29I still don't own OUAT.
I still need to finish other stories, but instead I am writing new OUAT stories. Go figures. But I really liked writing this one/ I hope that you enjoy.
" Your highness? I do hope this one is to your liking" the slimy hunter said, bowing to her. She followed the large, hairy hand to the chain it was holding and from there on to blue-grey eyes that promised suffering. She had to quell the urge to shout at the man when she saw the point where the further beautiful skin of the dragon was welling with dark blood.
" Thank you, Lord" she said politely, her cheeks aching with the effort to uphold a fake smile. Her eyes were still on the various gashes that dripped with blood and not on the man's unappealing face.
The man straightened, licking his lips and smiling at her in that slightly patronizing way. " Of course. Now, my- "
his hand went to his neck suddenly. Regina didn't have to glance to her right to know it was her mother's doing; that her mother was causing the man's eyes to bulge slightly, the brown to be taken over by the dark of his pupils, the sound that left those unappealing thin lips, the sweat that made his thinning hair stick to his forehead. With a sickening thud, the body hit the floor.
" Well. Go to your dragon, dear" Cora urged and for an insane moment, Regina felt a small spark of rebellion. She felt like saying no or better yet, freeing the dragon and flying away on it. Which would be glorious, magnificent, absolutely perfect-
apart from the small fact that the dragon would probably eat her or worse if she was foolish enough to free it.
She quelled the tiny spark and walked over to the dragon. She was a little surprised that it hadn't tried to fly away yet: the chain that was holding it captive might still be clung to be the hand of a cruel man, but the man didn't actually live anymore…
then again, considering that this creature could easily carry a man far heavier than the hunter, it probably can't fly away because of something else. Magic, probably.
Regina took a careful step towards the dragon, trying very hard to ignore the corpse on the ground. Thanks to her mother, she was well-acquainted with Death. But that did not mean she accepted it or no longer felt the pain whenever her mother mindlessly murdered someone.
Right now, Regina felt the same squeeze in her chest as when someone died: now that she was closer, it seemed like she had imagined the rage from earlier. The dragon's eyes had seemed like a stormy sky then, about to be dominated by thunder. Now, they seemed dull and lifeless. They were more grey than blue, as though the color had leaked out of this amazing creature.
Regina took another step towards it, vaguely away of her heartbeat slowing. Beautiful.. She carefully reached out her hand , her eyes studying the varying gashes on the creature's head, and inhaled the air smelling vaguely of smoke as-
" Regina!". She jumped a little, then. She had completely forgotten she was still in court. While not as bad as it would've been during other occasions ( only her mother and the most important officials were present, instead of let's say the entire kingdom) , she had still completely forgotten all about her location, her upbringing and quite possibly her name. All that had existed, was the creature breathing in front of her.
" don't come to close to it, its magic is unpredictable. It could be hypnotizing you".
Cora snapped a command at someone, an official or a servant or perhaps even Regina's dad but Regina hardly heard. It felt like her head was submerged under water. She glanced behind her, where Cora was waving and ordering and someone looked like they were about to cry and faint. She didn't seem to be paying attention.
She glanced back at the dragon and took a tiny step towards it. She raised her hand, that felt like there were weights attached to it, and held her breath until the tip of her finger touched skin. Exhaling, she slowly stroked it with one finger, studying its eyes to see whether it was okay with it. It- nodded! It did, Regina saw it.
She tore her eyes away from the captivating blue-grey. Partly because it felt like drowning. Partly because it made her eyes sting, the sorrow she saw in those pools. She focused instead on the warm, oddly textured skin beneath her finger. She couldn't really describe it. But if she had to, she would say that it was like petting a snake with one hand and a fish with the other.
Even odder, Regina felt like there was something leaving the dragon's body and entering hers. That was the best way to describe it and it confused Regina, because it was still a terrible way to describe it. She was quite sure that she would feel the feeling slipping away from her the moment she retracted her fingers ( she didn't remember making the decision, but she was now touching the dragon with four fingers) and didn't want to. It felt good, no –
It felt right
She took another tiny step towards the dragon, who turned its head towards her and stared right at her- oh, oh. Waves crashing over her, foam in her mouth, being hit by lightning and –
" REGINA" someone yelled her name at the same time that strong arms grabbed her and pulled her away from the dragon. Regina felt numb, her eyes still glued to the dragon , her brain still not really registering the sounds of people around her. That's when a guard stepped forward.
