A young Dragon Prince, no older than 8 summers, ran as fast as his legs could carry him. A young, but respected, peasant girl chased after him. Their laughter filled the air as they sprinted through the field.
The field was over-run with flowers of bright purples and blues that would seem unnatural in any other kingdom. Magic thrummed through the very earth of this land, it made the wildlife seem otherworldly. It would be the "end-of-times" to any other kingdom if they were to see dragons roam the sky, or flowers which glowed brightly at night, or if you played attention you could feel the power thrumming through the air you breathed and the earth beneath your feet. However, to those of Drakonial, this was home.

The children ran and ran, chasing each other in circles, round and round the open field they went. The Dragon Prince suddenly broke their circle, turning quick enough that the peasant girl could not turn to run the other way. The prince braced himself with a mischievous grin of sorts, but as he tried to capture her he tripped upon his own feet and fell backwards. The tall, lush grass tickled their necks and hands. They stared at each other blankly for a moment. Laughter burst into the air even louder than before. If you listened closely you could hear the purest of joy weaved into that youthful laughter.
The girls' laughs slowed as she gazed suddenly in awe. The prince laughed with such joy and such purity of soul, that as his smile grew ever larger, and his eyes squinted even smaller, the peasant girl could just barely see the hangs of his eyes from the lightest of blues to the brightest of golds. Suddenly the flowers that were closest to them changed into beautiful butterflies of the same shade. They flew up and away with the afternoon sun, making them seem to glow. The peasant girl had never seen anything so beautiful. "Oh, Merlin!" She gasped. "I've never seen you do magic like this before!"

Merlin's ears and cheeks turned red as his smile shrunk to one more simple and bashful. The girl was still atop him, but she had raised her posture. He reached behind his head and scratched at where the grass tickled him. "Well, I... You know... I don't usually do it f-for show so..."

Mione pushed herself away, rolling off of him. She sat cross-legged in the grass facing her friend. Merlin sat up slowly.

"Can you show me more?" Mione asked softly, but eagerly. Mione had not yet developed the gift of magic. Many youths would not until their eight or ninth summer, and some never would. Mione worried she would never gain the gift, but wished so badly to learn spells and magic herself. 

Merlin fiddled with his hands, tiny teeth biting down on a tiny bottom lips. "I-I... sure! but first, um, we need wood! Yeah, wood..."

They walked to the edge of the field where it met the forest, and gathered a small amount of sticks. They went back to where they had sat before, patted down the grass, and placed the sticks in a pile. When they were settled, Merlin raised his hand to the wood and said clearly: " Forbearnan". Mione smiled as a fire started itself. Merlin smiled in return. "Upastige Draco!"

A dragon formed in the smoke, feebly  flapping its wings once before disappearing. Merlin grimaced at the feeble flap of the wings, but his expression brightened as Mione began to clap happily.

The pair continued like that until the sun had sunken low into the sky and guards had come to retrieve them. Merlin would remember that day for the rest of his life. It was a time when all things were simple, and he was able to simply run around with his closest companion.

Much had happened since that day. He and Mione had realized that it would be expected of them to marry one day, but this did not discourage nor upset them. They grew but closer, and by the time Merlin was nearly 13-summers-old he realized the love he held for her. He realized that maybe he had loved her all along but was to young to see, too young to care. His love for Mione was as pure and innocent as their laughter on that day in the field.

Then, on his 13th birthday Drakoniel was attacked with a cowardly betrayal, and he did not see her for a very long time. When he ran from his kingdom he did not think of her, not because he loved her only less, but because it hurt him too much to think too long of what he lost. He hoped she was safe, and that is all he could stomach. It just all went too quickly, and it was years of trying to cope with his new life before he began to plan. He helped another kingdom and then planned. He planned on just how to defeat his foe and regain his kingdom, going over and over different strategies until he felt it was impossible for his plan to fail. Yet still, he tried not to think much of Mione, there was just too much pain there.

The tale, from then on, is history. There is a new tale now. One with a Dragon King, a Once and Future King, two Peasant Queens, and their as well as their children's fight against one mighty foe.

This is the story of the Dragon Prince's Daughter, and her fight to defeat Morgana alongside her friends and family.

This is the story, of Albion's Rise.

(//AN//: I finally posted the Prologue, woo! I am so sorry that it took so long. I figured now was a good a time as any as I am currently trapped inside by a blizzard and also feel I am in a good enough place in my writing that I won't have you guys begging for an update that is months overdue. Hopefully. I am going to try my best not to get caught up with myself. As always when I start a story there will be a double update, and the first chapter should be up about 15-30 minutes after the Prologue.  Special thanks to all you lovelies who were with me from start to finish with TDP and are now coming back to read the sequel, (Albion's Rise, Obviously) and also a big, big, thanks to my friend JoshuaMBarrett for making the covers for both of these books! I know it's really hard to see the detail of the covers, but this dude is so genius I swear. The tree in the cover is Albion, and at it's roots are five crowns to represent the five Kingdoms. GENIUS! Also one last awesome thing, TDP just hit 50k reads and that is, just, mind blowing. I did not think when I started this that it would come so far. Anyways, I hope you guys are ready, because I am beyond ready! ;p Keep Reading. Keep interacting. Keep Smiling, Lovelies. MUAH! -EmzyyIrenexx )