In Which the Deal is Sealed
Sir Norlan pondered this. He had, after all, come here to gain riches- if he accepted this
deal then he would never want for anything. “What is the price?” he asked.
“That, you will find out once you accept the deal.” The dragon said, “But it involves no
physical harm on your part.”
“Don’t do it. It’s a trap!” The Lady Eleanor shouted to him from the other side of the
room.
The knight knew he should not even consider the offer- dragons were tricky creatures
and it was probably a trap- but the thought of endless gold intoxicated him enough to
make him pause. This was all the opportunity Leolian needed. The dragon shoved the
knight to a door in the wall that Sir Norlan was sure had not been there before. It was
covered in gold, with an enormous gemstone near the top. Sir Norlan, recovering his
senses, struggled against the dragon’s grip, but it was no use. The knight expected to
find a cold, hard dungeon when the Leolian shoved him through the door, but he found
something entirely different.
The knight toppled over inside a massive room, hearing the door close loudly behind him.
It was a sitting room, with a large table in the center and the walls covered in tapestries.
There was a roaring fire at the back of the room, and another door at the side. Sir Norlan
opened it, and there found a bedroom equally as splendid, with a canopy bed and golden
draperies.
Though these chambers were beautiful, the knight realized he was in a sort of prison. He
tried the door that led outside, but it would not budge. He kept trying to get out for what
felt like hours, though he had no way of keeping time. At one point, realizing that trying to
escape was futile, he slumped to the ground. Sir Norlan muttered to himself grumpily,
“I wish I had some food, at least.” (This was the most intelligent thing he had said on his
quest thus far- when trapped in a dragon’s lair it is always nice to have something to eat.)
There before him, as soon as the words were out of his mouth, there appeared a spread of
all sorts of things to eat- chicken and potatoes, cookies and bread.
“Amazing!” the knight exclaimed, jumping up from his place on the floor in a mixture of
fear and excitement. How had the food appeared so quickly, seemingly out of nowhere?
Would it be safe to eat? Was it because he had wished for the food that it had come? Sir
Norlan tested his theory, saying, “I wish for gold coins.” He held his breath in anticipation,
and soon- sure enough- there was a stack of coins in front of him.
The knight was so awestruck by his discovery that he spent the rest of the day in his chambers,
wishing for all sorts of things- from rubies to pies and gold to chicken legs. He fell asleep that
night atop a huge stack of all sorts of treasures, and awoke in the morning, when he fell off
of his stack of gold and acquired a large knot on his head. Sir Norlan tried to wish the knot
away, but his wishes seemed to only work with supplying materials, not healing wounds. So,
the rest of his day was spent much like the one before- wishing for things and hoarding piles of
treasure.
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