The Princess and the Dragon

Once upon a time, in the country of Spain, there was a kingdom in need of a princess. The king and queen had been trying to have a baby for many, many years. All of their wisest advisers had given them lots of different advice.

“Your majesties,” the Duke said, “if you leave sweets out at night, this will be a sign to the storks that you want a baby. The stork will then go up to the caves and bring you a baby.” The king ordered the Royal Confectioner to make up his very best candies and sweets. They placed a basket of sweets at every entrance to the castle. The next morning the king and queen ran from basket to basket, checking for their baby, but all they found were piles of sweets.

“Your majesties,” the Marquis said, “ask the Royal Physician to make a pill. Then the queen needs only take the pill, and she will fall pregnant.” So the king ordered the Royal Physician to make a pill for the queen. The physician went white and shook from his hat to his boots. He didn’t know what he needed to put in a pill to make a baby! Instead, he quietly slipped down to the kitchen and took one of the candies. He gave this to the queen at bedtime with her cup of hot chocolate. The queen could barely sleep, she was so excited. But when she woke up the next morning, there was no baby to be found.

“Your majesties,” the Countess said, “ask the Royal Baker to bake you a baby.” The king called for the Royal Baker, however, the queen put a stop to that right away. The idea of baking a baby just didn’t seem right.

“It’s hopeless,” the poor queen cried. Dismissing her ladies in waiting, the queen retired to her garden, where she sat under the purple shade of a jacaranda tree and wept. She was so very desperate to have a baby, but she didn’t think she would ever get one. As she sat crying, the old gardener happened to hear her and shuffled over.

“Your majesty, why do you cry so?” he asked.

“The kingdom needs a princess, and I want a baby. We have tried so very hard, but I don’t think it will ever happen,” replied the queen sadly. The gardener, who loved the queen as a father loves his daughter, couldn’t bear to see her crying.

“There is an old legend,” he began, “that my great grandfather told me of before he died. It is a secret, and cannot be shared with anyone lest they take advantage of the magic.”

“Magic?” the queen asked through her tears.

“Magic,” the gardener replied. “Up in the north, there is a cave, the Cave of Altamira. This cave is home to a dragon. It is said that if you are in desperate need, you must take treasure up to the cave. Then you must draw a picture of the thing you desire the most upon the walls of the cave and sleep the night underneath your drawing. In the morning, if the dragon accepts your gift of treasure, then the thing you desire most will be there when you awake. Perhaps you could travel to the cave and see if the dragon will give you the baby you desire.”

The queen thanked the old gardener and hurried to gather food and treasure and saddle her horse. Without even saying goodbye to the king, she rode north as quickly as her horse could go. All that day she searched through the hills for the Cave of Altamira. As the sun began to set, the queen finally found the cave. She slid from the saddle and tied her horse to a nearby tree. The queen gathered the treasure she had brought for the dragon and quickly took it into the cave. Placing it on the ground, she reached into her pocket, and suddenly realised that she did not have anything to draw with. 

She ran back to her horse as the sun-kissed the horizon and searched through her saddlebags, but she could not find anything to draw with. The only thing she had left in her bag was an apple and half a honey sandwich. Desperate, the queen snatched up the honey sandwich and raced back into the cave. She stuck her finger into her honey sandwich and scraped as much of the sticky, golden goo onto her finger as possible. Using the honey on her finger, the queen drew a picture of a baby on the wall of the cave. Then, as the final rays of sunlight lit the sky, she threw herself down on the floor and wept. The queen was certain that all her efforts had been for nothing and that she would never get the baby that she so desperately wished she had. She eventually drifted off into a troubled sleep filled with a dragon and a beautiful baby with tight black curls on her head.

While the queen was dreaming, the king was worried sick. When she did not return from the garden, he went looking for her. When he could not find her, he ordered every member of the royal household to look for her. They searched all through the day and into the night. The next morning, the king was sitting on his horse in the courtyard, ordering his dukes and marquis and knights about, getting ready to ride out and search the kingdom for his queen, when suddenly he heard a shout from the castle walls.

“Your majesty,” cried a guard, “the queen is coming!” The king leapt from his horse and ran to the gate, full of questions for his queen, but as soon as he saw her he stopped running and stood there, stunned. The queen was carrying a baby! The most perfect baby he had ever seen. The queen slowly walked over to the king and placed the baby in his arms. He looked down at the little bundle, with tiny black ringlets of hair on her head, and bright golden eyes looking up at him through long eyelashes. His heart melted on the spot and he couldn’t even ask the queen where the baby had come from, all he could do was stand and stare at her.

The king ordered a feast be prepared and the entire kingdom celebrated that they now had a princess. The queen named her Altamia, in honour of the cave of the dragon that had given her to them. Everyone in the kingdom called her Princesa Mia el Milagro, Princess Mia the Miracle, and she was a beautiful child. The only strange thing about her was that she loved honey. She would eat honey on waffles for breakfast, she would eat honey with fruit for lunch and she would eat honey with pasta for dinner. 

As Mia grew, she began asking her mother for someone to play with. The king invited every child in the kingdom to the castle to find a playmate for his daughter. But just as soon as the child entered the castle, the king would find something wrong with them. He simply refused for any of them to come and play with his daughter.

He said “No” to the daughter of the baron because the only thing she liked to eat was sweets and candy. The king already thought his princess ate too much honey and was worried that this little girl would be a bad influence. 

He said “Never” to the son of the Marquis, as there was something very strange about the boy. He spent most of his days up in his bedroom mixing chemicals and making strange smelling potions. The king was worried he might accidentally turn his daughter into a frog.

