Chapter 1
On the third day after being carried off from the castle balcony by a silver dragon, I managed to sort all 4,396 treasures in its cave by where they came from and their appearance.
When the dragon returned from its hunt, it stood frozen at the entrance for three whole minutes, not moving an inch.
Then it shrank down to its smallest size, curled up on the ground, and nudged my knee with its head, letting out a deep rumble that made the entire cave tremble.
The whole cave was trembling.
*****
It all started three days ago.
I was crouched on the balcony outside the princess, Amanda's bedroom, wiping down the railing.
The moon was huge, the wind was freezing, and I was curled up in my maid uniform, wringing out a dripping rag.
Amanda was inside, playing cards with her maids.
She had on a silver-white nightgown. I was in silver-white too, because that was what all the royal maids wore.
From above, it was easy to mix up the little silver-white figure crouched on the balcony.
The wind shifted.
This wasn't just some ordinary night wind. Something huge was beating its wings overhead.
I looked up.
The moon was half-blocked.
A massive silver-black dragon hovered in the sky, its amber slit-pupiled eyes locked onto me. It reached out a claw and, with perfect precision, plucked me right off the balcony.
My rag dropped.
I was clamped around the waist by a massive claw, dangling in the air in the most undignified way possible.
The wind rushed into my mouth, and I couldn't even get a scream out.
The castle below was shrinking fast.
Amanda's scream floated up, faint, but surprisingly loud.
I thought that Amanda's voice was seriously impressive.
The dragon flew for about half an hour.
It set me down in a cave.
The cave was huge. Gold coins, jewels, and all kinds of random stuff were piled everywhere. A ruby-studded dagger was jammed into a heap of pearl necklaces.
Three crowns were piled up in the corner. A tapestry was balled up and shoved under a golden candelabra.
My eyelid twitched.
The dragon hunkered down at the entrance, eyeing me.
It was probably waiting for me to cry, scream, or drop the usual hostage cliché. "Let me go, and my dad will pay you whatever you want."
I didn't cry.
I couldn't take my eyes off that balled-up tapestry. My hands were just dying to smooth it out.
The dragon cocked its head.
I asked, "Is this tapestry from Alsace?"
It cocked its head again.
I said, crouching down to check the corner of the tapestry, "From the stitching, this has to be from the Alsace royal workshop.
"Knew it. And you're just using it as a cushion for a candelabra? The royal workshop shut down ten years ago. These are one of a kind now."
The dragon just stayed silent.
I knew that dragons couldn't talk.
It gave its wings a lazy flap and took off.
I believed that it was probably out hunting.
I stood there in the treasure-filled cave, looking around.
My inner neat freak just couldn't take it anymore.