Crown Jewel [Trygon/Harriet]

[Trygon]

A dusty road, overlooked by evergreen forest for miles in both ways...

In the upper branches of a tall tree, sunlight greened by passing through leaves fell on the branches beneath, lighting up the bark and the myraid creatures, both large and small, that moved and lived across it. An ant was scouting for food, moving towards something vaugely warm it could sense ahead. The simple creature barely had time to register movement before a sharp talon came down on it, puncturing the ant's feeble exoskeleton and dooming it to a quick death. But not too quick.

Trygon watched it squirm and die, one yellow eye barely open enough to behold the spectacle. The black dragon shifted his scaled bulk minutely, adjusting to the movement of the sun over the last hour. For all their lauded reputation, dragons are still reptiles, and this one had spent most of the day lounging in the warm, steady sunlight. He was finding himself bored now, however, and playing God to ants wasn't cutting it. He craved more complex toys.

He slowly, slowly extended his long neck, peeking past the leaf cover before him and down on the road beneath. He stared for a moment, waking up, before his eyes focused and his ears snapped to. It would be a shame to leave that warm sun, he thought idly, but further adventures awaited. The dragon sat up ponderously, before he set his talons in the bark covering the trunk of the tree and started to climb straight downward. As he moved, he slipped into the predatory, reptillian part of his mind, letting the killer instinct suffuse his whole body. The hunt was on.

 

[H a r r i e t]

"Father would never allow me the freedom I desire," The gentle words escaped a young female, her body tense as she muttered the painful truth to herself. Her mossy green eyes scanned towards one of the maids she had befriend when she was a child, waiting for a possible response, or something to ease the reality of the prison she really lived in. There was nothing to be said. Not that it surprised Harriet, a maid shouldn't over speak their place within the King's home, nor in the presence of his family. It was "out of place", as he'd say. "I just want to escape these cold walls, to converse in conversations with gentlemen that my Father hasn't picked out. To taste an apple, fresh off a tree's branch. Melody, do you understand what I'm saying?" Stiffing her lower lip, trying not to seem as upset as she really was, Harriet's head tilted to the side as her eyes narrowed, trying to read her friend's facial expression. "Are you even listening to me?!" The words came out harsher then what had been expected, and an apologetic glance was made with a half hearted smile tugging at the corner of her pale lips.

"It is not my place to say, I am only but your servant within these walls, Lady Harriet." The shorter female nodded, taking a breath as if to hold herself back from saying more.

"As a friend, what would you say, Melody? Give me advice, tell me what I should do. I can not let my thoughts be the only thing I have to turn to for an answer. Please, this is the last thing I ask of you." Smoothing her warm fingers across her friend's cheek, she looked deeply into her eyes, telling her that she planned on escaping her Father's hold without the noise of words. "I wish that you came with me, to give me strength." Swallowing, her thin eyebrows pulled together as she fought back a small sigh of sadness. Her Father would be devastated when he heard that she had ran from home, going against his wishes. Though, it was nothing new when it came to Harriet. But never had her rebellious streak gone this far.

When Melody said nothing, she nodded her head and stood gracefully. The maroon and black skirt upon her dress fluttered as she stepped quickly, hands pushed open the doors to her stone balcony. Strands of fiery red hair fell across the bridge of her nose as the gentle breeze of the summer's day rushed into her chambers. Moving her arms in front of her stomach, bent at her elbows, she laced her fingers with the material upon her corset, fidgeting with the clothe just like how she was fidgeting with her thoughts. Closing her eyes, inhaling deeply, she let it out in a small gasp and shook her head at herself. This was foolish. If her Father's men found her, she'd surely be under heavier lock up. But right now, while she had this much freedom, she needed to act upon her will. Not even her family would bind her to something that she saw as a waste. "Very well then. Melody, fetch me my bed clothe, if you will."

Stepping more out into the open, her hands unlacing from each other to rest upon the warm stone railing before her waist. Basking in the sun while her maid, and only friend, pulled the dirty bedding from her large cot, she relaxed. Calming herself down, to just enjoy what little moments she had left within her home. Raising a hand, she brushed the strands of stray hair from her fair skin, tucking them behind her ear so she could continue to gaze at the Kingdom below her. No one looked up to see their Princess, debating one of the most roughest, and toughest, decisions of her life. Not even a small glance. 'No one needs me here. I'm wasting away. There has to be more out there for a woman my age, with my intelligence. No longer will I stay and be apart of Father's collection, a marble statue to be seen and not heard. I will get my freedom, or die trying.' A hard glare pushed within her beautiful orbs, as if she were mentally scolding all the villagers and knights below her. Her face twisted with disgust, and if she weren't the slightest bit lady like, Harriet would have spat upon the people below her for their ungrateful nature.

