The Knight, the Dragon, and the Heiress (Short Story)

Chapter 3

The Heiress's P.O.V.

    "Amulet?" I ask.

    "Yes, an amulet," Incendie, the gigantic lizard-like crimson creature, answers.

    I can't help but laugh at the stupidity of taking vengeance over an amulet. "Haha, all of this just because of a piece of old jewelry?"

    "That amulet was given to me by the wizard," Incendie snarls.

    "S...So...So the amulet is magic!" I stutter.

    "Yes, what did you think I need it for?"

    "I don't know! Wait, who has it?" I ask.

    "The person who has it is the one you're betrothed to."

    "Lord Sheffield? I knew he was malicious and deceitful. And I have seen him wear an amulet before...wait...he's a farce!!! He used the amulet to win the competition!" I angrily screech.

    "Calm down, Princess. Winning the competition isn't the only thing he has used the amulet for," Incendie replies a little uneasy.

    "Well? Spit it out," I exclaim.

    "If I'm going to tell you, I'll have to start from the beginning."

    "That's fine by me," I say.

    Incendie begins by enlightening me how he met the wizard; I think he said the wizard's name was Maxime. He explained that one day he went to go fishing in an enormous river just past the Infini forest and noticed a struggling figure in the accelerated stream. It ended up being the wizard and Incendie saved him.

    They developed a bond soon after. As friends Incendie regularly helped Maxime journey to any difficult to reach places for ingredients for his spells. Incendie never truly expected for anything in return but after all Incendie had done for him Maxime gave Incendie a magic amulet to be able to transform into a human.

    "But why would he give you an amulet to turn you human?" I ask.

    "Because Maxime saw how I had constantly hated being deemed a monster to every human we fled from. He gave me another chance at life to actually be among the crowd rather than from the crowd while they would scream and runaway." Incendie admitted.

    "Well what do you look like as a human?" I ask maybe with a bit too enthusiastic tone.

    "You will have to wait until I can get the amulet back, your majesty."

    Hearing Incendie calling me 'your majesty' and 'princess' with his reverberating voice sounds soothing but too formal to me.

      'Actually I'm even feeling kinda sleepy with such a robust yet gentle voice speaking to me and sitting on soft, fuzzy animal hide blankets also while clutching one of them around my body doesn't help either.'

    "Please, you may call me Maylis if that obliges you," I say a tad lethargically.

    "That is fine, Maylis. Now I will tell you how my amulet was obtained by another."

    Incendie told how he assumed the alias of being known as Armel DuPont. When he was first a human he was only a young lad and was taken in by an elder Lord as a page to start the transition of a weakling to a warrior or as we call it a knight. He explained that by the time he became a squire he was one of the top of his group and had grown to be friends with Mason Sheffield.

    "Lord Sheffield, right?" I ask to clarify.

    "Yes, but he was then known as Squire Mason and please don't interrupt Maylis," Incendie courteously replies.

    Incendie continues on and states that by the time it came for the test in order to become a knight to serve under the elder Lord; Incendie and Mason were the best of friends. The day after the ceremony of the knighting of both Incendie and Mason, Mason had asked Incendie why he always wore the amulet. Incendie had made the mistake of trusting Mason to keep his secret and told him the amulet was magic and aided him in giving the impression of looking normal.

    When Incendie was preparing for slumber, Mason had assaulted him and took his amulet. But Mason did not know that Incendie would transform into a dragon once the amulet was taken and he was frightened by the creature he faced. Mason then donned the magic amulet and used its powers for super human abilities in order to try to slay Incendie and therefore gain a higher title and status among the kingdom. Incendie ran away towards the high hills before he got severely injured.

    Incendie told me while he remained hidden he heard information of Sir Mason marrying the elder Lord's only daughter and heir to his land but also of the elder Lord's mysterious death soon after then his daughter's "natural" death a few months later. Which meant Sir Mason Sheffield was a Lord Sheffield now and has the largest piece of land than any of the other Lords of the kingdom but he still aimed for higher.

    "He wanted the title, King, didn't he?" I ask dishearteningly.

    "Yes, Maylis, he would have planned to eradicate you and your father whenever the time was right."

    "Makes sense. Well, thank you, Incendie, for saving me and hopefully my father is safe too." I murmur with a yawn.

    "I hope so too. Now please get some sleep, Maylis. Because tomorrow afternoon's conflict will truly insure your safety or not."