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Hello, Readers. Welcome to my newest story, The Dragon in the Dungeon. It's based on an idea that's been bubbling in my brain for some time, and I've spent quite a few days since finishing my last tale working on this one. It's a little special to me, and it's far and away the most plot and character centered bit of writing I've yet submitted to SoFurry. So if you prefer an actual story to go along with your dragon-on-human fun, then I hope I've got just what you're looking for.

The story itself concerns a young woman in the employ of a powerful royal family who's recently been re-assigned to be the handler for their massive dungeon's only occupant, the titular dragon. As such, it is her job to ensure the dragon stays fed, and she takes it upon herself to get to know her prisoner to decide just how well he should be cared for. It's not too long before she determines that at the very least, the dragon could use a nice hot bath...and at the risk of an obvious Spoiler....yes, there's a "happy ending" or two lol.

It is a story written for an adult audience, so if you're under legal age in your area, please hit the back button!

I hope that you'll take the time to read and enjoy the entire story, though I understand it's not the shortest tale around. So if you'd rather just skip straight to the sexual scenes, then feel free. Just search for the phrase "Yes, Dragon, that's fine" and start reading from there. But if you do so and you enjoy the sexual scenes, consider going back and reading the story from the beginning. I promise it will make the next read through of the sexual antics that much more enjoyable as the characters themselves really help enrich even the sex. At least to me they do!

Either way, I sincerely hope you enjoy "The Dragon In The Dungeon." If you do, please leave me a comment with your thoughts!

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Alia Silverrain paused in her descent down the long, narrow stone staircase. A strange mixture of dread and excitement mingled in the young woman. The two emotions were like oil and water, and her belly felt filled with the same. It twisted and lurched as cold fingers wrapped around her spine. She leaned against the cool stone of the tightly enclosed walls and pressed a hand to her stomach as if willing herself not to heave. While she tried to calm herself, she gently fiddled with the black laces that hung down from where they were tied in a bow at the top of her green blouse.

"Ma'am?"

The guards weren't helping. Never in Alia's life had she been escorted by such heavily armed men. The men themselves were hulking brutes and their heavy chain mail and thick steel plates rattled and clanked as they walked. They each carried swords and spears, with crossbows strapped over their shoulders. Now and then they thumped the haft of their spears against the ancient stone steps. Alia felt she'd have been far less nervous if they hadn't insisted a full compliment of guards accompany her on her initial trip into the dungeon.

"I'm fine," Alia replied to a question that hadn't been asked.

Alia glanced back at the six heavily armored men following in lockstep behind her. She couldn't be sure if they were truly here for her protection or just here to make sure she never ascended the stairs she was currently descending. She hooked raven-hued hair behind her ears, pushed herself away from the wall. Behind the six guards were a few more young men. They were simply servants carrying burlap sacks of food and supplies and flaming torches. Likely they were even more frightened than she was.

Alia glanced at the guards again. "Let's get this over with."

"Yes, Ma'am."

So damn polite, too. Alia wasn't used to people being polite to her. She supposed she should take it as a compliment, or enjoy being treated respectfully while it lasted. Instead it just put her on edge the same way a young child might suddenly get nervous when his mother called him by his full name. She half expected this to turn out to be some elaborate rouse designed to humiliate her before she was sent to clean the horse stall or the guard's latrine.

Politeness wasn't the only thing she was not used to. Alia was much more used to being bossed around and simply following orders. She'd even gotten a chance to dress more nicely than usual today. Alia was an attractive enough young woman, though in her station that often meant certain men seemed to think they had a right to try and take advantage of her. Plenty of hard work meant her body stayed in excellent shape, and natural blessings ensured that the same hard work wouldn't dull the lovely feminine curves that marked her body. Ample breasts and wide hips, with smooth, slightly rounded features and fair skin that always seemed slightly darkened by the sun's kiss no matter how much time she spent inside. All of which she'd wrapped in a forest green blouse that nicely matched her eyes. Alia thought the blouse was beautiful yet formal enough to say she was now in charge. She'd done the black laces up in a little bow. As the blouse was not an official uniform, she had a tailor sew the castle's sigil upon the shoulder of it. She wore black breeches as well, and simple boots with heavy laces. Dark hair hung well past her shoulders and while she often bound it behind her back with blue ribbons, today she let it hang free.

Alia forced herself to continue descending the narrow stone staircase. She was glad she was not claustrophobic, for if she reached out with both arms she could easily touch the massive granite blocks that had long ago been set to line the passage deep into the earth. The stone remained cool to the touch year round, it saw no sunlight. In fact, it saw no light at all save for the lanterns and torches of those who walked the stairs to visit the beast below. The stairs themselves had been there longer the creature; generations of footfalls had softened the edges of the once sharply cut steps. Now each stair bowed slightly in the middle, sagging a little as if even stone felt the wear and tear of middle age. Alia marveled at how many footsteps it must have taken to wear down a stone staircase in such a way.

Were it not for the torches the men behind her carried, the descent would have been nearly impossible. The slightly rounded depressions worked into the center of each step by ages of footfalls had made them slightly slippery, and beyond the edges of the flickering orange torchlight there was only darkness. Here and there slick, slimy fungus coated the stone where water seeped through the cracks in dark streaks. In a few places, flecks of golden mica embedded in the stone flickered in the torchlight. In other places where more water seeped through the stone the walls were almost completely covered in thick mosses. Alia spotted a plump looking beetle scurrying away from the light before it borrowed under the moss.

Twice they passed through heavy, iron gates set deeply into the stone. Alia had to unlock them with the new set of keys she'd been given. Once, she had to fight with the gate as the hinges were not well oiled, and even a few days of disuse caused them to grow stiff and resistant. The loud screech of angry iron and the sudden arrival of hot torchlight sent a spider the size of Alia's fist scurrying into the nearest dark corner. Alia peered at it a moment, it had red markings across its black, hairy body. Then she moved on through the gate, leaving the guards and servants behind her to choose to close it or not. It seemed very strange to her to put heavy gates in the middle of a stairway that was too small for the dungeon's only captive to squeeze through anyway.

"Is the beast really that dangerous?" Alia couldn't help herself. She already knew the answer, but she had to ask anyway.

"You'd not be the first one it killed for no good reason," replied another one of the guards, a bitter snarl creeping into his voice. "It broke my brother's back, too. We had to drag him out of there. Gods be praised he can walk at all these days, and even that's not without pain."

Alia pursed her rose hued lips. The man clearly still bore anger and pain over his brother's injury, so she resisted the urge to ask him if the attack happened for a reason. Surely in his mind it had simply been a mindless assault. Then again, given the nature of the creature she was going to visit, she might have believed him.

Alia still wasn't sure why she had been chosen to become...what had they called it? The creature's handler. She was hardly experienced in such matters. Somehow she doubted that mucking out horse stalls and feeding friendly hounds and sheering sheep really qualified her to take over the handling of such a dangerous beast. Perhaps they simply thought that because she was so experienced in so many things that this would just be one more job to add to her resume. Then again, most of the other jobs she had done for the castle were simple things such as maid work, serving as assistant to the chef, cooking food for the other servants, and all manner of other assorted tasks. Even in addition to the aforementioned animal care she hardly felt qualified to take care of such a beast.

"Handler," she muttered aloud. "More like jailor."

"Ma'am?" The same guard repeated the same word. She was starting to think the man was a natural born-dullard. Perhaps his only talents in life where the ability to speak in simple syllables and effectively wield a sword and spear. She pinched the bridge of her nose with a little sigh. Then again, perhaps he was highly intelligent, and sent here to watch over her. After all, she was half convinced this was some kind of punishment.

Why else assign someone with no experience to a job like this? It was fairly clear no one else wanted the job, not since the last handler had died. Why force one of their best soldiers to do it when they had plenty of perfectly replaceable servants to hurl at the position? As far as she was concerned, her people seemed to be little more than darts to the royals. Toys and tools to be haphazardly hurled at a task until they found one that stuck. Alia had tried quite hard to make sure she stuck. Work was very hard to come by for those not born in this realm, and work at the castle provided room and board in addition to pay. It was for that reason she had learned every little trade she could, and now it seemed all that had come back and bitten her on her shapely ass.

She allowed herself a small smile at that. Better, she supposed, to work hard at a different task every day and maintain her body than to spend her days working at a run down tavern, downing her sorrows in the same ale she'd serve to the men who'd later drag her into their beds. She'd almost ended up in that life, thank whatever Gods would listen that she'd found something better. True, the royals and those who thought themselves higher class citizens still had their moments of treating her like dirt. But at least some of them were kind, and more importantly there was no expectation that she whore herself out to anyone. Then again, there was a good chance this assignment was punishment for delivering a well placed knee to a visiting noble who couldn't keep his hands off her breasts.

Nonetheless, given the chance Alia would do it again. Twice. Bastard deserved it for shoving his hands inside her blouse, even if it meant she was now going to be stuck serving as the jailor to some kind of monster. Descending the steps again, Alia chuckled a little. Some kind of monster. As if she didn't know exactly what kind of monster was kept beneath the castle. No, everyone in the damn city knew what was imprisoned in the deep stone dungeon beneath the castle.

A dragon.

The capital city of Illandra, in the kingdom of the same name, held a dragon prisoner deep beneath the walls of the famous, five towered keep. The dragon had been there for many years, generations perhaps. He'd certainly been there longer than Alia had been alive. At least Alia thought that the dragon was a he. She had no way to be certain, such exact details of the beast's anatomy seemed fairly scarce. Perhaps when she'd been given a chance to go over the records of the previous jailors she'd find out more information about it.

The other question on Alia's mind since she'd first been given her new job was why exactly the dragon had been kept prisoner. Like everyone else in the city, she knew the dragon was there, but the knowledge was at the back of her mind. It was no different than thinking about any of the numerous men in the city's jails. Yes, there were men and woman held prisoner for the crimes they committed, but it was not something she thought about on a daily basis.

Once a year, Illandra held a festival and parade, celebrating the capture of the wicked beast. Dragons of wooden framework and draped in leather and hide or carved wooden scales were dragged through the streets. Children threw rocks and vegetables at them, hit them with sticks. All day long men told tales of valor and heroism, tales of slaying and conquering such wicked beasts. At the end of the day the makeshift dragons were beaten until they fell apart, or beheaded in front of a drunken crowd who roared their approval. Alia found it odd that the "dragons" in the celebration were all destroyed, yet the dragon who's capture she assumed was the original cause of the celebration had been taken alive. Perhaps they'd once planned to execute him, but decided against it.

Alia had no idea why they'd taken the dragon alive in the first place. It seemed a strange thing to do. If the stories, tales, and rumors held any truth to them, the creature himself was a monster, a beast of pure malice and evil. They said he'd burned entire cities to the ground, slaughtered or devoured men, woman and children alike. She'd also heard that the dragon would demand gold and treasure from each new town he came across, and that year by year he would increase his fee until finally the towns were bankrupt. Then once they had nothing left to appease him with, that was when he would burn them down. Of course, she'd also heard that towns without enough coin had given him maidens to take home to his lair, no doubt to use for his twisted, perverse pleasures.

Perhaps it was all true. Perhaps none of it was. Alia had no way to be certain. She had certainly never seen a living dragon, she doubted anyone in this land had aside from those who had previously served as the creature's jailor. And perhaps he'd also been glimpsed by brave children who dared to try and catch a peek at the beast through the many air vents carved into the stone all around the central citadel of Illandra's keep.

Most of the area was off limits, but there were a few vents cut into stone just outside the towering curtain walls protecting the outer areas of the keep. The walls abutted the alleyways behind some of the older shops that had first sprung up around the castle many generations ago, and there were often brave children or drunken louts who tried to spy a glimpse of the fabled beast held within. One man claimed the dragon burned off his hair with a gout of fire, though the complete lack of burn wounds across his face would indicate he was probably lying. A few people did occasionally get a glimpse of the beast now and then when the sun was just in the right spot, and the dragon went to sun himself a little in the beams of light cascading down through the small vents. A beast of dark scales, and spikes, they said.

Alia had always found the stories intriguing, but never paid them much attention. At least not until she was told that she was now the dragon's new handler. Which was only a short time ago, a day or two at most. Everything seemed to bleed together since then. A frantic scramble to sign papers, to move into new quarters, to have a contingent of guards assigned to her, to find the way to the dragon, to get her new uniforms, and to get lecture after lecture about her new job. Most of them focused on how dangerous the creature was, and that had done little to quell the slowly growing dread that had begun to eat at her since the moment she heard what her new job was to be. The others focused on how holding such a powerful yet evil beast captive was a point of pride for Illandra. Any small kingdom could have a dragon slain with enough forces. Hell, truth was even a lucky fool could strike a dragon down now and then with an arrow through the eye, or a blade that somehow found something vital beneath all that armor. But it took a truly powerful kingdom to not only capture one alive, but drag it across the countryside for months and imprison it beneath a castle for the city to marvel at.

Looking at it from that aspect, it certainly was a marvelous achievement. According to the court historians, the dragon's dungeon had been partly custom designed for the creature, and partly adapted from a large existing underground complex. It must have taken a truly massive effort, Alia thought, and Illandra had clearly spared no expense. At the time, it had probably been a truly historic moment, something they celebrated for years and years. Now, though, after more years had passed than anyone seemed to have bothered counting, the dragon seemed practically forgotten. More a novelty than something of true importance. Then again, all of the lands held and ruled by Illandra had not suffered a dragon attack since, so perhaps the message had been sent to the rest of his scaly kin.

The stairway seemed to take ages to descend. Here and there it curved first one way then back in on itself like an indecisive serpent. Alia wondered why it was designed in such a way but she lacked the engineering knowledge to know such things. Here and there she spotted age-old torch smoke stains marking the stone ceiling above her, and she wondered just how long people had been coming down here. She also wondered if any of them had ever worried about all those countless tons of stone and soil suddenly coming down atop them if the ceiling ever gave way. Still, it had not done so yet, so she felt fairly confident it would not do so now. Unless of course the ages had weakened it.

As if she didn't have enough things to worry about right now. Like being eaten by a dragon! "Has he ever eaten anyone? I mean...is it a he? And...has he ever eaten anyone?"

The only guard who'd actually spoken up so far was the only one to do so yet again. "Yes, Ma'am. its eaten people before. Lots of people from what I hear. Oh, and, I don't know if its male. I can honestly say I never wanted to get close enough to find out. Male or female, its dangerous enough looking from a distance. If I were you I'd not get any closer than you have to."

At least the man could say more words than she'd first suspected. "So you've seen it then?" Alia ran her hand along the wall, and the nervously fidgeted with her blouse. They were nearly at the bottom of the stairs, she could see where the angle of descent smoothed out just at the edge of the torchlight. "You've experience dealing with the dragon?"

"I've seen it, yes Ma'am. I was with my brother when he was injured. its a terrible thing. All darkness and spines."

Darkness and spines. For some reason, that made Alia smile. Probably because it was such a fanciful sounding description. As if a creature could be made of actual darkness. The description also caused both her dread and her excitement to grow even further. By now her heart was pounding so heavily in her chest she began to fear the thunderous cacophony of her heartbeat would be what finally caused the ceiling to give way and bury them all beneath the earth forever.

