The Dragon Quest
By
Beth Sadler
Copyright Beth Sadler 2014
This book is written in Australian English.
Cover Copyright Beth Sadler 2014
This book is dedicated to all the little girls in our family
Chapter 1
Once upon a time, in a magical land not too, too far away, lived a heartily disgusted, beautiful, golden-eyed princess.
In the last four years Princess Capability had managed to frighten off every young prince who had vied for her hand in marriage. She was now down to the last one.
That wouldn’t normally worry her, being a very capable and determined princess. However, she had taken one look at this last contender and fallen fathoms deep in love.
Hah, she thought. Fat chance of hooking this one, he will probably run screaming in terror too. None of the other princes that had arrived to woo her had stayed long enough to make a formal offer.
Unfortunately, none of the princes who had arrived seemed to understand Princess Capability, and had been unable to handle her managing ways. All of which was really quite sad, as she only wanted to keep things running smoothly.
Prince Messycloak was not particularly handsome, although he was certainly tall and well made. But, Capability had looked up at him and into the kindest eyes in the world. As far as she was concerned there was never going to be anyone else for her.
With one, last, sad sigh she straightened her slim shoulders and marched out of her room. It was time to face Prince Messycloak and hear his rejection.
Chapter 2
Ten minutes later, Capability stood in the royal audience chamber in shock.
Messycloak had offered for her hand, and her parents were beaming in joy.
King Courageous decided now might be a good time to bring up the subject of the quest. He would have to be quick, before Messycloak came to his senses and ran away like all of the others.
Now it has to be explained, that all young princes had to complete a valorous deed before they could wed their betrothed. The king cleverly determined to make this one easy and fast. There was no point in chasing off the only good prospect they’d had.
“Hurrumph” The king coughed importantly, drawing all the eyes in the room towards him. “Sir, I decree that you must slay a dragon within the month.”
Capability looked a little worried, but Messycloak seemed quite eager.
The king continued with his instructions. “After you have bestowed the betrothal kiss you may leave immediately on your journey.”
Capability stood happily smiling at her brand new, nearly fiancée. The prince needed a haircut, Capability thought. She wasn’t finding fault with him already, she was quick to reassure herself, she only noticed because his lovely hair had a tendency to stick out from under his crown in all directions.
Sweeping his wrinkled silver cloak over one shoulder, Prince Messycloak knelt at her feet. She really hoped that he didn’t get dirt on his tights; they were a gorgeous shade of purple. Slowly he lowered his head, and taking one of her long slender hands in his, kissed the back of it. Capability thought this was the most romantic moment of her life.
Chapter 3
Several hours later Princess Capability was in utter despair. Her happiness at being engaged to Messycloak was all gone. Prince Messycloak was nowhere to be found, he’d vanished it seemed, into thin air.
She had looked all over the castle for him, even down deep in the dungeons where the king kept his spring-water and wine. Messycloak just wasn’t co-operating. He had cleverly dodged her for the whole day.
The Wish Fairy had instructed that Prince Messycloak must kiss Capability three times to seal the engagement contract or it would be null and void. However, no matter how much Capability begged him to kiss her, he still wouldn’t oblige.
Nearly at her wits end, she finally tracked him down in the Magical Garden just before dark.
In a temper and with her hands on her hips she confronted her reluctant fiancée and once again asked him why he was avoiding her.
Didn’t he realise that before he could leave to slay the dragon, he had to kiss her first for good luck? Really they just didn’t make princes the way they used to. Why, in her mother’s day, she would already have been kissed, married, and have the first royal baby on the way by now. Phew! Life in a fairy story just wasn’t predictable anymore.
Grabbing her courage in one hand, and her temper in the other, she seized the edge of his cloak and swung him around to face her again.
“Just what is your problem? You have to kiss me if this story is going to work out properly. No self- respecting prince can tackle a dragon without a magicical kiss from the princess. You know that’s the way it has to work”
Prince Messycloak looked miserable, wringing his hands in despair. Finally, he looked into her eyes, and confessed.
“The truth is, I want to kiss you, but the Cloak Wizard has decreed that until I learn to iron I’m not worthy of you. And I just can’t seem to find anyone to teach me.”
The princess was astonished, delay after delay, just because he couldn’t iron?
“Oh you idiot,” she cried. “I’ll take care of the ironing; you just get on with the kissing and the dragon thing.”
Going up on her tip-toes, the princess grabbed him by the ears and pulled his head down to hers.
“Now kiss me you fool and let’s get on with the story.”
