Rumors travel quickly in a town. They have a mind of their own, jumping from one table to another almost without regard for petty things like travel time and the distance between where they first appear and where they end. By the second day, therefore, the whole town knew that something was wrong with the dragon.

​

She had locked the doors and forbidden anyone to see her. For a creature so vain and normally so content to stare down at her subjects from on high, feeling very satisfied and superior all the while, this was some cause for concern. A few brave young men had tried to force their way inside her lair. They had reasoned that the dragon must be deathly sick or dead, and so her lair and hoard was theirs for the taking. They returned a few hours later, very quiet and smelling heavily of smoke. The dragon was certainly not dead. But what she was doing, they refused to say.

​

Sir Nestor, when asked, declared that it was a concern, but not one of his. She had made it very clear that she wanted no advice but her own and her sycophants, and so he would not pry into her personal affairs any longer. By the end of the week, he hoped to be up and ready to duel. And then, no matter what way that fight went, he would be absolved of his duty.

​

The townsfolk did have one thing that gave them great comfort, however: the kobolds had mysteriously vanished. None had seen where they had gone, and no one cared either. So long as they did not come back, good riddance to them all. A few lamented their lost items, but since the dragon had taken most things of value, what they did lose was relatively small by comparison.

​

Days passed and the dragon did not come out. Nestor’s leg healed rapidly, and at last he decided he was ready for their duel.

​

He saddled his horse and mounted it with only a little stiffness. After a few tests gallops around the inn’s yard, he set off for the dragon’s home. The townsfolk lined the streets, and a few even cheered, but most held their breath. They did not know what the dragon might be plotting. They did not know if she was listening. And they certainly did not know, if she won, whether or not she would punish those who rooted against her. Dragons were known to be temperamental.

​

All was silent as Nestor rode up to the door. He pulled on the reins, bringing his horse to a stop before it, and waited for a long moment. No response came from within. His horse snorted derisively. He felt much the same way.

​

“Aurelia!” He struck the door with the end of his lance, and he heard the echo of his knock reverberate inside, “Aurelia. The time of our duel has arrived. Come out, come out and face me. You agreed, and now you shall make good on that agreement.”

​

“Go away!” Aurelia snapped, “Come back tomorrow!”

 

“That is not the deal we agreed upon.”

​

“I gave you time. Now you need to give me time.”

 

Nestor’s jaw clenched. “Very well. If you can tell me the nature of your ailment, I will delay our duel.”

 

Aurelia hesitated. “It’s private,” she responded.

 

“That is not good enough for me,” Sir Nestor said, “The sooner this matter is resolved, the sooner this land is restored to its rightful ruler.”

 

“Oh? Its rightful ruler,” Aurelia bit back sarcastically, “I should have known. You work for him too, don’t you? You’ve been sent to undermine me.” She chuckled bitterly. “Just like those kobolds.”

 

“The kobolds?” Nestor repeated, “What of them?”

 

“As if you don’t know,” Aurelia snapped, “Or at least guessed. They—” She caught herself and fell silent.

 

“They what?” Nestor prompted.

 

Aurelia did not answer immediately. “They stole everything,” she said at last, voice soft, downcast. “The gold. The gems. Even the silverware. They only left the doll that little girl gave to me.”

 

Sir Nestor frowned. “I see,” he said, “Well, I cannot say I did not warn you.”

 

“And that means you knew,” Aurelia hissed.

 

“I assure you, I did not.” This conversation was not going where he had planned. “I am here to help the people of the town. Were it up to me, I would have returned their gold—”

 

“My gold!”

 

“—The gold,” he amended, aiming for a neutral term, “to the townspeople. I would not have worked with kobolds to spirit it away to some unknown location.”

 

“But it's not unknown. You do know where it is, don’t you?” Aurelia’s voice was full of suspicion. “You know, and you’re just waiting for me to leave so you can bring it all back. Or keep it for yourself.”

​

Nestor’s face colored. “I assure you, I—”

 

“I see through you!” Aurelia roared, “I am the daughter of Nar-Arzul!I cannot be—I will not be humiliated! Not by you. Not by anyone!” She began to rage up and down her lair, roaring and letting out great clouds of smoke.

 

Nestor withdrew a few yards and leveled his lance at the door in preparation for a charge. Should she decide to attack, he was not going to be caught off-guard.

But the dragon’s rage cooled quickly. She let out a heavy sigh and slumped against the wall, which Nestor only knew because of the sound and way it sagged outwards in a worrying fashion. “I’ve failed,” she said, “I lost my hoard. I never had the town to begin with, and saying I did was just fooling myself. I should have gone and found some goblins somewhere. They’re cowards, and almost useless in combat, but at least they’d be loyal. They’d be much more helpful than an entire nation full of humans.”

