5 Burned

  Sara woke in the morning as the sun was just beginning to rise and realized that she needed to find the chamber pot or the privy. She was glad that she found what she needed right next to the bed. Once she finished, she went over to the wash basin. She was relieved to find water in the pitcher nearby and poured it into the basin and used the towel nearby to clean up. After this was done, Sara wasn’t sure what to do. In the past, she would have let her maids take care of the chamber pot and the basin when not at the castle. In the royal chambers at Castle Degal, the washrooms brought water in and took waste out. She had been told it was one of the privileges they had by being royalty. Now she was at a loss as to what she was to do, but that was going to have to wait as she heard the voice of David, the giant, from across the valley.

  “Get up and get dressed, Sari. Draco wants you to bring him one of the roosters.”

  Sara shook her head and thought about ignoring the giant, but remembered the flames that Draco shot at her without a second thought. She walked over and grabbed the dress she had on the night before and walked out of the house. She saw no one, so she turned to walk back into the house. It was then that a shadow fell across her. Sara looked up and saw the giant looking around the back of the house.

  “Well, come on Sari. Draco wants you to get him a rooster.”

  Sara crossed her arms, thinking that Draco surely wouldn’t hurt her, so she said, “No, he can get his own if he wants it.”

  It was then that Sara heard Draco come out of the cave. The cave wasn’t close by, so Sara knew the dragon was trying to be heard. Draco growled words across the farm that Sara couldn’t understand, but David translated.

  “Draco would like to know, since you will not get him a rooster to eat, if you would prefer to be flame-boiled or eaten raw. He is okay with either option.”

  Sara looked at the giant, who seemed to shudder with the words, and then back in the direction of the dragon. She could picture the flames coming out and her falling to her knees in screams of agony.

  As if to show his seriousness, the dragon came out of nowhere dropping in front of her with its mouth open and teeth moving towards Sara.

  Sara fell to the ground, covered her head, and screamed.

  The scream stopped the dragon. It raised its head, then turned and walked away. By the time Sara was back in control of her fear and stopped screaming, Draco was out of sight and Sara assumed back in its cave.

  Sara stood on shaky legs and looked towards the giant.

  David shook his head and said, “Grab a blanket and come follow me.” Then he turned and walked away from the house and towards the chicken coop.

  Sara wasn’t sure why she needed a blanket, but she walked back into the house and grabbed one. She had been using it, but guessed it might work, then she went back outside. She saw the chicken coop and chickens walking around outside.

  Sara walked over that way and realized that she didn’t know the difference between a hen and a rooster, other than the hens were the females.

  When she got closer, one of the chickens let out a crow, which Sara assumed meant it was a rooster.

  “Do you even know the difference?” David said, putting his hands on his hips and staring down at her.

  “That’s one, right?” Sara said, pointing at the bird that crowed.

  “Yes, but how could you tell without it crowing?”

  Sara guessed that David had figured it out, but Sara decided to see if she could tell by looking at the different birds that were walking around. Looking at them, she spotted two that looked like the one who crowed.

  “The roosters have a larger red stuff on top of their heads, and the feathers around their neck are different.” Then, seeing something else added, “The roosters have a large pointy thing sticking out on their leg.”

  “Those pointy things are called spurs, and those, along with their beaks, can do more damage than you can imagine if you are not careful. That is one of the reasons for the blanket. I assume you have not done this before.” Then, after a small pause, added, “Or have you?”

  Sara just stared up at the giant and pursed her lips. She couldn’t believe the giant thought she might have dealt with chickens before.

  “No, you have not.” David waited a second and asked, “Would you like me to show you, or do you want to do it yourself?”

  Sara almost said she would do it herself, but seeing one of the roosters attack another, she thought better of it. “No, I need help.”

  The giant smiled and said, “Let me show you.” Then David reached out a hand to Sara, and she passed him the blanket.

  “It is easier to grab these guys at night when they are calm, but if that is not an option, then find one that does not look like it is ready to jump you and throw the blanket over it.” With those words, the giant threw the blanket over the rooster that had attacked its fellow bird and had its back towards them. Once it was covered, David reached out with one hand and grabbed the chicken.

  The bird in the blanket disappeared in the giant’s hand, then he immediately reached under the blanket and grabbed the bird. “You have two choices: either to keep it like that or reach around and grab it by its legs, holding tight and then holding its wings down to keep it from flapping. Do not hold it close to your face as it could peck you. You could hold the legs up and let the bird hang upside down, but only if you are getting ready to feed Draco with it.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  David lowered his hand with the rooster in it and she tried to take it as David had shown her. It took a moment, and she almost lost the bird, but in a moment, she had it.

  “Good, go take it to your new master. He’s hungry and you want him to eat the bird, not his new servant.” David reached out and turned Sara toward him and looked intently into her face. “Whatever you do, never go into the cave. Even if we are not around, do not go into the cave. Draco will know. He would smell you, and that would make him very angry. You would not like him when he is angry.”

  Sara swallowed at the casual way the giant had said the dragon could eat her and moved towards the cave. On reaching the cave, the dragon stepped out and lowered his head towards her. Sara took the rooster and held it out like David had said, and in just a moment, Draco snapped the rooster out of her hands, leaving only its feet, which she dropped with a “Ew.”

  The dragon tongue licked out and grabbed the feet, throwing them somehow into his mouth and swallowed.

  Sara just stood there, both amazed and horrified.

  Draco turned and took a few steps toward the cave, then he turned back. The dragon looked straight into Sara’s eyes and said something she didn’t understand. The words sounded a lot like Draco’s name, but she wasn’t sure. The look that the dragon was giving her told her he wanted something, but she didn’t know what it could be. The fire showing from around his teeth told her that he expected her to know.