He told the Countess to turn around as soon as he saw her coming towards the castle with her daughter. He never did trust her after the suggestion of baking a baby in the oven.

As the last child was shown out of the castle, Mia ran out to the garden and sat under the same jacaranda tree that her mother had sat under five years beforehand. She cried quietly until the queen came down to find her.

“Mia,” the queen said, putting her hand on her daughter’s shoulder, “have I ever told you the story of how you were born?” The princess shook her head. The queen told Mia about how desperate she was for a baby, about how much the kingdom had needed a princess and all about the dragon in the Cave of Altamira. 

“Mama, do you think that I could go to the cave and asked the dragon for someone to play with?” Mia asked her mother.

“Why don't we both go? Then we can ask the dragon together” the queen replied. 

They went to the kitchen for food, then to the treasury for gifts to give the dragon. As they were on their way to the stable where the groomsmen were saddling their horses, the king saw them and called out to them.

“My queen, and my princess, where are you going?” The queen told the king that they were going to ask the dragon in the Cave of Altamira for a playmate for the princess.

“Then I am coming with you. I will approve of the playmate or the dragon can take them back and find someone else.” So the king, the queen, the princess, and a score of knights took to the road within the hour and travelled north to the cave. 

When they arrived, the queen handed the princess a stick of charcoal, but Mia shook her head.

“If the dragon can truly give me the playmat that I desire, I must draw the picture in the same way that my picture was drawn.” Mia pulled a jar of honey from her pocket and entered the cave with her mother and father. As she drew, her parents laid the treasure that they had brought on the ground. Once she had finished, all three of them laid down and slept. The princess dreamt of playing with her new friend in the gardens, in the stables, and out in the countryside around their castle. The queen dreamt of the perfect lady in waiting for the princess, always there to help Mia and fiercely loyal to her daughter. The king dreamt of the bravest knight, always ready to ride to Mia’s aid and one who would always protect his daughter. 

As the sun slowly peeked over the horizon the next morning, Mia woke up with a start. She looked around, expecting to see her new playmate close by, but there was no one. She thought that maybe her new friend was just still coming, perhaps from deeper inside the cave. So Mia stood and quietly walked to the back of the cave. There she saw a tunnel, almost completely hidden by some rocks. She squeezed through the opening and made her way down the tunnel. It was very dark in the tunnel, and just as Mia was beginning to think she should turn back, she spied what looked like light further up the tunnel. She hurried towards the light, which grew stronger and stronger the closer she got to it. 

Mia turned a corner and suddenly found herself standing in a gigantic cavern filled with candles. On the far side of the cavern was a huge pile of treasure, which glittered and gleamed in the candlelight. As she stood staring at the treasure, Mia realised with a jolt that something was staring back at her. Two round golden eyes were watching her. Mia was about to turn and run back up the tunnel when someone spoke to her.

“Ah Princess Mia, you are finally here. Come into the candlelight. I am old and my sight is not as it once was I fear.” Mia stepped further into the cave. She wasn't sure where the voice was coming from until she noticed several gems and coins falling from the pile of treasure. She looked up and realised that the top of the pile was moving. Mia watched as first one jewel-encrusted leg and then another stretched. Then she heard what sounded like giant wings flapping and a huge black dragon landed heavily in front of her. 

“Ooohhh,” whispered Mia. “You are beautiful.”Thank you, Princess. Now as to your wish. I have not forgotten or denied you, but I wanted you to come and accept your new playmate yourself. It was a difficult wish, as not only was I trying to grant your wish, but also that of your mother and father. You wished for someone to play with, your mother wished for a loyal and helpful friend, while your father wished for a brave friend who could protect you. As it stands, one child could not fulfil all of this.”

“Does that mean you're giving me more than one friend to play with?” Mia asked.

“No child,” chuckled the dragon, “because human children need parents to look after them also. My magic is strong but not that strong. Instead, I have decided that you can help me as well. As I mentioned, I am getting old. I will soon need another to take my place. Once you and your playmate have grown, she will return here to the cave to take my place.” Mia’s eyes grew as wide as dinner plates.

“Do you mean that my playmate will be a...a...a dragon?” Mia asked, astonished.

“It will. A baby dragon. She will play with you and help and protect you. Would you be happy with a dragon friend”

“Oh yes! Yes, thank you!” Mia cried, clapping her hands. The dragon moved her tail, and behind her was a small dragon, about the size of a large dog. The dragon had beautiful dark golden scales the colour of honey and golden eyes that seemed to glow. Mia realised that this was who had been watching her when she had first entered the cavern. She held out her hand to the little dragon, who came over and sniffed it and then gave it a quick lick. Mia giggled.

“You may take your playmate now Princess. She will know when it's time for her to return to the cave and take my place.” Miah thanked the black dragon and turned and walked back down the tunnel.

Out in the cave, she found her parents and the knights were just waking up. They were scared at first when they saw the dragon, and when Mia told them that this was her new playmate they were surprised. Mia explained that the dragon wanted to give her a playmate who could play with her and be loyal and help her, but who was also brave and could protect her if need be. 

“Does she have a name?” the queen asked. Mia thought about it for a few minutes and then replied,

“Her name is Bella because she is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”

The king, the queen, the knights, Mia and Bella began their journey back to the castle. The dragon was right. Bella was the best friend that Mia could have had. They played together, Bella was fiercely loyal and helped Mia many times. She was also very brave and there were a few times where Bella had to protect Mia. But that is another story.