Merlin Fairytale Series

Chapter 1: A Beautiful Budding Romance

Teehee this is gonna be so much fun!
Above picture is Merlin in his house. He's super innocent in this one!
Summary: After dreaming of her for years and believing he doesn't deserve her, Merlin gets the chance to be with Rose, who's starting to fall for him.

     The island of Paradise was home to all sorts of people with magic: enchanters and enchantresses, sorcerers and sorceresses, witches, wizards, warlocks, elementals, seasonals, alphas, dragonlords and ladies, dragon trainers and dragon riders, mermaids, sirens, demigods, shapeshifters, vampires, ghosts and spirits, spirit walkers and spirit warriors, healers, seers, storm-bringers, masters of the heavens and earth and underworld, lycans, druids, gypsies, the list goes on.
     Regardless of what they were, however, everyone was kept in check under the law. When they came of age (which could be anytime between 16 and 25 years old), they must be married before the end of the Full Moon Marriage Ceremony or they would be banished from Paradise. Still, despite this harsh punishment, everyone was always excited about the ceremony and looked for to it for it meant that they'd be married. And everyone made a big deal out of the holiday, even going to such lengths as to rest up for the ceremony at least a month before it began and singing songs about how pleased they were (as is obvious from the prologue ;) ).
     However, Paradise wasn't entirely perfect. They still determined marriages by status like any other place in the world, although, more often than not, this was no problem... except if a member of the royal family was involved.
     You see, the island was broken down into three distant groups- the royals -which consisted of the king, queen, and their children, the rich and powerful- for example, Rose - and the poor folk- example, Merlin -and as previously stated, this was no big deal. Except....well, we'll get to that....
                             * * * * *
     If there was anyone who was a romantic at heart, it was Merlin. He was secretly in love with Rose, the most beautiful girl on the island.
     Merlin was shy, however, and had no way to tell Rose how he felt. It was unfortunate that he was extremely poor and very unpopular. He may be a very talented sorcerer but on this island, that didn't matter because everyone had magic and it didn't matter how good you were at it because it would make no difference to your social status.
     His only friend was a druid boy named Mordred. Mordred wasn't the most popular in the island either as gypsies and druids were looked down on for always being poor. But that never bothered him anyway.
     Perhaps it was for this reason that the two were such good friends or maybe it was because Merlin was famous for his storytelling skills and Mordred loved to listen to his stories.
     On this particular night, one month from the start of the Full Moon Marriage Ceremony, Mordred followed Merlin as he headed towards home and demanded a story. Merlin smiled at his only friend and told him a story about a man who was completely in love with a beautiful woman. The woman was wealthy, beloved by all, and very sweet but she didn't even know the man existed because the man was poor and unpopular.
     "Merlin, why do I get the feeling that you're the man in love with Rose?"
     Merlin blushed at the words. "Because I am but she will never love me."
     Merlin and Mordred were sitting on top of a hill in the druid camp and when Merlin tried to stand, he slipped and fell down the hill, knocking over Rose who just so happened to be standing at the bottom when he fell.
     Merlin picked himself up and exclaimed, "Oh my God, Rose, I'm so sorry!"
     Rose giggled, a pleasant sound. "Well, Merlin, it seems you've swept me off my feet. Quite literally I might add." She gave him a sweet smile.
     In truth, Rose had a crush on the shy sorcerer. She thought he was cute and sweet and he was honestly the kind of man she'd always wanted.
     "I'm so-so sor-r-ry, Rose, I'm ju-just s-s-so clumsy!"
     "Merlin, I'm not mad." She said. "In fact, I was wondering if you would like to go on a walk with me."
     "Really? That's...uh... amazing! I-i I'd love to!"
     The two strolled off, hand in hand.
                             * * * * *
     Now, if things were different, the story would end there. They would go on their dates and Merlin would marry Rose during the Full Moon Marriage Ceremony. Unfortunately, Merlin wasn't the only one who had his eye on Rose.
     Remember how to rules state status isn't an issue in marriage unless a member of the royal family is interested in one of those particular parties. Well....
     Karayan was the king of Paradise and he had his eye on the lovely Rose. He wanted her to be his wife and queen. But Merlin was now standing in his way and that made him mad so he declared he'd get his revenge on Merlin.
     So while Merlin and Rose flirted and fell in love, Karayan was plotting Merlin's downfall, especially after seeing him kissing Rose under the moonlight, one night.
     It was the night just before the day when the gifts rained down from the heavens. Merlin and Rose had gotten to know each other really well over the course of that month. They were talking one minute and the next gazing into each other's eyes before he leaned forward and kissed her.
     And that was precisely the moment Karayan knew it was time to get rid of Merlin...once and for all....

To be continued....

Note: Elementals can control one or more the elements: fire, water, earth, air, snow and ice, lightning, metal, blood, etc.
Seasonals can control one or more of the seasons: fall, winter, spring, and summer
Alphas have control over wolves
Dragonlords/ladies have control over dragons
Sirens can control ppl with their singing voice
Spirit walkers can summon their spirit ancestors and walk among them
Spirit warriors cannot be killed in battle
The rest of them should be obvious what they are ;)