text: "Speak," you declare.
  
  "First, I'd like to thank you for showing mercy to the princess."
  
  "You mean not killing her? That's hardly altruistic." you answer.
  
  "Whatever the case, thank you. She means a lot to her parents and to the entire kingdom."
  
  "I can tell. So far, you've sent—what, five knights now? What makes you think you'll fare any differently?" you ask.
  
  "I seek to liberate the princess, not to kill the dragon," the knight states. "Will you release her? I offer myself in exchange." You scrutinize him. He seems serious.
  
  Selena walks out onto the balcony. "See, there's where you're getting it wrong. Maybe she would release me, except I haven't been captured." Though the knight is wearing a visor, you can practically see the shock in his eyes.
  
  "You came here willingly? But the whole kingdom saw you get captured!" Selena looks at you, as if deciding whether to admit the truth.
  
  "It was a setup," you say. Selena proceeds to tell the knight your story.
  
  The knight looks at Selena with a look of disbelief. "You caused your parents so much distress, and for what? To hide away in a tower? To be the plaything of a dragon? They've barely slept, and when they did, they had nightmares of you getting tortured and starved!"
  
  "No one understands!" Selena yells back. "To you, I'm just a pretty girl in a dress who doesn't know what's good for herself. Who can't lead a kingdom, who needs to be protected from her 'feminine curiosity'. Does that sound about right?"
  
  The knight, however, isn't done. "Well, at least you have a family who cares! My family sent their only child off with nothing but the clothes on her back and a loaf of bread!" You're surprised Selena hasn't realized it yet. Deciding enough is enough, you dive at the knight, who tries to leap out of the way, but is too slow. You weren't aiming for the knight, though.
  
  The knight gets up, and a cascade of blond hair falls in front of her face. Upon realizing her helmet is gone, her face registers at first a look of shock, and then of resignation. "Well, I guess the charade is up, isn't it?" she says softly, with a sigh. Selena is too shell-shocked to speak. You laugh. The pair both turn to you.
  
  "What's so funny?" the knight asks.
  
  "You do realize your chances would probably have been much better had you just not hidden your identity." you explain.
  
  "What happened?" Selena finally asks.
  
  "What do you mean, "what happened"?" you and the knight say at the same time. You look at the knight. She shrugs.
  
  "What made you don your armor? What was the last straw? The knight pauses. "You can tell us over dinner." Selena suggests. "After all, we've got some fresh...boar... to eat."
  
  The knight smiles in spite of Selena's evident squeamishness (or perhaps because of it). "I'd love to," she says.
  
  You eat in silence for a while"So, you were wondering what happened?" the knight says, her voice almost a murmur.
  
  "Go on," Selena encourages.
  
  "Where do I start? Well, my father had always wanted a boy. When my mother died in childbirth and I was a girl, I think he made his belief, there and then, that girls were good for nothing.
  
  "When I was five years old, we moved to a new town. I was in the park when a neighbor asked who my parents were, since they weren't there. I told them who my father was, but they said, 'That's impossible. He doesn't have any children.' When I confronted him about it, he said that one girl hardly counted. From then on, I figured that if I was like a boy, my father might think I counted.
  
  "At seven years old, I cut my hair short and asked for an apprenticeship 'learning weapons', which meant the local swordsmaster, blacksmith, and bowyer all apprenticed a group of kids, and whichever was the best at any given trade?—say, archery?—would be the apprentice of the respective master?—say, the bowyer.
  
  "In church, I was taught that whoever lied would eventually be found out, and I figured the same would apply to my being female. So, I aimed to be so good that even if I was a girl, they would have no choice to accept me. I was always the firat one to arrive and the last one to leave. I was there even when I didn't need to be. Every task, no matter how mundane, humiliating, or difficult, I strove to be the best at. And even though I was probably better at every task than the others, I didn't stop. For a while, I let it consume me.
  
  "At this point, I had built a relationship with the blacksmith and I felt I could trust him, apprentice to master. I told him that I was a girl and begged him to let me stay in the apprenticeship. He seemed a bit surprised, saying that it didn't matter whether you were a girl or a boy, only that you were good at your trade. 'As long as you're good, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't have a trade,' he said.
  
