Saving Sarah

Standing before the silver mirror, Princess Sarah looked at her reflection and sighed. The gold and silver dress was rather beautiful and showed off her delicate features. Her hair, dressed up in a bun with a few loose strands resembled the gold thread in the bodice of the dress.

She couldn't wait for the night to end. Another ball her father had arranged in hopes of auctioning her off on some prince or any male with a good enough background to make the marriage worth the effort.

The decorations were beautiful as usual, the food amazing, and the people, well... they were dull. Sarah had to keep covering her mouth to stifle her yawns.

Out in the garden, Sarah relaxed. She was alone, at least. After a few hours of people almost kissing the ground she walked on she needed to get away. The light breeze brushed cool against her exposed shoulders. She looked up at the full moon, longing to be anywhere but there.

All of a sudden, an arm wrapped around her waist as a hand covered the scream that tried to escape from her ruby stained lips. She was shuffled off the castle grounds and into an awaiting carriage.

Sarah tried to push against the doors to escape, but they wouldn't budge.

After a few hours, the carriage stopped moving. She prepared to fight as soon as the door opened as the door open her captor was prepared for the attack.

Without much effort, the man picked her up, placing her over his should to carry her inside the stone building. All she could do was beat her fists against his back. Blows that went unnoticed by him.

Pushing her with violent force her onto a bed in one of the rooms, the man grunted. "Sit down and shut up."

Not one to follow commands, Sarah stood up. The look he gave her made her back down onto the bed. She looked over his body, muscles bulging against the rough peasant material. "Who are you?" She demanded, her voice weaker than it had been before from all the screaming.

He chuckled, causing a shiver down her spine. "You, my princess, can call me Dragon."

"My father will send someone. You won't be able to keep me here."

"Let them come. No one can beat me." Dragon sneered at her. "You're mine. You'll stay in these walls, clean the rooms, make me food and bear many children. That is your duty."

"You can't make me do anything." She had started to find her courage again.

"You'll change your tone soon, princess." He headed towards the door, key in hand. "I'll leave you here for a week or two and you'll be begging to give me everything I want."

He left, slamming the door behind. Sarah waited a few minutes after the sound of the lock being turned to make sure he wouldn't be behind it. Then she went to it, pulled on the handle and pounded on the wood. It wouldn't move.

The first week went by agonizingly slow. On the rare occasion he would open the door enough to leave a plate of bread and meat for her. Other than that, she had no contact with anyone.

At the end of what might have been the second week, she heard shouting and the banging of metal. A few minutes later the scraping sound of the key echoed the room. Sarah placed herself on the other side of the bed, far away from the door. She had an idea of what would come next and wanted to prolong the experience as long as possible.

The door opened, revealing a knight in dull metal armor.

She sighed in relief. "Where's Dragon?" She asked to make sure that it was safe.

The knight drew a metal finger across the neck area, indicating the decease of her captor.

Sarah ran to the door and followed outside where a white horse awaited them. "Wait a minute," she said as the knight prepared to help her onto the horse. "May I see the face of my hero."

Nodding, the knight's hand moved up to take off the helmet.

As it was lifted long brown hair tumbled down. Sarah stared in amazement at the soft brown eyes and light pink lips of her knight. It was one of her father's serving girls, Amber.

Amber smiled.

"How, why?" She stammered, still surprised.

"Well," Amber chuckled, "I couldn't sit around as the others failed to save you. Never send a man to do a woman's job. Besides," she admitted, "I couldn't bear to think of something bad happening to you."

Ignoring her tattered dress from the ball and the clanky metal suit Sarah hugged her knight in not so shining armor.