Yet Alia could not deny her excitement, and would not try. Part of her was thrilled to see this creature. Assuming the thing did not devour her, it would be the sort of story she could tell people for the rest of her lives. It was also the sort of story they'd probably not believe, but that was alright. She would know it was true. Not that she had too many people to tell. Alia had a few friends, but that was all. Her life was often busy, and when she did have free time to spend and went into town, it was hard to find people willing to spend time with her. It was easy enough to find willing men, but they were usually only after one thing. Granted, there were times when Alia was after that same thing, and certainly had no qualms about pursuing it. But there were also times she wanted...more. Still, she'd have quite a tale to tell her fellow servants.

At the bottom of the stairs, the hallway widened a little bit. Up ahead, there were massive doors of heavy, thick wood. A sturdy oak, Alia thought, though she was not sure. The doors themselves were intricately carved into images of the beast they held and the men who had captured him. The carvings depicted a rather stylistic dragon who indeed had spines all along his back, flames wreathing his snout, and claws like swords. Chains bound around his neck and legs as men dragged him forward. All along the edges of the double doors were carved swords wrapped in ivy, and spears wrapped in roses. At the top of each door was carved a dragon's skull.

Off to the side was a smaller simple wooden door. Chipped blue paint was slowly flaking off of it. Alia opened the small door, and one of the guards pushed a torch inside so she could see. To her surprise it was an office. There was a large desk that took up half the room, covered with stacks of paperwork and books, with more papers and books scattered across the floor. There was a book case, too. One of the shelves had collapsed and spilled its contents across the stone floor.

Alia closed the door, deciding she would investigate that later. For now, she was determined to get the most frightening part over and done with. That was of course, feeding the dragon. The servants who were practically cowering behind the guards held bags of food for the dragon's meal. A whole burlap sack filled with plucked chickens, and another sack carried by two men filled with a recently slaughtered goat. It had been Alia's job to pick out what to feed the beast, and apparently few records were kept of what he'd been fed. Though judging from the look of that office, there were plenty such records if anyone had actually bothered to look in the most likely place.

Dragons liked meat, right? She hoped he liked chicken and goat. She had considered sheep but sheep were more expensive than goat, and the court chef gave her quite a cross look when she suggested he let her take the mutton he was planning to cook for dinner that evening. She hadn't asked if she could take the goat after that, she'd simply had the guards fetch one and dispatch it. Come to think of it, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have her own contingent of guards. It made her wonder just how long they'd be assigned to her, and how completely they might follow her commands. Alia was very unused to giving people orders, but it was something she could certainly get used to.

Alia took a deep breath, and fetched the keys from the pouch hooked to her belt. She walked to the massive, carved doors and slowly unlocked them. Glancing back nervously at the guards. Alia managed a little smile. "If this thing tries to eat me, someone please stab it in the neck first."

"Yes, Ma'am," the lead guard replied. He drew his sword with the familiar hiss of steel being released, and the other guards lifted their spears and took up a more aggressive posture.

Alia stared at them a moment. They really were doing what she told them. She liked that! However...she did not want the dragon to get the wrong idea. Evil beast or not, he was the prisoner, and it was now her job to keep him fed. She did want the beast to think they were coming to harm him or he might attack first. That wouldn't be good for anyone. She gestured at the men with her hand.

"On second thought, put your sword away and your spears down." Alia slowly opened the doors, still speaking to her guards as she walked into the dragon's prison. "Be ready to defend us, but don't give him any reason to think he needs to strike first."

"Not sure he needs a reason for that, Ma'am, but understood."

Alia was glad to see that even if the guards didn't agree, at least they would do as she asked. Alia took only a few slow steps into the dragon's prison before she came to a dead halt, marveling at what she saw. As the servants placed their torches in nearby sconces the guards all fanned out around Alia; a six man wall of protection for the dragon's new handler and the servants who bore his meal. They shifted nervously, sweat beading on their brows beneath their helmets as if they expected the dragon to strike out at them from some hidden hole at any moment.

The dragon's cell was nothing at all like she expected. It bore no resemblance to a cell in any traditional sense, and was instead a massive stone chamber that stretched on and on. Alia realized the place must be spread out all beneath the castle grounds, and perhaps part of the city as well. Several long rows of massive, fluted stone columns stretched from the ground to the ceiling high above her. The ceiling must have been at least several stories tall. When the columns reached it they spanned out in elegant arches, each arch ending where another began. Alia had no idea if the whole massive chamber had been carved from stone or if the columns had been erected at a later date to help support the high ceiling. The columns themselves gave the a place an elegant, almost cathedral-like look. Surely they had been in place long before the dragon.

Alia took another step in, gazing around the place. For the moment, she saw no sign of the dragon but the area was so much larger than she'd realized he could easily have been curled in some shadowy corner. The men followed her, their armor rattling, spear points jutting out all around her like some angry porcupine. She was glad to have them, as she realized the dragon could be just about everywhere, especially given how dark some parts of his prison were.

The lead guard agreed with her without realizing it. "Careful, Ma'am. That monster could be anywhere."

"Does he..." Alia began. She found herself calling the dragon "he" whether it was accurate or not. "Often...hide?"

"Wouldn't be the first time. Think he finds it amusing to scare us. Or, if he feels like hurting someone, it's a lot easier if we have to go looking for him instead of the other way around."

"I see," Alia murmured, shivers running down her spine. This was not at all as she'd imagined it, and now dread was definitely winning out over excitement. In her mind, she'd imagined a chamber large enough to support a dragon, but little more. Much the way a man in jail could rise and walk but not very far. She thought the creature would likely be chained to the wall, but the only chains she saw bolted to any walls were old and rusted. They'd not been used in ages. This place looked more like what she might have imagined the dragon's lair to resemble rather than the dragon's prison. "Looks as though he's under house arrest," she muttered to herself.

"Ma'am?"

"Nothing, nothing." Alia gulped, and steeled herself. She couldn't back out now. "Let's...see if we can find him."

"Perhaps we should just call to him," suggested a nervous servant. Alia glanced back at him, he was younger than she'd realized. A red headed boy, still with red spots on his face, too. Poor thing had probably come to work today to muck some horse stall and instead found himself conscripted to feed a dragon.

"Not the worst idea I've ever heard," Alia said. "Can the creature understand us?"

The lead guard slowly drew his sword once more, then gestured in the air with it. "It can speak, yes Ma'am. Heard it say a few words myself."

"Then perhaps we should do as the servants say, and call out to him. Might be safer if we can see him coming." She waved her hand at the young men behind them. "You boys can leave the meat, and go back to your regular duties."

"Thank you Ma'am!" the servants said in relief. They quickly dropped the bags of dead animals and scrambled back through the large doors and up the stairs.

When they were gone, Alia took a few more steps. The guards followed along with her, eyes flicking to every dark corner and shadowy nook. Alia continued to look around the place. In the distance to one side she could see thick shafts of light streaming into the chamber, bright enough that whirling motes of dust swirled within them. No doubt some of the air vents cut through the stone to prevent the dragon from suffocating allowed the line to shine in. She also noticed several raised ledges in a few places with gouges in the stone along their edges. Probably from where the dragon had climbed atop them. Somewhere in the distance she could hear water running.

The air in the massive prison was thick, heavy, a bit stuffy despite the multitude of air vents. It smelled of must and a bit of mildew as many old underground areas often did. It also held another, unfamiliar scent, which Alia imagined was the smell of the dragon himself. A sort of faintly reptilian odor, though she was glad to find it was not foul in any sense. She'd been half afraid the creature might have some kind of terrible musk like a frightened snake, but instead it reminded her more of a strange mixture of hot winds and thick forest air.

"Hello?" Alia called out meekly. She licked her lips, swallowed hard, and forced some strength into her voice. "Hello? Are you there?"

Are you there. She sounded like a fool. Like a little girl calling out to some playmate, not like a jailor calling out to her prisoner. She tried to harden her voice into iron. "Dragon! Where are you? Come out this instant!"

Oh, yes. Good idea, Alia, she thought to herself. Try and take on a bossy tone with a dragon. There's no way that could go ever go wrong. Aside from, you know, ending up in the dragon's belly. Alia had the sudden and morbid mental image of herself swallowed whole by the dragon before the guards could defend her. She wondered if they killed the beast if they'd be able to cut her out in time or if the creature's stomach acid would have already dissolved the meat from her bones. And what if one of those spears got shoved into the creature's belly and ran her through, instead. Gods, but she could be morbid sometimes.

"You're late!" A voice that could only be the dragon's startled her from her dark reverie. It startled her enough that she actually leapt completely off the ground, and some of the soldiers jumped as well. The creature's voice was smoother than she had expected, with deep, brassy tones. Though she was no expert, the tone of the dragon's voice certainly sounded male. Alia would assume he was, unless she learned otherwise.

Alia clenched her hands into nervous fists. She forced herself to reply, and to do so in as calm a manner as she could. "I was unaware we had an appointment to keep."

Somewhere in the darkness, something laughed. The creature's laugh sounded deep and rumbling, and with something akin to rocks clanking and scraping against steel. In the distance, Alia saw something move. She heard scales rustle and scrape against stone as the dragon began to uncurl itself from where he had been slumbering in a darkened alcove. The dragon rose to his feet, and began to slink towards her. Alia caught glimpses of dark scales, black and gray, as he passed through a beam of light beneath one of the vents. Spines protruded from around his head, and ran down along the back of his neck.

"You are not the one I am accustomed to," the dragon said, his voice a rumbling growl that seemed to glide through the air as the dragon approached her. "So I wonder, human. Are you here to feed me, or torture me? If it is torture, I am afraid I am feeling highly uncooperative today."

As the dragon neared her, Alia instinctively took a step back, and her flanking guards stepped back with her. They moved as one, their rattling armor gave one loud, collective clank. Six spear points also moved as one, aiming at the dragon's head as the beast came close enough for the torchlight to dance in his dark golden eyes. The dragon growled, baring several large fangs that glistened orange and deadly in the firelight. Alia's heart went from racing at a sprinter's pace to skipping every other beat as it struggled to lodge itself in her throat.

For long moments the dragon and his armed jailors seemed at an impasse. No one spoke. The only sounds that penetrated the thick underground gloom were the distant trickling of water and the dragon's slow, steady breathing. Alia realized that the dragon had fixed his eyes directly upon her, and was almost completely ignoring the guards around her. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead a moment. She found herself almost frozen until she realized that the dragon seemed to be awaiting a response from her while no doubt trying to intimidate her as well.

Telling herself that the dragon would not hurt her so long as the guards were there, she forced herself to grab hold of every ounce of bravery she had and clutch it tightly to her breast. She balled her hands up into fists, more for show than action as she doubted the dragon would even feel it through all those scales if she punched him. Perhaps if she hit him in the nose. Then again, as long as the dragon believed she was not afraid, believed that she felt confident even around such a beast, than that was as good as being truly fearless. Perhaps even better, for she could reap the benefits and still understand the value of being properly fearful at the right time.

Alia walked up until she was close enough to touch the dragon. The guards took a step to keep their spears in range. The dragon lowered its head a little more, as if examining her, and with as much fire as she could put into her voice, she said. "I have certainly not come here to torture you. In fact I've brought you a meal. But if you'd rather act like a beast than eat your lunch I can certainly have it taken away instead."

A grin slowly spread across the dragon's snout, revealing even more of his fangs in a way that raised goose bumps all along Alia's body. "But I am a beast." He slowly pulled his head back a little. "However, I am also a very hungry beast. I was not fed yesterday." The dragon reached forward with a single paw, and unsheathed long talons. As he dragged his front foot back, his claws easily scratched into the stone floor itself. Alia could only imagine what those claws might do to flesh. She suddenly wished the guards had given her a suit of armor to wear, as well. "Are you to blame for my lack of proper feeding, Girl?"

"Do not call me Girl," Alia snapped at the dragon, surprising herself with her own sudden ferocity. She'd always hated that. The royals could get away with it, but she'd be damned if she'd let some captive dragon call her such. Perhaps she was getting the hang of this confidence thing. She waved her hand as though impatient with the dragon. "The unexpected death of your last handler is to blame for your missed meals. Now, do you want this food or would you rather miss another meal or two? I can come back tomorrow if you think that shall put you in a more cooperative mood."

That seemed to take the dragon aback. Alia couldn't tell if he was more surprised that his previous handler had died, or that she wasn't simply cowering and begging him not to eat her. She rather hoped her attitude was doing the trick, because she wasn't sure how long she could keep it up if the dragon became more aggressive. The dragon curled his long neck in an S-shape, and cocked his rather triangular, wedge shaped head. After a moment he snorted, then gave another rumbling, stones tumbling down a mountain laugh. "My dear, this is me being cooperative."

"In that case," Alia replied, curiosity starting to creep into her. As this seemed to be going well, or at least as good as could be expected, the excitement had had previously been warring with her dread was beginning to take over. She was actually talking to a real, live dragon. Alia found she could not help but be curious about the creature. Something so powerful, fearsome, yet something so few had ever seen. Now here a dragon was, standing just in front of her, and she'd scarcely had a good look at him thanks to the darkness of this damn place. The torches remained in sconces by the door, scarcely shedding enough light to illuminate the beast. "Perhaps you will allow me a better look at you? If you could come closer to the torches."

"No," the dragon said bluntly. "If you truly wish to see me in all my glory, you shall follow me to a more illuminated area. Not the other way around."

"Very well," Alia said, feeling oddly like she was negotiating with a stubborn old shopkeeper rather than a wicked monster who could tear her in half with his bare paws. "But then," Alia said before hesitating. Unsure of the wisdom of her next request. But damn it, how many times would she get a chance to actually see what dragon scales felt like while still attached to a living dragon? "I also get to touch you."

That startled her men, the rattling of their armor told Alia they'd shifted to look at her as if she'd suddenly sprouted at tail of her own, and a few more heads as well. But she didn't take her eyes off the dragon. It wasn't as hard as she thought it might be, really. Talking and keeping watch on the beast was like negotiating with very dangerous men without getting in over her head. She'd done that before, too. Though, the dragon was quite different, and she kept telling herself not to get too confident. Her request seemed to surprise the creature, and she could almost see the gears of his mind turning behind his dark golden eyes as he considered it.

"Very well," the dragon said, his voice softening a little. Then he gestured with a front paw towards the group of soldiers. "But only after you call off your dogs."

Alia blanched. She hadn't expected to get close enough to touch the dragon without those spears and blades there to ensure the dragon wouldn't be biting off her hand. She hoped that she was silhouetted enough by the torchlight behind her to prevent the dragon from seeing all the color draining from her face. She looked back at the soldiers, and the lead guard quickly shook his helmeted head.

"Ma'am, I cannot recommend..."

"And I cannot abide having spears pointed at me," the dragon hissed, flaring out his massive wings a little bit. "If you've any real interest in observing me, send them away or begone yourself."

Alia wondered if this was some sort of test. Did the dragon always test his new handlers in this way? If that was the case, it was a test she did not want to fail. And in all truth, she could not help but sympathize with the dragon at least a little bit. She wouldn't enjoy having spears pointed at her, either. Alia quickly made her decision, and turned towards the men. She made a point to turn all the way around, so the dragon would see she was not afraid to turn her back to him. She just hoped he wouldn't take that as a sign it was time to devour her.

"You may leave," she said to the guards, pointing towards the door. "Thank you very much for your assistance. If I have further need of you I will call for you."

"But, Ma'am..."

"It's alright," Alia insisted. "He is not going to eat me." She glanced over her shoulder at the dragon. "Are you?"

"Not on your first day."

That wasn't the answer Alia was hoping for. She tried to keep her gulp as quiet as she could. She waved the men off, and they slowly, hesitantly, backed away. She noticed that unlike herself they seemed unwilling to present their backs to the dragon, or lower their weapons at all. When they reached the doorway, they filed out one by one with their spears still aimed at the dragon. When the last of them moved through the doors, they gently shut them, leaving her completely alone with the dragon.

