The Dragon's Slave

Stolen as Treasure

It was the morning of my eighteenth birthday, and I stared at my face in the mirror. It was so hard to believe that I was an adult now. I certainly didn’t look any more grown up. My long, auburn hair fell about my shoulders in curly ringlets. My mother never taught me how to braid it and tie it back in intricate hair styles like all the beautiful women in my village.

I wished my face wasn’t so plain, but by my stepfather’s rule, I wasn’t allowed to wear make up. While all the pretty blonde girls my age covered their faces in powder to make themselves paler, I was naturally tanned from spending so much time slaving away out in the sun. And while the women of my village all painted their lips red, mine were soft and pink like little cherry blossoms.

The only pretty thing about me was my eyes. While most of the women in my village had brown eyes, mine were big and blue, dark like sapphires on the outside and then light like the sky in the middle, with just a touch of green, so that when you looked into my eyes, it was like you were looking out at the ocean. My eyelashes were naturally long and thick, so I didn’t have to paint them black like the other girls.

But sadly, even my beautiful eyes were not enough to distract from the old, boring clothes I had to wear. A torn up, baggy white blouse and a frayed pair of brown trousers. My eighteen birthday and I was dressed like a dirty street boy. No man would ever look at me twice, even if I was allowed to talk to them.

“Arabella!” I heard my mother call. “Arabella, come down stairs, my dear! We have something for you!” Something for me? I felt my heart leap at the thought. I hadn’t had a birthday present in years. Not since my father died. I ran down the stairs and was shocked when I saw my mother holding up the most beautiful, red silk dress I had ever seen.

“Is that… Is that really for me?” I gasped with tears of joy in my eyes.

“Your father bought it for you,” my mother told me. “You’re a woman now, and it’s time that you dressed like one.”

Now that really shocked me, and I turned to my stepfather, feeling extremely nervous. “Is this true?” I asked him timidly. I couldn’t believe he would get me a dress. Since the day at the lake when I was twelve, my stepfather hadn’t even allowed me to wear skirts any more, let alone dresses. He said they made me look like a w***e, and I was just asking to be groped or worse.

“Of course it’s true!” he snapped, angrily. “It’s your birthday. Aren’t fathers supposed to get gifts for their daughters?” But he wasn’t my father, and he’d never given me a birthday present before. He said that we were too poor, and money shouldn’t be wasted on useless things like birthday gifts for me. (Even though he always seemed to have enough money to get drunk every night.)

Still, I just couldn’t contain my excitement. I threw my arms around my mother and lovingly kissed her cheek before running upstairs to get changed. Once the dress was on, I couldn’t believe the transformation. I still wouldn’t say I was beautiful, but for the first time in my life, I actually looked like a lady!

The dress was made of red silk, trimmed with gold lace. Unlike my other baggy clothes, the dress was actually my size, and hugged tight to my slender, hourglass figure, showing off my curves. The skirt of the dress was so long it reached the floor, flowing out in all directions. And the top of the dress was low cut, revealing the soft skin of my bare shoulders. A tight corset with gold ribbon pushed my DD cupped breasts together, making them look even larger than usual. As much as I loved the dress, I wished it wasn’t so tight. My breasts were clearly larger than the dress was made for and made it difficult for me to breathe.

Still, it wasn’t how tight the dress was that worried me. It was the old ogre, my stepfather. Even though he had brought the dress for me, I was afraid to let him see me wearing it. I knew exactly what he would say. He’d say I looked like a w***e and that I was trying to seduce him by parading around with my breasts practically spilling out. Then he’d beat me until I was black and blue, rip off my beautiful dress and never let me wear it again. Still, it was my birthday gift, and he’d given it to me, so I had to wear it.

I was so afraid as I walked down the stairs. I shivered with fear and waited to hear my stepfather shout out in horror. But he didn’t.

“Oh, darling!” my mother gasped with joy, jumping to her feet. “You look absolutely beautiful! Doesn’t she look beautiful, dear?” she asked my stepfather.

My stepfather looked at me and glared with hatred in his eyes. I could actually see his fists clenched in anger. But instead of shouting, he turned away from me to look at the wall. “She looks fine,” he said reluctantly.

I was so relieved. My stepfather never usually held back his anger with me. Maybe, because it was my eighteenth birthday, he was finally trying to be kind to me for once. “Thank you so much for this wonderful gift,” I told them both, feeling that this must be the happiest day of my life.

“Yeah, well enjoy it while it lasts!” the old ogre snapped at me. “I’m sure you’ll love having all the boys stare at you and chase you around all day. But by tonight your fun and games will all be over!”

And there was all the anger he was holding back. I should’ve known this day was too good to be true. “What are you talking about?” I asked him in shock. But before he could answer, my mother jumped up from her chair and ran into the kitchen, crying her eyes out.

“Mother!” I called after her. “Mother, what’s wrong?”

“Never you mind!” My stepfather yelled, blocking the doorway to the kitchen so that I could not follow my mother to comfort her. “I told you to enjoy it while it lasts, so get out of here! Go on! Go out and flirt with every man you can find like the little c**k tease you are! All you have to do is stay outside! Don’t come back, and whatever you do, don’t even think about taking off that dress!”

And with that, my father walked into the kitchen and started yelling at my mother. I wish I could have helped her, but I knew that going into the kitchen would only make things worse. So I did what my stepfather told me to do. I went out, to spend the rest of the day with the only friend I had.

