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"You can't do this! You can't just take people who- you can't!" Yusuf yelled, sputtered, really.
The Dragon stared down at him with a fanged smile, and said, "Too late."
Prince Yusuf ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Kaysani of the Northern Front, also known as al-Tayyib, and Yusuf to his friends, was scowling. He spent all his remaining energy scowling, and had been scowling, since he'd been picked up like a sack of potatoes, and flown across sea, forest then mountains. He was trapped in a demon lizard's claws, with only the company of a dead cow in their other fist.
He was unceremoniously dropped in a heap. He was missing a boot, his last vial of lighting had dropped into a canyon, his cloak was stained. "You can't keep me here."
The Dragon dropped the cow. It was still bleeding.
If it was even possible, Yusuf scowled harder. "What is this?!"
The Dragon blinked and Yusuf could swear there was a trace of confusion in the creature's giant eyes. That, or this was all some kind of devious plot he hadn't yet unraveled. "Dinner?"
"What do you mean dinner? It's an entire cow!" He stopped suddenly and gave the Dragon a hard look. "It better be for you, I refuse to be eaten."
The Dragon chittered in the back of their long neck. "I'm not going to eat you, I'm going to feed you."
"SO YOU CAN FATTEN ME UP?!"
"So you'll stop yelling at me, for one."
Yusuf was not a shrill man. Other people would go so far as to say he was a poet, an orator, brave and eloquent and unapologetic when required. Yusuf, who did not enjoy talking about himself, would not say so, but right now, he was considering being very shrill, if it got him off this forsaken mountain. "There's one way to do that, and it's by bringing me BACK!"
He was a little blue in the face. The Dragon curled around him in a long semi circle, their tail flicking at his feet. A warm puff of air warmed Yusuf's shins, and he was reminded painfully that the Dragon's rows of sharp teeth were not their only defense.
"You were trespassing." The great beast rumbled, craned their long serpentine neck, and stole a bite from the cow's ankle.
Yusuf hurked in his mouth. The dragon ignored him.
Once he'd gathered himself enough to be prim, he said, "I can go as I please. The Forest is owned by no single creature, not god nor man. Even we know that."
The Dragon let out a sound like breaking glass, and Yusuf scrambled away. It was not his bravest moment.
"These are my mountains." They said, slow and satisfied. "I brought you here to be my guest. Trespassers are eaten. Guests are fed."
Yusuf had the decency not to stutter. "Yes, well, bring me back, and I'll leave the moment I find that bastard man."
"I have seen no satyrs in these lands."
Yusuf huffed. "He's not a satyr. He's my fiancé." The prince sighed. "He's an unwashed, uncouth, undignified boot-eater with as much charm as a haystack."
This time the Dragon took a great big chomp out of the cow, inches from Yusuf's foot, and Yusuf was not proud of the sound he made. As they chewed, bits of meat and flesh dripped to the floor, and the crunch of bone made Yusuf feel very vulnerable.
Neither said anything for a long time.
"I doubt his opinion of you is much better."
Yusuf looked suitably cowed.
"I'm sure it isn't." Yusuf said, and his shoulders slumped. He scrubbed a hand over his face, wearing his remorse like a badge. "I drove him away."
He wanted to tear out his hair, but he did his best not to. "I was petty. We have too much riding on this union, and I was unnecessarily cruel. I need to find him."
The alliance depended on it. This was their last true chance to end war before it could bleed across the lands. The Forest had no leaders, no monarchs, no kingdoms, but his fiancé carried enough respect and sway to assist in negotiations with its many parties. Because while it had no leaders, its many occupants seemed to thrill at the chance of battle. Yusuf had been so foolish.
He met the Dragon's large expressive eyes, bluer than the ocean, and felt his heart skip a beat. "So please, let me go. I need to find him. I need to make this right."
The Dragon gargled glass, and the second time around, Yusuf almost thought it sounded like laughter. "Such a sacrifice for a bastard."
"I have to. I have to protect my people." It would cost him everything, but there was no alternative. His people were looking to him to protect them and he would do everything in his power to try, even if it meant tying himself to some boorish backwoods lordling. "Please." He tried again, appealing to the Dragon's compassion if he thought such a thing would exist. "I have to do this, you need to let me go."
