The dragon flew through the air, its iridescent wings shining in the sunlight. His prey clung tightly to his neck. Princess Sophie wasn't sure if falling to her death wouldn't be preferable to being eaten alive by the dragon, but for now she decided to stay onboard and alive with the hope of escaping once they'd landed.
Their descent began slowly and as the dragon picked up speed he swiveled his head around and pulled Sophie off with his mouth. He held her there almost gently and when he landed, he immediately dropped her down into the dry well. Sophie landed with a grunt at the bottom on her...ummm, well.. on her bottom.
"Ohhhh," she grumbled, as she gingerly began to stand up, dust swirling around her. "That's going to leave a mark."
She held her arms out from her sides as her dress hung wet and heavy on her arms and body. "Ugh! Slimed!" she said. Well, she thought, better than being fried, but still... ick!
Hearing the dragon's wings beating the air, she looked up and watched as her nemesis began to fly off again, scraping his claws against the side of the wooden post holding the pulley at the top. Two long scrapes marred the post as he took flight.
Two? She wondered. Why two? What could two scrapes possibly mean to a dragon if anything? Did it mean Tuesday? If so, she had three days to figure out a way out of here. Maybe it was a ranking. Maybe she only ranked as a number two in a scale of one to five. Well, she thought, if that was the case, she was going to have a serious talk with that dragon about what true beauty really was! Of course, that was if she ever got out of here... and if she somehow managed to tame that wretched beast!
With a sigh she began to look around at her surroundings. In the middle of the "floor" of the well was a hole and a rope that disappeared into it. Sophie walked over and gave it a quick tug. She could hear the faint sound of water sloshing from below. She immediately began hauling the bucket up from the hole. After several minutes of grunting, pulling and cursing the fact that she had consistently skipped her morning "activities" in favor of lying in bed for a couple extra hours, she finally pulled the bucket of water up high enough for her to pull it over and set it on the dirt floor of the well.
Sophie glanced around, shrugged and began to peel the sodden material from her body. She had a strong dislike of female underclothes, so her dress was all she wore. She sighed and looked at the dress in her hands, remembering how beautiful it had looked when her handmaiden had first unwrapped it, long and misty blue to match her eyes. Those eyes clouded over as she clenched her fists in the dirty fabric that was now tattered and torn in places and... she held it up to her nose... yep, smelled like dragon's breath. Wrinkling her nose, she tossed the dress over a post that stuck out from the wall about a foot above her head.
She looked closely at the post wondering if it could serve to help get her out of this prison, but the walls above it were slick and didn't look very promising. Sighing again she turned toward the bucket of water. She would think of a way out soon, but for now she need a drink and to get washed up. Cupping her hands, she dipped them into the water and tilted her head back letting the water run into her mouth. Some of the water ran down her arms and face, but Sophie didn't care, she drank until the dust from the flight was washed down her throat.
She walked over to her dress and wincing slightly, pulled a small strip of fabric from it to use as a washrag. She dipped the rag into the water and began to wash her face and neck, running the cloth over her arms and body, washing away the grit and grime from the unusual journey.
Despite Sophie's habit of lying in bed for too long in the mornings, she was far from plump. However, she was not waif-thin either, much to her mother, the Queen's, dismay. Most princesses were tall and willowy. Sophie was barely 5'5" tall, and was busty with a tiny waist that flared into full hips. Her legs and arms were slender and toned despite the lack of exercise. She had wild, curly blonde hair that she let fly loose most of the time and blue-gray eyes that could be soft and warm as a fox blanket, or cold as winter ice depending on the situation.
Sophie began to hum as she rinsed herself off, missing the sound of horses' hooves above her head. Setting the rag on the edge of the bucket, she sighed and realized that she would have to put the dirty, smelly dress back on as she had no other clothing with her. She walked over to the post and reaching up grabbed.... nothing. Startled, she looked at the empty post. Where on earth could her dress have gone? Sophie looked around and it was nowhere to be found. As she stood there puzzled, and beginning to get a little more frantic, she heard deep, husky laughter above her head.
Her head snapped up and she saw the blue material dangling from the end of a sword at the opening of the well. An unseen hand waved the dress back and forth, and then with a flourish the dress sailed out of sight. Stunned, Sophie watched as the head and shoulders of a man came into view... then another... and another... until five men stood looking down at her with wide grins on their faces. Sophie reached down and grabbed the washrag and futilely held it in front of her, but the scrap of fabric was so small it barely covered one breast. The men laughed and realizing how ridiculous she looked, she dropped the rag and stood straight and proud, glaring at the faces above her.
The man who had stolen her dress reached out and grabbing hold of the rope in the middle of the well, slid down, dropping on the ground in front of Sophie. He slowly walked around her, looking her up and down, noting that her full breasts rose and fell as her breath quickened. Her nipples were a dark rose color and still hard from the cool water she has washed with earlier. His smile broadened as her hands came up to cover them and his dark eyes sparkled devilishly as he looked up into her cool ones.
"Do you often go skinny-dipping in a dry well?" he asked with a snicker.
"Why yes," she replied sarcastically, "Didn't you know that it's the latest rage?"
"No, I didn't," he said, "but if I'd known about it sooner, I certainly would have made the time to accompany you more often."
"And what makes you think I would have invited you?" Sophie retorted.
"I think a nude woman in a well would be invitation enough," he replied.
Hoots of laughter sounded from the men above as they listened to the sparring.