“And when he returns, that’s just what he’s goin’ to do. Then . . . then you’ll be sorry.”
The Dragon’s snarl turned into another horrible smile. “He’ll never fight me, Princess Varvare. Your puny mortal prince is destined for another fate. And he will never fight me.”
Rose Red suddenly felt she could not hold Daylily. She knelt down, bringing the pale lady with her, and they crouched there before Death’s Throne as the Dragon approached and climbed the stairs.
“Lionheart is destined to fulfill his dream,” said he. “He will return to Southlands and reclaim his kingdom. He will marry Lady Daylily and make her his queen. Such has he dreamed, and such will my sister do for him. And where does that leave you, my darling? My treasure?”
Daylily curled into a tiny ball, her head pressed into Rose Red’s chest. Rose Red wrapped both arms around her as though she could protect her. But her strength was running out. She’d given all she had, and it wasn’t enough.
“He will forget you,” said the Dragon. “He already has. Do you think he has once stopped to consider you in all these years? For it has been years, my sweet, years and years in the Near World while you have wandered in my realm. He’s a different man now, and whatever you meant to him then, you mean no longer.”
Her heart opened, and the poison flowed in. Rose Red could not stop it. It was like drowning. She felt the fear and anguish wash across her uncovered face, revealing everything to the Dragon’s gaze. She wished for her veil, but it was gone.
The Dragon’s smile grew. “My fumes work such beautiful marks upon your countenance, princess. I’ve never seen you more vulnerable. It enchants me.”
He knelt down before her and the cowering Daylily. His long white hands reached out and cupped her face so gently, like a lover. Smoke poured from his mouth, and his eyes burned bright. He murmured, “There is no one left for you, child. I am all that you have. Will you allow me to kiss you now?”
She had no voice with which to speak, for her fear had struck her dumb. But her lips formed the word.
“No.”
The fire in his eyes flared, and hot embers fell upon her face so that she screamed and crumpled over Daylily, covering the lady with her body. But the Dragon grabbed her wrists, burning her skin with his touch, and pulled Rose Red upright, forcing her to look at him.
She stared in horror, unable to tear away her gaze as his face lengthened and covered over with scales and his cloak became wings. His hands dropped hers and became great claws tearing the pedestal beneath him. As he grew, he backed onto the floor below, and soon towered over the throne, over Rose Red and Daylily. His flame burned through the darkness, revealing the highest crags of the cavern, miles above. One arm reached out and tore at the stalactites, and if Rose Red and her lady had not been crouched beneath the Dragon’s body, they would have been crushed in debris.
Fire poured from his mouth onto the floor, surrounding the throne and the pedestal in a lake of flames. The smoke that rose from it was like a thousand ghostly faces howling in silent screams.
Then the Dragon whispered to her.
“You have a friend nowhere, princess. The Prince has dammed up the flow of his compassion against you. Even the knight he sent to guard you has fled my fire. No servant from his courts will stretch out a hand to help you. All heaven has abandoned you; you are alone. See the companions of your childhood from whom you once took comfort?”
The smoke took on flesh and blood, forming faces she knew: Lionheart, Beana, the man she called father. They turned and looked at her, one by one.
“What are they worth?” the Dragon said. “Cast-down child, see how the cowards spit upon you and hate you when you most need them! Behold!”
The effigies distorted into fierce masks, their arms raised against her, then vanished in heat and smoke. The Dragon dominated her view.
“You have no friend left in this world or the other. I have sent word throughout all regions, summoning every prince of darkness to set upon you this night, and we will spare no weapons. We will use all our infernal might to overwhelm you; and what will you do, forsaken one?”
His face, both dragon and human, was close to her own now, and his hot breath seared the skin from her cheeks. “Will you let me kiss you?”
Rose Red opened her mouth to answer.
But suddenly a white light shone so brilliantly that for a moment she thought her own fear had blinded her. Then she heard a voice calling through the smoke and flame:
“Rosie, child! Remember the Name!”
She shielded her face with her hands and saw a tall woman clad in brown and white, carrying the beautiful Asha Lantern. She walked through the flames as though they were not there and stood just beneath the Dragon’s nose.
He looked down upon her, and the expression on his face was pure hatred. “You!” he bellowed, flames building up in his mouth.