Chapter 8: The Deal:
Hyun-Ah's POV:
I walked over to a lake. I then called the Dragon King. "This girl's insane," I said.
"Oh really," asks the Dragon King.
"Wait, shouldn't you defend her," I asked.
"Why," asks the Dragon King. "Do you still think that marriage was about respecting the wife. The only woman who I respected is my mother. Respecting my wife will be like respecting my mother and I don't wanna go down that route!"
I just stared at him. That's his reason for not respecting his wife. "Never mind. She thinks a frog, a sparrow, and a black ox are helping her with chores! And oh yeah, oxen are not black!"
"Okay, let's bring the sass down to, like, a four, okay, sweetheart?"
"I can't keep this up," I said, "I can't do this!"
"Listen, Honey, we made a deal. There's no backing out now. Or did you forget?"
"I remember," I said.
Hyun-Ah's POV - Flashback:
"I beseech you, Divine Dragon," I said, "end our suffering. Our crops are dying. Could you please grace us with a rainstorm?"
"We've been searching forever!"
"What," I asked. I then looked and it's the Divine Dragon himself!
"Why aren't the 'wanted' posters working?"
"But we put them up everywhere, your Grace!"
"What is this? I told you to draw the girl you dimwit!"
"But Sire, girls are so much harder to draw than stones!"
I then got in their way. "Divine Master of Weather," I said, "thank you for answering my call."
"How dare you, a mere mortal, speak to his Lordship."
"Avert your eyes!"
"My apologies. We have no food here. No water. Could you please, please send us rain?"
"Well, aren't you a presumptuous little snack?" says the Dragon King as he opens his mouth to eat me!
"Wait, please," I said, "I'll do anything! You must need an assistant! A servant!"
"A human servant? Ha!"
"He already has two perfectly good and trusted advisors."
"We carry his tub."
"Wait, perhaps the girl would need a friend," says the Dragon King, "would you lie for me? Get your paws dirty? You'll have to be manipulated, vicious, and cunning! Do you have that in you, you scrumptious, sweet little thing? Because when you make a deal with me, you follow through and if you don't, I will eat you!"
"Wait, shouldn't you first make sure she's not high in cholesterol?"
"What," asks the Dragon King.
"Benbo, I doubt that he even cares if she's low in cholesterol."
"Oh! Yeah, that too!"
"Okay, I accept," I said.
"Befriend a girl named... what was my bride-to-be's name again?"
"Ye Xian," says Benbo.
"Ye Xian, that's right," says the Dragon King.
"Wait, you're going to marry this girl and you can't bother to remember her name," I asked.
"Who said marriage was about respecting the wife," asks the Dragon King, "oh, here's a picture!" He then hands me a picture. "Befriend her, earn her trust, and take her stone! We can grab her ourselves! When the stone is in my possession, you'll get your rain."
Hyun-Ah's Present:
"I never get a chance to grab the stone because she keeps ignoring me," I said.
"Did you manage to befriend her," asks the Dragon King.
"All I did was weird her out," I said.
"How did you... do you even have friends," asks the Dragon King.
"Do you," I asked.
"Fair point," says the Dragon King.
"I thought we were your friends," says Benbo.
"Now who told you that," asks the Dragon King.
"Now, I'm hurt," says Babbo.
"Also, she keeps putting up with these slave drivers," I said.
"Wait, what's that behind you," asks the Dragon King.
I looked at the flier. "Oh, the Magistrate is holding a festival," I said.
"She'd probably want to see the Magistrate's son," says the Dragon King. At first, he was angry, but then he got an idea. "Wait, if she wants to go to this festival... perhaps, she'll need to get ready, maybe she'll need a fairy godmother... or two!"
"Why are you looking at us like that," asks Babbo.
"I'm afraid of that look you have on your face, sire," says Benbo.
"Huhh," I asked.
"Just get her to that forest over there," says the Dragon King, "I'll put on a show she won't forget!"
To Be Continued
In the next chapter, the Dragon King attempts to trap Ye Xian.