Dragon Eyes

Once upon a time, there was a princess in a tower. She was lovely, with hair the color of a roaring fire at Midwinter, and eyes as green as spring grass. Her flawless skin had the luminescence and color of pearls and felt like fine silk.

She was kept in the tower, not for any wrongdoing, but for her one failing. She was blind.

In the days before the tower was her home, the Princess was a bright, happy child. She loved to play on the walls of the castle, looking down from overtop, and wishing that she could fly.

In those happy days, a kind of peace existed with the dragons. They were allowed to come and go as they pleased, without fear, as long as they caused no harm. It was not the most equitable agreement, but the dragons were glad of it. Their Prince had become enamored of the young princess, and wished her as his bride.

The winds that whipped around the castle were treacherous at best. The Princess, captivated by her game of sailing upon the winds, noticed not how blustery it had become. She was caught by the playful winds and blown off the wall.

As luck would have it, the Prince of the Dragons was flying by the castle. He swooped down and caught the Princess before she could even scream.

She was flying; she feared that her heart would burst for sheer joy. She urged the Dragon Prince on faster, further. He felt the Princess's joy in flight, and answered with his own.

The Dragon Prince took the Princess back to his palace, the Palace of Caves.

The only person who realized that the Princess was missing was her lady-in-waiting, who was reluctant to tell anybody, for it would mean her life. When the King or Queen asked after their daughter, she was asleep or ill or engaged in any number of other activities.

The Princess, however, was enjoying her stay with the Dragon Prince. She was given fine clothing to wear, her neck was adorned with the most beautiful of the dragon's jewels, and she had seven fair maidens to wait upon her every whim. Occasionally, she wondered what was occurring at home, but she never dwelt upon it, for she truly was having a pleasant experience.

But, as all things must end, so too did the period of peaceful ignorance. The Princess's lady was banished upon realization of what her deed, and a kingdom-wide search was begun.

The prize for finding the Princess was her hand in marriage when she came of age. And it was promised that she would have a large dowry. Each knight in the kingdom, and many from far away were engaged in the search.

At last, the Princess was found. She begged and pleaded to stay with the Dragon Prince. The knight felt pity for this small girl-child who was to become his bride. He did not kill the dragon, nor even threaten him.

The Princess was brought back to her castle by the Knight, and installed there with a new lady. Yet, she missed her seven fair maidens, and her fine silks and diamonds. She never complained, as that was most unladylike. She just pined away, staring into the fire, into the sun, into whatever was bright and painful.

Slowly, her vision began to fade. Within a month of her sixteenth birthday, the Princess could see no longer, and she was moved to the tower, where there was naught for her to trip over.

Her days in the tower were dull and unexciting. She did nothing but sit and remember the beautiful dresses she once possessed, the shimmer of the jewels she once wore.

At the tourney celebrating her wedding to the Knight, alas, the good knight was crushed by a falling horse in the joust. There was hurried debate as to whom the Princess should marry, until the Princess stood, and declared that she would not marry. She was whisked away to her tower, and there she fell to the floor and wept.

As the summer approached, the tower grew sweltering. Soon, the Princess could only find relief by leaning out the single window. She would stay very still and leave her hand extended, holding half a loaf of bread. The birds would come and perch on the sill of the window, and regale the Princess with their song. The dragons, having heard of this, came to see for themselves what their future Queen was doing.

The Dragon Prince also came. Upon realizing that his love could not recognize him, a plan sprang to mind.

As he was the Prince of the Dragons, he had more magical abilities than other dragons. The Prince flew into the nearby woods, and transformed himself into a man.

The King and Queen were frantic. Their daughter was becoming an embarrassment, and it was widely believed she was mad. They agreed to marry her to a kind man who could best describe the heart's desire of the Princess. Thus, they reasoned, he would know how best to make her happy.

The Dragon Prince went to the King and Queen to ask for their daughter's hand. They told him that he and the rest of her suitors must all meet in a fortnight, in the main hall of the castle, for the testing. The Dragon Prince was dismayed. The transformation would only last for three days and nights, and it could not be repeated for a full cycle of the moon.

For two days and nights, the Dragon Prince pondered. He changed back into his natural form.

That night, when the Princess was feeding the birds, the Dragon Prince came and took the loaf from her hands. In its place, he left an opalescent jewel.

Her lady was intrigued. She did not repeat the mistake of the one she had replaced; she went right to the King and Queen with this news.

The King and Queen were concerned, but made no attempt to stop their daughter from her regular activities.

The next night, the Princess leaned out of her window, as usual. The birds flocked to her, but dispersed quickly. The Princess was confused by this development, yet took no action. Then she heard a quiet voice. It whispered to her of silken dresses, of fine jewels, of all the cherished sights of her childhood. The voice was the voice in her dreams, the voice of the Prince who had stolen her away and promised her the world for her own.

Convinced that she must truly be mad, the Princess threw herself out of the window. The Dragon Prince caught her.

He took her back to his palace, and there discovered that her blindness was self-inflicted. His tears at the thought of eternal darkness rolled down his face, and one tear landed in each staring green eye. The Princess rubbed at her eyes, whimpering with pain.

The Prince held her gently, drawing his talons in. The Princess quieted, and blinked several times. The world was suddenly bright, colorful, powerful again. She looked to the Prince, and smiled.

The King and Queen were puzzled. The Princess had apparently jumped from her tower, yet there was no trace of her to be found.

Their immediate thought was of the dragons.

The Princess and the Dragon Prince roved from cave to cave, some more sumptuous than the Palace of Caves, some nothing more than rude holes in rock.

The search continued. It was believed that the Princess was truly dead, but none wished to tell the King or Queen of their convictions.

In due time, the Princess bore the Dragon Prince twin sons. One maintained his dragon form, for he loved flight above all else, and the other was a perfect replica of his father's human form.

The four returned to the Palace of Caves. The Princess went to her chambers only to find three armored knights waiting. The knights recognized the Princess immediately, and tried to take her. She screamed. The Dragon Prince came flowing in, his large bulk blocking out all light, save for the torch that the knights had made of a silken pillow.

The knights brought him down, to the Princesses's terror. Her sons toddled into the room, and witnessed the carnage. Their mother had fallen into a heap at her love's side, and was clawing most brutally at her eyes.

The boys went to their mother, and she embraced them. Glaring at the knights, she bared her teeth.

Unaccountably, the brave knights ran away. When they returned to the castle, they recounted their deeds.

What bothered them the most, they mused while deep in their cups, were the eyes of the Princess, the boy that was obviously her son, and the small dragon. The eyes of the Princess were of deepest black, as were the boy's.

And the young dragon had eyes that were as green as the spring grass.