Chapter 4
Princess Capability marched up and down her enormous room in the palace wringing her hands. She was very worried. Prince Messycloak had been gone for over a week and no one had heard from him. Hah! It was starting to look like she would have to go looking for the dragon herself, if she was ever to get married and have her own palace.
Capability had kept herself busy while she’d waited for her Prince to return from the Dragon Quest and claim her hand in marriage. She’d instructed the servants to collect all of her prince’s cloaks from his kingdom and had ironed every last one of them. She hoped that would keep the old Cloak Wizard happy. Now it was starting to look like her prince had changed his mind about her. Just like all of the others had.
She was the last of the royal children to find a partner. Her Mother and Father, King Courageous and Queen Beauteous had produced five perfect children------ and one dud.
Of course, no one said she was a dud, but she knew. She was so capable, that no young prince seemed to measure up to her. She usually organised them so much; they ran screaming back to their kingdoms to get away.
Her brothers, Valiant and Victorious had married beautiful princesses without any hitch at all. Braveheart and Bountiful had found Fairy Princesses to enlarge the family. Then there was her incredibly beautiful sister Radiant, who had found a handsome prince who absolutely adored her and their three daughters.
She really needed to find Messycloak, for, in spite of her managing ways, he actually seemed to admire her. There simply wasn’t going to be any one else for her. Deep down, in her secret heart, she had to admit he was the only one who had ever made her heart flutter.
She was giving him one more day, then no matter what her parents said; she was riding off to find him.
“Please God,” she prayed. “Don’t let the dragon have got him.”
Chapter 5
Princess Capability had given Prince Messycloak all the time she could, now worry had driven her to this embarrassing act of desperation.
It was so unfair, so embarrassing, when was she going to accept that men just didn’t want the capable dud?
Capability had tracked down her errant suitor, only to find that he just hadn’t wanted to come and collect her. The proof was right in front of her eyes.
After hours of hard ridin
g she now stood on a hilltop, many miles from the castle and looking down into a pretty glade. There, before her eyes, was her prince----looking all safe and sound. Although, he did seem quite miserable as he sat on a rock with his head in his hands.
The rock was next to a slow-moving, sparkling, purple stream. Brightly coloured trees shaded the glade and filled the air with a sweet, mystical scent. All of which looked so safe, that her fears for her prince’s life now seemed silly.
Princess Capability had crept out of the Palace as dawn was streaking the sky with silver. Mounted on her fast, reliable steed, she’d made good time reaching the Enchanted Glen, in her quest to save her Prince from the fire breathing dragon.
Hah! It didn’t look like dragon slaying fared on the Prince’s calendar anytime soon.
One crystal bright tear slipped down her cheek, as she gazed at the man she had lost her heart to, and who didn’t wanted her.
Well darn it! He was going to tell her why, if it was the last thing she heard him say. Mounting her steed by way of its massive, green feathered foreleg, she thanked it nicely for the help, then cantered on down into the glade and a confrontation with Prince Messycloak.
******
Amidst a flurry of hooves and feathers, she slid to a halt in front of the Prince.
“Well, what have you got to say for yourself you Pernicious Prince? If you didn’t want to marry me you only had to say so.”
Prince Messycloak looked even sadder if that was possible. He wrung his hands and tried desperately to shake the wrinkles out of his cloak.
“Oh no My Lady, I desperately want to marry you, but everything has gone wrong, and I don’t know what to do.”
Just then there was a loud cough and billows of ash poured out of a nearby copse of trees.
Messycloak waved a hand in that direction and said. “That’s my problem, that’s why I haven’t returned to claim your hand in marriage.”
Climbing down from the rock, he squared his shoulders valiantly, and taking one of her hands, gently led her forward.
“Let me show you, then you’ll know why I can never be your husband, though the thought of you married to another, fills me with despair.”
Waving the floating ash away from their faces, they took a few steps into the copse before Messycloak drew them both to a halt.
“Arthur, it’s alright you can come out now, it’s only Princess Capability.”
A shuffling, stumbling, earth-shaking thump preceded the shaking of the highest branches in the trees. Then, out of the clouds of ash, still coughing miserably lumbered a magnificent twenty-foot dragon, his scales glistening red and blue in the morning sun.
Flopping back on his wonderful tail he tried to give the princess a dignified bow. Unfortunately he was coughing so much he fell over backwards and lay at their feet unable to move.
“You can see how sick he is. How could I slay him, even to win your hand,” murmured Messycloak.
Princess capability was so relieved that the Prince still wanted her, that she wasn’t the slightest bit daunted by the problem. She was of course, well named.
