Chapter Text
The clanging of armored knights woke Winter from his slumber. He growled and allowed his claws to dig into the coins of his hoard. It sounded like only five to seven of them. Breathing deeply, he picked out the scent of them. Metal and sweat soaked leather, accompanied by the scent of horses. He wrinkled his nose. Human men always smelled disgusting.
They were coming up to the front gate now, the great oaken door blocking their path inside. At this point, they had to make a decision. They could try to open the great oak gate, but unless they had brought a powerful battering ram they would be out of luck there. They could try to climb the walls, and some did get up that way, but Winter had taken care to smooth the stones to the point that climbing without a grapple would be difficult. Most groups ended up just standing outside and shouting insults at the walls until they finally left, or Winter decided he was bored of hearing them.
It had been awhile since the last group. Maybe he’d have a little fun with them and blow fireballs at them to get them to leave faster.
Outside the gate, the clanking finally drew close to the gate and the group stopped.
“Alright.” Winter could hear one of them, probably the leader, address the rest of the group. “Prince Anthony, with regards to the orders of Viceroy Stane, we have brought you to this location to accomplish the courting ritual set in place by the monarchy.” Great. Not just dumb young knights trying to make a name for themselves. This was one of those royalty things where they’d expect him to guard the stupid prince until some knight or another came to ‘rescue’ him and take him back to his kingdom to marry. What a load of crap. He was tired already.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Another voice chimed in, exasperation apparent in his tone. “I know the drill. Well, you’ve brought me here. Now how about you all just head on back home and tell Obie you dropped me off just fine.”
“My Lord!” The first voice tried again. “We must be sure that you are settled properly before returning!”
“Whatever. Get on with it, then,” the prince sighed.
Winter pulled himself to his feet, shaking some loose coins from his scales. He was done waiting. This group would not just stop at trying to get in. If he let them do it themselves, they would crawl all over his lair, trying to find a way in. Smoke puffed from his nostrils. Better to get it over with now. If he went out and scared them off they should leave, prince or no prince.
He made his way quietly over to the tower closest to the gate and climbed up to the top. Looking down he could see the group. Six soldiers stood in a loose group around the prince, a small chest at their feet. The armor was buffed to a high polish and it reflected the sun’s light. The prince was dressed just as flamboyantly. Red silk with gold accents, a gold circlet with a ruby in the center over short, dark hair, and black leather boots with more gold detailing. Winter tilted his head. The effect was rather nice, actually. He hummed to himself, he wouldn’t mind adding some of that to his hoard. He finally allowed some of his claws to scrape against the stone, just loud enough to get the attention of the knights.
It was the prince, however, who first looked up to see him seated on the tower.
The prince whistled lowely. “Well, aren’t you just the most gorgeous thing?”
His statement got the attention of the knights who also looked up. Immediately, their hands went for their swords, though they didn’t draw them. Winter could appreciate that much restraint, at least. He opened his jaws slightly and smoke trickled between his lips.
“Who are you, and why have you come here?” he growled. The knights shivered in response, and one of them stepped forwards.
“We are Knights of the Stark Kingdom, and come bearing a request from His Excellency Viceroy Stane. As per ancient tradition we ask for your protection of the Crown Prince until such time as a worthy…”
“Yes, yes. I know the drill.” The knights looked relieved. “I refuse.” And then they looked crestfallen.
The head knight tried again. “We have brought tribute to you, O Great One, in hopes that….”
Winter growled, and the knight cut off his speech. “I do not like to repeat myself.”
“Of…. Of course.” The knight said with a bow. He started backing away, back towards where their horses were tied and the other knights followed.
The prince looked up at Winter and frowned. “So, you’re just sending us away then?” he asked.
Winter growled again and the prince held up his hands. “Alright, I can take a hint. We’ll just take this tribute and go then.” He leaned down and grabbed the chest, only for his fingers to slip on the lid and let it fall open. “Oops.”
Though the chest was small, it held a dazzling array of gems and gold. Sparkly trinkets reflected the light and Winter found himself staring at it until the prince shut the lid with a snap and picked it back up.
“Clumsy me. Sorry.” The prince grinned as he picked up the chest and heaved it onto his shoulder. “I guess we’ll just be leaving now then.”
Winter growled and flared his wings, lifting off from the tower and landing heavily in front of the group. The knights jumped back slightly and one of them fell over before scrambling to his feet. The dragon leaned forward and sniffed at the prince and the chest.
“I know what you’re doing,” he growled before blowing smoke into the Prince’s face. As the man coughed, Winter turned to the knights. “I formally accept and complete the transaction. Ensure that no unworthy suitors come seeking.” With that, he reached over and grasped both the prince and the chest in his claws before lifting off again, leaving the knights behind them.
