Summary: This is the story of how Princess Arthur made friends with a dragon, fell in love with a knight, and avoided marrying his fiancé, prince Francis. Includes magic spells, fortune cookies, and talking frogs.

Pairings: USUK (main), LietPol (secondary), and a few minor pairings I'm leaving unidentified to avoid spoilers.

Rating: Will likely stay K+ for the whole story. Involves slight language, a few kisses, and some read-between-the-lines innuendos.

Source material: Basic plot premise sorta borrowed from Dealing with Dragons, but you don't need to know anything about that story to understand this one.

"Do not meddle in the affairs of princesses, for they are subtle and quick to anger."

Chapter 1: The Runaway Princess

In which two countries sign a marriage treaty, Arthur gains a fiance and a title, and Kiku receives a delivery of more than just tea.

On a warm spring day, the Kingdoms of Gallia and Albion agreed to set aside centuries of animosity in favor of a new alliance. As a sign of their commitment to peace, the royalty of each country signed a treaty pledging that a Gallic Prince would marry an Alban Princess. The Alban Queen was pregnant with her first child and hoped to be blessed with a baby daughter. Instead, she gave birth to son (Scott)….

…after son (James)…

…after son (Dylan)…

…after son (Arthur).

For nearly fourteen years after signing the treaty, the King and Queen of Albion tried increasingly desperate measures to ensure the birth of a daughter (rose tea in the evening, pink sheets on their bed, and even a flowery pagan fertility ritual), but none succeeded. Their four sons were only six years apart, but as more and more years passed, the royal couple feared they would never have another child after Arthur. When all hope seemed lost, the queen finally gave birth to her fifth child.

They named him Peter.

At this point, the royal couple re-read the peace treaty and realized that nothing specifically said the Alban Princess had to be a girl. They chose their prettiest son and gave him a tiara, sewing lessons, and a new title.

Despite the teasing from his brothers, Princess Arthur learned to enjoy the feminine arts (embroidery, cooking, dancing, and gardening). But he never learned to love his fiancé, the snooty, obnoxious, and disgustingly Gallic Prince Francis. The boys spent each summer together, switching off kingdoms every year. Enjoying the newfound prosperity garnered by their countries' alliance, both sets of royal parents hoped that love would blossom in time, but even if it didn't, they let both boys know that they were expected to do their duty.

On a warm spring day, Princess Arthur perched on his window seat reading his favorite book and attempting to distract himself from the noise and commotion as servants removed the boxes that covered every inch of his room. Books, clothes, and nearly all of Arthur's personal belongings filled the multitude of boxes. Arthur watched with equanimity as the servants removed all of his personal touches from the room. Very soon, it would not be his room any longer.

Arthur's mother directed the packing and loading with a careful eye, making sure that not a single item was left behind. She called for a break, giving the grateful servants a few minutes to get a drink. During the lull, the Queen took the opportunity to sit next to her second-youngest, giving him a fond smile. Arthur had always been her closest child.

"How are you holding up, poppet?" she asked softly.

Arthur shrugged. "I'm fine."

She squeezed his shoulders with a brief hug. "Your father would be so proud of you. I know it can be scary to move to a new country, but I'm sure you'll be very happy. And there will be plenty of occasions to visit."

"Of course, mum."

"I'm glad you're taking this well. I was a bit worried…"

"That I would throw a tantrum?" Arthur rolled his eyes. "Mum, I'm nearly twenty-one."

They both looked up as Peter rushed into the room, knocking over a few boxes. The almost-teenager surveyed the room with a broad smile and sparking eyes.

"Hey Artie, why are you still here? This is my room now."

"Not yet, brat." Arthur scowled. Peter had been a cute child once, at least before he understood Arthur's position as princess, but now he was a constant pest.

"Peter! You pick up those boxes right now and you take them down to the carriage," the Queen ordered, scolding her youngest child. He whined, but did as he was told.

Arthur patted his mother's hand. "It'll be alright. You don't have to worry, I've got things planned out."

She smiled and relaxed. "Good, I'll get back to the packing." She rose, carefully holding her long skirts as she directed servants to remove the last of the boxes.