Alia turned around and found him still staring at her. It didn't look as though he'd moved so much as an inch while the men all filed out. "Very well, Dragon," she said. "The dogs are gone. Do you feel better?"

"Yes," the dragon said without hesitation. "They make me nervous. I have enough scars from spear points as it is."

They made him nervous? She'd hate to see the dragon when he was feeling confident. Alia quickly went and fetched a torch from the sconce so she could see where she was going, and returned to the dragon. The beast hissed and pulled his head back, turning his head away. He lifted a paw and held it in front of his face as if to fend off the flames.

"Careful with that," he said, squinting while his eyes adjusted. "I am not used to bright light in my face."

"Oh," Alia muttered, lowering the torch a bit. She hadn't thought about that, though it seemed obvious. "I'll put it in a sconce, then, and you can stand nearby so I can see you better."

"You're a bold thing," the dragon said, turning his eyes back towards her.

"I am?" Alia was glad to see her act had held up.

"Yes. You're trying to feign it to impress me, but you needn't. You've a bold nature, haven't you. More so than many of the other simpering fools at play in the halls above us."

Alia faltered a little. The torch wavered as her hand shook. The dragon knew she was just trying to act confident? How did he know? And, how did he know some of that boldness came naturally to her? It always had. Her people had never been one to act anything but bold, or to speak their thoughts and act upon them. It was simply in their nature. That was one thing that made working as a royal servant both easier and more difficult for her than it was for some. Easier because she could throw herself into any task she was given without hesitation, but more difficult because she found that those in charge did not often like being told they were wrong, even when it was obvious they were.

"Is that good?" Alia finally asked.

"Yes," the dragon said, then licked his nose. His pink tongue glistened in the torchlight. "I like bold things. This way."

Alia wasn't certain if that was good, or bad. She was suddenly certain of one thing though, and that was the dragon's gender. When the creature turned around she had to duck a little bit to avoid his tail. In the process it was impossible to miss the dragon's testicles hanging between his hind legs, a dark pouch with heavy fruit that jostled a little between his scaly thighs as he walked. Alia felt a flush come to her cheeks, and for a few moments she stared, then forced herself to look away before the dragon caught her. Had he done that on purpose? Certainly not. He was a four legged male creature just like a horse, and it was only natural that when walking away his reproductive organs could be seen. Then again, he could have lowered his tail. Alia realized she was probably putting far too much thought into it.

If the dragon had any notion of what she'd been looking at, he did not show it, as the only thing he said while he walked away was, "Bring my food with you."

Alia furrowed her brow, and grit her teeth. That scaly bastard couldn't carry his own damn food? Well, just this once she'd do as he asked. Though, that was going to be a bit challenging. For a few moments, she attempted to juggle a bag of plucked chickens, a sack with a slaughtered goat in it, and a torch as well. Each time she only scarcely avoided setting something on fire. First the chicken bag began to smolder, then the burlap that held the goat, and finally she singed off a little of her own dark hair. In frustration she dropped the torch, only for the thing to roll into a nearby puddle and douse itself.

"Oh, damn," she cursed.

"Trouble?" The dragon called out from across the chamber, with far too much amusement in his voice.

"I'll show you trouble," she muttered.

Finally she tossed the bag of chickens over her shoulder, and with one hand, began to drag the bag with the goat in it across the room. She left the other torch behind in its sconce near the doorway. Her eyes had adjusted a little bit to the darkness and at least there was more light where the dragon was heading. He seemed to be making his way towards one of the more brightly illuminated areas where hazy light shone down through several carved air vents in the ceiling and walls high above. Dragging the goat carcass was hard work and several times she had to adjust her grip when the burlap bit too deeply into her finger tips or when her hand began to ache.

Still, the dragon was not walking with any particular haste, and it was not as if she was going to lose track of him if she fell too far behind. As the dragon moved Alia noticed for the first time that the dragon walked with a bit of a limp in one of his hind legs. It was not particularly pronounced, but at the same time it was hard to miss while she watched him walk ahead of her.

The dragon stepped up onto a slightly raised ledge that jutted out from one of the walls of his chamber. Thanks to the vents cut far above it and the current position of the sun there was plenty of light in that area. The dragon sniffed around at the stone a little, and then eased himself down to sprawl out upon his belly. He curled his tail around his body, arching his neck into an S shape as he watched Alia approach.

"I shall take my dinner here." The dragon rustled his vast wings against his body as if impatient. Alia supposed she couldn't blame him if it had been over a day since the creature had eaten. "Hurry along then, before I have missed yet another meal. And I hope you've brought me something good."

Alia grunted in effort as she dragged the burlap sacks up to the edge of the ledge the dragon had settled himself upon. "You know, for a creature who's going to be relying on me to keep him fed, you might want to consider being a little more polite."

"And you might want to consider the fact that when dragons go a day without feeding, we begin to consider alterative sources of food." The dragon snapped his jaws, and just to make himself clear he made a point of looking Alia over like a lion sizing up a potential kill. At that moment the dragon's belly rumbled quite loudly, and Alia couldn't decide if the timing was more comical, or ominous.

"Here's your damn food," Alia snapped right back at him, and with both hands she hurled the bag of chickens at the dragon. She'd aimed it for his head, intending to make her own point, that she wasn't going to be bullied by some dragon. For all he knew if he killed her he'd end up starving to death before they sent anyone else down here. Her point was slightly blunted when the dragon simply caught the bag in his jaws with a quick movement of his head. "Don't eat the bag," Alia muttered. 'The food's inside."

"Thank you for the instruction, Warden," the dragon said, lowering his head to set the bag down. Rather than untie it, he simply unsheathed a single claw and sliced the bag open, the upended it so that all the plucked chickens toppled out like macabre game pieces. "I should never have divined the inedible qualities of burlap on my own without your sage advice."

For some reason, that made Alia smile. It made her laugh a little bit, too. She'd never have expected such a wicked monster to have such a sarcastic side, and in a strange way it was a bit endearing. She wondered briefly if he'd always been that way or if so many years in captivity had softened his edges, as it were. If even half the rumors were true he'd killed an awful lot of men before he was finally captured, and she found it hard to believe he'd been so acid tongued back in his more murderous days. Then again, perhaps he was the sort of beast who would implore someone to "have a nice trip last fall" just before hurling them off a castle balcony to their doom.

The dragon carefully hoisted up a single chicken by its head, held it in the air and turned his head sideways to gaze balefully at it with one dark golden eye. "For future reference, I prefer duck."

Then the dragon shoved the entire chicken into his mouth and bit down. Alia winced as she lugged the other burlap sack with the goat carcass inside up the stone ledge. She could hear all the bones crunching inside the dragon's jaws. "And for your future reference, I'm not a damn restaurant. You'll eat what I bring you or you'll not eat at all."

"Oh!" The dragon said, his voice oozing with mock reverence. Chicken blood and other juices dribbled between his sharp teeth before he licked them off. "Yes Mistress, sorry Mistress! Shall I present my haunches for a paddling now, Mistress?"

Alia burst out laughing before she could stop herself. That mental image was just too funny. Some big, bad dragon, turning to offer his rump to get spanked like some bratty little street urchin. Or, one big kinky dragon, perhaps. If only she had a paddle with her she might tell him to do just that just to see the look on his face. Note to self, she thought. Bring dragon sized paddle sometime.

"You're not exactly what I expected, Dragon," Alia said as she finally dropped the other bag in front of him. "I think you could learn to appreciate the effort I put into your food, though, given that I had no direction or guidance whatsoever, and no experience dealing with a dragon."

"I'd never have guessed that," the beast muttered, crunching down on another chicken. "Oh, and I assure you, I do appreciate that you people make the barest minimum effort to ensure I've not starved to death all these many years."

Alia scowled, wiping her hands off on her black breeches. Perhaps the dragon had a point. Prisoner or not, in her mind he should be well cared for. The way Alia saw it, even a condemned man should be kept adequately fed and watered until the day of his execution. And as this dragon was here for life, rather than awaiting some death sentence, it only seemed fair that they at least give the creature proper food and water.

"Very well, Dragon," Alia said, folding her arms. "I shall do my best to ensure that you are fed three times a day, and that you are given adequate amounts of food by whatever standards a dragon might have."

The dragon paused in his feeding a moment to turn and gaze at her. Alia almost felt as though his eyes were golden bladed daggers, very slowly piercing into her breast and coming perilously close to her heart as if in search of her very soul. "For some reason, I find myself believing you."

"That's because I mean it," Alia said simply, forcing herself to meet the dragon's gaze until he finally returned to his food.

"If that is true," the dragon replied, his voice softening just a little. "Then I am in fact, appreciative of your efforts."

"I've brought you a goat, too," Alia offered, hoping to continue appeasing the beast. She walked over and deftly undid the heavy string holding the other bag shut. The dragon had already ruined one sack, no sense letting him ruin the other. Once the bag was open, she eased it down around the goat's head, and then gripped the edges of the bag and began to slide it away. Just as she'd had the chickens plucked, she'd had the goat skinned as well. She couldn't imagine a creature would enjoy eating fur, so she hoped she'd made the right choice. "I had it skinned, I hope that is to your taste."

The dragon peered down at it while chewing up the last of the chickens. He licked his muzzle clean after swallowing the crunched up carcass, and then smiled a little bit. "I am fine either way, though, removing the hide will make it a little easier for me, as I have never been partial to eating and passing fur." The dragon ignored the face Alia made at that. "However. What is truly to my taste as you put it, is the fact you cared whether it was to my taste at all. I do enjoy being catered to."

"Is that why they say you dragons are always demanding maidens and the like?" Alia folded her arms beneath her breasts as she watched him, then looked away when he simply tore one of the goat's hind legs from its body and began to devour the gory morsel. "Because you wish them to...cater...to you?"

"Something like that," the dragon said through a mouthful of goat.

"So then you've had maidens "cater" to your needs, have you?" Alia smirked a little at that. She wasn't sure if the dragon would get her innuendo, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know if he'd actually done such things.

The dragon glanced at her for a brief moment and merely repeated himself. "Something like that."

"Dirty old beast."

"Grime does tend to accumulate upon the scales when you spend the latter years of your life in a dungeon."

That wasn't what Alia meant, and she assumed the dragon was well aware. Still, while watching the dragon eat the goat wasn't exactly making her feel ill, it was not the most pleasant of sights, and she decided now would be an excellent time to get a good look at the beast. She began to walk around him, staying at what she hoped was a respectful distance.

Though the dragon had been here for a long time, his body showed little sign of atrophy. Alia could see muscles shift and ripple beneath his natural armor with even the slightest of movements he made. It looked as though scales coated him nearly everywhere from the pebbly textured ones that coated his muzzle and face, to the tiny fine scales across the backs of his paws to the broader scales that covered most of the dragon's torso. A few heavier plates of natural armor spanned his chest to give his heart and lungs a little extra protection, somewhat like the scutes on the underbelly of a snake.

The dragon was dark, though he was not entirely black as it first appeared. His coloration certainly leaned heavily in that direction, but she also saw quite a few shades of gray here and there. Gray splotches marked him along his sides, and across his wings as well. The edges of his wings were highlighted with paler smoky tones. His tail was black as night where it joined his body, but towards its tip it became mottled with ashen colors, and by its apex it was completely the color of ash. Several wicked looking and slightly curved spines tipped the little flared area at the end of the dragon's tail. As if he knew just where she was looking, the dragon flicked his tail tip; the spines clattered against the stone floor.

Alia looked over his wings. They were folded up against his body, but now and then they twitched and rustled as if of their own accord. From the looks of it, each wing was tipped with more small spines in some areas, or claws almost like semi-vestigial fingers. The dragon's wings were not attached to his front legs but rather sprouted from muscular joints just beyond the beast's shoulders. Alia thought it strange that some of the monsters of the world should have six limbs, rather than four. Even birds and bats only had four limbs in total including their legs and their wings. Then again, insects had six limbs and spiders had eight and centipedes had a hundred or so, so who was really to judge a creature by the number of limbs it possessed.

As the dragon continued to tear apart the goat, Alia took a moment to pay attention to his front paws. Though she should have realized it when she saw him pick up the first chicken, now she saw that though the dragon walked upon his front feet, they also worked just as well as hands. They were even equipped with something she'd describe as a thumb, a completely opposable digit just like that of her own hands. A fascinating creature, really. A shame he was such a monster.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Alia found herself asking as she rounded the back side of the creature and began to walk up along the other side of him.

"I think you know," the dragon said without turning his attention away from the goat he was slowly devouring. The chickens had smoothed the edge off his ravenous hunger, and now he was taking his time to savor the second half of his meal.

"I know what I've been told." Alia reached out to touch his wing, then hesitated. The dragon's wing membranes looked so smooth, almost soft. She pulled her hand back, and decided to wait a moment longer. "But I also know rumors have a way of becoming the truth over time. To say nothing of the fact that many of those I've worked for have quite the habit of stretching that truth."

"Clever girl," the dragon murmured to himself, licking blood from one of his paws. Alia could see the pads there were a soft gray color, just as the tips of all his fingers and toes were. The dragon shot her a playful glance and licked his nose. "Perhaps they're afraid I'd burn the city down if they ever let me go."

Alia chuckled to herself. "Some days I feel like I wouldn't blame you."

"Then what is it you think I'm here for?"

"I haven't yet decided," Alia said softly. "I should imagine it is worse than nothing and not as horrible as some of the stories."

As the dragon returned to his food without further reply, Alia looked at the hind leg that the dragon was limping on. There was a large scar there, an old one from the looks of it. A long, puckered gray line that stretched across the meat of the dragon's thigh. Alia could only imagine it must have been a very painful, and temporarily crippling wound. She wondered if that was the wound that had actually felled him in battle, back when he'd first been captured. Given that if it was it was probably a sore subject, she decided not to broach it just yet. She also glanced at the dragon's hind paws. From what she could tell, their general design was somewhere between that of the hind paws of cats and dogs, though little larger and broader than either. The dragon even appeared to have a small dewclaws just above the rest of his paw.

Alia held her tongue while the dragon finished his meal. Given how hungry he must have been, he probably didn't want to be bombarded with questions just yet. Alia meandered towards the dragon's head once more, continuing her inspection of him. The dragon's head was shaped roughly like a large wedge, certainly taller and broader than that of any smaller lizard. No doubt that was necessary to accommodate the dragon's larger brain, just as humans had larger, taller skulls relative to their general body size when compared to domesticated animals.

The dragon's head was crowned with large horns that held an elegantly arching curve so that while they grew away from the dragon's head, their points eventually turned every so slightly inwards towards each other. The horns were dark, and ridged almost like those of some exotic goat. Alia couldn't help but notice the last third or so of the dragon's horns were a lighter shade, and somewhat less ridged. Perhaps they'd been broken off some time ago and grown back a little differently, like the tail of a lizard. That made her wonder, if the dragon lost his tail would it grow back as well? Probably best not to ask him.

The dragon's head was also decorated with more than a few spiny frills that seemed unusually mobile and expressive. She'd noticed them flare out around his head earlier, though now they lay flat. More spines ran down the back of his neck, and those too lay almost flat against him. Though by the time the dragon's neck met his shoulders, the spines were gone. Unlike a true lizard, the dragon also had frilled ears that flicked about rather than ear holes and nothing more.

