The Princess and the Snake

One day, Myla and Cameron headed outside of the castle for their daily sparring match. They chose a patch of soft green grass off to the side of the courtyard and faced each other.

"And the battle continues!" Cameron announced as he drew his decorated sabre. Myla sighed playfully and simultaneously drew her sword.

"I suppose... but are you sure you want to lose? You do remember what happened last time, don't you? I pinned you with your back against a tree in less than a min-"

"Alright, alright! I think we get the point, Myla! And it was more like two minutes..." Cameron frowned. Myla giggled. "Right then, I've been practicing, so let's do this shall we?" He poised himself.

Myla smiled and flung her thick braid of hair behind her shoulder. "Let's! On your mark... Get set... Go!"

Cameron was the first to move. He lunged at her, swinging his sword in a slashing motion. She turned her body away from him and blocked his sword with her's with a loud metallic clank! He hopped back but raced forward almost immediately with the same motion. Again, she blocked it.

"I think you're getting faster!" Myla yelled out to him as she pushed him away. "I can barely keep up!"

"Well, we'll see how long I last." Cameron wheezed. He was breathing heavily. "I'm not as light on my feet as you are."

"You'll never be as quick as me if you keep moving your mouth like that!" She spotted an opportunity and ran at him. Cameron's eyes widened and he hurriedly threw his sabre up to block her attack. Their swords struck.

Suddenly, Cameron's sabre soared through the air and landed in the courtyard pond. Myla drew the point of her sword towards his throat and he threw up his hands in surrender.

"Now that was under a minute." She smirked. Cameron chuckled.

"I should've known better. You got me... again."

The two friends laughed and they shook hands. Then, Cameron turned towards the pond. "Aw no, I can't even see where my sabre went..." He shot her a sarcastic frown, "Good job, Myla, that was my best one, too!"

Myla puckered her bottom lip and batted her eyelashes in response. He just smiled, his dazzling white teeth glowing in the sunlight, and rolled his eyes. "Well, you better help me look for it then!"

As they reached the side of the pond, Myla surveyed the situation. Cameron was right, there was no way to tell where the sabre had landed. The pond's water was much too murky to see through, and the tall grass surrounding every side made it difficult to maneuver through. Myla took her sword and began hacking away at the tall, straw-like grass until they could see the water's edge. They both strained to see any hint of silver and gold, but the water was just to filthy.

Cameron sighed. Myla gave him a remorseful look. "I'm so sorry! If I had known it was going to go into the pond I wouldn't have done it!"

"Oh I know you wouldn't have! I'm not blaming you!" He smiled his perfect smile again. "I just had no idea this pond was so disgusting!"

"If I have to go in after it, I will."

Cameron laughed. "No! I'm not saying that either. I will if I have to." He glanced around, then pointed across the pond. "We should try getting a better view point though. Let's move over to the other side and see what we can see."

As the two began to cut through the tall grass once again, something sparkled in the sunlight briefly, but just long enough to catch Myla's eye. She turned to see the decorated handle of Cameron's sword barely breaking the surface of the water near the center of the pond. She quickly tugged on Cameron's red tunic. "Hey! I see it! But it's all the way out there and, if the handle is barely breaking the surface, than it must be nearly waist deep..."

He pursed his lips in thought. "Well, one of us has to go in there, whether we like it or not! So, I think I should just-"

"Wait, hold on. I'm the one that flung it in there in the first place! I should go." Myla argued, but Cameron shook his head.

"No, Myla. You're the princess. I wouldn't want to see-"

"What? What does being the princess have to do with it?"

"Nothing! I just didn't want you to-"

"No, Cameron, I'll go-"

"Oh for Heaven's sake, I'll go!"

Myla and Cameron looked down at their feet to see a long, dark grey rat snake weave its way out of the grass. It lifted its head and stared back at them with eyes the color of molasses; its tongue flickering in and out of its narrow mouth. Myla just blinked.

"Um... did you just say...?"

The snake seemed to roll its eyes. "Yes I did. I said 'I'll go get it for you'." With another flick of its forked tongue, the snake slithered its way to the edge of the pond, and smoothly slid into water. Its grey coloring matched the darkness of the dirty water so well that Myla wouldn't have been able to follow it with her eyes if she didn't see the ripples it was making. But, once the snake reached the sabre, it dived below the surface, ceasing to create ripples.

Luckily, in a matter of seconds, the snake's head popped up from the water and swam its way back to the shore, dragging the sabre behind it with its tail. It slithered onto the bank the unwrapped its tail from the handle. "Here you are, love." It hissed as Myla picked it up and handed it back to Cameron. "It's a beautiful weapon. Make sure you give it a nice clean when you have the time. Anyways, until next time." It began to slide away, but Myla whirled around.

"Thank you for your help, snake. I'm sorry about how I responded to you earlier. I'm in your debt."

"Myla..." Cameron whispered under his breath, but she ignored him. The rat snake turned its reptilian head to look back at her, his tongue flickering in and out once again.

"It's no trouble at all, love. I'm happy to oblige."

Cameron reached for Myla's hand, but she crouched down toward the snake, just barely escaping his reach. "My name is Myla. I've never met a talking snake before. What's your name? You must have a name."

The snake stiffened and its already dark eyes seemed to cloud and blacken. But, as suddenly as it happened, it relaxed, its scales rippling as it did so. "My name...? Garrett... My name is Garrett."

"Well, Garrett, if there is anything you ever need, please let me know." Myla smiled genuinely, despite Cameron's slightly annoyed huffs. Garrett simply blinked, nodded, and bowed his head.

"Thank you, Myla. You are as kind as you are beautiful. I will not forget your generosity."

Myla stood up and turned back to the stone faced Cameron. Without a word, he offered his arm to her, which she reluctantly took. After a few steps, she looked over her shoulder, but Garrett had already disappeared back into the tall grass.