The Cursed Prince

Princess Harlow took a deep breath and then pointed to Gewen's knife. "Can I start cutting it or removing all the bones and sinew? I also need to learn how to skin an animal right?"

"Aren't you going to just feed it to Icecube?" Gewen raised a brow. 

"I don't want him to choke on the bones?"

Gwen chuckled. "I think the dragons actually eat the bones so you don't want to worry about it. If you'd like, we could just tie up the deer here in the tree and continue hunting. The servants will bring it back to the castle for your dragon."

"But what about when it's time for me to eat the deer?" Harlow batted her eyes. "I want to learn how to prepare and cook it when I start going outside of the castle with Icecube. I want to eat too."

Gewen usually let others like servants and chefs take care of the cleaning up of creatures. He was the hunter and not the one who cleaned and cooked, but he understood that the princess wanted to learn everything that she could.

The man also learned how vital it was to do such things about a decade ago when he ended up losing all of his money while he was at Summeria. He had to hunt animals for food and learned to prepare his own meals.

So although Gewen knew that Mars was going to be mad that Harlow mentioned going out of the castle, he grinned and nodded.

"Sure, let's have some deer skewers first for the two of us, and then we can hunt for more game for Icecube."

***

SIX YEARS LATER

  .

"Woah!" Princess Harlow Strongmoor laughed as she flew over the skies on top of Icecube and waved over to the crowd of onlookers below the kingdom of Draec. Everyone in the kingdom loved their princess who also adored her people.

"It's the princess and her dragon!" cheered the crowd, especially the kids who waved their arms wildly at the beautiful young princess. 

They were already used to seeing their princess and her dragon flying in the sky. When the weather was good, she would take some exercise and bring her ice dragon to explore the capital and its surrounding. It was always a sight to behold.

"Give us some ice, Icecube," Harlow whispered and before their very eyes, the crowd watched the dragon release a cool vapor and crystal snowflakes temporarily causing a revitalizing winter to them.

Everyone watched the princess and her dragon disappear and fly off in her palace's direction.

"Ah, that was Princess Harlow wasn't she? She's so lovely even from afar," one of the young men sighed happily and content. 

"It's not only her looks, but even her personality itself is simply amazing." A woman proudly smiled as she indicated the now cooler atmosphere. "It's not every day that you can see a princess come out of her castle but when she does, it is always a spectacle. She's an inspiration!"

"There's also the fact that you can even see her in the forest." an older man laughed. "I was cutting some logs from the forests but then I suddenly saw her dragon, I nearly ran off in fear but she helped me up."

Another person joined in the gossip and wagged her finger.  "Here's another story you guys didn't know. A knight once tried to come to ask for her hand but then Princess Harlow ended up beating him in archery and swordplay. She told him to come back if he ever beats her."

"She did?"

"Our princess is amazing!"

People watched Harlow fly off with her dragon and all of them were happy to have seen her that day. There was currently a festival in the capital and within a week it would be her eighteenth birthday. 

During that time, the king and queen, Mars and Emmelyn Strongmoor, usually would throw an even larger celebration than the current one right now.

***

Several years ago, Harlow's dragon still managed to fit in the spacious and large horse stables that the royal family kept for their stallions and mares. Nowadays, Icecube was so big that the Princess flew right past the palace and headed into the hillside near the royal palace...

"Smooth landing, and there we go." Harlow held the harness across her dragon's back and watched her beloved creature finally land gently on the grass. She patted the head of Icecube and grinned. "I'll be capturing your favorite food later, but I'll have to go meet with my parents, okay?"

Icecube snorted at her and flapped its wings unhappily.  Harlow sighed and crossed her arms. She leaned against her dragon's back to catch her breath and gave it a look.

"I know, I'm also not interested in meeting whoever this next prince ever-charming is. Knight in rusty armor or whatever this guy is going to be."

If the dragon could have rolled its eyes, it would have. Instead, Icecube only snorted again unhappily as if the idea of such men coming to meet and court Harlow was utter rubbish and nonsense.

Which it was.

"Just because I'm turning eighteen doesn't mean I'm going to be wedded off." Harlow shook her head and sighed inwardly. Even when she had turned sixteen, different princes and even noble knights from across the continent had started arriving to make their interests known.

Princess Harlow Strongmoor was actually surprised that her father even agreed to meet with the men interested in her because she had every reason to believe that the king would just chase them off.

However, King Mars Strongmoor didn't.

***

It was a difficult thing for a father to imagine that someday he, Mars Strongmoor, would end up walking his beloved daughter down the wedding aisle and then see Harlow be wedded off to a man who would take her as his wife.

The idea irked Mars so much that despite his wife, Emmelyn, gently letting him know that someday their daughter would fall in love… the king decided to at least look in the eye of every prince, delegate, and official, and scare them off.

He was actually secretly glad that his daughter showed no interest in any of the men who came.

.

.

__________________

This is chapter 4 of the Mass Release