The dragon announced the end of his dinner with a rather large, crude belch. Alia winced a little bit but held off on scolding the beast. She imagined scolding a dragon for belching so loudly would be just as spectacularly ineffective as scolding a drunkard for the same. When he'd finished eating, he licked the blood and juices from his front paws, and then did what he could to lick his own muzzle clean.

"I hope you have some better way to bathe yourself than that," Alia said, nudging the bloodied, skeletal remains of the goat with her boot. The dragon had left little more than broken and gnawed bones which she supposed it would be her job to remove. Perhaps she should have had some of those guards stick around after all. "You've still stains on your face."

"Perhaps you'd like to draw me a nice hot bath," the dragon said with an irritable hiss. "Perhaps you could even throw in some lovely scented soaps!" He waved his paw as if telling a grand tale. "And why not scrub my scales clean for me in the process? I've a lovely copper bath tub with real piping and everything! It's just beyond the grand dining room and the second of my two libraries."

"I see you've been practicing your sarcasm in your years stuck beneath the castle," Alia said with a little laugh. If the dragon was trying to aggravate her, she wasn't going to let him. "Now. I get to touch you, right?"

"I suppose," the dragon grumbled. He slowly lifted up one of his front paws, offering it to her. "Go on then, get it over with."

"Don't you enjoy being touched?"

"Do you enjoy being poked and prodded like some curiosity?" The dragon held his paw out a little further, impatient for her to be done with the whole thing.

"I suppose not," Alia said, in no hurry despite the dragon's impatience.

Alia moved forward, and ever so gently took the dragon's front paws in her hands. The paw dwarfed her hand, but again she could not help noticing the similarities. The dragon had five toes upon his front paw, four of which could easily be called fingers and a fifth which served well as a thumb. Alia was a little surprised by just how warm the dragon's paw was. The dragon was certainly no true lizard as he was warm to the touch as Alia herself was.

Alia held the dragon's paw between her hands, so that his paw pads were pressed against one of her palms, with her other palm touching the fine scales on the back of the dragon's paw. Once more the woman's heart was thudding away in her chest, though this time it was definitely racing in excitement, and not fear. She was not exactly sure why, but she simply felt as though this dragon was not going to hurt her. Maybe it was just because she knew the dragon wanted to continue eating. Maybe it was something else. Either way, with the devil of fear banished from her mind, there was plenty of room for an angel of excitement to spread its wings.

Just imagine, she thought. She was touching an actual dragon, holding his paw in her hands. She might well be the only woman in all of Illandra to have ever done such a thing. Hell, she might be the only person of either gender. Even the guards had likely never touched the dragon, not counting the one who'd been gravely injured by the beast. That thought reminded her she should probably be a lot more afraid than she was, and yet she could not find it in herself to fear the creature right now. They both knew she was now more responsible for his continued welfare than anyone else in the kingdom, and she doubted the dragon would do anything to harm her so long as she did not upset him.

Alia rubbed his paw between her hands. The pads along its underside were very soft and warm. She wondered if the skin of the dragon's pads was as sensitive as her own. She ran her fingers back and forth against them, and the dragon's paw twitched in response. The dragon grunted but did not pull away. With her other hand she traced a few fingers against the back of his paw. The scales there were very small and fine, slightly soft, and she could feel the strong tendons hidden away beneath them in a few places.

"Have you had your fun yet?" The dragon asked.

"Almost. I am doing my best not to "poke and prod" you," Alia replied, smiling. Then without really thinking about what she was saying, she added, "I should think if I had gone as long as you had without the touch of another I would quite welcome someone's touch upon me."

The dragon slowly pulled his paw away from her. He glanced away and made a soft noise Alia could only describe as faintly sorrowful. The noise tweaked at her heart a little; she hoped she hadn't upset him. Alia could only imagine that even a monster would occasionally get lonely, or long to be touched by someone. She hadn't brought it up to remind the dragon of the conditions of his imprisonment, in fact she hadn't really meant to bring it up at all.

"I should like to touch your face, if that's alright," Alia said softly.

The dragon slowly turned his wedge shaped head back towards Alia. For a moment, and only a moment, sorrow shone in his dark golden eyes. The dragon banished it with a single blink, and promptly gave an irritable snout as if in attempt to show it had all been an illusion. Whatever pain he might have held was not at all evident in his gruff voice.

"If you must."

Alia reached out with a single hand to touch the dragon's face. At first she merely brushed her fingers against the end of his snout, just between his nostrils. The scales there were so fine as to be almost imperceptible. The dragon's nostrils themselves were smooth and soft, warm. Alia rubbed the dragon's nose a little, and a strange, barely audible noise crept up the beast's throat. The dragon's nose most have been sensitive, because she stroked him there a little more the noise intensified and she could almost swear it was a purr.

Alia moved her hand up the dragon's face, careful to avoid the dirty little blood stains leftover from his meal. The further up his snout her fingers wandered the more pebbly the dragon's scales became. Just like his paw his face was very warm, and she could feel his hot breath washing across her body each time the dragon exhaled. His golden eyes shifted and flickered, watching her hand slide up his face. By the time she was rubbing the top of his snout the creature had gone nearly cross eyed trying to keep track of her hand.

Alia shifted her hand to one of the dragon's ears. It was very soft, and she traced a single finger up and down the edge of it. The dragon flicked his ear, she wondered if her touch tickled. Next she touched one of the spiny crests that adorned the dragon's head. The dragon flared the spiky frill out a little to show it off, and she gently rubbed it a few times before she finally pulled her hand back.

"Happy now?" The dragon asked, pulling his head back as if not wanting to give her a chance to touch him again. Without her touch, the noise Alia was convinced was a purr swiftly faded, and the dragon gave it no acknowledgement.

Alia only smiled. She examined her fingers a little. They looked a little dirty. The dragon seemed to have collected quite a bit of dust, dirt, grime and likely dried blood across his scales. Alia frowned, and wiped her hand off on her black breeches while an idea formed in her head. The dragon was being sarcastic when he suggested she give him a bath, but it did not seem like such a bad idea. Assuming of course the dragon was willing to let her do so. Then again, that haunted look in his eyes told her he might enjoy feeling someone's touch for a little while longer even if he didn't want to admit it.

It must have been terribly lonely here all alone for so many years. Alia didn't know if the dragon truly deserved such loneliness though she had to admit there was every chance he did. He might well have killed hundreds of people without so much as a shred of regret. Yet, he did not seem like the monster she might have expected if she were foolish enough to believe everything she'd been told. The dragon hadn't tried to hurt her so far, if anything he seemed more like a grumpy old man resigned to his fate than the monster the legends claimed him to be.

Perhaps imprisonment and lonely isolation had simply changed him over the years.

Whatever the case, her mind was set. "You're filthy, dragon. As your new handler, I am responsible for your condition. As such, I'm going to give you a bath. Today."

The dragon swiftly pushed himself up onto his haunches, curling his tail around his paws. He glowered down at her, his neck curled as he flared his spiny frills. "You shall do no such thing."

"I shall, and I shall do so whether you like it or not." She put her hands on her hips, glaring up at him, undaunted. "If you decide to be belligerent..." Alia paused, she did not truly want to anger the dragon. Perhaps she could make it clear to the dragon that she was definitely in charge without coming across as overly demanding beyond her ability. "Then I can handle it one of two ways."

"What ways?" The dragon narrowed his eyes.

Alia ticked off a finger. "I can handle you in the crude way, or the practical way. Which would you like to hear about first?"

The dragon slowly tilted his horned head to the side, and Alia caught a glimpse of amusement in the creature's eyes. Somehow, she imagined he'd not had anything but demands, orders, and abuse for many years interspersed now and then with cowering. Someone who stood up to him without being cruel, and did so by engaging him in a playful yet respectful manner might be a welcome change.

"The crude way," the dragon said, confirming her thoughts.

"Very well Dragon," Alia said, grinning. "If you do not agree to let me give you a bath, I shall kick you in the testicles." She lifted her boot and gestured towards his hind end for emphasis.

The dragon winced, and to Alia's pleasant surprise, he almost laughed. Though he quickly covered it up with a growl. "You wouldn't dare. I would bite your head off if you even tried it."

"I most certainly would dare," Alia assured him, then smiled. "Though I've no intention of doing such a thing to a well behaved creature. And should you bite my head off afterwards, you'd be lucky if they didn't leave you to starve to death. Besides, you should have to catch me first, and I suspect you'd be feeling too uncomfortable to want to have to chase down a spry girl running for her life. But if you really want to try it, I'm game if you are."

The dragon licked his nose, watching her closely. He curled his tail more tightly around his privates as if to protect himself. "You're a bold thing," he murmured, more amusement flicking in his eyes.

"So you told me earlier."

"I do not relish the idea of being kicked in the testicles, nor chasing you down afterwards, though I would enjoy the end result." The dragon gestured towards her head with a front paw, flashing her his many sharp teeth. Alia merely smiled as if not the least bit concerned for the fate of her head. She was not easy to daunt, the dragon had to admit. "I am not yet sure if you are brave, or simply a fool. Nonetheless, what would be the practical way to get me to cooperate?"

"Ah," Alia grinned. "That would be safer for me, and far less painful for you, so long as you followed instructions. I'd simply call the guards back and have them prod you to the waters with their spears."

The dragon grumbled under his breath. "A more prudent course of action." He glanced back at himself a moment. "I've enough spear scars as it is. I wish not more."

Alia's breath caught when she realized some of the gray markings she'd observed earlier where actually old scars along the dragon's body from where the guards had jabbed him time and again with spears. Nothing deep enough to do him fatal injury, but enough to get him to behave, or punish him. Probably both.

"I suppose those are my only two choices?" The dragon huffed a frustrated sigh.

"Not if you cooperate," Alia smiled. "Then there is also the kind way. The way I prefer, truth be told. Despite your attempts to intimidate me, you've done nothing to actually harm me. Regardless of the reasons you are here, so long as you do not attempt to hurt me I have no desire whatsoever to see you harmed. So long as you treat me with respect, I am perfectly happy to treat you with respect as well, dragon. So, the kind way." She smiled, and pointed beyond the dragon, to where she could hear water running. "You cooperate, lead me to the water and let me bathe you. That is your half of the bargain. My half of the bargain is that I continue to treat you like an intelligent creature worthy of respect and dignity. More so, I shall ensure you have not only a bath, but a lovely, hot, relaxing bath as well."

The dragon rustled his wings and chuckled a little. "I am not so sure if you are truly a noble thing, or simply naïve to think you can so easily sway me with a little kindness. Not that I would begrudge you that. More importantly, how exactly do you plan to give me a hot bath when the only water with which I am supplied for both drinking and bathing is quite cool?"

Alia shrugged, grinning. "Just lead me to the water, Dragon. Be honest with yourself, even if not with me. For just one night, would you not like another to treat you with respect, to treat you like more than some animal kept in a filthy cage? Even prisoners should be given adequate food, and water, and allowed to stay clean and bathed." She pursed her lips. "At least, in my mind they should. Luckily for you, you are my only prisoner, and that means I am able to devote all of my attention to making sure those things happen."

The dragon gave a muttering growl, shifting his front paws back and forth a little. He unsheathed a few talons, idly scratching at the stone. When it was clear he wasn't going to reply, Alia strode forward and placed her hand upon his neck. He did not pull away, though he did give her a momentary glare. She stroked the dragon's neck, the scales there were broader than those of his face.

"After all these years alone, can you honestly say even a dragon doesn't desire to feel another's touch now and then?"

"I have no desire to be touched by anyone!" The dragon snapped, his quick, angry reply telling Alia all she needed to know. She was right, but she would not press the dragon to admit such a thing. After a moment, he relented, lowering his voice. "However, I am curious how exactly you think you will provide me with hot water. For that reason, and only that reason, I shall let you attempt your foolish idea."

"Excellent!" Alia smiled and pulled her hand back. "I was beginning to think I was going to have to kick you in the testicles after all."

The dragon growled, and bared his fangs. "You shall lose your foot if you try."

"Oh?" Alia acted surprised. "I thought I was going to lose my head?"

"I changed my mind," the dragon muttered as he pushed himself up to all fours. "You can still feed me with one foot."

That made Alia laugh, and she thought that the dragon flashed her a little grin just before he turned around. It might well have all been in her mind, though. Alia had to duck swiftly when the dragon turned around, his tail whipping right over her head. Only after she'd yelped, ducked, and then toppled back onto her rump did the dragon glance back to see where she was.

"Mind my tail."

"Mind it yourself, you overgrown newt!"

"Newts are amphibians," the dragon corrected her as he began to walk off.

Alia dusted herself off as she rose. "I know, I know, and you're a reptile."

"No," the dragon called back to her. His slight limp didn't seem to slow him down as he was quickly moving away. "Reptiles are cold blooded. Dragons are not."

"So what does that make you, then?" Alia asked as she hurried to catch up to him.

"A dragon."

Alia simply shook her head, smiling to herself. She wasn't sure if he was actively trying to be a bastard or if it was just in his nature. She jogged a few moments to catch up with the dragon and then walked along at his side. As they walked together she watched the dragon's movements, watched the way muscles rippled smoothly beneath the creature's natural armor. He may have been old but he'd certainly not grown weak in this place. Alia did notice that the dragon's limp seemed a little more pronounced when she walked alongside his scarred hind leg.

Even with that hitch in his gait the dragon still moved with a nearly feline grace. She'd always imagined dragons to be lumbering creatures of strength and power with little agility to match. Yet while this dragon was clearly a powerful beast his movements were nonetheless graceful and measured. Aside from the limp, he strode forward smoothly, and reminded her more of a graceful predator like a lion rather than a unwieldy creature like a bear. No doubt that had made the dragon an even more difficult creature to bring down; all the strength the legends spoke off with none of the bulky ungainliness the muscle and armor might suggest.

Alia was glad that the dragon mostly followed along the wall where the majority of the air vents seemed to be cut. She hadn't fetched another torch yet and so was grateful for the shafts of light that shone down from high above. Splotches of light washed over the dragon in illuminating waves across his dark scales. Each time he passed through one of the pillars of light Alia could see a few more old scars here and there. Whirling motes of dust swirled after their passing like insects dancing in the sunlight.

Alia continued to marvel at how large the so-called cell was. As they neared the far walls, she could see swirling lines carved here and there like artwork traced into the stone itself. Off in the distance, where more air vents had been cut into another part of the place, she could see a passageway that lead into an entirely separate chamber. There was just enough light for her to make out what she thought looked like large sets of shelves along one wall. How very intriguing, she thought.

"You shall have to give me a tour, sometime," Alia said with a little smile, putting her hand upon the dragon's shoulder.

He glanced back at her, and she pulled her hand away. The dragon snorted. "How very exciting that shall be." He waved a paw at the wall. "Here is some stone." He gestured with his wing towards the center of the place. "Over there are some pillars." Then he jerked up his head as if suddenly excited. "Oh! And over there it's very dark!"

"I would never have guessed such an old creature could act like such a little brat." Alia folded her arms under her breasts as she walked, pressing their rounded forms out against her green blouse a little.

"I prefer to think of myself as amusingly bitter," the dragon said, then he gestured ahead of himself to where the sound of burbling water had gotten much louder. "Here we are. So tell me, Warden, how do you plan to give this old dragon a hot bath, hmm?"

Alia didn't have to see the dragon's face to know he was smiling. He thought he'd won some little battle. She could already tell if she proved unable to provide him with any kind of hot water, he was going to be exceedingly smug about it. Which only reinforced it in her head that she'd have to do as she promised. Alia walked past the dragon to see what she had to work with, swatting him on the neck in the process. He grunted and glared at her, and then promptly swatted Alia on the rump.

