It was her twentieth birthday. The day she was to choose a man to court her. For weeks men had gathered 'round her, trying to sway her into choosing them. None of them made her heart ache however and she so she did not choose any of them. But today she would be required to make a choice according to the law of her village.
A new suitor had appeared today, a tall man with bright crimson hair. His eyes were deep green and his smile was bright and happy. He looked at her with curiosity but had not yet approached her. This was what had eventually drawn her to him. She was curious as to why he did not seem to be trying to court her. So she went to him and asked.
"Good sir, why is it that you do not speak to me?" she asked politely, looking up into his eyes. They were neither sea green nor emerald green. In fact they were the color of an emerald sea. She had just come to this conclusion while staring into his brilliant eyes. She saw his lips curl into a smile and she frowned, thinking that he should smile more often, when she heard his voice.
"Did you not hear me little one?" he asked in a deep tenor voice. She shook her head and blinked up at him. He smiled once again,
"I said that I had not spoken to you because you needed to speak with me first," he said, seeming to find her humorous. She frowned once more and humphed at him.
"What sort of silly rule is that?" she asked haughtily. He frowned and seemed annoyed with her all of a sudden.
"It is a courtesy to you," he said, his voice rough and perhaps a bit mad. He then turned his back to her and strode away. She blinked at this, surprised at him. She went to talk to him but he was no where that she could see now. She asked around and then decided that he had probably gone for a stroll in the forest. It was what she did when she felt frustrated.
She hiked up her skirt and took off in the forest, looking around for him. She heard soft noises coming from a glen in the middle of the forest and she smiled. She was sure that was where he was. It made perfect sense to her that he would be in the glen in the middle of the forest.
She moved closer, not bothering to hide herself or to make her footsteps softer. But when she saw what was in the glen she gasped and quickly attempted to hide herself before a large rock. The large green eyes of the dragon shifted toward her and narrowed.
"You just couldn't leave it alone could you, little one," came the voice of the dragon, strangely familiar to her. The dragon reached out and in one quick swipe lifted her off the ground and pulled her close. He growled softly,