“Hi Charlie!” I declared when she finally opened the door, looking up at her with the biggest smile in the world on my face. “Do you like my new dress?” I asked as I twirled around to show it off. “My stepfather bought it for me and then yelled at me when I wore it. I swear, the old ogre’s gone completely crazy.”

But Charlie wasn’t listening to me. She was staring at me with her eyes wide and her mouth open in awe. It was like she was in a trance. “Charlie?” I asked, slightly concerned. “Charlie, are you okay?”

“What?” Charlie asked, finally snapping back to reality. “Oh… Yes, I’m fine. It’s just you look…” she didn’t even finish her sentence. Just went back to staring at me again.

“Oh Charlie, don’t be so silly!” I teased her. “It’s only a dress. I’m still the same person. Now come on! It’s my birthday and I want to enjoy it with my best friend!” And so I grabbed Charlie’s hand and the two of us headed into town together.

It was wonderful! The two of us wondered around town for hours, looking through the market stalls and spending what little coin I had on sweets and cakes, and most importantly, books. I managed to find a cheap second hand book about a kind and gentle princess who was also, secretly, a champion knight. I couldn’t wait to get home and read it!

A group of travelling minstrels were passing through town and had set themselves up in the town square. Charlie and I applauded the beautiful singing, danced joyfully to the music and threw the few coins we had left into the guitar player’s hat.

At one point, while Charlie and I were singing along to a popular song, the lead singer of the group noticed my lovely voice and pulled me in to sing with the group. I sang three songs with them and everyone cheered, leaving me blushing with embarrassment. The band even offered me some of the coins they had earned that day, but I thanked them for their kindness and told them that they deserved it more than me.

I did get a lot of strange looks when the people of the village saw my new dress. The boys all stared at me, and some of them even wolf whistled. And the girls all glared at me angrily and whispered about me behind my back. But I didn’t care. I was having the most wonderful birthday of my life with my best friend in the whole world.

“Oh, Charlie, wasn’t that amazing?” I asked her as we sat down on a bench to eat the lemon cakes we had just bought. “The band all loved me, and one of them even said I had the most beautiful voice he’d ever heard in his life. The lead singer even asked if I could join the band and go travelling around the world. But of course, I had to refuse. I couldn’t leave my mother all alone with the old ogre. And of course, I could never leave you.”

“And I couldn’t let you go,” Charlie told me. “Not in a million years. If you wanted to join the band, then I’d come with you. I’d follow you to the ends of the world.”

“I know,” I told my best friend with a smile. “And I’d do the same for you.”

Charlie went quiet for a moment before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small package, tied up with red ribbon. “I saw this in the market earlier, while you were singing, and I had to buy it for you, to show you that I would always love you, no matter what.”

“What is it?” I asked as I slowly unwrapped the package. When I opened it, it revealed a beautiful golden necklace, with a charm in the shape of half of a broken heart. Charlie then held out another necklace that was exactly the same, only the broken heart was the other way round.

“You see, when you put the two pieces together, the heart is whole again,” Charlie explained as she held my half of the necklace neck to her own. “Because whenever I’m with you, my heart is always whole.”

“Oh, Charlie!” I gasped, throwing my arms lovingly around her. As soon as I let her go, she took my necklace and fastened it around my neck. “Thank you Charlie. It’s beautiful. I absolutely love it. You’re the best friend I ever had.”

“But is that all?” Charlie asked, suddenly looking very sad. “Haven’t you ever thought of me as more than your best friend?”

I hated seeing Charlie upset, but I didn’t understand what it was I’d done wrong. “Charlie, what do you mean?” I asked her. But Charlie never got to answer that question.

Out of nowhere, I heard a woman scream loudly. Then loads of people started yelling and running in all directions. And finally, a huge black monster came crashing down from the sky. The creature landed right in the middle of the town square, with a mighty roar that was so loud, it forced me to cover my ears. Then I looked at the beast, and was shocked and terrified to realize what it was. A dragon!

The dragon was enormous! Bigger than the trees of even the houses in the village. His black scales glistened in the sun and his powerful claws dug into the statue in the town square, completely destroying it. As it looked around the village, it let out another angry roar, sending all the people running away and screaming in fear.

Charlie was the only one who wasn’t afraid. She pulled out her bow and arrow and aimed it at the terrifying monster. “No! Don’t hurt it!” I cried as I jumped in front of her, holding out my arms and blocking her from shooting the dragon. I knew the beast was dangerous, but it was still just an innocent animal. I couldn’t let her hurt it.

It was at this point that the dragon suddenly fixed it’s gaze on me. As it looked down on me, I felt my body was frozen with fear. It’s gaze was hypnotic, like it was putting me in a paralyzing trance as it stared at me with it’s great, red eyes.

Then, suddenly, the dragon attacked. Before I could even react, it flew towards me, diving on me and scooping me up in it’s great, black claws.

“Arabella!” Charlie cried out for me, chasing me as fast as her legs could carry her, jumping up and grabbing me by my wrist.

“Charlie!” I cried out in horror as the dragon flew higher and higher. “Don’t let go!”

But my friend just wasn’t strong enough. She clung to me with all her strength, but eventually her grip loosened and she went falling to the ground. The dragon was flying so fast, I couldn’t even see if she survived.

“Charlie!” I screamed as loud as I could, but it was too late. My best friend was gone. I was alone. In the claws of a dragon.