Happy Easter everyone!

Chapter Seven – Dragonflame Tower

A knock on the door woke them in the morning followed by the voice of Wilma Sullivan.

"Wake up, lovebirds, breakfast is ready!" she called. Courtney opened her eyes to find herself snuggled against Duncan, her head on his bare chest. She quickly rolled away and slipped out of bed, her face flaming red, hoping he hadn't noticed. He had noticed but he hadn't minded one bit. Duncan got out of bed and put his clothes back on.

"Duncan, will you ask Mrs Sullivan to come and help me with my corset please?" Courtney requested. Duncan nodded and exited the bedroom to find Wilma.

"Good morning, m'lord, how did you sleep?" she asked when he found her in the kitchen.

"Well, thank you. Cornelia would like some help dressing if you wouldn't mind," Duncan requested. Wilma nodded and headed to the bedroom while Duncan headed to the dining table where Curtis and his children were already stuffing their faces. Duncan grinned and joined them piling his plate with bacon and eggs. Courtney and Wilma soon appeared and they all ate breakfast together, the children chattering away. Halfway through there was a knock at the door. Curtis got up to answer it.

"We're very popular lately," Wilma joked.

"Mr Sullivan, is that right?" a gruff voice came. William scooted off his chair to go and see who was at the door.

"That's right, what can I so for you, Sir?" Curtis replied. William skipped back to the table.

"It's the royal guards," he whispered. Duncan and Courtney exchanged a look of dismay. Wilma eyed them curiously while they eavesdropped on the conversation.

"You'll be happy to know that we killed your ogre on our way through the forest," the guard informed Curtis.

"Thank you, Sir, it is much appreciated. He's been terrorising people for years, in fact–," Curtis started, but the guard cut him off.

"Another thing. You may or may not have heard that Princess Courtney is missing. We have reason to believe she has been kidnapped and passed through this way, have you seen her?" the guard asked. Wilma stared at Courtney in shock.

"Shit." Duncan cursed.

"Princess…" Wilma whispered.

"Yes, I'm the princess," Courtney admitted quickly. Duncan felt a little disappointed at how easily she'd given up. He should've known she'd turn him in at the first chance. "Listen, Wilma, you have to help us. If they catch us, they will kill him. Please help us escape," Courtney pleaded. Duncan could hardly believe his ears. True to her word, Courtney was going to stay with him and see the ransom through, though she could simply walk out now and be taken safely back to her castle. Wilma regarded the pair.

"What does the princess look like?" Curtis was asking.

"Lizzie, quickly tell your father in our special code that he has to lie to the guard. Scott, go to the stable and get a horse ready. You two," she gestured to Duncan and Courtney, "come with me." Wilma grabbed a bag and started filling it with food as well as some other odds and ends. She gave them each a cloak and led them to the back door.

"You won't mind if we search the place then?" they heard the guard say.

"The things I do for young love!" Wilma shook her head. "I hope you remember this kindness, princess!"

"I will," Courtney assured her, glad that Wilma still believed Courtney and Duncan were in love. She must have thought they had run away together to elope or she surely would have turned them in. Courtney and Duncan waved to her as they ran to the stable where Scott was waiting with a horse. The pair mounted the horse and gave Scott their thanks.

"Good luck, Your Grace," Scott bowed his head to Courtney, "and…"

"Duncan," Duncan stated.

"Good luck, Duncan," Scott handed Duncan the reins and Duncan dug his heels into the horses sides and they cantered away towards Dragonflame Tower.


They saw Dragonflame Tower long before they reached it. It sat on the edge of a cliff on the coastline, the only evidence other than piles of rubble, that there had ever been a castle there. In its glory days the castle had housed the previous royal family, but when Courtney's grandfather took the throne he'd had it demolished, for it served as a reminder of his third cousin, the king before him, whom he'd hated. He'd left the watchtower and it had been used as a lighthouse for a time, until the dragon decided to inhabit the area and no one wanted to go near it. There had most likely been no one to enter the tower in fifty years. Its name had been changed when the dragon arrived and no one remembered what it had been called before that.

Duncan and Courtney had to travel through an expanse of trees before they reached the rocky and barren cliffs. Duncan stopped the horse in the tree line. There was a grassy area between the trees and the rocks that stretched for fifty metres and then the ground became grey stone. Large boulders jutted from the ground and Duncan could see why this made a good resting place for a dragon.