"It's a noble thing you're doing, but don't you think you should be happy too? A bad match to save everyone, but you'll be miserable." The Dragon extended their head down to look at the prince, smoke curling from his nostrils. "What about love?"
"Love can be learned. I guess." Yusuf didn't sound convinced.
"What about soulmates?"
"No, they're old legends." It startled a scoff out of him. His host did not react, and Yusuf felt his cheeks warm. "Like dragons."
The Dragon was definitely laughing at him now. It tilted its head back, and silvery scales caught stray moonlight, making mockery of shadow. For a moment, Yusuf couldn't speak. His hands itched for a quill, but the majesty of the sight left him humbled, like the frozen lakes at twilight, the promise of every palette cooled into something that almost hurt to touch. He looked away before he could say anything else. The spaces between his ribs felt too tight.
"My soulmate will have to wait, I'm afraid." Yusuf said, at length. "Besides, for all his faults, I know my fiancé is kind. He didn't have to do this - a union with a mage. He cares enough about others to try and make a difference." Yusuf reminded himself of that, and felt his resolve steel. "If we ever do seek happiness, hopefully we can be kind to one another."
The Dragon considered him, lowered their massive head and gently nudged Yusuf towards the wall, Yusuf went willingly, because he wasn't a fool. Then the creature let out a burst of blue flame, and Yusuf felt his soul ascend to a higher plane or maybe he was just screaming very much.
When the flames subsided, the cow was neatly toasted. The Dragon huffed.
"There. Dinner is served."
Yusuf blinked, but then couldn't keep himself from laughing. "You are a surprise, Sir Dragon."
"I do try to be. I want my guest to be comfortable."
"Then I am honored by your hospitality, for all that I still must insist on leaving."
"Not until dinner and rest, you wouldn't want to face your bastard of a betrothed on an empty stomach." The Dragon puffed another curl of sweet smelling smoke.
"I suppose not, you make a good point. And I wouldn't want all this roast to go to waste after your kindness." Yusuf settled himself and picked delicately at the cooked meat. It wasn't bad, for as simple as it was, though he still kept a wary eye on his captor. "Why exactly did you bring me here?"
"Perhaps I needed to get a better look at you first too." The Dragon said nonchalantly. "A man full of promises, who knows if you're one who'd keep them. Some men are greedy, some are ruthless. It is a rare one who cares enough to put others before their own."
"It's not such a special thing."
"It is." The Dragon disagreed. "A man who would swear himself to another, not even giving himself to love or the idea of a soulmate. You might not believe in it, but I do."
"Oh?" Yusuf paused in his eating and looked skeptical. "And how do you know?"
"Dragons are wise about these things, we just know."
Stupid cryptic lizard.
"Perhaps you should make your argument to my betrothed then, see if Lord Nicolo of the Silverwood would agree."
"Oh, I believe I could convince him."
It would have to do for now.
Yusuf ate his fill, burping his pleasure, only for his host to stare at him intently and poke more pieces of beef at him. He wouldn't stop until Yusuf ate a little bit more, then a lot more, enough to pass out. Before Yusuf could protest, a large claw all but picked him up, and dragged him into a corner. He was wrapped in silver scales, and tucked against the Dragon's flank like a ragdoll.
"I have severely underestimated you, Sir Dragon." He murmured, as a massive wing draped over him like a blanket.
"In all ways."
Yusuf huffed, and closed his eyes.
In the morning they would soar through the skies, and he would laugh until he was hoarse, calling sparks of red and gold to shatter across the sky. He would be dropped delicately at the border of his kingdom and a reptilian muzzle nudged his cheek.
"You will speak with Sir Nicolo, won't you?" Yusuf asked, for the umpteenth time.
"I will pass along your message." His generous host said. "He and I are quite close."
Huh. Yusuf thought, as the Dragon took to the sky, becoming smaller and smaller against the horizon. He would tell the kitchens to put an extra setting at the wedding feast.
An extra large setting.
Three hours later, when the Lord of the Silverwood rode into the castle yard on a griffin, Yusuf was there to greet him. He couldn't help but notice how familiar those blue eyes were.