MELUSINE
(From Voeux du Paon. A 14th century, French dragon story) Once upon a time there was a Count of Anjou who was successful in all of his ventures, traveled far and wide, and had a healthy life. But he didn't have a Countess and this bummed him out. One fine day he came back from one of his adventures with a beautiful woman by his side and they were soon married.

Museline of Anjou was a perfect wife for him. She was charming and beautiful and gave birth to four children to carry on his line. She had the manners of someone from great wealth and noble lineage, but nobody knew where she came from. At every banquet and every tournament, no one knew who she was or where she came from, no matter how broad the audience. The only strange thing about the Countess was that she didn't go to church all that often, and when she did go, she always left before the priest showed the consecrated chalice to the congregation. This troubled the Count and everyone else in the town. So one Sunday the Count had four knights stand at the door of the church to make sure that the Countess stuck around for the whole show. At the crucial moment the Countess got up to leave, but the knights kept her in the church. Hereupon with a dreadful shriek she burst the fastenings, left her dress behind her, turned into a dragon, and flew out the window dragging two of her children behind her. Centuries later she is still seen flying around the Castle of Lusignan.

From Melusine's surviving children derives the House of Plantagenet, whose descendants eventually married into almost every royal family from St. Petersburg to Lisbon.