“You could trade the princess for your mother?” Elia suggested.

She was just a little too still for Garret’s liking. He shook his head slowly.

“Um… I don’t really believe in, y’know, owning or trading people?” He guessed. He hated how his nerves slipped into his voice, but this seemed to sate the dragon girl even if only momentarily and she leaned back, using her tail like an impromptu stool.

“Two guards escorted me here and put me in a rowboat. I didn’t really expect to survive getting into the castle, from the shore you can’t even see a way in.” His voice was calm and resigned now.

Elia seemed more curious than angry now.

“We’ll now that you’re here and you’ve found me, what do you suggest?” She asked.

Garret shrugged. He hadn’t given this part any thought at all. His shrug seemed to annoy her though, and her forked tongue flicked out into the air while her eyes narrowed.

“I could tell the king the princess is long gone but the dragon lingers, sleeping?” He suggested quickly.

“A lie.” She hissed, “the title passed to me.”

“Well what do you suggest?” He asked, sounding braver than he felt.

“I could eat you, as I did the others.” She suggested, her gaze unwavering.

“The others were greedy.” Garret rushed, a guess at best.

“That’s true. They deserved what came. You are just unfortunate.” She said.

She stood and paced around her gold pile, using her tail to brush the coins back toward the centre of it.

“What is your name?” She asked.

“Garret.” He managed. He pulled off his coat and wiped the sweat from his brow. “The problem I have, Garret, is that while you do not deserve to die, I cannot let you go. There is nothing you could say to sate the curiosity of the mortals. They would come in droves if they knew one survived it.”

“I could say-“ Garret interrupted, a sharp look from Elia silencing him momentarily. “I could say nothing, sneak ashore and run far, far away and never speak of it.”

“You could.” Elia agreed, finishing sweeping up her coins, “But the other problem I have here Garret is that one can only eat so much fish, and it has been quite some time since a human ventured here.”

“It does not sound like a pleasant life.” Garret said, unsure where he had even begun to form that thought. He lurched from sentence to sentence, each one so far a desperate bid for his life. That gave Elia pause.

“And lonely.” Garret added, his mouth dry.

“What other life is there?” Elia asked.

Garret quickly dismissed the idea of bargaining with meat. He could promise to bring her cattle and sheep and chickens, it would never be enough.

“We could kill the king.” He offered. “You could claim his vaults for your home?”

“And you would rule?” Elia snorted.

Garret shook his head. “I don’t care who rules. I just want to live.”

Elia snorted again. “Of course you do.” She said condescendingly. “You want to live your tiny eighty year life.”

“I do.” He said.

“I supposed you want your mother and sister to live too?” She asked.

“That… would be nice.”

“No promises.” The dragon smiled.

Somehow, this was the most terrifying thing she had done so far. “So.” She said. “What must we do to kill the king?”