*****
Tony fell to his knees as the dragon dropped him on the ground inside the old castle. He grunted and pulled himself to his feet, dusting the dirt off of his trousers. The ground shook slightly as the dragon landed near to him, the chest still clutched in his claws. The large creature shook his wings out before folding them back against his spine and turning so he could look at Tony.
He huffed and held the chest out to the prince. “Take that and follow me,” he said.
Tony shrugged and took the chest back into his arms. The dragon nodded and started walking towards the inner keep of the castle. Tony followed behind, watching the dragon walk. It had an odd cadence to it’s steps and he frowned.
“Are you alright?” he asked, trying to keep up.
The dragon ignored him and Tony shrugged before continuing to follow. “I’ll take that as a yes then.”
The doors of the inner keep were massive. Enormous slabs of heavy wood, decorated with delicate looking metal ornamentation. The dragon walked up to them and leaned his shoulder against the junction. The doors were tall enough that there was still a good foot of door above his head.
“Was this place built by giants?” Tony muttered to himself as he followed the dragon inside.
The dragon chuckled. “You do not remember the history of this land, then?” he asked.
“History?” Tony asked. “Well, yeah. I had tutors in that crap since I learned to speak. It was mostly boring though.” He looked around at the interior of the keep. It was enormous, with massive windows and tattered tapestries hanging on the walls. Ancient looking wooden benches and tables were shoved against the walls, years worth of caked on dust turning everything a muted gray color. The windows barely let in any light and the entire place felt more like a tomb than a great hall.
“So… who lived here before you did then?” Tony looked up at the dragon again.
The dragon snorted. “Tutors, teachers. All humans, I presume,” he sighed. “The people who lived here were mostly humans, but there were plenty of other races as well. This place was designed for the comfort of all of them.”
“Humans lived with the other races?” Tony frowned. “I thought… well I’d always been told that they either wanted to keep to themselves or…”
“Or they were bloodthirsty beasts starting wars for no reason?” The dragon huffed. “Those rumors were spread by humans. There are some individuals who might fit those descriptions, but for the most part they desire peace. Much like you humans, at least usually.”
“Huh.” Tony shrugged. “That makes sense, I guess.”
The dragon huffed and turned to continue walking. Tony followed after another second, shifting the weight of the chest in his arms. The dragon reached the far corner of the hall and shouldered open another large door, this one leading to a set of stairs, just large enough for the dragon to wiggle his way up.
“So, what should I call you then? I mean, it would be rude to just call you ‘dragon’, right?” Tony followed him up the staircase and through one more door. Walking through it, he stood with his mouth open.
“Call me Winter,” The dragon grumbled as he walked into the room.
“Alright then.” Tony said in a small voice. His steps echoed in the large room, not quite as large as the first one, but big enough that Winter could stand up all the way and stretch out fully.
And every corner was filled with gold.
Light from the afternoon sun shined in from the high windows and glittered off the metal, giving the whole room a warm glow. Tony looked around in awe, the chest still clutched to his chest. Gold was, by far, the most common thing in the room, but he could see gilded chairs, large gemstones, silver coins, large paintings, and fine cloth. There was probably more hidden underneath the large piles of gold, he thought.
Winter huffed and moved to lay himself against one of the bigger piles. His tail flicked out and ran over another pile, causing the gold to clink together as it fell down the curve of the mound. The tail rested against the base of it, and the gold shifted over to cover the blue scales.
“You can put that chest over there,” the dragon muttered, moving one of his wings to gesture at the corner of the room closest to the door. At Tony’s nod, the dragon huffed again, a trickle of smoke leaving his nostrils. “Feel free to explore. I’m taking a nap.” With that, he let his head come to rest on the pile and closed his eyes.
Tony placed the chest on one of the old chairs, the wood creaking under the weight. A few of the coins on it fell off and Tony winced looking over at the dragon. Winter didn’t move and Tony breathed in relief. It wasn’t even midday and it had already been long. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at Winter.
He was a prince, watched over by a dragon.
At least the dragon was a pretty one, he thought. Dark blue scales on his back and legs and lighter ones on his belly. Large, dark horns curved off his head, a slight twist to them curving them inward again. Tony could see just the tip of his fangs poking out of the scaled mouth. The leathery wings tucked against his side were an even darker blue than the scales on his back. All over, a very impressive, and very intimidating creature.
Tony watched him for another moment before turning and making his way out of the room. It was probably better to not spend too much time that close to a dragon’s hoard.
He’d need to tell him about Obediah soon if he ever wanted help.
Tony brought his hands out of his pockets and rubbed his face. Well, that was a problem for later, anyway. He made his way back to the massive great hall, the doors proving difficult, but not quite impossible for him to shove open himself. The room was just as impressive as before, if no less dusty.
“Might as well explore,” he said to himself before walking over to one of the other doors leading off of the hall.