Heather couldn't believe she was standing in the castle keep of the Dragon Mistress. Legends were told of this woman's power. The fear she command was only exceeded by her beauty. Her hair was long and thick, a fiery copper coloured. Her eyes were a commanding bright green, so green it was as though even in human form she couldn't keep the dragon from showing inside her. She sat on a throne and stared at Heather in a way that was both enticing and dismissive.

Heather wanted to shuffle her feet but knew that was childish and rude. She felt dowdy and pain in her simple woollen dress. The Dragon Mistress wore a long elegant robe that was closed in the front with a silver clasp. The design was a symbol unknown to Heather, but then her education was simple. She could read fairly well and write better than most, Her Sums and Calculation were more than she needed, however until the problem in her village arose she'd never been more than ten miles from her home. So there was a lot about the world she didn't know. She learned that during the long walk this last fortnight.

The Dragon Mistress repeated the last word Heather had said to her. "Trolls?"

"Yes Mistress, they have been terrorizing my village for over a year."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen Mistress." Heather couldn't stop herself from adding the honorific.

"So young to make a journey like this."

"Yes Mistress, but all the men are needed to defend the village and the older girls all have children of there own. The next youngest after me is my cousin Anna, she is only thirteen."

"I see." The Dragon Mistress managed to sound coolly detached without sounding bored or even cold. "Why do you approach me? The trolls are not acting on my orders and they have no alliance with the dragons."

"It was the hope of the village elders that we could convince you to intercede on our behalf. I have been authorized to trade on their behalf and I have lists of all that my village can afford to spare." Heather wondered if she should get the log book out of her pack or would that seem presumptuous.

The Dragon Mistress stood up and marched to Heather. It took courage for Heather not to take several steps back. The Dragon Mistress lifted her hands to Heather's neck and for a moment Heather thought she would be strangled. Instead the Dragon Mistress lifted her hair away from her shoulders. Heather felt foolish; the Dragon Mistress was simply looking of a Betrothal Chain.

"You are not yet bounded?"

"No Mistress, it was my parents thinking that I would attract the attentions of a suitor during the reaping time celebrations... however..."

"I understand. Given the circumstance it's hardly a time to make long term plans. And you are not..." the Dragon Mistress grasp for the right word, "Promised to anyone in particular?" Heather had heard of this custom and understood what was being asked.

"No Mistress, my village does not believe in the custom of arranging marriages... so much can change between childhood and maidenhood." She was uncertain where this was going but decided to simply answer questions and satisfy the Dragon Mistress.

"Was there anyone in your village you wanted for a husband?" Heather noticed that the Dragon Mistress hadn't moved her hands or taken a step away from her.

"There are several unbounded men of my age who I believe would make good husbands, however I know very little about them in particular." Heather decided she was uncomfortable and broached the subject of their bargain. "We grow roughly 200 stone of grain in my village each harvest and we'd be more than happy to part with 50 stone for each year of your protection. We also have a several makers of fine cheeses and breeders of riding ponies. Our stocks of cows and pigs have been decimated in the last year."

The Dragon Mistress laughed and let go of Heather's hair. She turned and walked onto the balcony. "Trolls certainly love pigs, especially raw and dripping blood. Don't you find their table manners sickening?"

"I suppose so," said Heather.

"What else can you offer?"

"Mistress, we cannot afford to refuse you anything you might want. Even if you asked for more than we could afford, the choice would be murder of starvation."

"Will you agree to give me anything from your village that I desire?"

"Yes of course. We cannot afford to refuse." Heather was thrilled. The Dragon Mistress wasn't overly cruel and wouldn't demand more than she needed or even wanted. Dragons were, by their very nature, completely honourable.

"Wait for my return. Feel free to explore my Keep" The Dragon Mistress turned her back to Heather and looked out over the landscape that lay beyond her balcony. She threw her arms over her head and the cloak fell away from her and seemed to disappear. Her skin turned from the milky white to rich beautiful pale green. Then the scales appeared and her hands and arms doubled then trebled in length, then changed to claws. This happened so fast that Heather couldn't believe her eyes and took a few reflexive steps back. Wings burst out of the back as a tail shot from the base of her lower back. Heather gasp. The dragon sat on all fours and turned its massive head to her. Heather felt humbled and overwhelmed.

'Did I even dare to dream that I could make bargain with such a creature?' she thought, 'did I think I'd ever have anything it wanted?' The dragon actually smiled at her and the leaped off the keep's balcony and flew into the sky away toward Heather's homeland. Heather ran to the ledge of the keep and watched the creature fly off. In less than three seconds it was out of sight. How could a creature so large, move so quickly and so quietly?

Heather looked down and saw how far up she was. The keep was at least twice as tall as even the tallest tree. There were at least five levels inside it. She'd never imagined such things could exist. It wasn't built from bricks or even stones, but of boulders so large even the strongest man couldn't men in her village couldn't have move them. She'd passed a quarry on the way here and realized that the Dragon Mistress must have moved these stones here in their present size and shape. There weren't held together with mortar but a shinny, smooth material that was only slightly darker that the stone. She reached out to touch it and gasp. The stones were held together with melted bronze. It was terrifying to imagine a creature that could make something like this.

