Hello everyone and welcome to the relaunching, if you will, of my old story, The Princess and the Dragon. So if you got the memo I decided to re-write it after all this time I've been gone, and if you're interested you can go back and read the old one, I do not plan on deleting it, though I'm sure this version will be better. Anyway, please do give me feedback (I really do enjoy it) and have a fun time reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail!

Chapter 1

Lucy Heartfilia stood quietly on her balcony, looking at the bustling streets below her, and the wind gently blew her long, golden hair. The sun shone brightly down on the kingdom, and the sky was clear. It was a perfect day. And yet she couldn't go out and enjoy the warmth among the other citizens, she was stuck inside, stuck inside the castle to be more specific. Her father, King Jude, had forbidden her from ever going outside. If she was being honest Lucy thought of him more of a tyrant than anything. Though he didn't always use to be that way, in fact, he actually used to be a king and a loving father. But that all ended after her mother's death, a topic she didn't like to discuss.

She let out a soft sigh of boredom as she continued to look down at the streets, which were too far away to see the people clearly. Her bedroom door opened slightly and she turned her head in the direction of the creaking door. There stood one of her most beloved maids, Virgo. She had short pink hair, which was actually quite unusual, and piercing blue eyes. Lucy absolutely adored her, but she had a nasty habit of wanting to be punished. As Virgo spoke her voice was monotone, and yet Lucy couldn't help but be comforted by it "Princess Lucy, I have just finished preparing your bath."

Lucy smiled sweetly towards Virgo and turned her body, walking off the balcony and into her bathroom "Thank you, Virgo, did you put lavender in like I asked?" She nodded and grabbed a towel, setting it next to the tub "Yes, I did. Is there anything else you need before I go?" She asked. Lucy shook her head "No, you've done enough. Now please excuse me while I take my bath..." Virgo bowed before walking out of the bathroom, and then out of her room. Lucy waited until she heard the door close before she began to strip off her nightgown.

The bath water glistened in the natural light from the window, and Lucy put her hair up in a bun before she slowly eased her way into the lukewarm water. Her whole body instantly relaxed, both due to the warmth of the water, and the soothing smell of lavender. It really was her favorite scent, and she would often bathe with it to help her relax, as she was always stressed.

Lucy picked up a bar of soap and began to clean her body. She hated her body. It was covered in marks, marks that reminded her of her father's ruthlessness. He would often beat her when he got drunk, and she didn't know why. Perhaps it was because she looked exactly like her mother, and him having to look at Lucy reminded him that his wife was truly gone for good. Or maybe it was because he needed someone to take out his anger and stress on. She didn't know, and she honestly didn't care what his reasoning for it was, beating someone like he beat her had no good reasoning to it.

After Lucy finished her bath she stepped out and began to dry herself with the towel Virgo had left. She wrapped her body in the soft towel and walked into her bedroom where she proceeded to get dressed in a blue gown with white embroidery, her favorite. She slipped on some white heels, let down her hair, and brushed it out before she walked out of her room and into the long hallways of the castle.

She made her way towards the library, her usual destination, and took a seat near the back. Lucy picked up a book she had been reading and opened it. She breathed in the old book smell, though not without sneezing, and smiled happily. She loved that smell, and she loved books, especially fictional ones. Most people would probably think she was living in a fairy tale, after all, she was a princess, but her life was far from that of a happy ending.

Lucy picked up where she had last stopped reading. The story was about a princess and her knight who happened to fall in love, though their happiness quickly faded as the princess was taken by an evil dragon. The knight had set out on a long journey to find her, searching all over for her, until he finally happened upon the dragon's lair. That was where she had stopped reading, and after about an hour or so fo reading she finally finished the book. In the end, the knight had saved the princess and defeated the dragon, they lived happily ever after, like always.

She closed the book with a sigh and mumbled softly to herself "I wonder if I'll ever find my own knight in shining armor..." Lucy shook her head and quickly pushed away the thought. She knew there was no chance of her to marry for love, not with her father. He would most likely force her to marry a prince from a well-off kingdom, that way he could get more money to satisfy his needs, and he definitely would do nothing to help the people. She thought it sad, kings were supposed to take care of their people, like their children, and yet her father just uses them for taxes as a means of getting more money. The kingdom was already in a impoverish state and if he continued with his evil deeds it would only get worse.

