“Because then I wouldn’t have to go home and marry Therandil,” Cimorene said. “Being a dragon’s princess is a perfectly respectable thing to do, so my parents couldn’t complain. And it would be much more interesting than embroidery and dancing lessons.”

Several of the dragons made snorting or choking noises. Cimorene jumped, then decided that they were laughing.

“This is ridiculous,” said a large, bright green dragon on Cimorene’s left.

“Why?” asked Kazul.

“A princess volunteering? Out of the question!”

“That’s easy for you to say,” one of the other dragons grumbled. “You already have a princess. What about the rest of us?”

“Yes, don’t be stuffy, Woraug,” said another. “Besides, what else can we do with her?”

“Eat her,” suggested the yellowish green dragon in a bored tone.

“No proper princess would come out looking for dragons,” Woraug objected.

“Well, I’m not a proper princess, then,” Cimorene snapped. “I make cherries jubilee, and I volunteer for dragons, and I conjugate Latin verbs—or at least I would if anyone would let me. So there!”

“Hear, hear,” said the gray-green dragon.

“You see?” Woraug said. “Who would want an improper princess?”

“I would,” said Kazul.

“You can’t be serious, Kazul,” Woraug said irritably. “Why?”

“I like cherries jubilee,” Kazul replied, still watching Cimorene. “And I like the look of her. Besides, the Latin scrolls in my library need cataloguing, and if I can’t find someone who knows a little of the language, I’ll have to do it myself.”

“Give her a trial run first,” a purplish green dragon advised.

Woraug snorted. “Latin and cherries jubilee! And for that you’d take on a black-haired, snippy little—”

“I’ll thank you to be polite when you’re discussing my princess,” Kazul said, and smiled fiercely.

“Nice little gal,” Roxim said, nodding approvingly and waving Cimorene’s next-to-last handkerchief. “Got sense. Be good for you, Kazul.”

“If that’s settled, I’m going to go find a snack,” said the yellowish green dragon.

Woraug looked around, but the other dragons seemed to agree with Roxim. “Oh, very well,” Woraug said grumpily. “It’s your choice, after all, Kazul.”

“It certainly is. Now, Princess, if you’ll come this way, I’ll get you settled in.”

Cimorene followed Kazul across the cave and down a tunnel. To her relief, the ball of light came with her. She had the uncomfortable feeling that if she had tried to walk behind Kazul in the dark, she would have stepped on her tail, which would not have been a good beginning.

Kazul led Cimorene through a long maze of tunnels and finally stopped in another cave. “Here we are,” the dragon said. “You can use the small room over on the right. I believe my last princess left most of the furnishings behind when she ran off with the knight.”

“Thank you,” Cimorene said. “When do I start my duties? And what are they, please?”