“No?” she tried, still a little hopeful.

“Listen, we still have the ladder set up. Either come to the window or…”

“Alright, alright” she said unhappily. She slowly stood up and looked outside.

The three men were standing at the base of the ladder.The knight held a long scroll with what appeared to her to be a portrait. When he saw her, he held up the portrait in triumph and pointed to it with his other finger.

“Aha!” he said “the princess is not here is she! Then why do you resemble this exact portrait of her! And don’t try to tell me this portrait is wrong! We had this drawn at the Witch’s All-Seeing Eye and also Affordable Headshots Coven.”

The prince could not really make out the figure on the portrait, but she had heard of the Witch’s All-Seeing Eye and also Affordable Headshots Coven, so she assumed that it resembled her.

“Well” she started desperately “you don’t know-”

“Enough!” the knight said. “We know it’s you. There is no need for further lies, princess. You need not fear us. In fact, you will find our arrival gives you much reason to rejoice! For I am the 18th prince of the assistant to the Lord of Shrubbery Upkeep of the Eastern Half of the Lower Frozen Ring.”

He sank to one knee and raised one hand to her.

“And I am here, to win your hand in marriage, and thereby take control of you lands and your es-”

“Shhh” one squire quickly said.

“Not yet, sire, not yet!” the other whispered.

“Ju-just to win your hand in marriage. Thats it. For you are so fair and such. Possibly even one of the most fair maidens in the all the lands, maybe.”

She had been worried that he might be here on such business. These suitors dug in like a tick. To his credit, thus far he had been the most polite, calmest, and best smelling (and by that she could not smell him yet, which was an improvement) suitor thus far. She was never certain how to let these men down gently.

“No thank you” she tried, though by now she had no hope of this working.

“No thank you what?” the knight said.

“No thank you to your proposal. I mean, its very kind of you. Thank you! But no thank you. You can go back now. Please?”

The knight raised his finger at her.

“I have heard of your reputation princess. Do you intend to turn down noble suitors all your life. Let the man before me have been the last. Least you end up alone for all your life. Is that what you want?”

“Well, actually, I’m not alone,” she said, rubbing her hands together nervously. “I have my pet dragon, Myran. He’ll be back any minute now.”

The three men looked at each other. Then they looked back at her.

“Your what?” the knight.

“My pet dragon, Myran. He’s a-”

“Yes, that's what I thought you said” and then he fell over, howling with laughter. The two squires joined him.

“A fucking dragon”

“-Of all the stupid-”

“What a dumb broad”

“No, he’s real. Actually, you need to leave before-” she began.

“Before he gets here and eats us…right right. Enough lies from you princess. We’ll do it the old fashioned way”

The knight turned to one of his squires. 

“Go get the sack.”

“Oh yes, sire” the man said eagerly. Then he went back to the pile where their supplies lay.

The princess brought both hands to her lips and screamed,“MYRAN! HURRY! PLEASE!”

The knight brought one hand to his mouth and shouted mockingly “Yes, Myran, hurry! Come here and eat us!”

The squire returned with a brown sack that was stained with something that looked eerily like dried blood. The knight had one hand on the ladder, when something like a drumbeat sounded in the sky.

The knight turned his head and looked into the sky, to see where the sound came from.

“Oh lord” he said.

The princess turned away from her window, and closed her eyes and covered her ears. She always hated this part. But at least she would have a chance to spend time with Myran.

After he had a chance to digest.