Chapter Text
With a quick, discreet glance over his shoulder, Tony turned off the large main street into a smaller one. He had to be careful not to act too conspicuously inconspicuous, because otherwise he would catch the eye of a guard. And they would ask him what the prince was doing in this area at this hour. And why he was wearing commoner clothes.
He liked to wander around the city in the night. Not as often as he would have liked - he simply had too many duties for that - but every now and then he allowed himself this luxury. Much to the annoyance of Rhodey, his bodyguard and friend. At least he was the closest thing to a friend: he was always there for him and wasn't afraid to tell him the truth to his face; even if Tony didn't like that truth.
Unfortunately, Rhodey had a good sense for tracking down the prince whenever he secretly absconded. He simply knew him too well for that, and had enough informants in the city as well.
Tony had just had a good time in one of the inns when a familiar face caught his eye. That's when he decided he'd better get out of there and find another place that had good ale and an even better atmosphere.
Tony took a shortcut thru the working-class district. He knew the city like the back of his hand, had enjoyed going here to see the hustle and bustle of people since when he was young. The city had always seemed much more interesting to him than the palace.
Sounds from another street nearby reached his ears and curiously he moved in that direction.
As he turned the next corner, he burst into the middle of a scene that was about to escalate: a man in foreign clothes was facing a group of local and rather shady characters, was surrounded by them. He had his hands raised - whether to defend or to attack was not quite clear - and a determined face, but was clearly outnumbered.
Neither gave the impression that they were just trying to have a nice chat.
"Hey!" shouted Tony loudly, trying to make his presence felt and provide a distraction at the same time.
Startled, several heads turn to him, but just at that moment one of the guys had lunged to strike, hitting the distracted man in the strange robe square in the face.
Oops.
Another of the shady group, the one closest to Tony, was coming for him.
It wasn't the first brawl the prince had been involved in and he doubted it would be his last.
Tony fought as best he could, had to take a few punches as well. He didn't see what the other man in the funny robes was doing, only noticed a brief flash out of the corner of his eye. When he turned his head, he counted one attacker less, without anyone being on the ground.
Huh, weird.
Suddenly, he heard Rhodey's voice calling him nearby. Crap. He didn't want to be found yet. He shoved his opponent aside and dashed past him. In a fit of stubbornness, and because he had been the reason Tony had interfered in the first place, he grabbed the strange man by the arm and pulled him with him into the dark back alley between two houses.
Fortunately, it wasn't hard to lose the attackers. Tony wasn't even sure they were pursuing them.
When he couldn't hear Rhodey either, he stopped and let the stranger go.
"Phew. That was close." he gasped, a little out of breath, but also laughing. He was tipsy and feeling alive. "I'm Tony by the way."
He glanced at the other, who gave him a sour look and wiped nonexistent dust off his sleeve, much as if Tony had soiled it with his touch.
The prince frowned at this and a little of the euphoria drained out of him.
"I had everything under control," the man finally replied. His voice was low and under other circumstances Tony probably would have found it attractive. But now he was too distracted by the unkindness that resonated in it.
"Sure, I saw that. You were about to knock them all out." He snorted in amusement, but then went straight back to seriousness. "These streets are dangerous for strangers."
"I don't fear mere mortal men."
"Mere mortal man? Where are you from? Last century?" Tony asked.
But instead of giving an answer, the other man turned and walked away without another word.
The prince frowned.
"Yeah, no problem. You're welcome," he called after him.
The guy made a dismissive motion with his hand and then disappeared into the darkness of the night.
What a strange fellow, Tony thought. He wasn't one hundred percent sure whether he had hallucinated the whole encounter. Maybe he had drunk more than he thought.
Shaking his head, Tony continued on his own way, always careful not to run into Rhodey, and soon he had forgotten about the man.
~~
Stephen's preferred form was that of a dragon. It was comfier, he felt fully stretched. In his human body, he could wield magic, but he didn't like feeling human. It meant being weak. Humans were weak and stupid. Besides, his hands were demolished in this form.
Stephen cursed his useless human hands. They were hardly good for anything except wielding magic. Outwardly they seemed perfectly fine, but that was because of the glamour he had put over them so they wouldn't stand out among humans. So he wouldn't have to see his scars.
He was just glad that this injury had not transferred to his dragon body. Dragon fire could not harm another dragon - unless they were in their humanoid body.
It was a hard lesson Stephen had to learn and nothing but his own arrogance had been to blame.
Stephen was dozing, tucked under his great wings. It was not a deep sleep and his head perked up as something caught his attention. It was like a premonition that came to him. Slowly he stirred and moved his massive body as he awoke.