 

[Trygon]

A lone deer was the next victim of Trygon's boredom. He spotted it halfway down the tree, grazing beneath him. Never one to pass up easy mayhem, the dragon simply cast himself outward, a small flutter of his wings the only sound as he spun in midair, bringing his feet beneath him, outstretched towards victory. The bottom of his foot struck the back of the deer's head squarely, and his paw clamped down, instantly crushing the deer's head to pulp as his wings cracked down with an echoing boom, killing his speed. He rode what momentum remained to the ground, crushing the mangled stump of neck underfoot as he landed. Without a second glance at his kill, the dragon slunk off through the undergrowth, moving every bit as silently and naturally as the creatures he terrorized.

Anyone who considered killing for sport a purely human invention would be correct - To this creature, murder was no sport, but an artform, to be practiced whenever possible, on anything that presented itself. The thought put a tense smirk on his scaled lips, revealing rows of inch-long carnivore's teeth beneath them. And with the smirk came an idea. There was a castle town not far from his location, and though Trygon had only scouted it in nighttime flybys before, he was feeling cocky and bloodthirsty enough to chance a raid. A small one, he promised himself silently, already aware of the unliklihood of holding to that promise. Kill a few peasants, burn some homes, maybe scorch a tower and steal some gold. He would save raiding the castle's treasure stores for a later time, after he'd assessed the lay of the land better. His long, forked tongue flicked out of his mouth, licking over his lips in an unmistakeably greedy expression. And what treasure there would be...

 

[H a r r i e t]

Melody's footsteps behind her caught Harriet's attention, her arms pulling up and off the railing to turn and face her. Narrowing her eyelids into half slits, ignoring the strands of hair that fly across her face with the wind. It's as if she's staring into a sister's soul, almost a mirror of herself. A much more obedient self, of course, but herself nonetheless. And yet, she couldn't help but feel rejected and betrayed. She didn't mean to feel this way towards her, of course. But it was lingering within her chest, poking at her heart, making it hard to breathe. Before her bottom lip could tremble, and her throat to start aching to let out the sobs she could feel growing within her chest, she took a step forward and gripped onto the dirty bedding she had just pulled from her cot. Fingers tightening against the soft fabric, knowing that she was already this far, and she couldn't turn her back on her decision.

Breathing out a sigh, calming down her sorrow and grief, Harriet replaces it with the courage and hatred she had felt for quite some time. Turning her back on Melody, like she had just done to Harriet, and stepped back up to the railing. Crouching, her hands working fast as she wrapped one end of the sheets to one of the stone bars near it's bottom, she triples it and then pulls as tight as she can. Releasing the fabric, the female turns on her heels to fetch a cloak and a bag full of some food, and money. There was no way she would survive without something to go on, something to shield her and aid her. For a young woman like herself, there was surely going to be some danger that would seek her out. If only she knew . . .

The cloak was black, Harriet pulling it around her shoulders. Tying it around her neck loosely, a knot and a bow, trying to at least show some elegance before she took off to live like a barbarian. Pulling the hood up from her back, tucking her fiery hair inside, she turned back to her balcony. "I'm sorry, Melody, that you chose this path. That you're going to accept the life of a slave to my Father. King or not, that man is a Monster." Passing her, giving her the slightest look from the corner of her, Harriet's hands clenched the railing above where she had attached the clothes. Heaving herself off, her legs pulling her over the edge, she let go and dropped. Grasping the sheet tightly with her thighs, as well as her hands, she makes her way to the end of the fabric, before letting go once more and dropping for the second time.

Sneaking from the castle's fortress was easy. The guards knew not to back-talk the Princess, her wrath took after her Father's. They nodded to her and left her to her business, minding their own. Which made it ever more simple to reach the gates of the village, now alone in her solitude. The coins of gold tucked away within her breast corset, her cloak for protection against the weather, as well as to hide her identity. Lastly, she had her freedom.

Or at least, she thought she did.