"OW!" She yelped, jumped into the air, and grabbed at her butt with a hand. "You little bastard!"

"I am neither little nor a bastard. You swat me, I swat you." The dragon licked his nose, and then smirked. "You seem to insist on treating me as something more than your prisoner, so do not expect me to simper and cower and let you smack me without retaliation."

Alia supposed he had a point. Given that she hardly fancied herself a true jailer, she supposed it was a good thing if the dragon was going to be...playful with her. Then again, he'd hit her a lot harder than she'd hit him even if he hadn't meant to. And she didn't have any scales.

"I'm not sure about all that," she muttered. "Besides, I don't have any scales."

"That's your problem, isn't it." The dragon smirked at her, and licked his nose again.

Alia wasn't going to let the dragon intimidate her. She turned back towards him and slapped him on the nose. The dragon's nose seemed sensitive, and this time she swatted it quite sharply. The dragon yelped in genuine pain and surprise, and quickly flopped back against his haunches, cupping his nose with a paw. He glared at her, and Alia thought she could see his dark golden eyes watering for a moment.

"You little bitch!" The dragon snarled, still holding his nose. "That really hurt!"

"I'm sure it did, and it hurt when you slapped my rump, dragon." Alia stepped towards him as he growled. "Though I sincerely doubt it hurt when I swatted you quite playfully on your neck. You've plenty of scales there, but you're right. Having no scales is my problem. Which is why from now on, whenever you swat me hard enough to make sure it hurts, I'm going to do the same right back to you. And I'm going to do that somewhere you don't have any scales, either. Whether that's the end of your nose..." Alia moved her foot forward to nudge the old dragon's testicles threateningly with the toe of her boot. "Or these things. One way or another I don't think you'll like it. So play nice. If you feel you must swat me back, don't do it so damn hard. Now give me a minute to figure out how to get your bath started."

Alia turned away from the dragon without another word, leaving the old beast slightly confused. As soon as she was facing away from the dragon, a huge grin spread across Alia's full lips. That went quite well, she thought. So long as the dragon didn't decide to kill her then and there for her insolence, that was. After a few nervous heartbeats passed, she felt she could relax. Prisoner or not, the dragon was probably quite used to being able to intimate everyone who came down here, including his captors. She hoped the fact she wasn't going to let him cow her would at least give the creature pause. Maybe he'd even respect her for it. Granted, that was probably a stretch, but with any luck he'd at least find her amusing.

Alia busied herself examining the dragon's water supply while the creature fumed behind her. A series of large, granite ledges lined the walls near the corner of the chamber. Water flowed in from near the top of one wall, and trickled down across each ledge in a series of small, fountain-like waterfalls. The gray stone itself was flecked with gold and black, though thanks to the water and humidity the ledges themselves were coated in many areas by a variety of emerald mosses, green and red slimes, and yellow and black molds as well as plenty of gray and blue shelf fungus and a number of large white and brown mushrooms with bulbous caps. The array of textures and colors were at once beautiful and disgusting.

At the bottom of the lowest ledge, the waters flowed into a basin that had long ago been cut into the stone floor. The basin was roughly circular and gently sloped, though at its deepest point it was perhaps only two feet deep or so. It too was surrounded by moss, slime and fungus though here and there the various growths had been partly scraped away or crushed flat. Alia imagined that the dragon did try to keep himself clean by rolling around in that water now and then, but there was only so much he could do without a deeper place to bath.

The water eventually emptied from the basin and ran in a channel cut in the stone floor towards the wall where it eventually vanished through a large grating into what Alia imagined was some kind of sewer system. It might well have been where the dragon went to relieve himself as well as the constantly flowing water would keep such a place clean, naturally rinsing it after each use. Alia doubted they had built such an elaborate fountain and basin just for the dragon, rather it had probably once been a gathering point or bathing area for whoever used this area before the dragon had been imprisoned here.

It certainly suited his purposes, though, and hers as well. As she sorted things out in her head, she glanced back at the dragon. "This is rather nice, actually. Any idea where the water comes from?"

The dragon, still seated on his haunches, shook his head. "No. Some spring I think, perhaps in the courtyard or nearby. I'm sure it was redirected ages ago to come here. I just spend my days hoping some dirty human's not bathing or pissing in my drinking water. Not that I'd have anything else to drink if he was. The water is usually quite cool, though in the winters it seems to get only slightly cooler."

"That would be consistent with a nearby spring, yes." Alia ran her hands back through her dark hair in thought a moment, and then smiled. She turned towards the dragon, fiddling with the black bow at the top of her blouse as an idea came to her. "I've got it! You'll be bathing in hot water by this evening, dragon. It will take some doing and I'll have to bring some people down here to help, but you can have your dinner in some far corner and do your best to ignore them. Then when it's done, I'll scrub you nice and clean." Alia smiled as though expecting the dragon to be pleased with that idea. "I should think that would make you happy."

The dragon gave a little growl. He flicked his ears back and twisted his snout into a half-scowl, then glanced away. "I shall not object too loudly to being clean."

"I thought not! Very well then dragon, I shall return as swiftly as I can." Alia dashed off, heading back to the stairs, leaving in her wake a rather confounded old dragon. At least the new warden provided some odd measure of entertainment.

---

The dragon couldn't believe she'd actually done it. He'd truly thought the girl wouldn't be able to pull it off, and yet here he was that same evening, watching as a newly constructed tub slowly filled with hot water. He didn't know who this girl was or why she was so keen on giving him a hot bath, but he had to admit she got things done. And, she got them done without resorting to having him whipped and jabbed with sharp pointy things. He certainly appreciated that.

The dragon had to admit, the girl intrigued him. There had been other wardens and handlers who had treated him kindly, respectfully, though they were outnumbered by those who wanted nothing to do with him whatsoever. Most of them ensured he was fed, and that was that. A few of them actively sought his abuse, and punishment. It had been a while since they'd set about seeing the dragon tortured, but he knew well enough when such times came there was little he could do but remain as defiant as possible, and injure a few of them in the process. But this girl...this girl was different.

The dragon and Alia knew well enough they were testing each other, such was the way of things. The dragon wished to see how far he could push his luck with the new warden, was she the sort he could intimidate into leaving him alone or bringing him extra food? Or was she the sort who would respond to his attempts to frighten her by ordering a cadre of guards to beat him into submission? It was increasingly clear that she was neither of those things. At first when she'd mentioned something about lacking experience he hadn't believed her, but now it was clear she was telling the truth. She'd never guarded or supervised a prisoner in her life, let alone a dragon. Just as he'd been testing her, she'd been testing him, seeing how he would take to someone who wouldn't back down, but also wouldn't abuse him unjustly. How far could she get away with things without actively fearing for her life? She might not be as truly confident as she wanted the dragon to believe, but testing him in such ways expressed a great deal of inner bravery. He liked that about her.

She also kept her word about the stupid tub. Which meant now he had to actually let her bathe him, and act at least moderately respectful in the process. It was not that he did not like being touched by humans, there was a time in his life he enjoyed that very much. But it was the principal of the thing. He was a dragon! Dragons did not have humans bathe them, unless it was the dragon's idea in the first place. If he were a free dragon, and had summoned some young maiden to bathe him in the nearest spring, that would be different. But the fact that she suggested it, to say nothing of the fact she seemed to think he would long to be touched made the whole idea that much more distasteful.

Much as he wished he'd never agreed to the whole thing, he had to admit her ingenuity impressed him. She'd returned shortly after she left, and brought with her a small army of workers and engineers, along with a contingent of guards to make sure they felt safe. She'd also brought with her a sack full of ducks for him to snack on throughout the afternoon. So the dragon spent much of his day curled in some alcove where no one would bother him, enjoying his duck snacks and idly carving abstract designs into the wall as he often did. Eventually he grew bored, and curious, and wandered close enough to the bathing area to find that she'd instructed her workers to build the dragon a bathtub.

Or at least something resembling a bathtub. The engineers had built up walls all around the basin to greatly increase its depth. They had also built little sluice gates at either end that could be opened to various degrees or closed completely. They'd closed off the first sluice gate and redirected the water flowing into the basin with a series of gutters to allow the basin to drain while they built the tub walls up around it. The walls themselves were wooden, with metal bands fastened here and there in a way that gave the entire thing the appearance of a giant barrel. The dragon wasn't sure it was going to last that long, and he wasn't sure what they'd used to help waterproof it. From the bitter smell of things, some sort of sticky, acrid resin had been used. Then again, he wasn't sure how all the slats in a barrel fit so tightly together as to prevent leakage either but it always seemed to work. The dragon had always found the industriousness of the humans in Illandra to be one of their few redeeming qualities.

From time to time the dragon busied himself frightening the younger workers and servants. He even chased one of them around the place until the poor young man actually wet himself. Aside from the stink of urine the dragon found the whole ordeal so hilarious he couldn't stop laughing even when the guards finally drove him back with their spears. Though he was thankful Alia intervened before any of them drew blood, he wasn't going to tell her as much. Besides, he'd just been having a little fun, that was all.

After that he had to watch them work at a greater distance. The dragon was just as impressed by the method Alia was going to use to heat the water as he was by the creation of the tub. Alia had several large, iron stoves brought down. They were slightly odd looking stoves, with a specific purpose of heating water or pipes. Each stove's chimney was off to the side, and the top of each stove held a long, flat area with walls on either side of it, as well as brackets to affix things atop the stove. Just as the men had built simple gutters to redirect the flow of water around the basin for a while, they built simple pipes and more gutters to redirect the flow of water from one of the higher ledges, down across the stoves. The water flowed across the flat areas on the top of the stoves into another pipe where it quickly cascaded down into the tub. Coals kept inside the stoves kept the flat surface hot, but the flow of water kept it cool enough keep from boiling away. The slowly flowing water spent just enough time on that hot pan to warm up considerably without evaporating away. Now and then more coals had to be shoveled in from a feeder stove set up nearby, and the dragon was thankful that the smoke rose and filtered out through the air vents.

With water flowing through three pipes across three hot stoves it was not long before steaming water began fill to the basin-turned-tub. Alia made a few rounds inspecting everything. The tub was leaking here and there but nothing that would empty it in short order. The pipes leaked as well but not enough to diminish their flow greatly. And given that they'd just sort of drawn the plans up as they went along and were only redirecting the water's natural flow she thought the construction had gone spectacularly. Perhaps later they could build the dragon a more permanent tub and water heating system.

Alia squeezed her way between two heavily armored guards to pat the dragon on his nose as he sat watching the hot water fill the tub. "You see? I told you I'd have a hot bath drawn up for you."

"Yes," the dragon muttered, ignoring the feel of her warm palm against his sensitive nose. "You did."

"And...?"

"And you were right," the dragon admitted. Then he snapped his jaws, glaring down at all the guards and the many workers who were trying to stay as far from the large beast as possible. "Now, send them away before the rest of them piss themselves. It still reeks in here."

"That was your fault."

"It was not my fault that the best defense he could think of was to urinate on himself."

"Were you going to eat him after that?" Alia asked with a grin.

"Not without rinsing him in that tub, first," the dragon replied, gesturing at the tub with one of his wings. "And it was not ready at the time."

Alia laughed, and made one last inspection of the tub, then spoke to the engineers. They gave her quick instructions on how to operate the various sluice gates at each end of the tub, and those on the pipes so that she could return the water to its normal flow. They also showed her how much coal each stove should have in order to heat the water without boiling it away or putting too much strain on anything. After that she dismissed them and the guards as well. It was just as well, everyone save Alia was more than eager to get out of there. Despite the amusing image of a woman scrubbing down a dragon, no one seemed to think the beast liked the idea and did not wish to linger should he decide to start eating people.

Once they were gone, the dragon slowly circled the tub a few times. Steam rose from the water, it did indeed seem quite hot. He dipped a front paw into the water, hissing a little. It was almost too hot against the sensitive skin of his pad. Almost, but not quite, and he imagined it would cool quickly enough anyway. And though he would not say as much to Alia, there would be something relaxing about lounging around in hot water.

Alia checked the flow through each pipe, then added a few fresh coals to each stove and a new log to the feeder stove. Then she moved to the head of the tub where the water was dumping into it. She picked up a small bag from the ground and began to pull out a few things and toss them into the tub. Soon, the water was frothing and bubbling, and a flowery scent began to fill the room.

The dragon quickly scrunched his nose and pinned his ears back, flaring his spines in alarm. "Yuck! What have you done to my bath?"

"It was just hot water before, dragon," Alia said, then simply turned the bag over and dumped the rest of the contents into the water. "It's the soap that makes it a bath. Now it'll get you nice and clean."

"It smells like flowers."

"And you smell like stinky lizard," Alia said, tapping him on the nose. "It'll be a nice change. Now get in."

"I do not smell like stinky lizard," the dragon growled. Though as soon as Alia turned her back, he stretched his neck down to sniff at himself a moment. He supposed a soapy bath couldn't hurt, just this once. "Oh, very well."

Hesitantly at first, the dragon stepped into the tub. He entered it one leg at a time, straddling the wooden wall. The waters seemed very hot at first, but after a few moments his body adjusted, and soon he'd set foot with all four paws inside the tub. The water didn't quite reach his belly, and for a moment he seemed disappointed. "It is not deep enough."

Alia just laughed. She crouched down and began to undo her boots. "If it was deep enough to submerge you I'd hardly be able to get inside and bath you now would I?"

"Can you not swim?"

"I can swim just fine, but I can hardly tread water and bathe an ungrateful beast at the same time." Alia pulled her boots off, and then her socks as well. She straightened, and began to undo the laces of her green blouse. "You'll have to lay down in the tub, and I'll stand alongside you and scrub you that way."

"And my belly?"

Alia gave an exasperated sigh. "Obviously you'll have to roll over." Then she paused a moment. Could a dragon lay on his back? She wasn't sure how well the wings would allow it. "Or, onto your side, or whatever the case may be. If I have to I'll sit on you while I scrub you."

"Very well," the dragon muttered. He slowly eased himself down to his belly. He hissed at first when the hot water washed over the sensitive skin of his sheath and testicles. Yet it was not long before his hisses had been replaced by gentle sighs. When his body began to adjust to the temperature he soon found it very relaxing. "This is...actually...rather pleasant."

"Good," Alia said, with no hint of sarcasm or amusement in her voice. She wasn't going to tell the dragon she'd told him so. After she'd unlaced her blouse, she paused rather than pull it off of her when she realized the dragon was staring. "Yes?"

"Are you going to get naked?"

Alia blinked. "I have undergarments on, dragon. I was going to wear those. Unless you'd rather I bathe in my clothing? I could always get dry clothes."

"I'd rather you get naked," the dragon murmured with a playful purr.

"Now why is that, dragon?"

"Because it's been ages since I've seen anything even resembling a female. I should like to have a look at one." The dragon lowered his head until his chin rested on top of the wall they'd built around the makeshift tub. "Go on. Take off your clothes."

Alia wasn't sure how to respond to that. If the dragon had said nothing, she probably wouldn't have minded bathing naked with him. After all, he was a dragon, what did he care about a naked woman? But when he put it that way, he seemed to care more than she would have guessed. And with him staring at her like that, she suddenly felt a great deal more uncomfortable with the idea than she'd anticipated. Her cheeks flushed scarlet, and she glanced away tugging on a lock of dark hair.

