Chapter Three
"Inside the castle, Princess Orowina was also contemplating her future, for she too wanted nothing more than to marry Sir Otto, and to help rule her father's nation. But Orowina was no fool, she knew that her father desperately needed the money from the Dragon's hoard, and that this was the primary reason her father bade Sir Otto to slay it in the first place. For the Kingdom was in a state of war, a very costly war, with the powerful Merchant's Guild who had decided that slavery was more profitable than honest labor wages, and that war had almost completely depleted the King's coffers. During that war, which had lasted for almost five years, many attempts had been made to assassinate both the King and the Princess. All had failed, seemingly by accident, oddly enough."
"Accident, grandfather? What, was this assassin Stupid or something?!" the boy says with a smirk on his face. Grandfather chuckles at this. "No, my boy, not one assassin, many assassins failed to kill both the King and the Princess." The boy smirks again, "Many! How could many assassins fail by accident? Didn't someone or something stop them before they could complete their mission?" the boy asks. Smiling inside because of his grandchild's observation, grandfather simply continues.
"It was as if some force, some greater being, was saving the King and the Princess from death. Each time an assassin would come calling, some strange event would take place, and the would-be assassin was killed, more often than not, right in front of the King or Princess!" "Told ya!" the boy says, then sits quietly.
"On one occasion, a large bell, used for ceremonial purposes to call in the next guess, simply fell from the ceiling and squished an assassin crouching in the shadows underneath it with a crossbow!" "Whoa!" the boy says, "Yuck! must be a big bell!" The grandfather nods, "And another time, an assassin stood up right in front of the Princess, ready to stab her to death with a dagger, but the dagger fell out of the assassin's hand! And the guards killed him just as he was looking down in confusion at the dagger he dropped." Grandfather chuckles at this one.
"And the most amazing time, was when an assassin was trying to kill both the King and the Princess at the same time by dropping a roof beam atop them and their entourage, but simply slipped and fell, somehow tangling the rope around his neck before hitting the floor, and hung himself!" "Ohh! Ouch!" the boy exclaims. Grandfather puts his finger in the book to mark the place and wags the other one at the boy, "Just remember never to make the mistake of getting caught on the wrong side of the law, my boy, because they'll hang you the same." With that, he goes back to reading: "It was the strangest of events. But the King and the Princess simply thanked their Goddess for the good luck, and went about their days. With double the number of guards, of course.
It was not long after this last assassination attempt that Sir Otto Percival came to court for the first time, much to the excited anticipation of the maids and maidens of the castle, to proclaim victory for his King over the remaining armies of the Merchant's Guild. The King was so pleased with Otto that he allowed him to ask for his daughters hand in marriage. With one stipulation: he must first go forth and slay the Dragon, Bloodflame, and bring the treasure back as dowry for her hand.
Sir Otto succeeded, of course, but that is a different Dragon tale, so to speak." "Of course," grandfather says, as he stops reading for a moment, "I've read that tale, but I don't think Sir Otto managed to slay the Dragon alone..." Ah well, the past is past. "Where was I?" "Sir Otto was going to court to marry the Princess!" says the boy.
"Ah ha! You're right, here we go... Sir Otto rode into the courtyard, dismounted, and handed Cloud's reins to his page, marching into the Palace proper. Sir Otto bowed before his King, then the Princess, and all three smiled broadly at each other. The King and the Princess walked down the steps from their thrones and each embraced Otto in a warm hug. Later that night, all three were dining, planning the impending wedding, and going over the long list of fantastic treasures found in the Dragon hoard. Just as the warm dreamberry pie was being passed around the table, a messenger rushed into the dining room to speak with the King."