 

Nestor took a deep breath. “You came in as a conqueror. A tyrant. What do you expect? That we’d bow down and surrender?”

 

“Yes,” Aurelia said, “That is what every other race on this blasted world does. A goblin will flee the moment it’s in real danger. Orcs are good enough to fight until defeated, but serve their conquerors afterwards. Dwarves at least realize they’ve lost and flee or fight to the death. They don’t pretend to be beaten but work behind your back.”

 

Sir Nestor stroked his beard. “I believe I understand your point of view,” he said after a pause to gather his thoughts.

 

“Then you should see why surrender is your best option,” Aurelia said, bitter, “You, maybe, could fight me. The rest of them would stand no chance.” She fell silent for a moment. “If I really wanted to win this duel quickly and efficiently, all I would have to do is start lighting to place on fire and tell you I’ll only stop when you leave.”

 

Sir Nestor’s grip on his lance tightened.

 

“But,” Aurelia continued, “I do not want to. Annoying as these people are, I would rather they not end up dead.” She sighed. “Perhaps my siblings are right. I am not fit to inherit my father’s hoard.”

 

“Let’s move on from the topic of destroying the place,” Nestor said, “Your siblings, hmm? You have more than your sister?”

 

“Four in total. I make five,” she said. She debated how much to share. Should she speak of her father’s weakness? No. Best not. At least not everything. “Our father challenged us, you see. Whoever defeats the others becomes his heir. Instead of fighting, we split up. We decided that it would be better to try and gain power in whatever way we thought best before fighting again.”

 

Nestor winced. Five dragons roaming the land in search of trouble and plunder? That was four more than he wanted to fight, and he wasn’t so sure about the fifth either. Aurelia was a strange dragon. The old stories of their rampaging ways and rapacious appetite for gold both did and did not fit. Half of the time it self like he was talking to a monster from those legends, and half of the time she reminded him of, well…

 

“Of course I am better than all of them,” Aurelia insisted, when not several moments before she had wondered aloud if she was worthy of her father’s hoard. “If not for their constant cheating, I would easily win the contest. My plan, you see, is to gather an army. A dragon with an army can do much more than a dragon, you know.” She sighed. “But, that only works if I can get an actual army. Which I can’t because humans are dumb and stupid.”

 

He paused. He could really see the resemblance. No, the thought was too ridiculous. Still, he could not deny the similarity. A smile crept unbidden across his face, and he suppressed a chuckle. However, Aurelia’s keen ears heard it. “This is not funny,” she snarled, “This is serious. Far more serious than any of your petty, human concerns!”

 

Nestor decided not to challenge the phrasing, but rather address the root of the issue. “I apologize. You reminded me of my own daughter.”

 

“Oh?” Aurelia was intrigued.

 

“When she was a teenager.”

 

“Oh.” The intrigue turned to mild irritation.

 

“So allow me to ask you a question that I use with her sometimes that seems to help her think through things,” Nestor said, “If you had your way, what is the ideal outcome here?”

 

“Everyone in the town serves me loyally.” Aurelia’s voice had a harder edge to it. She suspected some trick here and wanted to be on guard. “From this point on, everyone listens to me and dedicates their lives to furthering my ends.”

 

Nestor grimaced but pressed on with his line of questioning. “I see. Tell me, then, why should they do that? Why should we bend to your whims?”

 

Aurelia’s tone became frosty. “Because I am a dragon. I have claws sharper than your sword. My fire can incinerate your homes. My scales are better than your best armor. I am stronger than your greatest beasts. You are merely humans: more intelligent than orcs and goblins, but not by much.”

 

“And you are more intelligent than us?”

 

Aurelia hesitated. “Yes. By far.”

 

“But we saw through the kobolds’ deception and you did not,” Nestor countered, “So where does that—”

 

“Do not finish that statement,” Aurelia snarled, “Or I will—”

 

“Come out? Fight me? Like I asked when I arrived?” Nestor raised his voice. “Your threats will not work, Aurelia, for I came here to fight you. You cannot make me be quiet unless you take your “claws sharper than swords” and stick them into my chest. But if you try, then I will not go down easily this time. Until you do, I will continue to talk and continue to make you think, perhaps for the first time in your life.”

 

“In that case,” Aurelia said, “I will ignore you.”

 

“And I will relish the opportunity to say my piece uninterrupted,” Nestor countered. Aurelia did not respond. The knight shifted to a more comfortable posture on his horse. Holding himself ready for combat for extended periods of time had left his leg feeling a little stiff.

