Lydia's Essays

Folk Tale

In the year 1205 AD, Sir Bradan the Great Knight (as he was called) lived on his grand manor in the London countryside with his fair lady, the Lady Aislinn. He was a loving husband and responsible landowner. He was very handsome, very brave and mighty in battle, not to mention very chivalrous toward his wife, as well as the other court ladies. Never had there been such a sterling example of knighthood as Sir Bradan.
One day, Sir Bradan and Lady Aislinn were walking along a particularly beautiful piece of woods on their manor with a lovely stream running through it. Suddenly, Sir Bradan spotted a strange object floating in the water. He walked in to retrieve it, and it was an egg, but it was very large, about twice the size of his helmet. He lifted it out of the water, and in spite of its size, it was very lightweight. That could only mean one thing: a dragon egg. All poems and folklore described dragon eggs as such. “Come”, said Sir Bradan to his beautiful wife. “We shall take it to the manor and have the servants erect another barn for it. We will raise it and train it to live among people.”
So, once the new barn was built, the dragon egg was moved in with plenty of blankets and a fire to keep it warm. It was the middle of August, but it was starting to get a little chilly at nights. After a few weeks the ivory-colored egg hatched. The baby dragon was about one foot tall newborn, and he was beautiful. His eyes were huge and golden and his scales the color of the ocean. Sir Bradan gave him the name Cyan, which means “greenish-blue.” Even at his early age, Cyan had strong white claws and teeth, strong wings, and a sturdy build: sure signs of strength. “When Cyan grows up”, Sir Bradan thought, “he will be a mighty beast, fearsome and beautiful.”
Cyan did grow up to be mighty and beautiful. When he was two months old he learned to talk. He would follow Lady Aislinn all around the castle, just talking to her about different things. When he was six months old he was seven feet tall. At this age, Sir Bradan started taking him along on hunting trips. Now, Cyan was one year old and full grown, measuring ten feet tall. His wings had grown to their full awe-inspiring size, each measuring eight feet long, which created a breathtaking figure in flight. When he spoke, his voice sounded like music, and when he sang, it was something surreal. His claws and teeth were even stronger and whiter. His muscles were huge, and his ocean-colored scales grew more vibrant and his golden eyes shone even more as he matured. A more magnificent, gorgeous living thing was never seen.
After another year came a time of war. Sir Bradan was away from the manor much of the time fighting dangerous and brutal battles. Cyan was just as powerful and beautiful as ever. One evening, Sir Bradan, lying exhausted in his bedchamber, thought, “Cyan is powerful and fearsome. I will take him into battle and feed him our enemies. I will not feed him animals anymore.”
Sir Bradan fed Cyan nothing but prisoners and enemies for another year and a half until the war ended. Then came a time of peace. There were no prisoners or enemies for Cyan to eat, and so he became hungry and restless in his barn. He didn’t want to eat animals anymore. One day, one of the villagers came running and screaming to Sir Bradan. “Sir Bradan! Sir Bradan! The Lady Aislinn’s been killed! Cyan has killed and eaten her!” Sir Bradan was shocked into a disbelieving stupor. Cyan? Eaten Aislinn? It couldn’t be true.
Sir Bradan ran with all his might to Cyan’s barn. He flung the door open and shouted, “Why did you eat my wife!? How could you kill her!?” Then he actually looked at Cyan. The mighty dragon started walking towards him, slow and menacing. His intention was obvious. “Why are you doing this?” Sir Bradan asked in horror. He had noticed a change in Cyan after the war ended, and even before that, but he hadn’t been able to put his finger on it, and so dismissed it. Now, he realized full-on exactly what it was, the new quality that burned in the great golden eyes. Viciousness. Ferociousness. Ravenous madness. Before he answered the question, for the first time in his life, Cyan roared and breathed a colossal column of fire into the air, and his barn began to burn. Sir Bradan was terrified. “I’ve never been hungry before,” Cyan replied. His lyrical, musical voice was gone, replaced with the callous, glacial hiss of a cobra. “I’m a dragon, and people are what I eat.” Sir Bradan seemed to have lost his ability to speak or move. He was frightened and horrified beyond expression. Cyan, the powerful and terrifying dragon, took a step forward and descended upon Sir Bradan the Great Knight.
Cyan was a dragon, and a dragon doesn’t care who he kills or eats. Although Sir Bradan believed that he and Cyan were very close friends, Cyan was always a dragon. Sir Bradan forgot that. Cyan was used to and known for eating people, and when he got hungry, he ate Lady Aislinn and Sir Bradan. The point is that likewise, don’t imagine that a dragon-like person known for devouring people can be your friend without realizing that he may at any pint turn around and devour you.

