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Sir Ludwig pants heavily, staring down the large reptilious beast that stood before him. The beast coils and opens up its wings to intimidate Sir Ludwig, but he sees through the dragon’s display, knowing the beast is in an even worse shape than he is. Sir Ludwig thrusts his sword forward at the same time the dragon’s hissing maw surges towards him.
He ducks to the left and the dragon snaps the air where his head once was and in one forceful swipe, his blade splits through the dragon’s flesh. The dragon cries out and stumbles forward before ultimately succumbing to its wounds and collapses to the ground, dead.
Sir Ludwig takes only a second to regain himself before getting back to work. He uses his foot to expose the dragon’s underbelly before kneeling. He takes out a hunter’s knife and presses the blade against the dragon’s scales.
Slice after slice, he digs deeper into the dragon’s gore until he finally reaches the stomach. He uses his knife to quickly slit the organ wide open. Gastric acid and the dragon’s meal spill from the cut. Sir Ludwig slips his hand into the partially digested mound, the slow-burning acid stings his skin as he searches through the excretion.
At last, when he is arms deep within the pile, he finds what he is looking for. He heaves and pulls a figure from out of the heap. Poor King Arthur, covered in a thick layer of filth and acid. Sir Ludwig lays him down and wipes the grime from his body as best he can.
A groan escapes the body. “Ludwig? Is that you?” King Arthur’s eyes fight to open as he tries to get a look at his saviour.
“Yes, it’s me Arthur.” Sir Ludwig carefully props King Arthur up on his feet. King Arthur grunts and presses against Sir Ludwig as he is guided out of the dragon’s lair.
Sir Ludwig guides King Arthur to a stream where he cleans off the rest of the filth.
“Thank you,” King Arthur mutters as he starts coming back to his senses.
“I am just doing my job.”
“That is correct, but-” King Arthur bends over and coughs. “Water, water,” Arthur chokes out.
Sir Ludwig jumps to his feet and hurries to scoop water into his palm. When he returns, he attentively tilts King Arthur’s head back and pours the water into his mouth. King Arthur swallows and lets out another cough.
“If you don’t mind…” Sir Ludwig is already scooping water into his palm again before King Arthur can finish his thought.
King Arthur licks his lips after his throat is thoroughly soothed and he looks up to Sir Ludwig. “Back to what I was saying earlier, you deserve a reward for saving me.”
Sir Ludwig’s eyes widen. “No, My King, there’s no need to do such a thing! I was only-”
“ Only doing your job . Yes, you’ve said that before, but I insist on rewarding you.”
“My King…”
“No, I’m putting my foot down. You’ve put yourself in far too danger for my sake.”
Sir Ludwig sighs. There’s no use in fighting the stubborn king once he’s made up his mind on something. Like how he insisted on coming up here even though there was a dragon sighting.
“Fine, I’ll accept your reward.”
“Splendid! Come closer so I can kiss you.”
“Huh? A kiss?” Ludwig’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise and his face turns visibly red.
King Arthur tilts his head as if perplexed by Sir Ludwig’s reaction. “Well, of course. It is quite common for royalty to reward their knights with a kiss.”
Sir Ludwig opens his mouth, then closes it again. He lifts his finger to his chin and his face scrunches up as he thinks to himself. “Do royals really do that?” He finally asks after a short silence.
“Yes, all the time.”
Sir Ludwig sighs and steps closer to King Arthur. “Ok, I accept your reward.” He glances away as he leans forward, too embarrassed to look his king in the eyes. He turns his head and presents his cheek for King Arthur to kiss.
King Arthur leans towards Sir Ludwig and grabs his face. He turns Sir Ludwig’s face and presses their lips together. Sir Ludwig's eyes widen, but he gradually melts into the kiss. It’s short and sweet and Sir Ludwig tries to hide how flustered he is.
“That was… nice,” he says, deciding not to tell his king that his lips taste faintly of bile.