Lucy was brought out of her thoughts as Aries, another one of her maids, walked up to with a sad expression on her face, and her voice was filled with sadness "Princess Lucy, The king has summoned you." Lucy felt a wave of fear come over her, but she quickly tried to push it aside as she stood up and smiled at Aries "Thank you, hopefully he is not in a bad mood today..."

It only took her a minute or so to reach the throne room, and as she stood in front of those large double doors she gulped. Lucy didn't know why he had summoned her, and she honestly didn't want to know. She took a deep breath before motioning to the guards, and they opened the large doors. Lucy stepped into the throne room and walked up until she was about five feet away from her father, and she kept her head down the entire time "You needed me?" Her voice was quiet, almost like a whisper. Being in the presence of her father she knew to make herself look weak.

He looked down at her "Yes, I do. I'll just cut to the chase, you are to get married to the prince of the Ice Kingdom, far north of here. I will be announcing the news in two days time, and in a few weeks, he will be coming here to visit. I expect you to be on your best behavior. Do not disappoint me."

Lucy took in a shaky breath, she was finally going to get married, and she didn't even know the man. She had spent most of her life preparing herself for the moment in which her father would force her into a marriage, and yet with all that time of preparing it still didn't help her to overcome the sadness she felt "I understand father, and I have no intention of disappointing you."

"Good," He was quiet, only for a moment, before he began to speak again "Also I wish you a happy birthday, and come to my room tonight, I have a gift for you."

Lucy froze up as her father mentioned her birthday. He never gave her gifts, or even mentioned her birthday, so why was today different? She dreaded the thought of having to go to her father's room, but even so, she smiled up at him "Thank you father and I would be honored to get a gift from you."

Later that day, when the sun had finally started to set, Lucy made her way to her father's room. The door was already slightly ajar so she hesitantly pushed it open and looked around the dark room "Come in Lucy, there's no need to be afraid." She spotted her father sitting in the corner, the room smelled heavily of alcohol and his words were slightly slurred, a sign he had been drinking. Lucy reluctantly walked in and took a deep breath "What exactly are you giving me?"

Her father pointed to a small box that had a blue bow on the top of it "Open it up and see." Lucy walked over to the box and picked it up before she began to tear it open. She gasped as she saw what was inside, it was a journal, specifically her diary. How had he gotten ahold of this and why was he giving it to her as a gift? Lucy looked over at the corner but he was gone, and she took a step back once realizing he was now standing right in front of her "I read it, all of it. How could you say those things about me?" He asked, anger slowly rising in his voice.

Lucy took another step back "I-I'm sorry father, I was just a kid when I wrote that, I didn't know what I wa-" Her sentence was cut off by the loud sound of his hand hitting her cheek "Bullshit, don't you know it"s bad to lie?" Lucy stayed quiet and held her now red, and burning cheek. It hurt, and she wanted to cry, but she would not cry in front of him.

"Answer me!" He screamed. Lucy flinched and continued to stay quiet, not knowing what to say. She really should have said something. Her father slapped her again, this time harder than before. He punched and kicked at her, hurling insults at her like there was no tomorrow. Lucy fell to the ground and huddled up into the ball "Father please!" She begged, but he did not stop, and if anything he got more ruthless.

"Get out of my sight..." He spat at her and walked back to his chair, taking her diary back with him. Lucy slowly got up, pain coursing throughout her entire body, and she slowly walked out of the room. As soon as she made her way back to her room tears began to spill down her cheeks uncontrollably. She couldn't take it anymore, she wanted, no, she needed to leave.

Lucy got right to work with packing up some of her belongings into a small leather bag she had. She then got dressed in one of the many less fancier gowns she had, boots, and a cloak. Lucy also grabbed some money before slinging the bag over her shoulder and heading out onto her balcony. There was no way she would be able to get out by going through the front of the castle, she needed to be sneaky and that's just what she is going to do. Lucy climbed over the railing of the balcony and grabbed onto some nearby vines. She first bade sure they were sturdy before slowly climbing down.

She had always dreamed of doing this but never had enough courage to attempt the feat. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, as well as excitement at the thought of finally being free. It made her so happy she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. Lucy finally made her way to the ground and made her way to the front gates, where she requested to have them opened. Lucikly the guards didn't ask any questions and they let her through. Though perhaps they knew who she was, and had just taken pity on her.

Whatever the reason she sighed with relief and walked into town. She had done it, she had finally escaped from her father. Even so, she was now in a town crowded with people, it was dangerous for someone like her who had no experience of the streets, and she clutched onto her bag tightly, as if it would somehow comfort her. She walked along with the crowd, wondering where she should go to next.