Taming the Dragon Prince

V: The Talking Bird

(The following scenes are the events that happened after the prologue, please read it, you must read it)

"Cut it out, Angela." I wearily said, turning around to change my sleeping position so that the hand that kept flapping against my face is out of reach. Why is it that slapping me in the morning became Angela's habit, it seriously makes my skin flaky.

"Wake up, human princess!" A voice called, I heard a series of flapping sounds and all of a sudden I felt a slight gush of wind on my face as if the owner of that voice just landed in front of me after flying.

Wait a moment, the voice I heard just now was not Angela's usual irritating voice that I have grown accustomed to. It sounded more like a tiny squeal from a small creature. Also, what does it mean with 'human princess'?

"Huh?" I fluttered my eyes open to see myself face to face with a deep black crow, much blacker than my hair. I stared at it, blinked for a few times before my brain functioned properly to make me remember that I was abducted yesterday. Realizing that this bird was talking to me, it was enough to make me sit up in shock and yelp in a loud voice.

"Ahhhh!" I crawled back, tumbling now and then from the long dress that the princess made me wear from yesterday. "Y-you can talk?" I asked, the talking crow just blinked at me. I was scared at first but seconds later I realized that I was stupid for being scared at a talking crow but not at a fire breathing dragon.

"It is a pleasure meeting you, human princess. I am called Didi Nightfield, the fairy princess." The crow flapped her wings but not enough to lift herself up in the air, I guess it is just a way to showcase herself for being the 'fairy princess'.

"Oh no, you are mistaken. I am not the human princess, I am actually the orc princess." I jokingly said to vaguely point out the irony of her being the princess of the fairies when in fact she looked like a crow.

She was quiet at first but gained the momentum to explain things to me, "I am cursed by the witch queen 'Evanore' hence the reason why I look like this."

"Oh." Is the only thing I said, I have no idea about the witch queen and whoever she is but I felt guilty for making fun of Didi a while ago but at least she did not look like she took it as an offense. "That is rough, hang in there."

"Yes, that is why I apologize in behalf of the dragon prince's violent behavior towards you, we only needed your help in reviving his fallen clan and if the dragons have returned they can turn me back into my original form and go back to my kingdom."

I gulped, I am sure as hell they are going to drop me off the edge of this floating kingdom if they found out that I am not the princess. But then again, they are the ones to blame anyway, how on earth did they mistook me as a princess when I am a thousand years too early to dream that I resemble the princess.

"Uhh, I am sorry but, I am not the human princess. I am just her personal servant. My name is Aerith Dallaeris, I am sure that the respectable fairy princess such as yourself won't throw me off the edge so please just return me back." I stood up and brushed off the excess dust that my skirt accumulated from sleeping on the concrete ground. That dragon sure knows how to take care of a visitor, huh.

Didi raised her small bird head to look at me while I was looking down on her. "I see, but I am afraid that I cannot help you with that."

"Huh? But you are the fairy princess, don't you have any teleporting magic to put me back to where I came from?" I crossed my arms over my non existent chest, my neck was getting sore from looking down so I used this opportunity to look around at the place I am currently at.

Yesterday, that aggresive dragon mercilessly threw me down at what seemed like the main hall of this abandoned palace, he said a few things to me before I completely lost consciousness for being constantly thrown around by him but surprisingly enough I do not feel any pain from my body. Now, I am inside as to what looked like a regular sized bedroom, assuming that the dragon race once lived here I thought that their rooms would be huge but I guess they do shift into their human forms from time to time hence this bedroom that is the same size as princess Thalia's room.

Didi was just about to speak again but I interjected the moment I saw a bed at the other side of the room, "Didi, if there was a bed all this time, then why did you put me on the cement floor?"I notice that she was spreading her wings, in preparation of her escape so that she do not have to explain why the bloody hell she left me unconscious on the floor for so many hours that my hips and back were hurting.

"Ack! Don't blame me, I could not possibly carry you all the way there when I am just but a tiny bird!" She was flailing around the room, my arms extending skyward as I try to hold her down. I guess it is because she is the fairy princess that makes me already comfortable around her presence.

"I am blaming everything on you, why on earth did you think I was the princess?! I should be in the kitchen right now scrubbing the floor but right now I am quarreling with a talking bird!"

"At first I was skeptical of you being the human princess since you look utterly different but I saw you holding the kingdom's treasure jewel."

"What do you mean utterly different? Just straight up say it that I am ugly!" I flicked her head as soon I managed to pull her down to my height level.

"Stop this! This is not the time to be fighting, dragon prince Alec might wake up." 

