Prince charming's Arc

Chapter 9 of 30

Princess Elara Rosemary did not answer at once. She looked past him at the dragon in the field, then down at the marten tracks on his sleeve. She said she had brought something from the tower, and she wanted him to see it before she said more. Prince Charming felt the deep woods pulling at his back. A badger had taken cloth from his hand that morning. If he left the paths cold too long, the honey strips would dry and the deep creatures would forget the shape of him. But the princess had ridden a day to reach his door, and the dragon in the field had not moved. He told her to show him. She led him around the side of his house to her cart. On the boards sat a stone birdbath, its rim carved in overlapping leaves, the pedestal cracked at the base. She said her grandmother had kept it in a garden long ago, and a great diamond had rested in the basin until a dragon took it. She had found the bath in the tower cellar when she cleaned the rooms. She thought he should have it. She said the jewel birds might come to it if he set it near the treeline, and the dragon might remember what was owed. Prince Charming set his hand on the cold stone. He understood she was not asking for the earring back. She was giving him a second courier, one that did not need to be fed. He thanked her. Then he told her he had to walk the forest paths before dark, or the animals would lose him. He asked if she would wait at the house until he returned. She said she would. He carried the birdbath himself to the edge of the trees and set it on level ground where the field met the forest. He filled the basin from his water skin. He walked into the deep woods with the scale at his chest and refreshed the honey strips at each branch. A fox watched him from a fern and did not run. When he came back at dusk, three jewel birds stood on the leaf rim, drinking. The dragon had shifted closer, its head low to the grass, watching the birds. Princess Elara Rosemary sat on his step with her traveling cloak folded beside her. She said she would stay a few days, if he allowed it, and help him keep the paths. He said yes. The deep forest had not slipped. The dragon had not left. He had held both, and gained a hand to hold them with.