon,
Afterwards, he and she, made fairly reluctant companions.
While traveling, the princess found, the 'he' 'twas, in fact, a she,
And when they came upon the dragon, they found not one but two.
The princess and the younger brother bonded like two geeks,
While the lady knight and elder dragon taught the intended sacrifices.
Eventually, there came the news the queen had gone too far,
And the ragtag little army, left to free the kingdom.
They sneaked with recruited, loyal guards into the royal palace.
From thence, the valiant warriors, overthrew the reign of tyranny.
The fighting soon was finished, over all it was a triumph
When the princess started bawling, for the one "man" that she loved.
The younger brother, crying too, concurred with her shocking statement
Happily for the fated pair, they had a way to make it.
A powerful fairy godmother asked for a volunteer,
And the Lady Knight became a dragon, the dragon a young man.
With the eldest and the former knight, there were two happy couples,
And the godmother was able to say "They'll live happily ever after!"