"What, are you shy all of a sudden?" The dragon snorted, a little smirk spreading over his dark scaled muzzle. "Odd, you didn't seem at all shy about nudging my testicles with your boot, and staring at them while I walked away from you."

"Did you flash those things at me on purpose?" Alia asked, turning back towards the dragon to glare at him.

"Yes," the dragon said. "Was hoping to get some kind of indignant rise out of you, but it didn't work." He lifted a dripping paw from the water and then slapped it against the surface, splashing like a hatchling at play. "This water is only going to get colder. Are you going to bathe me or not?"

"Yes, yes," Alia said, starting to pull her blouse up. "Look away."

"I shall do no such thing."

For a moment, Alia just glared at the dragon, hoping the gloom in the dungeon hid the crimson hue tinting her cheeks. "Aw, hell with it," she muttered aloud.

This was just another way the dragon was trying to intimidate her, and she wasn't going to have it. If he wanted to see her naked, fine. He'd see her naked. Quick as she could and before she could change her mind, she pulled off her dark green blouse and set it aside. Then she unbuttoned her black breeches, tugged them down over her shapely hips and stepped out of them. She spent only a moment in her pale under things before she'd stripped those off as well, and now stood completely exposed before the dragon.

Alia liked to think she had a nice body. She was still a young woman, and her breasts remained rounded and perky. They were not near the largest a woman could offer a man, but a good deal more than a simple handful and she'd had no complaints yet. All across her body her skin was a fairly pale shade yet pleasantly tinted by the sun. Her breasts were the same, tipped with rosy pink nipples that swiftly hardened when exposed to the cool air. Her body was fit and firm, she was a strong young woman without sacrificing an ounce of curvy femininity.

Alia fought the urge to cover herself while the dragon looked her over. Doing so would give him a small measure of victory if she allowed her embarrassment to shine through. Still, it was a difficult urge to fight as she could feel the beast's eyes roaming across her like probing fingers. Alia could almost feel the dragon touching her most private places, and as if to confirm, he suddenly made a rather humiliating observation as he peered between her thighs.

"You've hardly any hair around your sex," he said. "You're not a youngling, are you? I shall skip the bath if you are."

"By the Gods, I am not," Alia said, flushing even darker. "I'm in my twenties dragon!" Then when she realized that might not mean anything to a dragon, she added, "Which makes me well into my adulthood! And how did you know humans have hair..." Then she decided she didn't really want to know, and strode towards the tub, deciding to hide herself in the increasingly frothy, soapy water as quickly as she could. "Nevermind."

The dragon explained anyway. "You're not the first human girl I've seen naked. So why do have you little hair there?" A sly tone crept into the dragon's voice as he curled his head to watch her quickly climb over the wall and into the tub. "Did you remove it just to impress me?"

"Certainly not!" Alia explained, slapping the dragon on his scaly shoulder. "How was I to know I'd end up in a bath with you? I just...I prefer to keep it short, that's all."

"Seems a lot of work to me, though I suppose it helps the males pleasure you when the time comes. Trimming it down is probably safer than trying to shave your sex with a knife."

"You are a filthy beast!"

"Isn't that why you're so insistent on bathing me?"

Despite her embarrassment, Alia found herself fighting a grin. Damn dragon was smug as a cat with a cornered mouse, and yet she couldn't help but be amused by his antics. She had never imagined a dragon could be a playful creature, and yet this one certainly was. True, he was also quite good at embarrassing her, and yet she supposed in some way she'd put herself in this position.

"Where'd I put those sponges and washcloths?" Alia peered around in the tub, glad to have the foam temporarily shielding her form.

"You've left them outside the bath." The dragon gestured towards the stoves. "Over there, by the water heaters. You should also consider closing those sluice gates unless you want this bubbly water to spill over the tub and get everywhere."

Once more Alia found her cheeks hot and her ears outright burning. Swiftly as she could she climbed back out of the tub, with soapy bubbles and froth now running slowly down her naked body like sap oozing down a tree. She padded to the various stoves, closed all the sluice gates to re-route the water back to its original destination, and then found the bag with the bathing supplies. She fetched a few cloths, a cleaning brush she thought might work well for dragon scale, and a couple of simple sponges. Alia bent over to pick them all up, and without knowing it presented the dragon a clear view of her pert rear and her semi-exposed sex, soapy bubbles clinging to her nether lips like a translucent veil.

"You know, when you bend over like that you look as though you're presenting yourself to be mounted." The dragon purred to himself a little, somewhat surprised to feel his sheath tingling at the sight, the organ within plumping just slightly. In truth he'd not expected the sight of a nude human woman to be arousing to him anymore. He simply wanted to embarrass her and see how far he'd get her to go. But he had been here an awfully long time. "It's rather nice, actually."

Alia straightened so swiftly it was as if something had stung her on the rump. She whirled around, all the bathing supplies clutched to her breast, and she quickly ran back to the tub. This time she simply jumped over the wall around it to submerge herself as quickly as possible. Sponges and clothes were soon floating atop the water, drifting in all directions. When she reemerged her long black hair was plastered all around her body.

Alia shook a finger at the dragon. "One more remark like that and I shall punch you in the nuts, Dragon."

"Oh, is it nuts now?" The dragon turned himself a little to regard her with a grin. "And here I thought you were a proper lady who would only say things like 'testicles'."

"If I was a proper lady I wouldn't be naked in a tub with a horny old dragon," Alia laughed.

"I'm not old," the dragon said, flaring his spines up as if to emphasize the fact he wasn't disputing the other thing she'd called him.

Alia fetched the softest cloth she'd brought. It was easy enough to spot as it was a light blue color, floating atop the water amidst all the white froth. She made sure it was good and soapy, then waded towards the dragon's face. "Liar. You've far too much gray on your face and paws to be anything but old. Besides, I know you're only trying to embarrass me, Dragon." She took his chin in her hand, grinning at him. "It's just as well. At your age I'm sure those spines are the only thing you can still get up."

For once, the dragon was the one who found himself flustered. His dark golden eyes widened and he stared at Alia as if genuinely shocked she'd actually bested him in their constant sparring match. Then, just as he thought up a clever reply, Alia pressed the blue washcloth against his nose to hold his mouth shut and prevent him from speaking it. He tried to pull his head back, so Alia reached forward, grabbed the base of one of his ridged horns and held him tightly.

"Open your snout now and you'll get a mouthful of soap," Alia said, grinning.

The dragon decided to let her have her victorious moment.

With the dragon quiet, Alia began to bathe him in earnest. Her touch was gentle, and much to the dragon's dismay, it was quite enjoyable. The feeling of the warm waters all around him, and soft cloths and sponges caressing his scales was very soothing. Much as he wanted to remain defiant and snide throughout the bath, he found his willpower eroding away with each little caress of that soft cloth against the pebbly scales of his face.

"S'nice," he murmured, closing his eyes and leaning his head against her body.

"You see?" Alia said without a truce of smugness. "I knew you'd enjoy it. I...I can't imagine what it must be like to go so long without any friends, or company. To be so alone. To go so long without feeling another's touch unless it's to hurt you."

The dragon opened a single eye for a moment, just in time for Alia to catch his gaze. Once more, she saw a hint of deep pain there, pain the dragon tried hard to keep hidden. This time it lasted slightly longer than the first time she'd seen it, long enough for it to still be shining there in his eye when he replied.

"It is...difficult."

And that was all he had to say about it. That was still more than he had told any other warden, and more than the woman had expected to hear from him. He closed his eye again, and Alia continued to wash him. Somehow, the simple fact that the dragon had admitted as much to her warmed her a little. She was starting to feel glad she'd gotten this assignment. She still had no way of knowing what this creature had truly done to deserve such a lonely fate, but if he'd truly been the monster she half imagined he had been, it seemed the years had softened him. Perhaps this would not be such an unpleasant job after all.

For long moments Alia simply bathed the dragon. She worked the softest of her cloths along his nose, his face, and over his ears, frills and head. She also gently scrubbed the underside of his chin and the top of his throat, the soft area where his jaw line met his neck. By the time she'd begun working her way further down his neck the dragon had started to purr. This time there was no hiding it for him. Though the noise was a bit rough and rumbling like stones tumbling around inside a barrel, it was undisputedly a purr. Alia knew the moment she called the dragon on it he'd stop purring so she simply acted as though she couldn't hear the noise at all.

As Alia moved down the dragon's neck and over his shoulders, she used a slightly rougher cloth and a heavier sponge. Where the scales were thicker and broader she imagined they were not as sensitive, and she didn't have to worry about the harsher textured washcloths irritating him. She scrubbed a little harder, frequently dunking the sponges and cloths into the hot, soapy bathwater to rinse them and to gather up a bit more soap. Now and then as she scrubbed him a little harder, the dragon shifted to lean into her touch and his rumbling purr grew a little louder. Soon she could see ripples emanating across the surface from the dragon's chest and throat as his purr continued to rise.

As she moved down the dragon's side, he lifted his wing to give her access to the barrel of his ribcage and the area directly under his wing. When she'd scrubbed that spot well, she worked the wing itself. For the wing she switched back to the softest cloth she had as those membranes seemed exceedingly sensitive. They twitched slightly as she washed them, and the dragon squirmed now and then. Alia wondered if the dragon's wings were perhaps a little ticklish, but given how cooperative he was being she decided not to bring that up just yet.

Soon, Alia was scrubbing at the side of the dragon's lower body, and across his haunches. By then the dragon was completely relaxed, laid on his belly in the tub with his spine-tipped tail stretched out over the wall at one end, and his head resting on the other end of the wall. She washed all down his hind leg to his hind paw and back up, though she had to duck herself under the water to scrub at him here and there. Then she worked her cloth down the length of his tail, at least as far as she could reach, and back again.

Next Alia fetched the brush she'd brought, and after asking permission, climbed atop the dragon's back. She had to admit, she got a strange little thrill from sitting atop a dragon. Not that she was going to get to ride him anywhere, but still, how many people truly get to sit atop a dragon? For that matter, how women in the entire world had ever in their lives sat naked on a dragon's back? And Alia also had to admit, the texture of the dragon's scales against her bare thighs, rump and even her sex held a certain, almost taboo excitement to them.

Gods! Was Alia getting turned on by the dragon? She did feel just a little heated, but she brushed it off. Sometimes her body had a mind of its own, and strange textures against bare skin, especially extra sensitive skin in private areas, could do surprising things to a woman. Alia shook her head, laughing to herself. She was a strange girl sometimes. With the brush, she scrubbed at the broader areas along the dragon's back, and down the top of his sides. She slowly made her way forward until she'd reached his neck. There she carefully stretched out atop the back of his neck to scrub around those flexible spines with her brush until they too where shining and clean. Finally, she used the softer cloth to wash the back of the dragon's wings, as well.

By the time she hopped back off the dragon, she could already tell she was making a huge difference. The dull blacks that covered much of the dragon's body now shone like smooth obsidian, and the once grimy grays now looked more like polished granite. Alia smiled to herself, pleased with the outcome so far. It was almost a shame the dragon was bound to his own personal dungeon, because if she could take him out and parade him around now would be the time to do it. He would look beautiful in the sunlight, she was sure.

Alia sloshed her way back to his tail, waves of frothy water rolling away from her, splashing up against the dragon and the walls of the tub. She ducked down, and gently washed the underside of the dragon's tail. She used the softest cloth she had because she was intending to scrub the dragon all the way up to where his tail met his body, and she imagined that was likely a sensitive area for a dragon. Still, no sense in washing him if she didn't clean him completely, and aside from a light grunt when she actually scrubbed that part of him, the dragon didn't seem to mind.

"Alright, Dragon," Alia said, rinsing out all the utensils she'd used so far. "Time to roll over onto your back, if you can. Or your side if that's better."

"My back is fine," the dragon murmured, sounding sleepy and relaxed. "Just mind my wings."

Alia moved out of the way as the dragon rose up a little bit, and then very carefully rolled over in the water. Even a dragon's body became buoyant when partly submerged, and just like a human rolling over in the tub he floated for just a moment as he twisted himself round. As he shifted over, he spread his wings out beneath him to avoid laying on them. As the dragon came to rest upon his back, his tail stretched out over the end of the tub again, and he lay his head back against the far end of it as well, neck curled a little. With his wings stretched out, the little claws that tipped them poked up from the waters at the edges of the tub, where his wings curled upwards just a bit. The dragon's movement sent huge waves washing across the surface of the tub, soapy cascades poured over the walls in all direction. Walls of foam rolled across the stone floor. It was enough to lower the water level inside the tub a little bit, but not too badly.

Just as the dragon's back had stuck halfway out of the water before, now so did his belly. He shifted a little bit, trying to get comfortable. He stretched out his hind legs until his hind feet were each resting on the wall of the tub. Given how sturdy it seemed, the dragon was a little more impressed with its construction than before. With his wings spread and his hind legs splayed out in a relaxed position, the dragon gave a great, happy sigh. This was perhaps the most comfortable and relaxed he'd ever been in his time here.

Damn it. That meant he actually owed the girl thanks. He'd deal with that later. "Is this good?" The dragon muttered, trying to make it sound as though he wasn't enjoying himself and didn't want this to become at least a weekly tradition.

"Yes, Dragon, that's fine," Alia said with a smile.

more than fine, actually. When the dragon had rolled over and splayed out his hind legs like that he had presented the woman with quite a view of his draconic genitals. It wasn't as though he'd tried to hide them earlier when he was walking, or seated on his haunches. But now the dragon's sheath and testicles were not only present but practically dominating her view. As the dragon got comfortable Alia had ducked under his hind leg and come back up between the limb and his tail, only to find herself staring directly at the dragon's most private parts.

For a few moments, she simply stared. It only seemed fair. After all, he'd gotten to stare at her, hadn't he? Though, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was looking, so she busied herself by continuing the dragon's bath. She began to scrub the inside of the dragon's lazily stretched hind leg. She worked her cloth all the way down the dragon's hind leg until she was scrubbing his hind paw itself, all the while casting glances back towards the thick black tube nestled between the dragon's back legs, and the hefty eggs dangling loosely beneath it.

Alia made sure not to neglect her washing duties just because she was enjoying a good view of a dragon's privates. She worked his hind feet as well as she'd worked the rest of him, right down to scrubbing between his toes and giving each pad a delicate, soapy caress. Now and then the dragon's hind paw twitched as though she were tickling him but he did not laugh or complain. As she worked her way back down the dragon's hind leg, she noticed something was happening.

The dragon's sheath was definitely beginning to thicken up. Whatever sort of organ it might hold, that cargo was definitely beginning to swell. She smirked to herself. As if she didn't know what was in there! She knew well enough it was the dragon's penis. The question was simply what might a dragon's penis look like? It must be a red thing, she could tell that much because the tip of it was starting to peek free.

Without mentioning that to the dragon, she moved to his other hind leg, and began to scrub his scaly thigh there, as well. The more she scrubbed at it, the more the dragon's sheath swelled, and more red flesh began to spill out. Alia had to surmise that just like a human, a dragon's inner thighs were quite sensitive as well. Perhaps they were even an erogenous zone for a dragon. As she worked her way down his leg towards his paw, she couldn't hold it in any longer. After all, she had another chance to embarrass the dragon, why not use it?

"Seems someone's enjoying his bath."

"Hrrmm?" The dragon lifted his head, blinking blearily at her. The dragon seemed half out of it, he might not have even realized he was getting excited.

Alia smirked at him. "Were you just planning on just letting me blithely wash you while you lay there getting an erection?"

