Author Note: This story is a challenge that was set by Mrs. Catherine Potter and this is basically a prologue. Would you call it a prologue? Anyway, it sort of sets the scene and explains everything. This idea came to me during Maths, and the evil plot bunny has been bugging me ever since. So I wrote this. Please R&R, even if you think my story is really bad – tell me how to improve it! Anyway, hope you like it!
Many years ago, Godwine was king of Essex, a peaceful kingdom. His wife, Sunngifu, had died years ago, and he himself had raised his two sons alone. The first son was also called Athelstan, and he was the heir to the throne. Athelstan was very noble, but often switched from lover to lover. His second wife, Synnove, had died in childbirth six years ago, and he too was raising his son alone. Then Athelstan IV died, and his son, Athelstan, became King of Essex.
Enter Eoforhild, a beautiful girl from one of the many villages in Essex. Athelstan met her when out riding, and immediately fell in love with her. They were to be married, until Athelstan moved on to another woman. Eoforhild was discarded, as if she had never known the King in the first place.
A few months later, Eoforhild gave birth to a daughter, named Hunith. Then Eoforhild married Cuthberht, a farmer from her village. The two had three two sons – Leofric and Godric – and three daughters: Aebbe, Godiva and Mildburg. Hunith grew up convinced she was the daughter of Cuthberht, and eventually moved to Camelot.
During the Great Purge, Hunith met Balinor, who she fell in love with. Balinor was a dragonlord, whose kind was searched out by Uther Pendragon, King of Camelot. The pair ran away to Ealdor, but were split up when Uther came looking for Balinor. Hunith stayed in Ealdor, where she raised her son, Merlin.
Meanwhile, back in Essex, Osgar son of King Athelstan, had died, so the only heir was the brother to Athelstan, Aelfric. And so, in turn, Athelstan died, and Aelfric seized the kingdom from him.
Aelfric was a bloodthirsty, power-hungry and generally evil man, who decided to go to war with all of the outlying kingdoms. But the Knights of Essex were not as brave as those in the other kingdoms, and Essex seemed to be attacked daily. The only thing stopping the kingdom from being taken over was the villages surrounding Essex Castle.
While all this was happening, Merlin (son of Hunith, who was daughter of Athelstan) was serving King Arthur of Camelot as his manservant, while keeping the magic he had inherited from his father a secret.
After a long period of wars, the people of Essex were desperate for peace, and so they searched for an heir, but to their dismay, they could not find one. That was, until Eoforhild, now an elderly lady, told of her daughter, Hunith, whose father was King Athelstan, and her son, Merlin. At first, the people did not believe her, but realised that Merlin was their last chance, so a small group of people ventured off to Ealdor to find him.