  "Somehow or other, word got out that I was a girl. But the blacksmith would vouch for me every time they tried to end my apprenticeship. But at sixteen, everybody had to complete one final task to prove they were truly masters of their craft. Mine was to rescue the princess. There, they said I could end it, give up. I could go back to a life as a maid or a housewife, not have to deal with the pressure. But there was no way those pigs were going to tell me what to do. They refused to give me weapons, so I went from town to town, looking for work as a blacksmith. Eventually, I saved up enough to make my own. They told me that the king would never accept my help and that I wouldn't come back alive. Well...
  
  "Before I left the town, my father saw me in my armor. I thought he might finally be proud of me." Her expression darkens. "Let's just say I was wrong."
  
  "And here I thought the only way to deal with my problems was running away," Selena says, a thoughtful expression on her face. There's silence for a moment. "I should tell my parents what I wanted all along," Selena suddenly says. "I should tell them that I just wanted to be free to make my own decisions," she continues, a rising fervor growing in her voice. "But that it wasn't right to cause them so much worry because of what I wanted."
  
  She looks like she might say something more, but the knight interjects. "Well, don't say it to us, say it to them!" Selena rises from the table, a determined look on her face.
  
  You soar through the skies, which are painted in an array of colors by the morning sun. Selena gasps in awe, sitting in a basket she's made for you to hold. She reaches out, almost as if to touch the trails of blue and pink surrounding you. The knight, however, is gripping the sides of the basket tightly. She looks terrified, even though you can't see her face on account of the oversized helmet atop her head.
  
  You set down the basket before touching down on the fields surrounding the palace, still moist with dew. The knight is the first one to climb out. She lets out a huge sigh of relief. Selena steps out gracefully. "You ready?" the knight asks.
  
  "No," Selena answers, "But let's do it anyway."
  
  You soar off. You'll be watching from the pool. Still, you feel like you're missing out on some of the action. Oh well.
  
  By the time you return to the pool, the skies are now a bright blue and the sun is up in the air. "Show me Selena," you declare, realizing the knight never told you her name. You can't blame her.
  
  "Thanks for the pep talk," Selena says to the knight. "I'm good to go now."
  
  The pair walk right up to the massive gates of the castle. "The princess has returned!" the knight proclaims loudly, startling awake some guards sleeping on the job.
  
  "Pardon me?" one of the guards asks.
  
  "She has been saved from the dragon," the knight says, back to her fake deep voice. The news spreads like wildfire. Not even five minutes later, the king and queen come running out, still in their pyjamas.
  
  "Selena?" the queen murmurs. The king turns to the knight, gratitude written on his face. "Our kingdom owes a great debt to you. You are certainly worthy of being the next heir—"
  
  "Father," Selena interrupts, "Before we continue, there are a few things I must say. I wasn't captured by the dragon. I staged the capture."
  
  The king doesn't know what to say. "I—but—"
  
  "However, it wasn't right of me to put you through such stress just because of what I wanted," she continues. "With that in mind, what I wanted wasn't riches or wealth. It wasn't a title or fame." Selena pauses for a moment. "All I really wanted, and that which I still want now, is the freedom to make my own decisions, though they may not be the best ones I make. I want to decide if I will get married, and who I will get married to. I want to do things that are ridiculous, things out of the ordinary. Will you let me do those things?"
  
  The king's expression is at first of shock, then of resignation. "The dragon has meddled her mind, I see. We must keep her here until we can heal her mind from its poison." You roll your eyes.
  
  "I thought you might say that," Selena says with disappointment. "Though I was rather hoping you'd say something different," she continues, a wistful look in her eyes. "Mother understands, but you don't." The queen nods, tears in her eyes. "When will you learn? Nobody can keep me locked up in a tower." Her eyes go to the sky, and she looks directly at you with a small smile. "You can't keep me here against my will. Maybe one day, I'll come back. But I'm free now." She starts performing the actions of a spell, one that you've seen her practice many times. "Watch me fly," Selena morphs into a bright blue bird and takes to the air.
  
  Selena pulls a bright blue feather out of her hair. "That spell took a lot more effort than I thought it would," she sighs. "Am I losing my touch?" she wonders aloud. She looks exhausted. You can't blame her. Even after managing the transformation to a bird and back, she still is working on the knight's gift, which requires a lot of magic on her part.
  
