With a sigh and a slight groan, he began. "We have precious little time, but I shall try and explain what I can."
"As you discovered in the library of books deep below us, long ago we imprisoned a dragon in its hold 'neath the castle."
"We?" thought the princess, but said nothing as he continued.
"That should have been the end of it, the beast would have lain slumbering for all time, had we left it alone. But alas, dear princess... greed proved an even greater monster."
"The king desired the treasure stores of the dragon, and his consort brought him a plan to get it for him. As you already know, his consort was none other than our Queen. The woman whom you loved as your maid, was the rightful Queen at the time. But her sister was jealous, and desired the throne, and the King, with all of her heart."
"As you have already seen, Belladonna, who is now Queen, had grown to be a very powerful sorceress. Under the light of the moon, she practiced her powers, and somehow found a way to touch the mind of the dragon sleeping below. At first, it was only sleeping. But she at last woke it up, and it was terribly angry to find itself trapped."
"Together, their evil minds found companions, and dragon told her of a plan. As it turned out, the dragon whom we'd imprisoned was very, very ancient. Had we left it alone, it probably would have succumbed down there in the dark, and troubled us no more."
"But the dragon... She had other plans. All life wants to carry on, dreads the black journey into after-life. The dragon snared the King's consort, who went willingly to her destruction."
"Belladonna bewitched the King. She laid such a heavy spell upon him that his eyes beheld only her, and he granted her any whim."
"Digging was begun on a passage down, stairways leading deep into the earth... the very same which lies beyond that doorway." said He, motioning toward the door to the catacombs where she had so recently visited.
"So bewitched was the King, that he drove his workers like a mad man. What should have taken years was completed in the span of only months, at the heavy cost of many, many slaves. A passage was completed, but the chamber which held the dragon was not breached."
"Each night, Belladonna crept down the long stairs, and communed with the mind of the dragon. The two became thick as thieves, kindred spirits... damaged beyond repair."
"At last, on the night before High Moon, the wall was broken through by a single dragon's claw, and the King's consort crept inside the chamber. Once inside, she communed with the dragon face to face, and she paid her dear price."
"As I told you, the dragon... she was most ancient and near the end. So she passed to Belladonna a dark gift. I shudder now to tell the tale... she nursed from the dragon herself! O' what blasphemy!"
At this, the Inquisitor jumped up and began to pace as he continued his tale.
"She drank from her, dear princess. Drank the milk of a black dragon! The King's ancient master, Syr Va'ahl once told us how dragons had once been simple beasts, but the Last Dragon King of Old caused them to become inhabited by an evil spirit."
"That very spirit, the darkling, passed through each and every generation of dragons, growing darker and more powerful, its insatiable lust and hunger growing stronger hour by hour."
He saw the ever-deepening look of confusion on the face of the princess, and paused to explain further.