Getting down on her knees she felt the dragon’s nose---- it was bone dry.
“Oh you poor thing, we must make a poultice for your chest and get some cough syrup down you. Don’t worry Arthur, we’ll have you well again in no time, then you can go back to fighting the knights and princes again.”
Arthur sighed and snuffled, and a big green tear ran down his ruby red cheeks.
“But I don’t want to fight the knights and princes, I’m too old, and it’s no fun anymore.” The tears were flowing so fast now that his ash coughs and green tears were making sickly green mud. “
“All these years there has really only been me----just one dragon. I just pretended to be slain so that the knights and princes could tell of their deeds of valour. It was all part of the fairytale.” With a mournful wail he added. “Now I’m old and it’s just no fun anymore.”
With a mighty hiccup he bellowed forth a cloud of ash that covered them all.
“See? I’m so old my fire’s gone out.” He gasped, and cried so hard his tears soaked their feet.
The Princess took a careful look at Arthur and then decided enough was enough.
“Now stop this nonsense at once, we’ll spend today getting you better, then you will return to the palace with us tomorrow, with a good tonic your fire will work again.”
Turning to Messycloak she gave him his orders----something he didn’t seem to mind.
“You will bring Arthur to my father tomorrow and we will tell him that you did better than slay a dragon, you tamed one.”
Wiping Arthur’s nose with a spare cloak she had brought for the Prince, she continued giving instructions.
“Arthur you will be pressed into service as our royal fire lighter, you will light our children’s camp fires and roar quite impressively when visitors arrive. Understand?”
Arthur nodded his massive head enthusiastically.
“Oh, yes please, Princess. Can I play with the children and have a cosy place to sleep and tell stories?”
“Certainly, your position will require you to be part of our household, but you must always tell the others that Prince Messycloak took great risks to tame you. We must keep his reputation for knightly endeavours intact.
Right then, now that that’s sorted out we need to get on with making you better. You have to make an impressive appearance tomorrow.”
Chapter 6
Quickly scrambling to her feet, she enlisted Messycloak’s help in gathering the right herbs. Then, Capability showed Messycloak how to brew the evil smelling medicine over an open fire.
There was no time to waste, tomorrow Messycloak must return triumphant and she still had to slip back into the Palace unseen tonight.
They took a huge bucket, of the evil smelling medicine over to Arthur, and she commanded him to drink it all down.
“Come on now, every last drop, we’ve got to get you better before I leave.”
Arthur moaned and groaned, screwed up his nose, and pinched his ruby lips tight shut. However, after Capability tickled his toes he giggled and gasped which made him open his mouth. Then finally, finally he drank it all down.
A few hours later, things were looking good. Arthur was blooming, puffing little balls of smoke and singing happily as he sat fishing on the bank of the stream.
Prince Messycloak was jubilant. For once in his messy life, his kind heart had been rewarded.
“Tomorrow, on my successful return, your father will announce our betrothal. Thank you for helping, and waiting for me, my Perfect Princess.”
Princess Capability’s heart was brimming with love for her kind and handsome prince. He had been worth waiting for, she was very sure of that.
“I love you and I’ll always wait for you,” whispered Princess Capability
With these last words the Princess mounted her steed and headed back to the Palace, stopping at the top of the hill for one last wave. She had stopped here in this same place this morning, full of sadness. Now all was wonderful again.
With a final enthusiastic wave goodbye she called out one last time to the prince.
“I’ll always wait for you.
TWELVE MONTHS LATER.
“You take care of them for now Messy, I’m going to have a little nap,” said Princess Capability with a wide yawn.
Prince Messycloak didn’t know how Capability could trust him so much; after all he still hadn’t learnt how to iron.
Moving over to the round window in the castle wall, he stuck his head out just in time to see a heart shaped smoke ring drift past.
Messycloak watched, as the dragon leaned casually back against the palace wall, smiling happily in the sunshine.
“Arthur come look at our babies aren’t they beautiful. I’m going to need help looking after them though; as it’s a tremendously important job. Will you help me protect them?” Arthur smiled wisely into the trusting faces of the twin b
aby princesses.
“Of course I will. Haven’t I always protected the golden eyed princesses, down through the long mists of time?” answered Arthur.
And for the first time, Messycloak noticed that behind the dragon’s incredibly long lashes, was hidden eyes the exact shade of gold, as his new daughters.
THE END
More Children’s Books by Beth Sadler
Trouble in Fairyland
Dragon Quest
Cruz’s Big Secret
Freedom
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