"I do not regard that as regrettable," the Prince said. "Come, we must get to know each other better."

Soon they knew each other better, for the weather was fair; the only cloud in the scene was so white and fluffy that it would not have been able to rain on anything no matter how hard it tried. Indeed, faced with such excellent weather, they fell in love. "I must tell you something," the Prince said gravely. "And ask you something, which I fear you will not like."

"Oh, I hope it is not that you are not a prince!" she exclaimed, horrified, "or that you do not love me!"

"No, it is neither of these things," he reassured her. "I am indeed a prince, and I do love you. But I fear your love for me will suffer when you hear what I have to say and ask."

The Princess thought that he would say that he was from an enemy kingdom, and that he wished to marry her. Since she was frankly bored with the local scene and found the daily return climb up the mountain to be arduous, she expected to express only token dismay at the prospect, even if her father the King were miffed. "Tell me and ask me, my love," she breathed. She was very good at breathing, and this had been so ever since she turned fourteen and donned an adult off-the-shoulder dress.

"I am not a man," he said. "I am a dragon. I assumed human form only to cause you to love me. It is one of three transformations I am able to make."

"But you told me you were a prince!" she exclaimed, dismayed.

"I am a prince," he replied. "A Prince of Dragons. Once I attain my majority, I will be the King of Dragons, for my sire was recently chomped by a hostile poisonous sea serpent and is indisposed."

The Princess considered. "I really had not anticipated this development," she confessed. "But I suppose a prince is a prince. What is it you wish to ask me?" For it seemed to her that it was better to marry a dragon than a commoner.

"I must undergo a rite of passage in order to attain my majority and become King," he said. "I must resume my natural form, and consume a lovely innocent princess. This is a thing required of all royal dragons. Will you come to be eaten?"

The Princess experienced a somewhat greater dismay than before. She had not anticipated this development either. She had rather hoped for a different type of question. "I will really have to go and ask my father," she demurred.

"By all means," the Dragon Prince agreed. "It isn't wise to make a decision as important as this without consultation. I will depart, and await you one week hence at the escarpment by the sea. If you decide not to come, I will understand." He kissed her and departed.