Then he heard the sound of a single rolling stone, loosen by footsteps approaching in the distance. And that could only mean one thing. It rarely happened that an actual human stumbled into his lair, it had been many decades since the last one. Even longer that one sought him out voluntarily.
Whatever case it would be here, Stephen would give him a proper welcome.
He rustled his great wings and the noise echoed from the high ceiling. He roared, just because, he knew how terrifying the echo of the it was. Then he straightened to his full height - his massive body wrapped in red scales was as high as a three-story house - and moved to the entrance of the cave.
There he spotted the human, who cautiously raised his arms at the sight of him, but did not flinch. He was either very brave or very stupid.
"Who dares to disturb me?" Stephen rustle in his deep voice, moving his head to eye the human from close by. He was taken aback as he recognized him from his visit to the city the other day, but covered it up. Still, anger boiled up inside him, as he wondered what this puny human was doing in his lair.
Tony braced himself. Stephen had to give him credit for not flinching, though he was visibly uncomfortable in the mystical creature's presence.
"You are real," it escaped him. "A real fucking dragon. I can't believe the tales are actually true."
Stephen bared his teeth and took a step toward the human.
"You don't look delicious but I'm willing to give it a try, Tony," he hissed.
The prince was too shocked to respond to the threat.
"How do you know my name?" he asked.
"I know a lot of things. I am a dragon after all and the last thing you will see before your last breath!" He made a long neck and snapped his mouth open, ready finally put an end to the disturbance. Tony jumped to the side and raised his hands defensively.
"No, no wait. I've heard you are one for a bargain, if one makes you the right offer."
Stephen paused and his eyes narrowed to slits.
"What do you want?"
Humans always wanted something. Sometimes it was wealth or power or to destroy their enemy. All boring, narrow-minded desires. He had never given out anything from his hoard, but had turned anyone who dared to ask for something from it into a pile of ashes. Other bargains he sometimes accepted if the price was right. But very few people were in a position to offer him anything interesting.
He was curious to know what this tiny human had to say. Stephen found him somewhat irritating, probably because he had bothered him now twice in a short time. The dragon preferred being undisturbed, and everything about Tony screamed hustle and bustle and noise. Two qualities that were annoying to Stephen.
"I ask for protection."
That was a rare one and Stephen would not have expected it from him. Hardly anyone dared to ask a dragon for protection, at least not these days. In the past, when they had been worshiped, it had been different. When many dragons still walked the earth and they had shown themselves often and openly.
"Protection for whom?"
"My people, the citizen of Midgard. A war is coming and we are not equipped for an invasion."
Stephen's neck stretched again. He was by now so close to Tony that he could wrap his neck around him and look at him from the other side. At the same time, he was cutting off his retreat path out.
"Tell me, are you the current king of this realm?" he asked as if he already knew the answer. But the fact was that the dragon had no idea which ruler was currently in power. He was not even sure if there were still kings or if the people had changed to another form of authority. History kept repeating itself.
"My father is King Howard Stark and I am heir to his throne, Prince Antony Stark."
Stephen nodded, acknowledging his title.
"My bargain comes with a price," he reminded the prince.
Tony turned to face the dragon.
"I have access to gold and silver. Actually, my father has conceded..."
"Your father isn't part of the bargain!" he was interrupted by Stephen. "It's just you and me." Like a snake, his long tongue lanced out of his mouth, almost touching Tony. The human hold his gaze firmly, but in his face Stephen detected a hint of doubt. Good, the prince should think about whether it had been a wise idea to seek out a dragon. The answer to that was always a no.
"The gold means nothing to you. It's not a good offer," Stephen stated. As much as he liked adding shiny pieces to his hoard, in this case it wouldn't do. He was being asked to interfere in the affairs of humans, the affairs of an entire empire. The stakes had to be higher there. More personal.
"Offer me something else. Something dear to you." As he spoke, the huge, red dragon walked past Tony, circling him with its massive body. "Maybe your voice. You sure seem to like talking a lot." He turned his head to Tony, "What do you treasure the most?"
The human pondered seriously about this question. Well, first he was wondering about whether the dragon could actually rob him of his voice. But for once, his survival instincts were strong enough that he didn't say the question out loud. He had a feeling that the dragon would demonstrate it on him personally if he was capable of doing so, and Tony wanted to avoid that.
He thought of the possessions he called his own. Among them were valuable pieces, but money had never played a role for him. It was only a means to an end. Then he thought of the few people who meant something to him. There were hardly a handful, but they were very important to him.
"My freedom," he then decided, because that was something he had really fought for, was still fighting for. "But that's more like a social construct and not somethi-..."
"I accept," the dragon interrupted him for the second time.
"...wait, what?"
"Your freedom in exchange for the safety of the people of Midgard for as long as you are alive."
