What kind of story would this be if she didn't?

"O-ok, fine," Madalena said. She made a conscious effort to steady her voice. "You can have it, before I change my mind."

She shifted, reaching back to loosen the back of her dress. It took a few tugs for the sides to start coming apart, glimpses of pale skin down her back becoming exposed to the forest air. Hesitatly she kept unlacing, not quite meeting the eyes of the couple and one other stranger that were watching her expectantly.

And then it all happened at once. As soon as it was loose enough, the dress fell from her body, sleeves sliding down her arms and top half crumpling the skirt beneath it until it all fell onto the forest floor, pooling around her feet.

Madalena flushed, taking a quick step back to dissuade herself from following her instincts and snatching the dress back up again.

"Huh, never seen smallclothes like that," the woman commented.

She crouched to retrieve the dress. Madalena's cheeks blazed.

Well that was true, at least. The advantage of being Queen was access to all the kingdom's resources; she had to be fashionable, but rather than react to fashions she'd hired a seer to predict what people would be wearing in the future, and then had the garments made. Thoroughly unique, so far as she knew.

A black push-up bra, something she'd appreciated rather more when it was under her dress, improving what was already visible rather than just making her exposure all the more eye-catching. And then there was something that would apparently be called a thong, thoroughly inadequate especially next to the grandeur of the dress she'd given up.

Damn it, why wouldn't she have stuck to slips and chemises like the other girls? It'd be better than this.

"Ok!" Madalena said, reddening at how high her voice was. "You got my dress, now the dragon!"

"Right away, miss," the man said.

As the wife folded the dress up into the cart, the man reached in and pulled out...

Madalena blinked.

"That's a lizard," she said.

"No miss, it's a baby dragon," he said. "Give it a few months, they grow up fast, so I hear. Why we're in such a hurry, we don't have the room for a full-grown dragon where we're going."

"That's definitely a lizard," Madalena said.

"Do you know the difference between a baby dragon and a lizard?" he said.

She faltered. Well they'd be... similar, she supposed. Just...

And she'd already given up her dress. Damn it. She swallowed, reached out, and snatched the creature closer, crossing her arms awkwardly over her chest and holding it there.

"You'd better be right about this," she said.

She watched the trio depart, cheeks burning. Ok. So. Time to take stock of the situation.

She was in the middle of nowhere, with something that was either a baby dragon or a thoroughly useless lizard, and clad in nothing but rather revealing underwear and her shoes. And her magic might be on the fritz.

Great, just great.

First order of business would definitely have to be get a dress from somewhere, steal it worst case. Then she could worry about the maybe-dragon. At least things couldn't be any worse.

The lizard peered up at her with wide eyes. Then, with no more than playful curiosity, lunged forward and nipped her bra strap; she yelped at a very slight pinch, then yelped again as the strap fell forward uselessly, bra becoming a little less secure.

"No!" Madalena yelped. She lifted the lizard to glower at it. "I've already lost my dress because of you, you will not take away anything more. Ok?"

It blinked at her.