The dragon craned his neck down at himself, and for a split second Alia saw embarrassment flash in the beast's eyes. The inside of his dark ears reddened. Then he chuckled and lay his horned head back down. "Thinking about it, yes."

Alia just laughed as she began to scrub his paw pads. "I suppose you'll want me to wash that, too."

"It could certainly use a good scrubbing."

"I'm sure it could," Alia murmured. "Though if I scrub that thing, I'm only going to do so until it's nice and clean."

"Mmm." The dragon just growled happily to himself.

"And then I'll stop."

"Oh?" The dragon lifted his head again, narrowing his eyes. "That's cruel."

Alia smiled to herself. "Did you expect something more, Dragon?"

"Was rather hoping perhaps you'd wash it until it makes me messy again."

Alia hadn't expected him to say anything else but the way he phrased it made her laugh. She worked her cloth back and forth between his hind-paw pads and toes a few times, and then worked her way back up his thigh. This time she used her hand, wanting to feel the texture of the dragon's scales along his thigh. The scales were broad towards the outside of his leg, and on the very outside they were broader, plate-like scutes. The muscles beneath it felt hard and powerful. Towards the area the dragon's hind leg met his body the scales grew smaller and smaller. They were quite fine all around the dragon's genitals. Alia was again surprised by just how warm the dragon's body was. As warm as her own, at least.

Alia moved to straddle the dragon's tail, standing just above the base of it. That left the dragon's genitals directly in front of her. The dragon slowly lifted his head a little to watch her as she looked him over. Teasingly Alia began to scrub the area just where his hind legs met his body. She worked the cloth up and down, washing the fine scales there without actually touching his privates.

"You've quite the pair of apples, Dragon," Alia said with a little giggle. "I must give you that."

"Thank you," the dragon chuckled. He hadn't heard his testicles referred to as apples in quite some time, but he always rather liked that analogy.

Alia smiled up at him a moment, then lowered her gaze to observe the dragon's genitals again. This time she didn't bother to hide it. Let him know she was staring. She hoped it would make him feel just a bit uncomfortable at first as it did her, but she rather doubted it would. Come to think of it, she wasn't feeling too uncomfortable with being naked around him anymore, either. Probably because the attention had now squarely been fixed on the dragon's privates, rather than her own.

The dragon's sheath and testicles were both black, faintly splashed with the same hint of gray that marked his hind legs and thighs. Neither had any scales on them, only soft, smooth skin. His sheath resembled a very thick, softly leathery tube that clung to the area just between the dragon's hind legs. Though she'd never held any sort of unnatural interest in animals, she had noticed their genitals now and then. The dragon's sheath somewhat resembled a cross between that of a dog, and a horse. A fleshy scabbard that kept his mating weapon hidden and protected from the elements aside from times when the dragon was aroused. Which, it seemed, was increasingly the case. Several inches of dark red, and quite pointed dragon penis had began to emerge as the sheath began to retreat slightly in the opposite direction.

Below the dragon's sheath hung his testicles. In this case, hung was definitely the operative word. Between the natural effects of gravity on an old male beast and the naturally loosening effects of hot water and relaxation, the dragon's testicles dangled like low hanging fruit. They hung near the base of his tail, each resembling nothing so much as a large and very plump egg. Perhaps the size of goose eggs, or so, though Alia wasn't exactly sure. An impressive set of black dragon stones, either way. Alia did notice that the dragon's left orb was just slightly fatter and larger than its twin, and as a result hung a bit lower in the black sac.

Without asking, Alia slowly reached out and took the dragon's testicles in her hand. They were very warm, their skin smooth as silk. The orbs themselves were hefty, and felt rather firm in her grasp. She rolled them around a little, each bulky orb shifted against its twin, slipping about in their sac as they were each manipulated by her fingers. The oval shapes shown off all the more as she moved them around, and the sizable things filled her hand quite well. Alia smiled to herself, a little feeling of power building in her belly and rising through the rest of her body. She was holding a dragon by the balls.

She was holding a dragon by the balls!

How many people in all the world could accurately say they'd ever done that? It was quite the power trip, really, to hold such a powerful beast by his most private, and vulnerable parts. Not that she had any intention of causing them harm, despite her threats. At least not as long as he behaved himself. Instead, she took her cloth, and began to gently wash the sac that held the dragon's two most precious jewels.

This time, the dragon made no attempts to hide his groan, or his arousal. As she gently caressed the dragon's balls with the warm, soft cloth, the rest of the beast's shaft quickly made its appearance. His sheath continued to retract, and like a man swiftly firming up in front of her from the right touch in the right place, the dragon's organ spilled free of its encasing and rose up away from the creature's belly scales. Alia watched it appear and engorge itself into a red weapon ready to be wielded. She found herself smiling the whole time.

"I can't believe I just watched a dragon get an erection," she said, laughing, purposing leaving out the part about the source of said erection.

The dragon mentioned it for her. "I can't believe you just played with my balls and gave me one."

"Washed your balls," Alia corrected him, still running the cloth against then as if polishing two oversized marbles.

"If that is what you call washing, then I sincerely hope you are going to wash this, as well." The dragon lifted a paw and traced a single digit over his newly inflated mating tool. The red organ twitched in reply as though eager for attention. "I should hate for it to go to waste."

"Do dragon erections often go to waste?" Alia smirked, setting the cloth down and simply rubbing the dragon's balls with her hands. It was an amazing feeling to know she was playing with the testicles of a dragon.

"I am no stranger to my own paw, if that is what you are asking," the dragon replied, not embarrassed to admit he masturbated. A dragon did what a dragon had to do. "But...in all honesty..." His voice softened. A hint of embarrassment crept into his voice. He found it far more humiliating to be so swiftly and completely aroused by the touch of a human he'd just met than to admit he played with himself. "I have not gotten that hard, that swiftly, in quite some time."

"Aww, you poor beast," Alia cooed. "I'm sure it's only because it's been such a long time since anyone touched you this way." Alia couldn't help but tease the dragon. "And not because you've a human fetish." A bit more excitement had crept into her own voice despite her attempts to quell it, and now her entire body felt hot and flushed. "I suppose I could help you attain some relief, just this once."

The dragon murmured, raising his hips just a little more. "I would certainly not try to stop you."

Alia released the old dragon's hefty balls, and let them return to hanging near the dragon's tail base. She pressed both hands to either side of the dragon's balls, and slowly slide her hands up. She worked her hands up over the area where the very fine scales melted away into the silken skin that covered the dragon's privates. From the way the dragon cooed and shivered, Alia could tell that was also a sensitive area of a dragon's body.

Alia leaned forward a little, admiring the dragon's erection. It was certainly an impressive thing, and quite different from that of a man. The dragon's penis was a dark red hue, and it lacked a glans in the way a man's member had such a discernible head when engorged. Rather, the dragon's sexual tool was tapered to a nearly pointed tip, with only a minor, spear-like flare just beyond that point. Much of the rest of the organ was quite smooth looking, though near its base there were a number of raised, fleshy ridges that encircled the thing. The dragon's maleness also had a light arch to it, and the force of his arousal held it away from his belly as he lay on his back. It was a large thing as well, certainly a larger size than any man could ever hope to attain. Given the way it was thickest at its base, it reminded her somewhat of her own forearm in size and vague shape if not general details.

"What do you think?" The dragon asked, genuinely curious what the human woman might think of a dragon's erection.

"It's certainly different," Alia said softly, laying a single hand atop the smooth flesh of the dragon's shaft. He sucked in a breath and tensed up as she held her hand there for a moment. "Quite impressive, really. I can't help but imagine if female dragons are anything like female humans they must really enjoy those ridges."

"Never had any complaints," the dragon said with a purr.

Alia worked her hand around beneath the dragon's cock and gently pulled it up a little further from his body. She was careful not to tug it too hard, not sure how far it could stretch. She just raised it a little, then supported the hot, hard flesh with one hand so that she could wash it with the other. She took the soft cloth she'd been using to bathe the dragon's balls, and dipped it back into the hot, soapy water. Then she began to light caress the dragon's cock with the cloth. Warm, frothy water ran down his length, dribbling over his ridges and across his dark balls. The dragon groaned and pushed himself against the cloth, laying his head back again.

"You look as though your tongue's about to loll out of your head," Alia said, slowly stroking the dragon with the cloth. "I take it you're enjoying this?"

"Oh, Gods, yes," the dragon moaned, closing his eyes.

Alia smiled, and let the dragon relax to enjoy her ministrations. Very slowly, she stroked the old dragon's cock with the soft, velvety textured cloth. The dragon hadn't realized just how soft and lovely that cloth truly was until he felt it against his most sensitive of all flesh. Alia worked the cloth all the way up his shaft to the very tapered tip of the dragon's member, then back down it until she was rubbing his ridges. She tightened her grip around the ridges, and gave them a few swift, harder strokes to see if they were as sensitive as they seemed. They were. The dragon's hips bucked a few times in reaction to the stroking, and he gave a loud groan as he squirmed in pleasure.

Alia herself was getting more than a little aroused now. Her nipples were nearly as hard as the dragon was! She could feel herself getting nice and hot, and she knew she was growing wet in ways not at all related to the bath. Still, she'd have plenty of time to tend her own urges later, when she didn't have a leering dragon there to tease her about what she was doing for herself. She was doing a good enough job embarrassing herself just by tending a dragon's needs and getting aroused at the same time.

Once more Alia ran her hand up his cock, stroking him with the cloth. This time she swirled the cloth round and round that spear like flare behind his tip. The dragon cried out and thrust into her hand again, his head lolling back and forth. When she eased the cloth back down a little dribble of pre ran from his tip, and she swiftly moved the cloth to catch it, then stroked him back to his balls. Now and then she dipped the cloth back in the hot water, and for a little while she simply stroked the dragon's erection with the velvet washcloth.

It was an amazing sight, working the blue cloth up and down that red pillar of flesh. The dragon's cock stood so erect it was like a monument to the fertility of wicked beasts everywhere. Strangely, no matter what the dragon might have done, Alia found herself hoping there were still more dragons out there. It wasn't as if she thought they'd gone extinct or anything, but they did seem to be an increasingly rare breed. Then again, she rather doubted there were ever many dragons within the boundaries of Illandra's influence. It was simply too dangerous a place for them to live unless they wanted to end up like...come to think of it, what was this dragon's name?

For a moment, Alia considered asking him, but she decided to focus solely on the dragon's pleasure for now. After stroking him a few more times with the cloth, she gradually pulled it away from his member. The dragon's erection now glistened with a ruby hue that gave a whole new meaning to a phrase that already had two meanings. That phrase being "polishing the spear", of course. She set the cloth aside atop the scutes of the dragon's hind leg, and then smiled at him.

"There. Now even your member is polished and clean."

The dragon slowly lifted his head, watching her. Before he had a chance to ask her if she was going to continue, Alia took his cock within both her hands. She held the thing between her hands, enjoying the heat of it. She marveled at the way such an iron hard organ could be covered in such soft, silken skin. She let her hands slide to his ridges, and began to openly explore them. They seemed harder than before as if the dragon's growing pleasure had caused them to flare even further from his length. He shivered and moaned, his scales clicked together as she teased his ridges.

Alia leaned forward until her body pressed to his. Her breasts ended up pressed against the dragon's arousal, just above his ridges. He groaned at the warm, soft feel of the woman's flesh against his own, and Alia could feel his balls against her body as well. Still holding him in both hands, she continued to lean forward until she pressed her soft full lips against the dragon's tip. The feel of her mouth brushing his most sensitive part made him hiss in excitement. Alia felt the dragon's tail shift beneath her, the scales brushing and pressing against her rump, the muscles rolling between her thighs did not help diminish her own arousal at all.

Alia began to kiss the dragon's cock. Holding it steady between her hands and breasts, Alia began to brush her lips all around its tapered, flared tip. Her lips were like bliss in physical form, a kiss of delight that roamed around the dragon's most private place. She moved her face down a little, kissing all along the dragon's shaft. Soon, she was sliding her body down as well. Her breasts ran over his ridges, and before long, her lips did the same.

Alia took time to tease the dragon's ridges for a while with her lips. They seemed so sensitive, it would be a shame to neglect them. She tried to kiss each ridge, though they were tight enough together it was hard to do. Still, she doubted the dragon minded. As she pressed her lips to the base of the dragon's shaft, she let her fingers dance up the rest of his length. Soon, she'd encircled them around his flared tip, and began to bob her hand up and down, up and down. Thanks to the slickness of the water, soap, and the dragon's pre, her hand glided easily along that sensitive flesh.

The dragon's groans were growing steadily louder, and neither of them truly knew how much pleasure the dragon could take before he could no longer hold back from releasing his seed. Obviously, Alia had never given pleasure to a dragon before, and in fact had scarcely imagined such a thing until a short time ago. The dragon for his part had not been gifted pleasure by another for ages and doubted he could hold out as long as he might wish. Still, neither of them made any effort to reverse course.

Alia lowered her head even further and began to kiss the old dragon's balls. Such fat eggs he had, she found herself thinking. With her free hand, she gently lifted them up a little bit, and let her tongue play out against them. Alia licked each egg a few times, and the dragon's dark scrotum quickly tightened up a little, pulling them closer to his body. Freshly washed and still lounging in the soapy water, the dragon tasted of little more than fresh, clean water and a hint of soap.

As she lapped his eggs, she felt the dragon tensing, pulsing faintly in her stroking hand. So she eased it away from his tip, and instead stroked his entire shaft. She did so gently, and slowly, wanting to keep him quite excited but not set him off just yet. In the back of her mind, Alia still could scarcely believe she was actually pleasuring a dragon. Some part of her that was quite well suppressed for the moment was afraid she might come to regret this in the growing days. It was as though her subconscious realized she had merely gotten carried away, and such a dalliance with a wicked beast like this was wholly unnatural. Another part of her idly wondered if it even mattered.

For the most part, though, Alia was greatly enjoying herself. She was not unfamiliar with the act of pleasuring a man. Before she came to work for the royals she'd gone through hard times. It was an act she'd never enjoyed when performing it for money, food, or favors, but when her life had improved to some extent, and she was occasionally able to please a man she actually cared for, she found the act could be greatly pleasurable to her, even if the man did not always reciprocate it.

Alia gave each of the dragon's balls a few more kisses, and a few more licks. Then she slipped her tongue over his sac, and ran it all the way up across his set until it glided across the ridges at the base of the dragon's hardness. That really made the dragon croon. The groaning, rumbling sound of pure bestial bliss made Alia moan a little too, and she began to nuzzle his cock. Alia rubbed her cheeks against his maleness, then flicked her tongue over his ridges and stroked him a little harder. Gods, what was happening to her. She could only imagine the dragon was asking himself the same question. Yet he wouldn't have to bare the guilt she was afraid she might feel later.

Still, Alia wasn't about to stop now. The young woman began to lap at the dragon's penile ridges, rolling her tongue across them again and again. As the dragon groaned and trembled in delight, Alia slowly moved back up his length. She let her hand fall away from his shaft, and instead took his balls in her grasp. She loved the way the old dragon's testicles felt in her hand. Fat, rubbery eggs, firm and vulnerable at the same time. If she ever wanted the dragon to really know she was in charge, perhaps she'd use that as an excuse to grab him by the balls again.

Alia rolled the dragon's balls around in her fingers as she worked her lips back up the beast's cock. Her plush, pink lips inched along the dragon's dark red flesh all the way until she reached his tip. Alia wanted to try something else. She refused to let herself hesitate because if she stopped to think about what she was planning she might not do it. So she simply parted her lips, and pressed her mouth down around the tapered tip of the dragon's cock.