Heather walked around the inside of the keep. This floor seemed to be sealed, there were several doors but there weren't any keyholes she could see. She realized that most of the doors were either enchanted or simply too heavy for her to move. Heather wasn't any porcelain figurine. Her life had been filled with hard work and she was quite strong, but these doors were so heavy that she doubted any human being could move them.

There were more books on the shelves than she'd ever seen. There were literally dozens of books. At least half were writing in her language, others seemed to be squiggles and scribbles, one appeared to be nothing but dots. A large mural was painted on a section of wall. It was a map of a strange world. She didn't recognize and of the names. She tried pronouncing them.

"The united states of A-merry-ka... Can-Ada... Mex-Ico... Such funny sounding names." She turned and saw a moving picture set in a wooden frame. The picture was perfectly detailed and showed a girl in a room like this one. Heather walked over and the picture moved with her. She lifted her hand; the picture lifted its hand. She closed one eye; the picture closed one eye. She touched her chin; the picture touched her chin.

"In the name of the maker!" shouted Heather. She realized why the girl looked so familiar. She'd see her reflection when she'd bathe in the river but that was always distorted and hazy. Once a troop of soldiers had stopped in her village for supplies and stayed for several days. One of the older men had shown her how the inside of his shield could reflect images. But this object seemed to be made out of glass... not bronze.

This place, with all its wonders was only making Heather uncomfortable. She went and sat in a wingback chair and waited for the Dragon Mistress to return. The chair was so soft it was like sitting in a huge pile of feathers. She drowsed slightly and awoke in the early evening when she heard a rustle and wings on the balcony

She bolted to her feet and saw The Dragon Mistress in human form again, stride into the living area of the Keep. She smiled at Heather, a knowing, predatory smile.

"It is done. The trolls have returned to their mines. They a have also agreed to make restitution in the forms of one hundred diamonds and fifty rubies," She tossed something to Heather; it was about twice the size of a kernel of corn. Heather caught it out of the air. "All will be that size or larger. They will be time consuming to sell but it should prove worth the trouble and pay for repairs to your village."

Heather couldn't believe it. It was a diamond. The price this would fetch would buy a small home in her village. One hundred of them would be worth more than her village would make in the next fifteen years.

"Thank you Mistress," said Heather and then felt it was woefully inadequate but it was the only thing she could think to say. "I will return to my village and make preparations to have your grain delivered..."

"I have no need for grain," said the Dragon Mistress cutting her off.

"Then... What do you desire?"

"Your village has only one thing I want: You."

Heather thought that perhaps the Dragon Mistress intended to devour her. If that was the case then she vowed she would meet her end nobly... but perhaps she only wished to have a servant.

"What could I do for you Mistress?"

The Dragon Mistress let out a deep belly laugh that chilled Heather to the bone.

"Your body pleases me. It will make me happy to have it."

"I... I don't understand."

"Oh come now," asked the Dragon Mistress coyly, "Do you honestly not know the pleasure that one like myself can take from one like you." Heather still didn't understand, unless... No that couldn't be what she was suggesting. Could she?

"Are you saying you want me to be your... bedmate?"

"Do no women lay with other women in your village?"

Heather gasped. "There are stories... and rumours told, but nothing beyond that." She thought about Rebecca whose husband had died over ten years ago and yet she still lived with his sister. Whispers had been told of them but nothing more. "I... it would be a great shame on my village..."

"Would you have a shamed village standing or a noble village in ruins?" asked the Dragon Mistress. Heather knew that she had no choice in matter. Perhaps the Dragon Mistress would grow tired of her after a few years and then she could return to her village.

"I will stay with you and serve you in any manner you need for as long as you wish. I have made this bargain and I will honour it."

The Dragon Mistress strode over the Heather and gently licked her lips. It made Heather shiver a little but not with fear or revulsion. Heather stared straight ahead like a soldier at inspection-she almost giggled at the idea of a woman being a soldier-and she felt fingertips on her shoulder. It traced the line of skin around her neck and felt her skin tingle. A hand ran down her spine and she felt her dress become lose. It was being cut off her from behind. The tear ran from the base of neck and stopped just above her bottom. The Dragon Mistress smooth hands slide inside her dress and over her flat stomach. She felt hot breath against her ear as the Dragon Mistress whispered to her.

"You must never lie to me or to yourself. You will never be punished for tell me something I don't wish to hear; only for speaking a falsehood. Do you understand?" Heather felt the warm tip of a tongue reach out and flick her earlobe.

"Yes Mistress... I understand." Heather was breathing deeply now. She was starting to feel oddly excited. It was like the time Caleb had loaned her his gelding for the summer. The animal was so fast it terrified her, but as soon as she was off the horse she wanted to get back on again.