The Dragon’s Princess

Prologue: The Dragon Egg Stone

The town of Fairview was dying, as it had been for twenty years. The crops boiled in the Sun and drought, while the storms raged far away at sea preventing the arrival of the promised ships loaded with precious cargo that could have kept Fairview going for another year or so. But nothing was coming, and the people had given up.

With a heavy hearts, they prepared for a final Harvest Feast, giving all the meager supplies they had before they would be forced to leave and find a new home. But on that night, something happened.

The rains that had not come for years poured out of a blue sky, making all the citizens flee for shelter. Throughout the night it rained and thundered, and the people prayed for salvation.

When dawn finally broke, the people rose to see that a miracle had occurred. The fields were suddenly lush with crops, the trees were bending with ripe fruit, and flowers bloomed in abundance. The small bay was packed with ten ships all heavily laden with goods. And in the center of town stood a large marble stone.

It was pure white and the height of two men and the width of five and in the distinctive shape of an egg. Written in elegant script was a poem.

People of Fairview, lose all your fears!

If but on May Day every thirteen years,

You give me a maiden with beauty rare,

With a rose in her cheeks and long raven hair.

Left alone in the fields gowned in silk and gold.

My precious crowned Princess, for only me to behold.

I shall steal her away to my glorious feast,

To be dined on by my hideous beast.

And if you follow closely my dearest wish,

You shall all prosper in peaceful bliss.

For on my Dragon’s Heart Plea,

You will all be closely guarded by me.

The people were in shock and awe about the idea of a dragon and his gifts. An emergency council was called to discuss what had happened. While the crops were harvested and ships unloaded, it was debated whether or not to accept the help of a dragon. After many weeks, a decision was finally made; they would give in to the Dragon’s demand.

Next was the problem of finding a sacrifice. Every available girl between the ages of fifteen and twenty were considered. Eventually one girl was chosen on the Winter Solstice. Her name was Eliza and she was eighteen and the eldest daughter of two dairy farmers. With her stoic ways, gentle features, and dark hair and eyes, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that she was perfect for the first Dragon Princess.

Admittedly she was whisked away from her parents’ home and taken to Lord Whitney’s castle to spend the remainder of her days in luxury. Her parents were paid a handsome fee for their daughter, but soon sold their farm and left, not able to bare seeing their daughter dragged away to be a dragon’s meal.

Eliza never said her feelings of the subject nor ever so much as uttered a word about it. On the proscribed day, she was clothed in a dress woven of the richest silk and decked in finery from the Lord’s own treasury. In a litter woven with flowers she was first taken to the town square and presented in front of the stone that had been dubbed the Dragon Egg Stone and was the cause of her current predicament. Eliza muttered a pray that no one could understand before she climbed back into her seat and was taken to the fields.

There she was left while the people celebrated. No one saw so much as a shadow in the sky during the entire day. But when the men went back to retrieve the litter, Eliza was gone without so much as a drop of blood or a stray hair left behind. Whether a dragon had abducted her or she simply ran away, it is not known.

But Fairview prospered for one hundred and thirty years under the Dragon’s protection and the Princess’s sacrifice.

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