He dismounted and Courtney followed. Duncan tied the horse's bridle to a tree, not wanting it to get eaten by the dragon. They stood just inside the tree line, looking over at the tower.

"Dragonflame Tower," Courtney observed.

"Yeah. That's where I'm supposed to hide you until the ransom is paid," Duncan informed her. Courtney nodded.

"Where's the dragon?" she asked.

"I'm not sure…" he looked up at the sky, expecting to see the great beast circling overhead. Daniel had told him this was where he was to keep the princess, except Daniel had failed to mention how to get past the dragon. It was nowhere in sight now though, so maybe they could just walk to the tower? "Come on," Duncan said to Courtney. He almost grabbed her hand but stopped himself at the last second, instead placing his hand on his knife hilt. He headed out of the trees and across the grass, Courtney just behind him. They made it to the rocky area without any trouble but as Duncan stepped out from behind a huge boulder, he saw a huge golden eye staring at him.

"Oh wow…" Duncan breathed, awestruck. A green scaled eyelid blinked over the eye and Duncan felt compelled towards it.

"What is it?" Courtney asked urgently.

"Dragon." Duncan stated.

"What's it doing?" Courtney whispered. She went to peer out from behind the boulder but Duncan pushed her back. "I want to see!" she whined.

"Too dangerous," Duncan said, edging closer to the dragon. Courtney huffed.

"If it's so dangerous, what are you doing? You're going to get us killed!" she scolded in a hushed tone.

"It's fine!" Duncan assured her, but no sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the eye began to move. Huge green wings spread above him, blocking out the sun and casting a shadow over the pair. "Holy shit!" Duncan swore as the dragon lifted into the sky. "Run!" he told Courtney. She didn't hesitate as she ran for the trees and Duncan was right behind her. The dragon didn't seem to be in much of a hurry as it rose higher and higher into the sky. It screeched as it dove for them, letting out a huge gust of fire that narrowly missed them, but Duncan could feel the heat at his back. He had no idea if they'd be safe in the trees but it was the best hope he had. Courtney was just ahead of him and he'd just about caught up with her when her foot got caught on something and she fell to the ground with a sharp cry.

"Courtney!" Duncan yelled, quickly coming to a stop. The dragon rose into the air, preparing itself for another dive. "Are you okay?" Duncan asked.

"I think I twisted my ankle… argh, god it hurts," she glanced up at the sky nervously. "What did I even trip on?" she looked down at the ground, searching through the grass.

"Who cares? Let's just get out of here!" Duncan urged. He was about to pick her up and carry her, but she stopped him.

"Duncan, look at this!" she had her hand on a metal rung, which was apparently what she had tripped over. Duncan was looking up at the dragon which was circling back to them. Courtney pulled on the metal rung and was pleased to find it opened a trap door. "Duncan!" she snapped. Duncan reluctantly brought his eyes back to the ground and his mouth dropped open as he saw what Courtney had discovered. The dragon made another attack, diving down and red hot fire as Courtney and Duncan scrambled through the trapdoor and slammed the heavy iron door behind them. Courtney fell to her knees, not being able to stand on her quickly swelling ankle.

"That was close. Thank god we found this trapdoor!" Duncan said.

"No thanks to you!" Courtney frowned.

"I totally knew this was here," Duncan lied.

"You really are the worst kidnapper of all time," Courtney rolled her eyes. Duncan ignored her and peered into the darkness. He couldn't see two inches in front of him it was so dark.

"Where are we?" he wondered out loud.

"I expect this is a tunnel that leads to the tower," Courtney reasoned. Duncan felt around in front of him with his foot and found that there was a step leading downwards just in front of him. He carefully stepped onto it, then tried the same thing again, finding another step.

"I think we're at the top of a staircase…" Duncan informed her. "Come on," he said. Courtney, who had been kneeling down, tried to stand but found she couldn't put any weight on her left ankle, the one she'd caught in the handle to the trapdoor. She gasped in pain and sank back to her knees.

"I can't walk," she told Duncan. Duncan sighed and stepped back up to the top step to help her, when a voice carried through the tunnel.

"Who's there?" the voice called. Duncan spun around to see the flicker of a torch at the bottom of the staircase. "Duncan, is that you?" the familiar voice called again.

"Yeah, it's me," Duncan called back.

"Who is that?" Courtney whispered.

"That's my brother, Daniel," Duncan sighed.