What she said made me instantly release her from my grasp but I guess she was not ready for it that she plopped down on the floor instead of flying away.

"Oh dear I am sorry." I tried to hide the creeping smile on my face but it still shows. "Anyway, he's the dragon prince?"

"Alec Zelphyr Druettus. The last of his kind." She used her other wing to brush off the dust on herself and then ushering me to follow her outside to which I did. We were walking, I mean, I was walking while she hovered around me. I think she meant to give me a tour around this place.

"I was born and raised deep within the palace walls so I have no idea what happened to them, and do explain how princess Thalia can help revive the dragon race." I quipped, shifting my head from side to side as we pass by different corridors.

"20 years ago, the evil witch queen 'Evanore Crowell'  wanted to destroy the century-long peace that the dragons maintained. So she devised a plan and mercilessly killed them causing the other races to panic in fear of an upcoming war from the witch kingdom. But the human Queen, Dionaea Amphitrite, orchestrated a wide scale witch hunt that persucated all of the witches before they could make a move on destroying the peace that the dragons spent a lot of centuries to build."

"That is princess Thalia's mother, although I spent my life in the palace, I never got to see her because she was always so busy." I mentioned, Didi looked at me, flying backwards as we move forward.

"Of course, she has to maintain peace within her kingdom as well as the others. She was the one who introduced the idea of walling up each country to prevent any chaos from happening."

"Prince Alec was the only one who survived Evanore's attacks as he was just an egg back then. Growing up for him was not easy as he found himself alone in a deserted kingdom, with the absence of her parents and companions, he became ruthless and aggressive. That is why I strongly suggest not to anger him in any way."

I gulped, I am betting my life that he would grill me to death as soon as he finds out that I am just a mere maid. But if that happens I will make sure to blame Didi for mistaking me as the actual princess.

"Then please just give me a flying device or something so that I could reach the ground below before he finds out that I am a fake." I whispered. I was too busy listening to Didi's brief history lessons that I failed to notice that we were already outside the dragon palace, and now overlooking the capital from a distance.

Although the towers and establishment was abandoned and destroyed, the eerie silence made it calming. If I imagine the buildings are still standing then this place would have been so beautiful.

"Actually, you can still help us even if you were not the actual princess." Didi continued to fly forward, towards the edge of the kingdom. I was curious as to what the place below looked like so I eagerly followed from behind.

"All jokes aside, I would really love to help. I adored the dragons even though I have never seen one, and seeing one now made me adore their beauty more. Especially his abs... Is he always naked after he transforms into a human?" 

What I asked about that dragon prince made Didi turn around to show me her disgusted face, I guess I can't ask here about that, might as well find it out on my own.

"I actually found out a way to revive the dragons, but I need a dragon's pure blood." She mentioned.

"Then why don't you just asked for Alec's blood then."

"I tried to sneakily get a drop of it, but his blood was so filled with hatred that it does not work."

"So you need the princess's holy powers to like filter it?" We finally arrived at the end, it was still morning so the soft glow from the sun illuminated the mountains and forest down below.

My eyes glimmered at the mere sight of it that even Didi noticed although she was far from me.

"I see that you like the outside world very much..." She remarked.

"Yes... yes indeed." I answered blankly as if I was tranced.

Didi flew down to rest on the grassy floor, admiring the sunrise together with me.

"At first, my plan was to get the human princess to change prince Alec's behavior..." She began talking, my trance was snapped and I looked down on her. Doing that made my neck ache again so I sat down besides her, feeling the soft grass as I move my hands around. "Telling that plan to Alec won't work since he would just reject the princess, so I lied and told him that we only need the princess's holy power to open up the portal in 3 months time."

"So it does not matter even if it is the princess or a random woman who would change him?" I asked.

"Yes, I only need a woman who can make him understand other feelings aside from loathing, to turn his blood pure, so that we can open the portal where the dragons' souls rest. And when the dragons return, they can turn me back into my original form."

I do not understand Didi's feelings, but being turned into a bird and leaving her beloved kingdom sure is sorrowful, I don't even dare to ask how many years she has been cursed since it was already evident at how desperate she is into making that beast prince into a marshmallow loving creature.

"So please, palace maid Aerith Dallaeris." Didi turned to face me, bowing her head in desperation. "We don't have much time if we return you to your kingdom, I am also sure that if we took the princess now then our lives would be hunted down by Queen Dionaea and we would not be able to focus in opening the portal."

Well, that is reasonable since princess Thalia's mother loves her so much that she is willing to burn down anyone who would harm her, much more if someone abducted her. Didi beckoned for me to look at her and so I did, she was still bowing down.

"Please, Aerith. Please tame the dragon prince..."