Romance Novel Chapter


This takes place some time after a grand banquet hosted by the grand knight Sir Alonzo the Great. The great and illustrious (and handsome) Sir Dorian was invited, and fell desperately in love with the lord’s daughter, the sweet and fair Lady Lúthien. She also fell desperately in love with him. Sir Dorian would come to the castle at night every night and stand on the ground outside her window, and would sing her songs of love, and speak words of love, praising her sweetness, her beauty, her “dove’s eyes” (as he called them), and declaring his love for her over and over. Lúthien too loved him and would declare her love for him over and over. Finally, on the occasion of which I speak, she has, after Dorian’s continuous begging, gotten enough courage to climb down the hedges on the side of the castle down to him.

“Lúthien my dearest, I implore you, will you come down to me tonight?”

For weeks, Dorian had asked his dearest love the same question. Also for weeks, Lúthien had wanted to climb down the castle walls to her dearest love, but she feared the climb down, and back up. She was also nervous that one of her handmaidens sleeping in the next room might hear something, come into her room, and find her missing.
For so long Lúthien had wanted so badly to climb down to Dorian, to hold him in her arms, and look into his eyes when she told him she loved him, not from high above on her balcony. She knew her father liked and respected Dorian, and had no doubt he would give Dorian her hand in marriage if he ever asked, but he would never allow it if she was caught sneaking out of her bedchamber and climbing down to him during the night.
However, Lúthien’s fear and nervousness vanished that night when her love for Dorian overpowered them once and for all.

“Yes my darling, at last I will come to you tonight! Only promise me two things.”

So elated he could barely get his words out, Dorian said, “Anything, my love.”

“The first is that you watch carefully as I climb down, and the second,” she gave him a loving smile that made his heart swell, “is that you hold me so close and tight I scream for mercy, for that is what I intend to do to you.”

Dorian complied with his true love’s first request, and watched her carefully as she climbed down the castle walls, talking her all the way down. When she reached the bottom, Lúthien ran into his arms and he was more than happy to entertain her second request. Dorian wrapped her in his strong arms and embraced her fair person close to him and lovingly kissed her sweet, tender mouth. Then, he put his mouth to her ear and quietly sang one of his songs of love. When he finished the song, he whispered,

“This is much better than singing to you from far below on the ground.”

Lúthien leaned her head back, looked into his eyes, and said, “I love you, Dorian.” Then she paused, and said “That is much better than telling you from high above on my balcony.”

“And I love you, Lúthien.” Then Dorian paused, kissed her again, flashed her a smile (her heart nearly melted), and said, “I agree.”

They walked over to a nearby bench under a tree in the yard. Lúthien was true to her promise, and clasped Dorian tightly in her arms. At that moment, with him in her arms and her in his, she determined in her heart never to release him.

Dorian looked right into Lúthien’s “dove’s eyes”, held her hand in both of his, and said “My darling Lúthien, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you the first time at you father’s banquet.”

“That’s when I fell in love with you.” Lúthien said.

“Since then I’ve always thought you the loveliest, sweetest, and most wonderful lady I’ve ever met. I’ve loved you for as long as I’ve known you, and I want to ask you something, before I ask your father.” He knelt on the ground before her, and took her lovely hand in both of his. Lúthien got very excited, because she knew what he was going to ask. What else could it be?

“Lúthien, will you marry me?” Dorian asked, his heart in his hands.

“Yes!” Lúthien exclaimed, running into Dorian’s arms and he picked her up and spun her around, both so happy basking in one another’s true love.

“Tomorrow I will ask your father for your hand. I have no doubt he will grant it to me, but nothing else can be done about it tonight. I don’t want to risk staying out too long, or you father will certainly forbid our marriage, so kiss me goodnight and hurry back to your chamber. Just know, my dearest love, that nothing pains my heart more than to release you at this moment, and also that I love you with all my heart. I am forever yours.”

Lúthien kissed him with all the love in her heart, embraced him tightly, and said “And I love you with all my heart, dearest Dorian. Heart and soul, I am forever yours.”

Dorian’s heart swelled. How he loved to hear her say those words! Clasping her ever tighter to himself, he would have been perfectly content if they could stay like that forever and he would never have to let her go.
But he knew he must. They had been outside for a while, and he couldn’t risk any trouble with Lúthien’s father at all if he wanted to marry her. And he did with every fiber of his being. Terribly against his will, Dorian released Lúthien from his loving embrace, kissed her one more time, and walked her over to the castle wall.
Then, Lúthien started the steady climb up the hedges to her bedchamber. Oh, how she did not want to leave Dorian! Even though she knew they would meet the next night, it still hurt to leave him even for a minute. But all the way up the castle walls, she knew with all her heart that she was being watched by the careful eyes of her beloved Dorian, who was sweetly singing a song of love.