Regina released a scream the dragon couldn't let escape the gag around its mouth when one of the guards whipped the dragon. Regina shook when the dragon turned its body slightly away from the punishing whip and the guard just whipped harder, and harder, and harder until the whip was partly covered in dragon blood.
" Stop it!" she commanded , pulling free from the arms behind her. " It wasn't hurting me, stop it!" she stalked towards the guard and grabbed the whip when the guard pulled back in order to whip the creature again .
"Regina" just that one word, but it managed to feel like the whip she was holding, had just struck her all over her bare back.
" It wasn't. Mother".
" It wasn't yet" her mother corrected , sounding almost bored. Leave it to her to not care about Regina getting hurt.
Regina ignored her mother as she threw the whip away and edged towards the dragon. It had its head slightly bent, hardly noticeable , but Regina was used to noting weakness. Not only had her mother forced her to learn to notice it (" it's very useful dear) but she had been learned from a young age what exactly tipped her mother off that Regina was terrified or –worse- 'begging' for love.
She bend and removed the chain from the corpse's hand. She had to swallow bile several times. The moment the chain was in her hand, it glowed and seemed to wrap around her hand for a moment before relaxing again. She hardly noticed.
With it still in her hand , she took a small step towards the dragon.
" Regina. You will be brought towards the tower, separately from the beast" her mother's cold voice forced her attention away from the dragon.
Before she could say one word of protest, her father was next to her and gently tugging her with him. She risked one look over her shoulder, her chest suddenly too small for her lungs heart whatever else there was when the dragon bend its head slightly more and stepped backwards when two guards prodded it with spears.
It was only at the door, where a guard asked for it, that she remembered that the chain was still in her hand. It felt almost like parting with a dear friend, having to hand it over.
One month later, the tower, somewhere in Cora's kingdom
Regina didn't know whether it was normal. She saw the sky turn every color imaginable and the stars appear. She read and wrote and did anything not to die of boredom. That might have been normal (most princesses spent at least a year in their tower after all) but what Regina suspected wasn't normal was the following.
Whenever the sky turned every color imaginable, the dragon's head appeared in front of her window and Regina petted it, delighted but also terrified by the rush of that indefinable thing she felt. And whenever the stars appeared, she called to the dragon. It would rest its head on the window still where Regina would sit and tell stories. Sometimes she fell asleep and would wake with the dragon inches away from her, the warm breath leaving its nostrils a gentle caress and its body heat a welcome reprieve from the cold. Sometimes she woke in her bed (with no memory of getting there) and the dragon would be hunting.
Was it normal for princesses and dragons to be friends and enemies all at once?
Right now, with her back against the wall ( she had dragged some pillows over, but it still wasn't exactly comfortable) and a book about the kingdom's long history on her lap, she looked at the sunlight hitting her dragon's scales and wondered whether it was normal to wish for your dragon to have a voice.
She forced her attention back to her book, but her eyes kept slipping towards the flashes of black she saw from the corner of her eyes. It should be horrifying, a large and incredibly dangerous creature hunting… grabbing deer and such with lethal claws… ripping them apart.
But it wasn't. Truth is, what little terror she had felt for the creature was gone now. It might still be lurking somewhere in the back of her mind, pushing to the front whenever the creature reminded her of just how dangerous it was ( like when it curled around the tower and scratched the walls. Presumably to sharpen its nails) but she didn't really feel it anymore.
Instead, she smiled faintly as the dragon caught and devoured its prey. Enjoying how it flew around, how free and magnificent it looked in the fading light. It really was a beautiful creature, with the agile body and the wings that were like a piece of art.
She kind of wished she could see it breathe fire, but that was impossible. The chain that bound the dragon to this spot (the tower as well as some miles away from it) also kept the gag on when there wasn't a prince to roast. And the couple of times that it had breathed fire at foolish princes, Regina had woken too late or it had been too far away.
