Rune sighed as he walked through the gardens. It had been a long day and he was feeling low. Despite his long hair, his elfin features, his sweet manner and ability to lift rocks twice his own weight, he didn't have a girlfriend.
"Why am I alone?" he wailed, but quietly, in case someone heard and thought that he was a loser.
He moped among the flowers and he glowered at the trees, he tossed stones into the pond and sulked on the garden bench. It was when he was pulling clumps out of the grass by the gazebo that he overheard someone else.
"What if she doesn't like me? What will I do?" the stranger asked.
Rune creeped closer, but kept himself hidden.
"Maybe I shouldn't tell her and keep it a secret," the same voice said.
Rune frowned. No one had replied, from what he could tell.
"Should I tell her or not?" the hidden voice cried.
Rune stood up and peered over the bushes. What he saw shocked him: Rath, sitting on the long grass, avidly shaking a Magic 8 Ball, over and over and crying each time it came up "Answer unclear - try again later".
Rune backed away and moved to another area of the gardens, mulling over what he'd seen. He found Thatz enjoying the shade of a tree. The thief waved to him and Rune walked over to him.
"Just the person I wanted to see, Rune," said Thatz with a smile. "I'm writing a letter and I need a bit of help."
Rune smiled and sat beside his friend.
"You're kind of wet, so you should know what sounds better 'The fall of morning's dew is unending, like my love for you' or 'The fairest days of spring cannot compare to your beauty'?"
Rune stuttered for a while before blurting out "They're both good."
Thatz smirked and wrote with a flourish on a fragranced piece of paper.
"Wonderful," he said. "Now, would you prefer to be compared to a stinking pile o' loot, or a bounteous trove of treasure?"
Though he tried to escape, Rune was forced to comment on edit on Thatz's masterpiece, although he never found out who the letter was destined for. When Thatz was ready, he sealed the letter in a scented envelope and said goodbye, leaving Rune under the leafy tree.
Rune sat there until a shadow fell across his face. Looking up, he saw Tetheus.
"It's a little chilly out today," he said sternly. "I think that I'll go and put on a jacket."
He turned to leave, but spun back to catch Rune staring at him, mouth wide open.
"I...," he started. "I think that perhaps you should too." Then a pink haze spread across his face and he turned away and walked slowly off. Rune leaned out from under the tree in time to catch a skip or two, before Tetheus coughed and returned to his usual gait.
"I think that I need to lie down." Rune timidly sneaked out from under the tree, hoping to make it back to his room without being seen, but he disturbed Ruwalk before he even made it to the castle. The Dragon Officer was carrying a warm blanket, which almost covered the basket with strawberries, two bottles of wine, some whipped cream and what looked like the Best of Barry White.
Ruwalk blushed and sidled away, while Rune ran for the safety of the castle.
He was barely in the door when he found himself bumping into someone and ending up on the floor, with his face buried in cleavage. He pulled out to whimper "I'm so sorry, it was an accident", when he realised that he'd knocked down Cernozura in a revealing dress. She looked strangely at him, lying seductively on the ground, while Rune jumped to his feet and brushed himself off.
"Are you all right, Rune?" she asked. "You look a little flushed!"
"I'm fine!" he yelped, as his face turned the colour of Ruwalk's strawberries. Let me help you up!"
He extended a hand and used his other one to cover his eyes. Cernozura laughed and he felt a heavy weight on his hand and then she let go again.
"I'm up now, you can look," she purred.
Rune bowed, turned and sped off, only removing his hand when he'd toppled over three separate suits of armour.
"Aieee," he yelled, adding to word count. "Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
He started to calm down as he approached his bedroom.
"I'll be able to rest in a moment. Soon, it'll all be good. Everything will seem normal after a cat nap. I'm just tired - that's it!" he muttered.
He turned the corner and froze. Carefully turning the knob of Rune's own bedroom door and sliding into his sanctuary like a cat burglar was the Dragonlord, naked, except for a thong.
"What is going on?" wondered Rune.