Kirabo Read Free Page B

“Lord Percival is on his way to the castle. You must hide.”
    Kirabo looked at Brady in shock.
    “Why must Kirabo, I mean Princess Kirabo, hide?” Brady asked.

    “Sir Brady, the wicked Lord Percival wants to take Princess Kirabo to his own castle and make her his wife,” the man answered.
    “He wants to marry me!” Kirabo gasped.
    “Yes,” the man answered. “He said that if you didn’t go with him he would destroy the castle and kill us all.”
    “Sir Brady,” a voice called from high on the castle ramparts. “We need you up here. The men are waiting for your orders, sir.”
    “I’ll come with you,” Kirabo said.
    “But, Princess Kirabo, it will be very dangerous up there,” the man said, sounding very worried.
    “I’m not leaving Sir Brady,” Kirabo said firmly. With that, they rushed up the stone steps to the top of the wall that ran all the way around the castle.
    When they reached the top they found the knights looking very worried. Brady took a deep breath and looked out over the castle wall. Down below was a little man sitting on a horse.

    “You up there, I have come to collect Princess Kirabo. If you do not send her out immediately, I will destroy your castle,” the little man shouted.
    Brady laughed with relief. “There is only one man and we are inside the castle with lots of knights around us. We are safe, Kirabo.”
    Suddenly the sky darkened and the air was filled with a loud roar that made them all cover their ears. As they looked up into the sky they saw a large shape flying towards the castle. Its huge wings were spread out like large black sails and its long pointed tail whooshed through the air. The creature opened its mouth and let out another roar, only this time it was followed by a burst of flames.
    “It’s a d–dragon,” Brady managed to say.
    “Get down!” a man shouted.
    At once, the brave knights dropped to their knees and held their shields above their heads to protect themselves. Brady quickly raised his shield, making sure that it covered both him and Kirabo. The dragon swooped down, breathing its flames across the top of the castle. Brady felt his shield grow hot as the flames bounced off the metal. He held on as tightly as he could. Then, just as he thought he couldn’t hold it any longer, the dragon flew back up into the air.

    The knights got to their feet and began firing arrows after the dragon. Brady and Kirabo watched as the arrows flew through the air and bounced off the dragon’s tough skin.
    “Send out Princess Kirabo or I will have my dragon destroy your castle,” Lord Percival shouted.
    “What can we do?” Brady asked the frightened knights.
    They all shook their heads. “We don’t know,” they said together.
    “My grandma told me a story when I was very little,” Kirabo said, looking around at the frightened faces staring at her. “She said that once, a long time ago, the village where she lived was attacked by a giant snake. Each night the snake would slither down from the hills and eat one of the animals in the village. One night the warriors of the village gathered ready to kill the snake, but it was so big that it attacked the men, swiping at them with its long tail or hissing and spitting venom at them so that they couldn’t see. Soon there was only one warrior left unhurt. Just as the snake prepared to kill him, a little girl stepped in front of it and began to dance. The snake had never seen anyone dance before, and instead of attacking her it swayed in time to her movements. Finally, when the little girl had finished dancing, the snake just slithered away and never returned.”
    “You’re not suggesting that we go out and dance in front of a dragon just because of some silly story, are you? Besides, your grandma probably made it up to scare you,” Brady said.
    “I know she didn’t make the story up,” Kirabo answered. “She was the little girl.”
    Brady opened his mouth to answer but he was so shocked that all he could do