  “What do you want?” Sara yelled at the dragon.

  As soon as the words left her mouth, a flame exploded from Draco and shot at Sara. It was in that second that David stepped in front of her. He faced her, and his back was toward the dragon. This exposed his back to the flames, his size causing the flames to disperse around him, so all Sara felt was the heat.

  “AHHH!” David yelled, and he fell to a knee.

  Sara was shocked that Draco had tried to roast her, but more that David was willing to take the fire on her behalf. She looked around and saw the dragon shake his head, growling something, then turned to move back into the cave.

  Sara moved around and saw that the leather coat that David was wearing was black, and the hair on the back of his head was singed. The giant groaned and slowly moved his arms, stood up, and dropped the leather coat off his body. The skin under the giant's coat was beet red and looked blistered in a couple of places. David began moving towards the pig pen and plopped down into the mud.

  Sara followed the giant, still stunned at what had just happened. Seeing the giant lying in the mud, Sara was confused but was now able to speak. “Why are you lying in the mud? You were just burned? Isn’t that a bad idea?”

  “Yes,” David responded in a voice that was filled with pain. “But if I put the cold water from the spring on it first, I might faint, but you are correct, leaving mud on the burn would be very bad.”

  Sara watched David get up and begin walking towards the spring. After a couple of steps, David turned his head around and asked, “If you don’t mind, would you help me?”

  Any anger that Sara might have had before now at the giant was gone, and she quickly moved to follow and said, “Yes, of course. What do I need to do?”

  Grab the bucket and head over to the spring. The giant moved slowly, and Sara wondered if moving was causing pain. Sara was easily able to get behind the servant’s quarters, grab the bucket that held the soap, and make her way over to the spring.

  Sara took the soap out of the bucket and laid it on an outcropping of rock and began to fill the bucket. She looked back and saw David stop by the trough that she had bathed in the night before.

  Looking down at the water in the trough, David said, “The water is not clean, but it is better than that mud.” And with that, he lifted the trough and dumped the water over the back of his head and set it back down.

  David made his way over near where Sara stood and sat down on the ground with his still red and muddy back to her. Then he said, “I hate to ask you to do this, but my back needs to be cleaned thoroughly to keep me from getting an infection.”

  Sara walked over and prepared to pour the first bucket of water on the back of David’s head. Since the giant was sitting on the ground, Sara could see that she could reach up and pour the water on the giant without difficulty, as his head was now even with her shoulders.

  David said, “I cannot believe that. He threatened to but… Ahh.” The first bucket of water hit, and David flinched.

  Sara poured a couple more buckets, and seeing more red skin and the few blisters on his back, she asked, “Why did you save me?”

  “You were royalty, you understand,” David said as if it was something Sara should know, but Sara didn’t.

  Sara remembered that Mistress Carmarthen always taught her that it was better to sound like a fool and ask a question than to become one by not asking, so after she poured a couple more times, Sara asked the question. “No, I don’t. Why should I?”

  David shook his head and sighed. Sara continued to pour water and gently used her hand to dislodge some of the mud, waiting to see if he would answer. Finally, he did.

  “As royalty, you had servants, correct?” Then David flinched as Sara rubbed a little harder to get some of the mud out of a blister in the middle of his back.

  “Sorry, the mud isn’t coming out easily.”

  “Do what you have to, Sari. I have been hurt far worse than this, and once you start using some of that soap, I will flinch even worse, but you did not answer my question. Even if you were not the ruler, with citizens to care for, you did have servants?”

  Sara was confused. Mistress Carmarthen had spoken of rulers caring for their people, but none of her other teachers said anything like it. She knew that her Regent, Lord Lazzaro or Lady Lord Mashal, would laugh at the idea of caring for servants.

  “Did you?” David asked again.

  “Yes,” Sara acknowledged as she began using the soap to clean the damage done by the flames intended for her.

  “A good master will protect those under his care. If they do otherwise, their servants may betray them.”

  “But if they don’t fear you, might they not obey?” Sara asked, remembering Lord Lazzaro saying it was better to be feared than loved.

  “Your parents did not teach you that foolishness?” David said, shaking his head.

  Sara couldn’t see his face, but she was convinced that if she did, there would have been a look of disgust on it. However, at the mention of her parents, Sara became upset, “My parents died several years ago.”

  David’s head dropped, and in a much quieter voice, he responded, “I am very sorry. I cannot imagine what it has been like.”

  Sara continued to wash, and David remained still, except for the occasional flinch. After a couple of minutes of silence, Sara said, “I heard my regent say that it was better to be feared than loved.”

  “Oh,” David said, then, after a pause, explained, “It is easier to get what you want, but there is always a danger in ruling like that. Let me ask you, have you ever had a servant upset with you, and maybe they did what you said, but no more, or maybe even misplace a dress or something you wanted?”

  Sara knew exactly what that was like and had just thought of it the day before. She didn’t want to admit it, but answered, “Yes, I have.”

  “If they loved you, they may not do something that they thought would hurt you, but do you think they would misplace your dress, or would they go out of their way to help you?”

  Sara stayed quiet. David stayed quiet as Sara continued to clean his back. She remembered her parents speaking of loving their people and of other rulers risking their lives for the kingdom. She felt confused. The people would be hers. She was going to be queen. They had to obey, didn’t they? They had to fear her, didn’t they?

  After a few minutes, David spoke, “Why are you helping me?”

  Sara dropped the bucket and soap. She moved back and stared at the red and blistered but clean back of the giant who had kidnapped her. She turned and ran around to the front of the house and went in. She sat on the chair by the table and stared at the floor.

  She heard David move around outside, but she didn’t move as she considered all that had happened that morning.