The Cursed Prince

King Mars and Queen Emmelyn only desired the safety and happiness of their children.

Knowing that their eldest child had actually run away was a testament that perhaps, their daughter was starting to grow up and enter into a phase of teenage rebellion. Princess Harlow was kind, friendly and listened attentively to her parents.

So the idea that she was starting to act out to show how she was against the idea of sending the dragon? It was an idea that bothered King Mars Strongmoor because of how protective he was.

"As kids grow up, they start to have a sense of independence, you know? They'll start wanting to leave the house, they'd want their own space," Gewen pointed out. "I love my children but I know that someday, they'll grow up and lea—"

The man didn't finish his sentence because he saw the look on Mars' face that was far from happy at the idea of his dearest child not wanting to do anything with him and his wife. 

The king was really overprotective about his daughter.

"You know, when my old man was being strict, I just took off with our ship's old rowboat when I was a kid." Kira proudly said and laughed and threw a look at Emmelyn. "Those were the days and it's just a sense of adventure you know?"

"Yes, I can see how free-spirited you are." Emmelyn chuckled when she heard Kira's words.

She, on the other hand, understood what Gewen was saying and could start to see to whom their daughter was taking more after. Compared to her husband who was more introverted, Harlow was like her in a way.

"Hah," Mars rubbed his face as they arrived in the forest and started to look around. "If I could chain those dragon's wings or clip them to prevent them from flying, I would."

Emmelyn cleared her throat and patted her husband's arm, "I'm sure Harlow is fine, there's no need to go to that extreme. We'll just have to teach her how to be more responsible and communicate with us better. I'm sure she probably didn't go that far."

"This is already a message of what she wants, though." Mars sighed but then eventually smirked a little. "I suppose I'll have to give my daughter credit for choosing the most daring way. Almost like you were when we first met, a dagger to my throat?"

"Oh shut up," Emmelyn's face turned red. That was a carefully well-thought-out plan of hers!

***

Princess Harlow Strongmoor was hiding with the dragon in one of the forests near the castle of Draec royalty. Right now, she was currently sitting atop a tree and didn't seem to notice or care for the mud and thorns stuck in her dress, or the excess mulch on her shoes.

"Hah… it won't take them too long," Princess Harlow muttered and then patted the dragon's scaly head.

The dragon made only a quiet sound almost akin to a low growl of agreement. Its wings were folded on its back as it made itself smaller and ducked around the trees.

The princess hadn't exactly gone that far away from home, but the dragon was intelligent enough that even though the creature was led to a large stable usually meant for horses to be kept, it followed her instantly when she appeared.

"I don't see why they don't want me to keep you," Harlow dejectedly looked down to see the dragon's beautiful serpentine blue eyes.

The dragon wasn't actually that large if somebody were to compare it to the dragons that the old wizard, Renwyck, once had. Instead, the dragon only seemed to be around a young one who might be as young as Harlow.

It was not exactly baby-sized, was not strong nor big enough to carry the young princess on his back, but enough to actually fly out into the skies and make its way to Draec from where it came from.

The dragon made a small snort of agreement and then kept quiet as the sound of footsteps came around. The search party finally arrived and they found their beloved princess.

"Harlow!" Emmelyn called out in relief along with Mars and the rest of the adults who saw the princess. "We are so worried about you!"

Even though Harlow was a bit filthy from trekking all the way to the forest and hiding, all that mattered was that she was safe. The dragon was too small for her to ride, so she must have run with it all the way here.

"Come down from that tree!" Mars said with a look of concern. He was looking up at his daughter with a small frown. "How exactly did you get up there? You could have hurt yourself or fell down–"

"I'm fine, Father." Princess Harlow chuckled and rolled her eyes. She sat on a secure tree branch and also had a dragon close by to catch her.  Her expression was firm and she looked so adamant with her demand. "I'm perfectly safe up here, but I'm not coming down until we have an agreement."

"Agreement?" Mars raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Harlow nodded.

King Mars Strongmoor sighed and looked up at his daughter. Everyone already had an inkling of what it was going to be, but he decided to still be diplomatic with his daughter. "What will it be?"

"Very simple, father." Harlow's eyes sparkled excitedly. "Let me keep my dragon and then I'll come down and behave."

"Alright, we promise." 

"Yay—whoaaah!" Harlow stood up to cheer excitedly when she heard her father easily agreed to her demand, but this made her lose her balance. Fortunately, she was quickly caught by her father when she fell from the tree. 

The naughty princess looked up guiltily in Mars' arms but then was quickly surprised by the man's words.

"You'll be the one feeding your dragon, okay?" Mars said to his daughter firmly.

Princess Harlow's eyes bulged at her father's words. How exactly was a princess going to feed a dragon?

.

.

_______________________

From Missrealitybites:

It's good that Harlow is taught to be responsible. ^^