The Dragon Prince's Flower

prolouge: the king's prophecy

A/N: Okay, its with much anxiety I post this so, here's one of my original works, i hope you enjoy💕

In the Royal Empire of Rustelle, there was a King and his Queen who overwatched their Empire's capital castle city, Regalis. Peace was a theme for the kingdom, for many centuries the kingdom knew nothing of war or famine or disease. The children were happy, the kingdom loved their rulers. All was perfect for Rustelle, except, the royal couple struggled desperately for children. Many years they tried to sire an heir, with no luck.

Until one evening when the King had a vision in a dream. An ancestor came to him in his dream, with a mighty staff crafted with the stars itself. Her hair flowed like water and shone with a golden light, her skin was as translucent as a cloud. He recognized her as Queen Deimetra, the founder of his kingdom, and his original ancestor. The mighty wings of a white dragon carried her down from the heavens to tower over the King himself, and she offered her hand to him.

"Your prayers have been heard, and they will be answered. Gift your wife the Winged Black Rose, and she will fall pregnant." She said, her voice echoing across the dreamscape like a dire command, but with words as gentle as fine silk.

The King awoke from his sleep with urgency, and immediately ordered the first of his three knights to search the far reaches of the kingdom for black flowers. Within weeks, the first knight returned.

The first knight offered the King a Black Rose, but with the feather of a white bird tangled in the thorns. He felt the feather must have been a sign from his ancestor, so the King and gave it to his Queen. Within weeks, she was clearly pregnant. The King then had another dream.

In this, a young man soared through the sky on white wings. He held a Black Rose in his hands, and he dropped it down to the King below, just before he tumbled over the horizon and out of sight, into the ocean below.

More months passed until the Queen gave birth, and a son was born. The King named his son Icarus, after the young man in his dream.

A few years after Icarus was born, the Queen wanted another child. Day and night the King prayed to Queen Deimetra for another vision, and one came. Again she desended from the heavens aboard her divine dragon, and as she spoke, she held a golden linen sash, draped elegantly over her breast.

"Find the Bejeweled Daliah, and gift it to your wife. She will bear another child by Moon's End."

And so, the King sent the second of his three knights out, and a few months later, the knight returned.

He offered the king a Black Daliah, and a silver and onyx necklace that was tangled with the flower's stem. It was a chain attached to some kind of sharp black tooth. It was larger than any bear tooth, or lion tooth. The King thought it would be a worthy collectable, and gave the flower with the trinket to his wife. Weeks later, she was pregnant again.

The King had yet another dream, but in this one, a great black dragon screeched in the air above him, blocking the sun from touching the King. The great beast touched the clouds with its mighty wings, and with a single beat, it decimated his kingdom.

The King awoke in a cold sweat that night.

When it was time, the second child was born. A daughter. The Queen named her Daliah, after the flower she was gifted.

A few years after Daliah was born, the Queen wanted yet another child. So the King ordered the last of his three knights to go and find a third black flower. The knight returned after a year, and offered the King a Black Hellbore and small black egg that had settled on the grass beside the flower.

The King took the flower, but not the egg. He thought it must be junk, or some kind of mistake made by the Knight. So he ordered the knight to dispose of the egg as he gave the flower to his wife, and he waited patiently.

But his wife didn't show signs that she was pregnant again.

Some weeks later, there was a rumour going around about a noble woman who had fallen pregnant with the child of a dragon. No one knew if it was true or not, but the King couldn't help but wonder. The King felt his child was stolen, that the gods and his ancestor somehow had wronged him.

That night he heard the rumour, he had a final dream.

The black dragon was back, and it was burning his kingdom to the ground. His daughter, grown into all her raven-haired beauty, lying dead in a pool of crimson blood on the charred cobblestone before him. His grown son, lean and fierce, drew his sword and charged the beast.

He was engulfed in flames, and burnt to a crisp within moments.

The King awoke with a cry, and wept the remainder of that night. He vowed to keep his children safe, no matter the cost. So he assigned guards to keep with them at all times, and locked the both of them away. Icarus was given few freedoms, but more so than Daliah, who was left to isolate in her room for the next 16 years.

Until one day, when she snuck out of the castle.