The sound of the creature landing woke Regina from her thoughts and she looked down at her dragon. It was at the foot of the tower, laying down in the tall grass that surrounded it. Normally it would come to her window, but perhaps it first wanted to rest for a while.
I wonder why it's not partaking in our little ritual. Not that it has to, or that it's anything but foolish what we are doing-
A prince would come. A prince would survive. And the dragon would die
But I still like it. I like talking to it, feeling understood. It's smart, that's clear. And I know a bit about dragons, even if they are elusive creatures. They do understand human language. They even have human form, human voices.
Regina yawned, blinked and snuggled into the warm pillows at her back. She drew the blankets a little tighter around her.
I wish I could hear hers. I want to know what she sounds like
That was the last thing Regina thought before her eyes fully closed, the book slipped from her lap and landed next to a brooding dragon and her body became limp. Her breathing became even and deep as she slipped deeper and deeper into the land of dreams.
While the sky around the tower darkened, and the sun sunk and the stars rose, the chain around Regina's wrist began to glow gently. The magic floated down , from the princess' wrist, to where the dragon's head was resting on its paws. It lazily opened one eye at the familiar scent of magic.
When it saw where the magic was coming from, it seemed to smirk. If anyone in the perimeters had been able to read thoughts , it would've heard well well, isn't the princess full of surprises and then seen a large shadow fly towards a lone figure at the window, sunken in a pile of pillows.
Regina made a small sound in the back of her throat, either of protest or contentment, when someone stroked her cheek. She sighed , snuggled deeper in the glorious warmth of her pillows. For once, she hadn't been having nightmares. Instead , she had dreamt of flying, of the wind freezing her cheeks and laugh stuck in her throat. The dragon had felt wonderful beneath her.
" If you don't wake up now, I will be forced to kiss you awake" a seductive voice suddenly said and Regina opened her eyes quickly, immediately gasping out " where is my drag-?". The on was stuck in her throat when faced with the woman leaning over her, full lips inches away from Regina's own.
Those eyes…
Regina may not recognize the tall, well-built body or the mess of blonde hair of this woman, but she would recognize the eyes everywhere. As well as the dress the woman was wearing. One of hers.
When the dragon saw Regina's eyes widen , she sniffed the dress without breaking eye contact with her princess. " Hmm it smells of you" she purred.
" Well, I d-did wear it yesterday" Regina retorted, trying to summon the dignity and slight arrogance of a princess, but feeling far more like a fish in the mouth of a bear. The dragon was still leaning over her and now she was getting closer again. Regina's heart nearly jumped out of her chest.
" It doesn't smell as… " Regina actually felt a little faint as the dragon licked her lips slowly while raking her eyes over Regina " delectable as you though".
" Have you already eaten?" Regina blurted out, frantically trying to remember when and if dragons ate humans. Yes. In human form? Don't know.
The woman laughed. " Calm down, little one. I ate plenty yesterday".
" Oh that's good. So you don't want some bread.. or perhaps an apple?".
" No".
Regina's mouth opened to say something, but she forgot her words when the dragon stroked her cheek again. She wetted her lips and tried again. " Why are you doing that?"
.
The dragon shrugged. " I like it".
" Oh".
" And you like it, so there is no reason to not do it".
" Who says I like it?".
" You closed your eyes and sighed. I am not an expert in human behavior but even I know that signals contentment".
Regina didn't know what to say, so she was silent for a while , indeed enjoying the stroke of fingers. She was almost drifting back to sleep when the dragon carefully pressed down on her.
She gasped. " sshh" the dragon whispered, stroking Regina's hair. Is it a myth that dragons have an obsession with human hair? That they use it to build nests?
" You stroked me, that first day" the dragon suddenly said, twisting Regina's hair around her finger.
Regina swallowed, with difficulty. " I wouldn't say stroke, more like .. ".
The dragon chuckled. " Call it what you want. You were afraid that first day".
" I am not afraid"
"I was talking about that first day". The dragon bended her head a little so she her lips pressed against Regina's ear. She could feel them move as the dragon whispered " your heart is racing today. But I don't think that's fear…".
So I am going to stop here. I am tired, but I also have a feeling that this is the right moment to stop. If anyone wants me to continue, I would be glad to.