There hadn't been anything like that in a long time, and Stephen was curious to see if the human would consent. Either way, he would never leave this cave again.
Tony hesitated, weighing the consequences and the alternatives he had, or rather, didn't have.
"Alright," he finally agreed, his voice not quite as confident as it had been a few moments ago. "I'll inform the king and then be back."
"You will stay," Stephen decided. "The bargain begins immediately."
"But I need to inform them. How will they know?" interjected Tony questioningly,
"If you step outside the cavern, our bargain is off." That was Stephen's last word, but he tossed him a small breadcrumb. "You can write them a letter that will be delivered."
Tony had no choice but to comply. Presumably he had guessed that a deal with a dragon would contain such a twist. He let his shoulder sag a little, but nodded in agreement. There was nothing else he could do.
Satisfied, Stephen extended his front claw to seal the pact. Tony backed away a bit at first, thinking the beast had fooled him and was about to attack. But the claw stopped in the air in front of him, and after a second's pause, Tony grabbed it with his own hand.
Stephen transformed into his human form and held Tony's hand tightly. A glowing gold ribbon snaked around his and Tony's arm, connecting them both with magic. It felt warm on the prince's skin, and unnerving. He stared at the now human-looking creature before him.
The dragon was taller than the prince, even in this form. He had dark hair with gray streaks on the side. Tony wasn't sure if this was a sign of his age or just a fashion choice. His cheekbones were sharp, remotely reminiscent of the reptile's facial features. It was the small details that betrayed that he was not a real human being: his teeth were a touch too pointed, as were his ears. His gaze was too penetrating and intense. Surprisingly, his eyes were as bright blue as a clear sky.
He was dressed in outdated but exquisite clothes: a blue silk tunic and trousers, above a sleeveless coat of brocade with golden details.
The glowing ribbon disappeared and Stephen immediately let go of the human, clasping his hands behind his back.
"You tricked me," Tony accused him, for he recognized the man from the city whom he had met a short time ago.
"I did not such a thing."
"But I met you before."
"Unfortunately, yes. I don't know if anybody was ever so stupid to cross their way with a dragon twice. Follow me." With these words, Stephen turned and walked off without checking to see if the human was actually following him.
Several underground tunnels led from the main cave deeper into the mountain. Tony noted that there was a whole network of tunnels. Some of them large enough for a dragon to fit in, others not. Stephen turned to these.
It should be dark down here, because the entrance to the main cave was getting farther and farther away, and there were no torches or other natural light sources. Oddly enough, Tony could still see just fine, almost as if the corridors and adjacent rooms were illuminated by some magical light source. It did help Tony to not trip over his own feet on the uneven ground, but he still had the feeling of getting lost in this maze of tunnels.
After what felt like an eternity, they arrived at a smaller cave that almost gave the impression of a living area.
There were dark wood cupboards and chests everywhere, with all sorts of stuff pouring out of them. Despite having so much space, the dragon seemed to have spread his possessions everywhere. And not in a neat way. Tony knew too little about magical creatures to know if this was normal.
The floor was covered with well-worn carpets that had certainly once been colorful and beautiful, but had lost some of their clarity over time. In the back of the room was a huge four-poster bed - not big enough for a full-grown dragon though - draped with silk curtains. Either the dragon had often had human visitors here, or he himself slept in it in his human form.
Stephen gestured for the prince to enter. Then he turned and left without another word. Tony looked after him frowning when no further explanation came. He didn’t know whether he should continue to follow him, what the dragon intended to do with him or just some ground rules for his time being here.
When the dragon's footsteps were gone, Tony turned back to the room and looked around a little more closely.
Tony was used to the luxury of a palace. Admittedly, there were similarities with this cave: high, stone walls, decorated with gold. In the palace, it were ornaments and paintings that adorned the walls.
Here it was the hoard of the dragon, lying all around. Tony discovered clothes and jewelry worthy of a king. Almost carelessly, they lay in the chests he opened or in small piles on the floor. He took them in his fingers, looked at them close up, but put them back in their original place. It was unwise to play with the hoard of a dragon.
The only thing he lacked here was some kind of window. In the palace, he had had a view of the flowering garden or the courtyard. Here there were only blank walls.
His father's palace, while impressive, was cool, almost forbidding. At least that's how it had always seemed to Tony, but perhaps that was also due to his strained relationship with his father. That they had never really warmed up to each other. Not after the early departing of his mother anyway.
Everything here had a personal touch. And that touch screamed dragon through and through, but it wasn’t unnerving as Tony thought it would be.
Tony sat down on the mattress. At least the bed seemed comfortable and his original fear that he would have to sleep on bare, hard stone floors here was unfounded.
There were a hundred different things going through his mind, and thus at least a dozen more things than usual. Above all, he wondered how his life would be like from now on.