Arthur turned back to his book and smiled to himself. He knew why his mother was worried—the first few years after gaining his new title, Arthur had thrown a fit each time he had to pack to leave for Gallia for the summer. Now that it was time for the wedding, it would be a permanent move. Everyone expected him to be extremely upset, but Arthur had been telling the truth, he did have a plan. He just forgot to mention that marrying Francis wasn't part of his plan.

Arthur watched the countryside glide past. The beautiful rolling hills filled with white sheep. The lush grass and foliage kept constantly green by soft misty rain. The small rustic villages that dotted the landscape. He tried to commit it all to memory, not knowing when he would see it again.

After two days of travel, as they neared the mountainous region separating Albion and Gaul, the servants and guards relaxed, assuming that Arthur had finally resigned himself to his fate. They couldn't be more wrong.

Using the ability to move carefully and silently honed from years of dancing and poise lessons, Arthur slipped out of the inn as his guards distracted themselves with ale and dinner. He carried his tiara and a small bag of his favorite possessions—the ones he had hidden before his mother started packing. Under the cover of darkness, he approached a tea shop and picked the lock on the carriage house door.

Arthur found the crates marked "Kiku" already loaded onto the cart and he slipped into one that smelled of gunpowder green, finding a way to rest comfortably on the bags of loose leaf tea.

The crate was going to be delivered to the dragon Kiku and Arthur intended to go with it.

Dragons were very honorable creatures, but they had a reputation for kidnapping princesses. It was a matter of status and prestige to keep a captive princess to do their cooking and cleaning. After a bit of illicit research into the kingdom's tax records, Arthur discovered one tea house that made weekly shipments of tea leaves to the Dragon Kiku. Arthur liked the idea of a dragon civilized enough to enjoy tea and hiding in the crates saved him the trouble of walking to the dragon himself. Princesses volunteering to serve for dragons were unheard of, so Arthur would need to convince the dragon that it was a good idea.

Still planning what he would say, Arthur fell asleep on bags that smelled like home.

Later the next day and after a very bumpy ride, Arthur couldn't wait to escape the crate and stretch his limbs. He waited just long enough for the cart to leave and peeked out. He expected a dragon's cave—instead he saw trees. Arthur climbed out of the crate and stared around in confusion. Where was he? And why deliver tea crates to the middle of a forest?

Before Arthur could begin to worry, he heard a polite cough behind him. Arthur spun around and found himself staring face to face with a dragon. Its scales shone dark and black as ebony, its eyes brown and filled with intelligence. The dragon tilted its head quizzically.

Arthur took a deep breath. "Ah, are you the dragon, Kiku?"

The dragon nodded.

"My name is Princess Arthur and I would like to work for you," Arthur said in a rush, holding out his tiara as proof of both his royalty and his status as a princess. "I can cook, clean, and make a pot of tea. So what do you say?"

"You want to… volunteer?" Kiku asked carefully.

"Yes. It's a long story."

"Hmm," the dragon replied. "I will need to taste your cooking first, Arthur-hime."

Kiku's cave was located next to a narrow ledge at the top of the cliff. He flew to the top carrying the crates of tea with his claws. He offered Arthur a ride inside a crate, but the princess decided to climb the narrow stairs carved into the cliff face instead. He wasn't quite ready to trust his life to a dragon's claws.

After his climb, Arthur marched into the dragon's kitchen determined to make scones so delicious that Kiku would instantly agree to his plan. The kitchen contained only the bare necessities, but it had obviously been designed for human hands. Arthur wondered how many princesses the dragon had kept captive in its long life.

Following his mother's recipe, Arthur quickly whipped up a batch of scones.

The dragon munched on one as Arthur watched anxiously.

"Mmm," the dragon murmured appreciatively. "These are the finest charcoal briquettes I've eaten in a long time, Arthur-hime."

Arthur opened his mouth to correct the dragon, and then thought better of it. "So I can serve as your princess?" he asked.

"We'll see."

After a week of cooking, cleaning, and making tea, Arthur realized that 'We'll see' was as close as Kiku ever came to saying 'yes.' He relaxed and unpacked his few possessions into the comfortable guest bedroom, looking forward to his new, Francis-free, fancy-free life.

Author's Notes:

Fancy-free means both 'having no commitments or restrictions' and 'not in love or married.'

Francis will show up later in the story, but don't expect him to be a villain. Arthur's POV is not to be trusted on Francis-related questions ;)