Prince charming's Arc

Chapter 21 of 30

Prince Charming slept badly and woke before dawn with the problem still under his ribs. The princess could call him with a bird, and he could ride hard, but a bird could only fly as far as a bird could fly. If he crossed the second ridge on the road, no wing would find him. He needed a signal that reached higher than a bird, one the dragon itself could see from the mountain. He dressed and walked down to the birdbath at the forest's edge with a coil of oiled rag, a flint, and an iron pot he used for tallow. He set the pot on the flat stone beside the water. He packed the rag in tight and struck a spark. The rag caught and threw a thick black column straight up into the still morning air. He watched the smoke climb above the pines, above the ridge, above the tree line on the mountain. Then he waited. The dragon came. It swept down from the rocks with its wings held wide, the red membrane bright against the gray sky, and it landed hard in the field beyond the birdbath. Prince Charming walked out to meet it with his hands open. He pointed at the pot, then at the mountain, then at the tower on the hill. He said the word smoke twice, and then the word trouble. The dragon lowered its head to the pot and drew a long breath through its nose. It looked at the tower. It looked back at him. Then it took the iron pot in its teeth, lifted off, and carried the pot up the mountain path to the ridge where the sign stood. It set the pot down on the flat rock beside the sign and pushed it once with its snout. Prince Charming understood. The dragon would watch that stone. Any smoke from the birdbath, any smoke from the tower, any smoke from his own chimney lit black in daylight would bring it down. He climbed to the tower and told the princess. He gave her a bundle of the oiled rag and showed her how to pack the pot on her platform. From now on she did not need a bird to reach the mountain. She needed a match. He rode out that afternoon toward town for the first time in a month, and when he crossed the second ridge he looked back and saw two clean chimneys and one waiting pot, and he kept riding.