Alia knew she wasn't going to be able to fit much of him in her mouth, but she'd take what she could get. She folded her lips a little bit to ease herself down the dragon's arousal, and let her tongue guide his pointed cock towards her throat. The dragon's penis was an almost alien presence inside her mouth, so different from any of the times she'd done this for a man. Taking him as far as she could without choking or gagging, she was pleasantly surprised to find she'd gotten a good portion of the dragon's tool buried in her mouth, to the top of her throat.

Alia began to bob her head, sucking the dragon's cock. A soft slurping sound was soon filling the air, mingling with the increasingly loud, delighted groans of the dragon she was going down on. With one hand, she continued to play with and tease the dragon's balls, he seemed to enjoy that greatly. With her other hand, she began to stroke the section of draconic penis she couldn't get into her mouth, paying special attention to the raised ridges.

Dragon pre was soon steadily dribbling against her tongue. He tasted a bit stronger than a man, but beyond that was not so different. Alia sucked him harder as she started moving her head faster. She pressed the pointed tip of the dragon's cock against the roof of her mouth with her tongue, sucking him, sliding her mouth up and down his final pointed inches.

Leaned forward the way she was, her breasts were pressed firmly around the dragon's member as well. Her nipples brushed his body, the inside of her breasts caressed the dragon's length, rising and falling against it like the waves of a warm, soft ocean. She pulled her head back after a few moments, and simply sucked upon that flared point, swirling her tongue around it over and over. Then she pushed down around his tapered length again, and went right back to bobbing her head while stroking his ridges, and playing with his balls.

It was almost strangely intoxicating pleasuring a dragon. It was not intoxicating in the way that she suspected he was using some sort of magic and had ensorcelled her. Rather, it was intoxicating in the way that it was thrilling to be so openly pleasuring a creature of such power, a creature that had caused so much fear among so many people. Yet here he was, sprawled on his back for her, the most private parts of such a powerful beast bared and practically begging for her attention.

Attention she knew the creature couldn't handle for much longer. Already the dragon was unconsciously arching his back as his pleasure began to build faster and faster. His whole body was tensing up beneath his natural armor, and Alia could feel his heartbeat aching through the pulse of the dragon's cock. Little dribbles of draconic pre were steadily pumping against her tongue now.

Alia began to alternate the attentions of her tongue and mouth. She swirled her hot, wet tongue around the dragon's pointed tip a few times, then plunged her head down as far as she could go without choking on his tool. Then she bobbed her head against him a little while, sucking and working her tongue against the dragon's shaft before pulling back to swirl it around his flare and point once again. All the while she kept up her ball play, rolling the plump organs gently around her hand, massaging the dragon's heavy stones of flesh.

Swirling her tongue round his tip seemed to make the dragon gasp and groan loudest as he neared his release so she began to focus on doing just that. Alia sucked his flared tip as hard as she could and rolled her tongue around it again and again. The dragon's cock tip was quite hot against her tongue as pre came in quick little spurts that she had to swallow down. She finally released the dragon's balls in order to stroke his full shaft with both hands, rubbing him up and down with a grip slickened by soap and water. Alia relished the way her movements made the dragon groan so deeply.

When the dragon gasped and his balls suddenly tightened, Alia realized he was the verge of climax. Though she knew he was close she hadn't expected him to simply hit his peak without even warning her about it, given the position of her face and mouth. But that was exactly what he did, and before she could even think you could have warned me, you scaly bastard, the dragon was cumming in her mouth.

His horned head tipped back against the wall and he gave a great roaring cry as he came, his tail flagged and bucked beneath her, and his back arched as natural instincts told the great beast to bury himself in his "mate" and ensure his seed took hold. The thrust forced the dragon's cock deeper her into throat, and Alia only managed to pull halfway back before the dragon's initial spurt of hot seed exploded in her mouth. Now he tasted much stronger than a man's release, though that might well have been due to the fact that his first blast was enough to completely fill her mouth. It splashed almost painfully hard against the back of her throat and washed back out over her lips at the same time, damn near ending up in her nose as well. She was forced to swallow quickly just to avoid choking on the stuff.

Coughing, Alia pulled her head back and closed her eyes just in time for the dragon's second spurt to explode across her face. It was white hot and sticky, even more so than she'd realized when it filled her mouth. She pulled her face out of the line of fire, but kept stroking the dragon swift and hard with her hands. She'd taken him this far, she didn't want his orgasm to end so abruptly as to leave the beast unsatisfied. Leaning back, she managed to avoid getting coated with the rest of the dragon's release, though sticky driblets of it dripped from her face and ran across her breasts in gooey splotches and lines.

Alia found it quite impressive to feel the power of the dragon's orgasm as his cock jumped in her hands while he came. It felt like sexual power itself. The dragon's cock leapt hard enough with each spurt to shake her arms a little bit, thick lines of hot dragon cum hurtled through the air and speckled the dragon's underbelly with white spatter. The furthest of it managed to decorate the scales of the dragon's neck and throat, the rest of it puddled upon his chest and belly, slowly sluicing down his sides towards the soapy water.

Alia continued to stroke the dragon until she was sure his orgasm had faded. When he began to squirm a little as oversensitivity took hold of his slowly deflating member, she finally let her hands fall away from him. Alia quickly scooped up handfuls of water to rinse off her face and body. Later, she'd get her own hot bath with fresh water in it for a better cleansing, but for now this would do. While she rinsed the dragon's seed from her form, she watched him slowly collect himself. He was panting heavily at first, his scaled chest rising and falling in quick succession. Gradually he caught his breath, and eventually lifted his horned head to glance down at her.

"Well?" Alia asked, a little smugness creeping into her voice. "Are you going to thank me?"

"Yes," the dragon replied, a wicked grin spreading across his own muzzle. "With my tongue."

Alia blinked. "What? ...Wait. Oh, no, I didn't say you could-"

The dragon ignored her. He moved swiftly, curling a little to grasp her with both front legs and hoist her into the air. Alia gave a startled yelp, squirming at first. It was a short journey though as the dragon set her right back down atop his chest, and swiftly curled his head down so that he was face to face with her. She tried to wriggle free, and the dragon pressed a paw to her lower back to hold her in place.

"Quit struggling. You're aroused. You gave me pleasure, now I give it to you."

"But...I don't want..."

The dragon snorted. "I will not force it upon you. But if you truly do not wish it, you must tell me, in these exact words. Dragon, I do not wish you to return pleasure to me. I wish to go without pleasure. Say this, and I will stop. Do not say it, and I shall have you trembling in delight shortly."

Without waiting to see if she'd say it, the dragon dropped his muzzle down the woman's belly, and pressed it between her thighs, his chin nearly resting on his chest, his long neck arched and curled. Alia tried to open her mouth, tried to say those words, and yet...she wasn't sure she wanted to. She didn't really wish to "go without pleasure" as he'd put it. And any lingering doubts she had were quickly banished when she felt his scales slide along her sensitive skin. His muzzle parted her legs around it as though it were naturally designed to fit between a woman's inner thighs.

Though Alia had teased the dragon a little the dragon had no such intentions of taking his time the same way. Rather, he simply buried his muzzle between her thighs and pressed his tongue deeply inside her. Already, Alia's folds were swollen and lightly parted with desire, and the dragon's tongue found no resistance as it pushed in deeply enough to taste her sweetness. The dragon also found he was right, the fact she kept the hair there trimmed short ensured his tongue felt no ticklish impediments.

Alia sucked in a sharp breath as the dragon penetrated with his tongue. The dragon's tongue was immensely hot, and felt like twisting, writhing velvet caressing her most well hidden pleasure spots as the beast began to work it inside her. He rolled it a little, swirled it around, and Alia was almost immediately gasping with delight. Her body shook, and she moaned as the dragon pulled his tongue back only to thrust it in even more deeply. Alia set one hand atop the dragon's muzzle, stroking his snout in a loving manner. The other hand quickly found its way to her right breast as if of its own accord. Alia rubbed her breast, running her palm over her hardened nipple, groaning in swiftly growing pleasure.

The dragon pulled his tongue back and swirled it around her outer folds a few times. Alia moved her hand from his nose to her own sex, using a few fingers to further part her entrance, and to better expose the hardened bud of her clit. Somehow, Alia wasn't surprised when the dragon knew just where to go, and began swirling his hot velvet muscle around that bead of pure pleasure. Alia began to buck her hips against the dragon's snout, her ecstasy growing in leaps and bounds.

"Oh! Oooooh, Gods!" She moaned for him, closing her eyes and thrusting her breasts into the air. "Oh, Dragon!" She might not know his name, but somehow Dragon seemed to suffice just fine at the moment. "Ooooooh, Dragon!"

Alia knew her moans were probably just feeding the beast's ego, but she didn't care right now. She just wanted him to keep doing what he was doing. The dragon swirled his tongue round her clit for what seemed like ages, and Alia alternated between rubbing her breasts, caressing his muzzle, and holding herself open for the beast. Soon the dragon pushed his tongue deep inside her again. He swirled it once more, seeking the places that truly made her moan, and when he found one, he lapped at it best he could. With his paws, he squeezed at her rump, let his claw tips threaten to prick her though it was an empty, exciting threat.

Somewhat to her embarrassment, Alia realized it was not going to take the dragon long to bring her to orgasm. Rather then try and hold out, she decided she may as well embrace the twisted pleasures. She reached down to grasp the dragon's muzzle in both hands, and began to grind herself against her. Alia practically stroked the dragon's nose with her sex as he rolled his tongue inside her in blissful, constant waves.

"Uuuh!" She moaned, her cries soon getting short and sharp. "Uuuh! UH! UH! Don't! Stop!"

The dragon has no intention of stopping. He tried to arch his tongue a little bit, a trick he'd learned ages ago where he was able to press the base of his tongue against her clit while the end of his tongue was still inside her. He couldn't swirl it as well that way, but he was able to stimulate her both inside and out, caressing her best he could. Soon, Alia cried out as she came. Her sex clamped down around his tongue, rhythmically milking it. A little flood of Alia's juices washed across the dragon's tongue as well, and Alia threw her head back and screamed as she came, and came hard.

"AAAAAAAAH! AAH! Oh, Gods!" Alia nearly howled like the wild beast who was pleasuring her. Waves of unstoppable ecstasy rolled through her, one after another. "I'm cuuuuuummmiiiinng!"

The dragon worked her through her entire orgasm, rolling his tongue deep inside her sex, and twisting it round her clit. As she seemed to be coming down from release, he finally pulled his tongue back, and swirled it around that little bud a few more times to squeeze out the last few droplets of feminine bliss from her body. When the beast finally pulled his horned head back, Alia nearly toppled over. She leaned forward against his chest, her breasts hanging down as she braced herself on her hands, panting.

For long moments, they were both silent save for their heavy breathing. The dragon felt no need to thank her for pleasuring him, because his thanks had been pleasure of her own. Alia, for her part, simply didn't know what to say about what just happened. As the strange and unexpected lust that had claimed her slowly gave way to satisfaction, she began to feel a little odd about the whole thing. Had she really just pleasured a dragon? Had she just let him do the same for her? Was that wrong? Maybe it didn't matter. She'd certainly enjoyed herself, and so had the dragon. Was that not what mattered most?

After she caught her breath, so slowly slid off of him, and dunked herself under the water to rinse off. The dragon rolled back to his belly to wash the stains of sex from his scales as well. When Alia came back up, she opened up the far sluice gate of the tub to begin draining the water. As it hardly mattered now if the dragon saw her naked, she climbed out of the tub, carefully added a few more coals to the heaters, then opened their pipes to let some fresh, hot water replace what was leaving. Then she climbed back into the tub to further rinse herself in the newly flowing fresh waters.

"Will that happen every time you I let you give me a bath?" the dragon inquired. He was half teasing, and half serious. "I shall not mind having you for a warden if that is the case."

Alia took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She ducked her head under the inflow of hot water for a moment, and then pulled her wet hair back behind her face. "I...I didn't mean for that to happen. When I offered to bathe you, I mean. I just...I thought...you might want to feel...well, not alone."

The dragon eased back onto his haunches inside the tub, soap and water running down his dark scales. "Do not tell me you have already begun to regret it."

Alia looked away from him a moment. "I should get dried off when I'm rinsed. I have a few other duties to attend."

"There is nothing to regret," the dragon said softly. He glanced down at himself, wiping soapy bubbles from his belly with a paw just above his mostly re-sheathed penis. "I enjoyed myself, you enjoyed yourself, no one else even knows it happened. You should not trouble yourself over it. We both consented, we both had fun, and that is the end of it."

Alia smiled a little. Perhaps the dragon was right. If humans could see things in such clear, black and white shades when it came to sex, perhaps things would be simpler for them. She turned towards him, and reached out to gently rub his nose. The dragon smiled a little, and even gave her fingers a lick.

"Can I ask you something?" Alia said, moving to rinse off the rest of her body in the fresh water as tub continued to slowly drain, hot water washing out the lingering soapy remains of the bath.

"Nothing has stopped you so far."

"Do you..." Alia paused, and began to gather up a few of her sponges and cloths. "Do you deserve to be here?"

The dragon slowly pulled his head back as if recoiling from the question at half speed. His neck curled into an S, and he looked away. For long moments he fixed his gaze on one of the pillars in the center of the chamber, where he'd carved a multitude of odd designs in his long stretches of boredom. "That would depend entirely upon who you ask."

"And if I ask you?" Alia clutched the grooming objects against her breast as if to shield herself from the dragon's answer.

"I have spent many years down here, trying to answer that question myself. I am no closer to answering it now than I was when they first dragged me here and chained me to the wall." He gestured to the very far wall where earlier Alia had seen rusted chains. "And left me there to watch them wall off the only entrance large to fit me, sealing me in here forever."

"I see," Alia glanced down. She didn't really know what else to say. She tossed the cleaning supplies over the edge of the tub so they'd not get washed out with all the flowing water. Then she reached out to stroke the scales of the dragons neck for a few moments. "I should get going. Do you need anything else before tomorrow?"

The dragon shook his head slowly. "No. However, your kindness is appreciated."

Alia smiled and nodded, then made her way out of the tub. As she quickly dried herself with a few towels and began to dress again, she looked over at the dragon who had taken her place at the head of the tub to rinse himself. "My name is Alia, by the way. Do you have a name?"

It was a foolish question, and Alia was glad the dragon did not laugh at it. "I do. You may call me Valyrym if you wish."

Alia scrunched her face at that. She'd expected something harsh, or growly, and instead she got a lot of slithery, slippery syllables. "I'll do my best."

"You may call me Val, if you must, or Valyr, or even Dragon." He waved a dripping paw. "Once I would have taken offense, but now it matters little."

"Very well," Alia said, pulling her undergarments on, and then her breeches and shirt. Before long, she was fully dressed, and bid the dragon farewell, her head still swimming with strange ideas and uncertainties.

"Alia?"

"Yes?" She glanced back over her shoulder as she made her way back towards the far staircase.

"You...you will come back, won't you?"

For just a moment, there was a sad uncertainty in the dragon's voice. Alia smiled at him. "Yes, I will."

"Good." The uncertainty lingered a moment longer, and then in a blink it was gone. "Because you were right." A smirk spread over his muzzle.

"About what?" Alia asked, almost afraid to do so.

"I did enjoy another's touch."

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And thus ends the tale! At least for now. If you've read this far and you've enjoyed, please feel free to leave me a comment with your thoughts, love getting comments.