 

“You have the same problem that all tyrants eventually encounter. While you are present, people will obey. However, service born of fear will never earn the unfailing devotion you seek. There will always be those who resist, and the more and more people see you caring only for yourself, the larger that number will grow until even the control you have slips through your claws. True, some tyrants are successful, but that is because they are able to make their presence felt much more widely than you.”

 

Aurelia broke her silence. “I am a dragon. I can make my presence known wherever I like, and anyone who doesn’t sit up a little straighter is going to become charred ash.”

 

“Whoever is directly in front of you had better be aware of exactly what you are capable of, yes,” Nestor granted, “But when you leave, the fear goes with it. And so you will only ever meet resistance if you try to rule through fear.”

 

“What of the other tyrants, then?” Aurelia asked, “Why can’t I be like them?”

 

Nestor took a deep breath. Here came the crucial turn in the conversation. “Because you’re not black-hearted enough. You put yourself in harm’s way for others. You could have destroyed me several times over during my recovery, but you showed mercy. And, if you don’t mind me saying so, you have absolutely no guile of finesse in your social dealings.”

 

“You insult me.”

 

“Oh, far from it,” Nestor said, “Of all the dragons I have heard of or met, you are the by far the most pleasant to be around. Vain, self-absorbed, and all that, yes, but you, I think, could be something more than the rest.”

 

“I agree,” Aurelia said haughtily, “I could be more than I am now. And I will.”

 

“Time will tell,” Nestor replied, “But I urge you to look outside the ways of your kin and look for some happier way of life. I think that you becoming a brute that sits upon a pile of gold and bends the will and lives of all those around them to serve her appetite would lessen you, not make you greater.”

 

“What a strange idea,” Aurelia said, unimpressed, “But then again, you are full of strange ideas. You are not at all what I imagined a knight to be like.”

 

Nestor reached to his belt and pulled out a small, metal coin with a stylized sun on the front and back. “Aurelia,” he said, “Open the door and look at what I have in my hand.”

 

The door slowly creaked open a half-inch and Aurelia’s bloodshot eye glowered out at him. “A neat bauble,” she snapped, “But I am not in the mood to receive charity.”

 

“I am not offering it,” Nestor said firmly, “This is the symbol of the Knights Penitent, of which I am a member. We are not like the other orders. Our ranks are made up of those seeking to atone for their past actions. Among us, we have former murderers, cheats, and marauders, all whom have taken up the mantle of the Knights Radiant in order to better themselves and the world around them. We like to think that, since we have found the good in ourselves, we are adept at finding it in others.”

 

“And since you are a member of these self-pitying knights,” Aurelia said, “you must have done something in the past that you’re atoning for.”

 

Nestor’s face darkened. “Yes,” he said softly, “But that is not important now. You are.”

“I’m important every day.”

 

Nestor let out a long-suffering sigh. He lowered his lance. The duel seemed less and less likely with each passing second. “Aurelia, you do not control the town and you never have. Without my help, your sister would have overpowered you. Now, kobolds have made off with all your hoarded wealth. Your importance is fading with each passing day. You have tried doing things your way and failed. Perhaps it is time to consider another way?”

 

Aurelia’s eye narrowed. She glowered at him from behind the partly-opened door. “I suppose I cannot sink any lower,” she said.

 

“Then surrender the town to me,” Nestor said, “I will take over management of it, until we can find a new mayor for it.”

 

Aurelia scoffed. “And give up the only thing I’ve gained this entire time?”

 

“You never had it to begin with,” Nestor repeated, “And if you recall, I am here to save the town from you. I cannot in good conscience help you until that task is done.”

 

Aurelia growled and for a moment Nestor thought the duel might be back on. However, the fire died in her eyes and only smoke came from her nostrils. “Fine,” she said in a low, defeated voice, “Since I failed at everything else, I might as well make my failure complete.”

 

Nestor nodded and returned his lance to the side of his saddle. “Thank you, Aurelia.” He raised his visor and smiled at her.

 

She stirred and opened the door a bit further. “And in return,” she said, “You will help me reclaim the gold.”

 

“Well, no,” Nestor said.

 

A growl rose in Aurelia’s throat. “You said you would help if I gave you the town.”

 

“And I will,” Nestor said, “But I won’t help you reclaim stolen gold. At least not for yourself. For the town, though, that I would help with. However, I intend to help you with your real problem.”

“Oh?”

 

“Yes. I intend to help you defeat your siblings and earn your father’s favor,” Nestor said.

 

That got Aurelia’s attention. “How?” she demanded.

 

He paused. “Give me a few days to get things in order around here,” he said, “And then I think I have an idea.”