(no subject)

[kitchen_maid]

It was always a long shot.

Perry and Parker waited until they could hear the dragon snoring (and good heaven can dragons snore) and then slipped out of their cave prison.

The mountainside was steep and there was rather a lot of it to get down ("highest mountain in the kingdom, I think" Perry told Parker, offering her his hand over a particularly treacherous bit of ground.) It was very slow-going, but they were managing.

And then . . . they heard the snoring stop.

Moments later they were both scooped up and, in under a minute, returned to their starting point.

Which is where they are now.

The dragon snorts a chastising puff of smoke at them and stomps off. The sheep looks over at them and Perry feels . . . oddly reproached.

Perry dusts off his trousers and sits down on a rock.

"Well, what shall we do now?"

Comments

[kitchen_maid]

"Well, it's quite possible we'll be rescued. Or ransomed."

The rules of the thing make a rescue far more likely than an escape. That's just the way it works.

[parkerlee]

"I guess."

In other words, there's nothing they can do to help themselves.

"Uugggghhhh. I hate this." Parker shoves herself to her feet and begins pacing the small confines of the cave.

Very vigorously.

She likes being cooped up about as much as she likes feeling helpless.

"We can wait until Amy is forced to give in and ransom us. And if your uncle is the one behind this, and he wants your throne, what's to say he won't just have you--both of us--killed anyway just to cover his bases? Or can wait for rescuers who may or may not arrive to walk up to a dragon and probably get killed."

That creature is big.

[kitchen_maid]

Perry sighs.

"Well, I suppose we could wait until is falls back asleep and try again," he offers, with no real enthusiasm.

"But we can't fight it, Parker. And I'm not sure what options we have.

"Unless you want to just go ask it to please let us go, but--"

[parkerlee]

Parker stops pacing as Perry talks.

And her mind is already formulating an idea, even before he stops speaking.

"You know, that's not a half bad idea," she interrupts.

"We've tried everything except negotiation."

[kitchen_maid]

"Parker, that was a joke.

"You can't negotiate with a dragon."

[parkerlee]

"Why not?"

Parker plants her hands on her hips.

"They can talk, right? I mean, this one hasn't been really chatty thus far."

Hadn't spoken a word to them at all, in fact.

"But he can. I remember Amy saying they can."

[kitchen_maid]

"Well, yes, of course they can talk," Perry says.

"But you can't . . . it's . . . I've never heard of anyone negotiating with a dragon.

"What would you say, Parker?"

[parkerlee]

"A few months ago, you had never heard of football."

And look how that's taking off.

"I don't know," she admits. "Make it a better offer, maybe? I mean, you're the king. If anyone can undercut the original deal, it would be you, right?"

[kitchen_maid]

"I suppose . . ." says Perry.

Parker has the most irregular ideas.

Then again . . .

"I say, I suppose we could point out that there's the chance it won't get paid at all, if it has, in fact, kidnapped the wrong person. And that we could offer it terms that don't involve its running the risk of getting slain by a knight of the realm . . ."

[parkerlee]

"Which, unless it's totally suicidal, would be a selling point."

Maybe they can persuade their kidnapper to switch loyalties.

"Come on. Let's go."

Parker heads for the entrance to the little cave.

[kitchen_maid]

"Parker, I'm still not sure this is a good idea," Perry says.

But he follows her out of the cave, anyway.

It's not like he can let her go by herself, now, can he?