  "Get some rest," you order. "You're not on a deadline and you have barely any endurance."
  
  "Endurance?" Selena asks.
  
  "Channeling magic isn't easy," you say. "It takes a toll. You're only performing lower-tier spells currently, but powerful spells can leave a person unconscious for days."
  
  "Alright," she agrees, too tired to argue. "But I swear I felt something, like I had the capacity to do it with ease, but like something is blocking the magic, making it really hard for any to come through. Like... water trickling through a dam."
  
  "I wouldn't know anything about it," you say, "I've never performed magic the way you do. Now, get some rest. You need it."
  
  "Aye, aye, Captain Eryllis," she says in what you think is supposed to be a joking manner, but you can't tell. Her voice has taken on that monotone quality humans have when they've been tired the whole day. It's early evening, but Selena will be lucky if she gets up before noon.
  
  You turn to the knight, who is fashioning a hood of leather from the skin of the boar. Selena still hasn't told her what it's for. "Eryllis, huh," she says. Yet another person who knows your name. You frown slightly, which the knight, surprisingly, notices.
  
  "I get it. I don't think I've told anyone my real name since I was 10. I've gone by a different name each town."
  
  "You're surprisingly intuitive for a human," you say.
  
  "Well, I guess I was always good at reading people." the knight responds.
  
  "Dragons are people too?" you ask, half joking.
  
  "Well, since I know your name, I guess I should tell you mine too. I'm Elizabeth."
  
  "Elizabeth," you say in disbelief.
  
  "There are about zero ways to make that sound like a boy's name, I know."
  
  "What's wrong with it being a girl's name?" Selena asks tiredly. She falls back asleep almost instantly.
  
  The next few days pass in a blur. You ward off other knights who didn't get the message, Selena continues to exhaust herself working on the knight's gift, and the knight—Elizabeth— practices swordplay in between gathering ingredients for Selena's spells and trying to catch a sneak peek of her gift. There isn't much to look at, though. You're starting to wonder if humans are allergic to relaxing.
  
  After 10 days, Elizabeth's gift is finally finished. "Close your eyes," says Selena. Elizabeth obliges. You see a hood with a masquerade mask attached. At first it looks indigo, but as you watch it shifts colours in the light, going from indigo to green, and then back to the same brown that the leather was when the hood was first made. Selena places the hood over Elizabeth's head. "Alright. You can open your eyes now." she says, excited.
  
  Elizabeth opens her eyes and her breath catches in astonishment. "It's beautiful." Elizabeth murmurs.
  
  "It's magical," Selena says. "This hood will ensure others see you for who you want to be seen as."
  
  "So... if I want to be seen as a knight in shining armor..." You expect something to change, but nothing happens.
  
  "It's sort of a mixture of their worldview and your will. If they already see you as a knight in shining armor—" She casts a glance in your direction—"Their perception won't change."
  
  Elizabeth gathers her things and prepares to leave—until she runs into Selena. "You're going?" Selena asks, puzzled.
  
  "You tried to patch up things with your family. I think I'll heed my own advice and try to work things out with mine.
  
  "Your father... Even after what he did, you still want to make things up with him?" Selena says in astonishment.
  
  "At the very least, I want to let him know that I am much more than what he thought I was. And I might even 'save' a few more 'damsels in distress'." You all chuckle at that one.
  
  Elizabeth stands at the door, but she seems... hesitant. Like she's waiting for something.
  
  > let her leave
  "Well, see you around," you say.
  
  "Good luck with your father."
  
  "Thanks," Elizabeth responds.
  
  "Bye," Selena says softly. The night falls as Elizabeth makes her way through the forest. You soar over the woods, with an odd feeling of—
  
  "It's missing something," one of the children says.
  
  "Like there was a better ending,"
  
  "But it was a good ending," another one protests.
  
  "Remember," says the traveler, "this story isn't necessarily what happened,"
  
  "It isn't?" says a third.
  
  "No," says the traveler, and smiles. "It's only what could have happened." The traveler rubs the green scales on the back of her neck with a grateful look on her face...