The day had come. Regina had just woken up, the sun had just peeked over the horizon. She was getting ready at her vanity, and using her magic mirror like a security camera, clicking from view to view to survey the kingdom and the lands.
"Oh, no," she gasped audibly, and Emma rose on her elbows from the bed behind Regina, opening her eyes in time to see Regina tense up.
"What's wrong? If those pesky fairies are stealing bites from your apple tree again, so help me- I will get the broom and go swat them away right now," Emma started, showing her desire to defend anything that her family held dear.
"No, no, it's not that…it's…don't look!" Regina jumped up and tried to block Emma's view with her large cape, but Emma was already crossing the chamber to see what was so upsetting.
"That's Blaze's cave…but who is that?" Emma looked confused, recognizing the rocky entrance to Blaze's cave, but not the tunic clad young man heaving a sword bigger than he could manage, trembling at the foot of the cave.
"It's Prince Sumner, from the Border lands. I received the announcement that he recently reached his 16th year," Regina explained, when the mirror caught a good view of his frightened face. They watched the prince pace back and forth nervously.
"You mean he's…? No!" Emma cried, the implication becoming clear. "Blaze is too young. He's not ready for a battle. That prince is going to kill my baby poo!"
"Emma, I've been telling you from the minute you brought home that dragon egg that this would happen. Blaze is over a year old now. Dragons live for thousands of years or not very long at all, and you know why. You should know better than most, you do remember slaying one? Your father slayed one too, and in time Henry will also have to slay a dragon," Regina tried to prepare her for the worst.
"But Blaze is probably still asleep having sweet dreams about terrorizing villages. That stupid prince is going to sneak up on him! Regina, you have power, stop it from happening. Do something to help Blaze, he's family!" Emma clung to Regina, burying her face in her chest, seeking comfort, but feeling helpless.
"I can't do anything. Now, how would that look for our kingdom, hmm? It's ridiculous: the Queen having to intervene in a dragon/prince battle? This is about honor. It's a rite of passage for both of them, and we have a strong and noble dragon that protects our land. Trust in him, dear."
Emma sat down at the vanity with a thud, stunned to see the prince creeping into the cave, "I should have trained with him harder. I should have prepared him better…"
Regina sighed, shutting her eyes and resting her hands on Emma's shoulders to soothe her, "This is why I pushed for discipline. You coddled him, and treated his training like a game. Do you realize how unorthodox it was to even have a princess training a dragon? That is not how things are typically done here."
"Well, nothing about our lives has been typical, has it? What will we tell Henry if something happens to Blaze? He'll be devastated," Emma felt angry at the whole world, and so worried for the dragon she had raised and loved since the day he hatched.
"I suppose we'll tell him that we took Blaze to a big farm to live out the rest of his days," Regina tried to joke, but it fell flat and Emma just glared at the mirror. Their attention was rapt on the scene before them, as a huge cloud of fire and smoke erupted from the darkness of the cave.
"He's awake! He's fighting. That was a nice big fire breath, did you see?" Emma started to feel hopeful.
"He's always had powerful fire breath. I haven't forgotten how he turned my bower into an inferno with a sneeze. It's still being rebuilt, you know," Regina reminded Emma of the well-known fact. Emma was still atoning to Regina for that incident, but it was worth it for Blaze.
A minute later, the prince ran out from the cave, dropping the sword, and grabbing wildly at his own smoking ass. Blaze emerged, his green eyes shining, looking more ferocious than Emma had ever seen. He looked toward the direction the prince had run off to, and then threw his head back in a celebratory bellow, strutting around and flipping his tail proudly.
"He did it! He's okay!" Emma sucked back a sob, tears escaping her eyes and running down her cheeks. She turned to give Regina an awkward high five, and then a long hug, letting relief flood her senses. Regina bit her lip as she hugged Emma back, also glad Blaze was okay. She never really let on, but she had grown quite fond of the clumsy lovable beast. She especially enjoyed their Sunday flying rides that had become somewhat of a tradition.
However, Regina remained somewhat somber, feeling bittersweet. She decided not to tell Emma what she knew. The prince's failure to slay Blaze would only serve to incite and rouse his kingdom. They would be back to attempt to defeat him again sooner than later. There would be many, but Blaze would be strong.