Freya
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin
Once upon a time, in a land of myth and time of magic, there was a magnificent kingdom by a lake. It was the kingdom of Camelot. It was ruled by King Uther and Queen Igraine Pendragon. Uther was like a soldier—strong, and battle-weary, but his very presence commanded respect. Queen Igraine was one of the most beautiful and kind-hearted of women.
Both the King and Queen were wise and justice, and under their rule, the kingdom flourished. They were beloved by all who knew them, and their children, just as much. Their firstborn, their only son and heir, Arthur, was a strong and handsome young warrior. Their daughter, Morgana, was as beautiful as she was clever.
When Arthur was seven and Morgana was four, it was discovered that the Queen was going to have another child. But shortly before the baby was to be born, the Queen fell terribly ill and everyone feared for her life as well as that of her child's. At that point, the King sought out the advice of his loyal physician and advisor, Gaius.
Gaius told the King and Queen of a possible cure for the Queen's illness. It was said that many centuries ago, Priests and Priestess of the Old Religion sought to give the world a special gift. They caused a drop of the sun to fall from the heavens and when the drop of sun hit the earth, it created a beautiful, magical flower. The flower could heal the sick and injured. The King immediately sent out all his men to try and find the flower.
But the flower's location was only known by a former Priestess named Nimueh. She'd committed terrible crimes and for that, she was exiled from the Isle of the Blessed, denied use of the Cup of Life, and her Eternal Youth was taken from her. But nevertheless, she was resourceful and determined. She found the magic flower. In order to keep herself young and beautiful, Nimueh hid the flower and sang a song that brought about the flower's enchantments and made herself young for many, many years.
One night, right after Nimueh had used the blossom's enchantment; the flower was discovered by Uther's forces. Before Nimueh could act, the flower was taken back to Camelot and then it was prepared into a potion. When Igraine drank it, she was healed of her sickness. The kingdom and the Pendragons rejoiced at the miracle.
Right after she was healed, Igraine gave birth to a daughter, Princess Freya. She was beautiful, with long golden hair and brown eyes like her mother. She was deeply loved and adored by her family. Uther and Igraine always did something special to celebrate each of their children's arrival. In honor of Freya's, they launched a flying lantern into the sky.
For just a short time, all was well in the kingdom. But Nimueh still sought to retain her youth. She had long been an enemy of the Pendragons. She knew that when Igraine had drank the potion, the flower's healing powers had been transferred to Freya. Nimueh thought that if she just took a small snippet of Freya's hair, she'd have a way of maintaining her youth. So, on the night of Freya's birthday, Nimueh snuck into the infant's room.
Nimueh sang the special song and cut off a small lock of Freya's hair, only to discover that when cut, Freya's golden magical hair turned black lost its power. So, Nimueh kidnapped Freya and disappeared into the night. The Pendragon family was devastated. Despite the combined search efforts of their knights and several magical practitioners, the youngest member of the Royal Family remained lost.
Deep within a forest, far from Camelot's walls, Nimueh raised Freya as her own. She kept the little princess hidden away in a tower. She was determined to keep Freya hidden. She forbade Freya from ever leaving the tower, saying that the world was full of cruel, selfish people that would seek to use Freya's gift for themselves. Freya obeyed, as she had no way of knowing that Nimueh was not her real mother.
But even the former Priestess's efforts and the walls of the tower could not keep Freya from discovering something amazing. Every year on Freya's birthday, the Pendragon family and Camelot's people sent out thousands of floating lanterns into the sky, in hopes that one day, their lost Princess would return. Every year Freya watched the "floating lights" from her tower window and dreamed of one day seeing them in person.
It was whispered by the Great Dragon that one day, both Freya's and her family's dreams would finally come true. But when would that day be?