The morning. Spring Season. The Royal Halls, day 10. 

You know you've overexerted yourself when your muscles are screaming against you and tying you down. My mother's homemade rhubarb pie sounds really good right now. There's a small, fearful voice in my head, telling me that everything was a mistake. Coming here, going to the castle, being stupidly angry at the guard. And in my current state, it's understandable to desperately want to be back in the comfort and safety of my parents' home. But I can't. 

                                                                                                      ~*~

         I spent a good thirty minutes thinking about home and holding back tears. I imagined my mother's strange sense of humor, my father's roaring laugh, and the pitter patter of my little siblings chasing the dog. But my wishful daydreams were cut short by three loud raps on the door.

         "Alma Riverland, you are ordered to go to the castle on strict orders of the King," said a gruff voice. I jumped out of bed and grabbed the nearest robe as the door busted open. It was that same annoying guard. He looked a little groggy, but thankfully he was awake.

         "Sir, I don’t understand why it's so necessary to come visit a young woman in the earliest of mornings." I covered my face as the bright sunlight stung my eyes. I heard him scoff.

         "No use in acting weak now. Duty calls, so get ready. Simmons, you carry her. I can't for the life of me move my arms." Without any warning, his fellow guards came over. Strong hands grabbed my arms and pulled me forward. With the little amount of strength I had, I wildly kicked around and managed to keep a few guards away. But more appeared from nowhere and dragged me out of the inn.

         "Don't even think about fighting back," the guard said. The light grew stronger and stronger as a wave of nausea hit my head.

         "You dirty iron heads," I mumbled. Before I could add any other curses, a darkness clouded my vision and I was knocked out cold.

         When I opened my eyes, an old man was sitting on a golden throne. With grey shadows hanging from under his eyes, he looked like an angry dog that had just been woken up from its afternoon nap. I had to hold myself back from laughing as he coughed and hacked, almost dropping the crown that neatly sitting on his head. As a servant offered him water, King Alberdeen took his dreadful time drinking it as he analyzed me in between sips.
         "You must know why you are here," a creepy smile grew on his face as the King folded his hands together.

         "Your Majesty, I haven't a single clue,” I said as innocently as I could. His smile disappeared as he rubbed his eyes in a circular motion. "For a thief, you are terrible, seeing as you gave my daughter your first and last name," he sighed. I cursed under my breath. It just made sense at the time.

         "My daughter claims you have seen her… condition," Stepping down from the throne, the King walked around me and stared. An overwhelmingly tense atmosphere filled the room; it was the feeling of obligated responsibility. A twisted smile returned as he spoke.

         "Alma Riverland, you are the only person in this castle, other than myself, who has witnessed the horror of Princess Juniper's... condition" he said. 

         "The horror?" I asked. Didn't seem horrible to me.

         He completely ignored me and continued, "Because of your insider information, we have no choice but to honor you with the task of participating in finding a cure to the princess's... condition." This was not part of the deal. Moppy, where were you? I had made a deal with a magician, and he wasn't even here to keep his word. Maybe I was a fool after all. 

         "I'm only sixteen; I'm not even fully grown. You don't want me to do this. I'm not a guy!" I reasoned.

         "...and if you do not complete the task at hand, I'm afraid you'll have to be beheaded." The king said plainly. His smile grew wider, "You will be participating with the other young men to put an end to this... condition."

         My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. Great. Now I was going to partake in an unnecessary ceremony of manhood. The King gave me a stern glare as his bushy black eyebrows framed his wrinkly, tired face.

         "Normally a young lady like yourself would not be tasked with this kind of responsibility. But we have no choice. It must be an honor for you, I suppose." Before I could say another word, he waved his hand, and strong hands grabbed my shoulders to usher me out.

         "Your Majesty!" I pleaded. But it was too late. The doors shut tight. 

         I was quickly led through a dimly lit hallway towards the main square. We entered a grand, open room where the windows mirrored the bright blue sky above us. As we walked closer, what seemed to be a bunch of black ants slowly came into focus, revealing thousands of people; each waiting with their own knives, swords, and other weapons of choice. A jolt of adrenaline shot up my shoulders as I realized–they were all young men. It was like being a sheep among wolves. I swallowed the giant knot in my throat and straightened my shoulders. An eery silence fell upon the room as I walked through the crowd; I felt their eyes looking up and down my body, assessing the new competition.

         Hushed murmurs of "What’s a girl doing here?" spread like quiet wildfire as the guards led me to the head of the room. A tiny, wrinkly, old man with circle rimmed glasses sat behind a wooden table. An amused smile briefly flashed across his face as he glanced at me.

         "The King wants an exception to his command, sir," one of the guards reported. The old man nodded slowly and adjusted his glasses to see the manuscript in front of him.

         "Ah yes, Alma Riverland, you will be competing with the other young men to defeat a sea troll," he said calmly.

         "WHAT?" I yelled. Pushing the guards away, I strode closer to the old man and took a look at the document. He didn't even look up. A chatter of voices filled the hall as the men began to grab their bags and weapons. One by one, they began to leave the hall with shouts and fists thrown high in the air. In desperation I turned around to see if there was anyone else who had a brain. But no one seemed to stay behind. The old man at the table gave me a map and wished me the best of luck.

         "I wonder about these tasks, my dear," the old man sighed. "But when you have a daughter who is going through a curse, you can't help it. You think about what you can also get out of it. Like pest control."

         "Pest control is done by soldiers, sir. Not by a young girl who is training to be a merchant," I retorted. I gave him my best look of desperation, but he said nothing more. As I looked around for other contestants, a familiar pair of cold green eyes stuck out in the room. It was the same young man I had seen in the front of the gate. With his glaring eyes, he was the only one who hadn't left shouting energetically. If anything, he looked busy. As our eyes briefly met, he frowned and walked away with the rest of them.

                                                                                                      ~*~

Apparently, looking for a sea troll is harder than looking for normal troll. So far all this "walking around rivers" strategy hasn't done much, except for the occasional talking fish that promise to become a prince after a kiss. I always tell them that I'd rather have them for dinner instead. A real fish prince would tell me that he had something I wanted, like three wishes or an endless amount of silk fabrics. I need more useful, tangible resources. Sleeping against a tree is not what I had in mind, but when you're on a quest, it's part of the experience.