Mated to the Dragon

Chapter 8

By this time the Princess' bottom was getting very red. She started sobbing and whined that she'd be a good girl. Well this wasn't the first bottom I'd spanked. If I let her up just because she said she'd be good, then she'd try to beg off every spanking with those words. She needed to know that somebody cared enough to invest the time and effort into her. She got that from me in spades. Her bottom was showing white spots when I let her up. But in true daddy-daughter fashion I didn't send her to a corner immediately. I sat her on my lap and held her while she cried, letting her feel my love.

As her tears started to subside I gave her another lecture, a softer one this time.

"Now, Selene, you can't be putting yourself first. These are your subjects and their welfare comes first in your mind. You are a servant to all, and when you're queen, you will be held responsible for all that passes in your lands. If you are haughty, people will hate you. If you are unfeeling, your subjects will suffer and feel anger towards you. Fealty is a two way street. You agree to listen to their issues and to do what is best for all. They agree to accept that you work for the common good and support you in that goal...using their time, money and services."

Selene looked at me with tear streaked cheeks. "That sounds just like what my father used to say."

"Well, he failed to instill those values in you, didn't he?"

She nodded.

"Okay, we're going to spend some time doing that. Tomorrow we are selling your entire collection of princess gear and buying you some servant clothing."

She sat up indignantly at this. But I put a finger over her lips.

"You are going to learn to be a better person. I will teach you as we go and you will be disciplined when you are naughty. I will help you become the queen your father wanted you to be."

She nodded and knelt before me, putting her hands together.

"I, Selene do hereby swear fealty to you, Calico, until such time as you discharge me from your service."

I was surprised by this but I knew how to answer this plea. I clasped my hands over hers. "I, Calico, hereby except your fealty, and will strive to learn from you as much as I teach. I now take you as my squire until such time as I release you or one of us dies."

She looked up with a smile on her tear stained face.

"Okay, first and foremost while in my service, you will not be known as Princess. You will be just simply, Selene. You will do every task I assign you to the best of your ability, and if you don't, you will be punished. Any questions?"

She shook her head no.

"Okay, girl, get up and remove that princess garb. I'm going to give you some time to think about all that has transpired today. I want you naked and with your nose in that corner. You won't move when the maid or anyone else comes in or I will spank you again right in front of them. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" She said standing up and disrobing.

She was a beautiful sight naked. It made me very sorry I was her guardian and not her lover. She went and stood in the corner, her hands gingerly rubbing her bottom. I opened the door and there stood my little maid. I motioned her in and, as she stepped inside, she stopped and just looked at Selene standing in the corner, rubbing her sore bottom.

I let her look for a minute as I gathered up all the clothing.

"Here, girl, concentrate or you'll end up right next to her." I said this in a light voice but it snapped her attention to me.

"Take this out and have it washed. Also, if you could find some more common clothing for her to wear, I'd be appreciative. Bring it by in the morning."

The little maid nodded and took one more look before scampering out the door. I set my sword against the door and spread a blanket from my pack a little ways from the corner. If someone opened the door, the sword would fall and wake me up as they stepped across the threshold. I pulled out my knife and worked on the edge. For close work in a small room, a knife is best. I knew someone would come tonight and I'd be ready.

When I finally let Selene leave her corner I sent her straight to bed. Her bottom was still very sore so she went willingly. I grinned to myself when I found she intended to sleep on her stomach.

The next morning was as usual faster arrived than which I had expected. Maybe the day’s journey had caught up with me. Moreover dealing with the Princess had been no joke either but after last night everything seemed a lot better and brighter. I hoped that today morning the Princess would stop acting like a royal arse and would actually try and do something worthwhile for a while.

“Noooo….no….don’t….don not do that….she is tricking you….that is no way….” She kept shouting in her sleep as I looked at her in surprise. What was she dreaming about?

I went ahead to wake her up and as soon as I touched her I felt a jolt which coursed through my veins and I was immediately thrown off backwards and I hit my spine at the bed. This was some serious magical misgivings which was going on inside her but thankfully she woke up and looked at me.

“We need to ride as soon as possible. She is in trouble,” said Princess Selene. I looked at her in surprise again. This was the first time that she had shown some interest or concern in someone else rather than her own self. Maybe things were not going to be so bad after all. But who was she talking about?

“Princess is everything alright? You were mumbling and screaming a lot in your sleep. That was the reason when I touched you to wake you up,” I said and her eyes were still bright and big and she said hurriedly.

“Yes yes…all that is okay but she has to be saved. It is the thing that I had been dreaming for all these days along with you before I came here. We are in the right path and we need to help her as soon as possible,” she said again.

“Princess, I don’t understand that what are you mumbling about? I need to know that you are fine before you tell me more about who you are talking about…” I said and this time she shifted her full attention towards me.

“I do not know her name. She is shown to me in dreams only like you were shown to me in my dreams just the way that I know that I needed to call upon you. Now I am being called upon to assist her in what she is doing. She is trapped in a land which should be something else but which is something else and now she does not know what to do,” said Selene. Her eyes were wandering wildly and I was truly getting scared this time. Her words made no sense but I understood that she was trying to do something and it was going to help someone else.

That was a risk that I was going to take.

So I asked her,” Do you have any clue about which path we should be taking?”

“I do not know yet but she told me that she will be in the Vale of the Blessed and as much as I know it is a land filled with strange magic and she knows nothing of magic. It might be possible that they are using her as a sacrifice to sate the thirst of the land. It is very natural but she needs to live and we need to assist her. I need to assist her get rid of that foul creature from this land,” said Selene and I raised my brows.

“Fine then, it seems that we are going to the Vale of Blessed. Do we have time for breakfast or the hour is already nigh?” I asked. I wanted to think about mocking her for the way that she was taking this and that too all but a dream but strangely I could not.

“I would have told you that we could or we should wait but it seems really like now is not the time to wait any longer. We need to ride as soon as possible,” Selene said as she stood up and then went to the basin of water kept in the room and splashed some on her face and proceeded to braid her hair.

Until yesterday night she was not even doing anything at all by herself and today morning she was all business, and how on earth was that possible I had absolutely no clue at all. But I was glad that it was happening.

Old Blue and I would head into the hills together. That's the thing about horseback riding, you always have the best of companionship. You listen to the steady hooves, the gentle tail swishes and snorting of the air. It's beautiful. But that was in my land the one where I knew what was and this was completely foreign territory to me. I just hoped that the path that had been laid before me was the correct one that I needed to follow. After all who did not know that a knight only after he did finish a quest completely.

The horses we rode over the tundra, that carried us onwards, were family too. They put their hearts into the mission as much as we, paid the price of our follies and loved us just the same. To see the world from horseback is a privilege, one we owe thanks for to our four hoofed brethren.

He shouts something and Sugar shoots down the dirt road. Selene screams and grabs onto Calico so she doesn't fall off. It's her first time riding a horse. She wraps her arms around his stomach and presses her face into his back, closing her eyes tightly. "Open your eyes!" Calico shouts. "It's amazing!" Selene reluctantly opens an eye and looks around. The trees whiz by as dirt is kicked up behind them. She loosens her tight hold around Calico and laughs at her silly nervousness. This is fantastic! The pounding of Sugar's hooves, the wind in her hair, the warmness of Calico, it feels like nothing she's ever felt. This is a day she will never forget.