It's easy to say something's really important to you when you don't have it anymore. The past couple of days have been a blur. Nicholas successfully changed back into a human. Nothing like a little crows feet and frog eyes to change a bird back into a prince. The servants say that Sorren cured him. Wherever Sorren seems to be, I still don't know. The king has been getting more demanding and antsy.

                                                                                            ~*~

         "Your Majesty, she's just getting ready, it takes a lot of preparation to find an object when no one knows its location." I heard his advisors say.

         "It's been four days since I commanded her to go," he howled. "What if she's been using the other men to try and solve the missions for her?" A loud clang erupted in the hall as the king threw his golden cup on the ground. My blood boiled as I heard them talk. But I stayed put, right behind the door.

         "Time is running out, Your Majesty," an older advisor warned. "If Princess Juniper isn't cured of her curse soon enough, we'll never find someone willing to marry her like that." I heard footsteps as they paced slowly around the room.

         "If Juniper doesn't find a man to marry her, then what will we do? She's the only chance I have...for our kingdom's future. If there's no cure, she’ll have to be sent to the nunnery," King Alberdeen said. I gripped my fists. Taking a deep breath, I decided to walk away before my temper got the better of me.

         As I walked back towards the pantry, I saw Ernest carrying a pile of wood towards the main shed. When he noticed me, he ran over and grabbed my arm tightly. I yelped and instinctively stomped on his foot. He swore and stepped back.

         "Gah, you can't go around just grabbing people like that! Didn't you learn any manners when you were little?" I yelled as I rubbed the sore spot on my arm.

         He shrugged. "You can't expect a farmer's son to have ever learned manners. And for your information, I have a good reason to." He crossed his arms. "The necklace. You had it all this time. Where is it?" He tapped his foot and glared.

         "If I knew that right now, I would have given it to the King the minute he ordered us," I retorted. I never really understood why boys think it's okay to just grab people and drag them around whenever they want. "And besides, if you really think about it, you and Nicholas are alive because of me." I stuck out my tongue and walked away.

         As I walked down the halls of the castle, I saw another boy that I did not want to see. Sorren had been sullen ever since I told him the necklace was gone. He wasn't present during any announcements from the King nor sent any secret messages to strike deals. Thankfully, he poofed away without even saying anything.

         As I looked outside, I saw the princess playing with her ladies-in-waiting. Beautifully dressed in white, she almost looked like an angel from the way the sun gently touched her golden hair. She delightfully threw around a golden ball with them as she giggled. I felt relieved to know that she was at least having some fun. I suddenly wondered if it was possible for the princess to live happily without curing the curse. I kicked the grown underneath my feet and sighed. 

​

         After a while, the King could no longer hold his patience. Calling Nicholas, Ernest, and I up to the main room, he sat on his throne with his legs crossed. With a red cape and a royal blue suit, the bold colors clashed as he looked more like an angry clown. Putting his hands over his eyes, he sighed grandly.

         "Young men….er women." He cleared his throat. "I commanded you to find that winged pigs charm." With his dark circles extending below his eyes, he rested his face on a prepared pillow next to him. "The princess cannot wait any long. Prove that you are worthy so that you can solve the curse."

         "Or perhaps Your Majesty could send us off to find the cure already," I suggested. Before the King could roar in anger, Ernest quickly butt in. "We understand, Your Majesty. We will proceed to leave immediately," he said, and walked out of the room. Nicholas swished his curly locks out of his face and grandly bowed before exiting. With an expectant look, the king turned to look at me. Instead of curtseying, which I knew was expected of a young woman, I simply frowned.

         "Your Majesty, I hope you know that I am someone you can trust," I emphasized each word. The King looked at me with a fake smile. It was fake because it did not reach his cold, dark eyes.

         "I do know that you always somehow bring what I want," he smirked. He was not taking me seriously.

         "If you question my work ethic, I would suggest that you follow me around and see if I'm doing the job right," I smiled back, not backing down. "You don't need to worry about me. At least I get the job done," I made a slicing motion across the neck and chuckled. The king huffed and gripped his throne. With a grand bow that rivaled Nicholas's, I walked out. 

         From behind the King hissed, "Children that do not recognize authority are the scariest. They have nothing to fear." Sounds of roaring and whining erupted in the halls as the servants comforted their king. But He was wrong. I was scared of everything. I gripped my hands around my knife and made way for the stables. This time I would have to do things differently.

         Ernest, Nicholas, and I galloped across the wild plains, coming across many more woodland thieves and fire fairies than we would have liked. With no necklace, I was forced to fight with the only thing I knew: persuasion. But convincing them to make peace only provoked them. Soon, what started out as a couple days of travel became weeks.

         "Didn't you leave it back at the sorceress’s castle?" Ernest asked. Traveling had taken a tole on the farmer boy, and I found that he asked a lot more pointed questions when he was on edge. Nicholas constantly complained about the quality of his hair.

         "It's not as soft anymore," he whined. "I need my rose-filled baths."

         "We traveled back there, and you know that we couldn't find it," I said.

         "The rose baths?"

         "No, you idiot, the necklace!" Ernest yelled.

         "How dare you address me as an idiot! I'll have you know that I am the prince of an esteemed kingdom in the land of –"

         "Look, if we don't keep looking, at this rate you'll be too ashamed to return back to your kingdom," I snapped. I wiped sweat from my brow and cursed my stupidity. It was my fault for losing something that I once thought was useless. It was the most important thing that could save my life, and I didn't have it.

         As we rode past the valleys and the rivers, we came across a small cottage surrounded by lilies. Tying my horse to a post near the path, I walked closer to the cottage in hopes that there would at least be a place to rest. Carefully avoiding the lilies that were peppered around the field, we made our way through the tall grass and knocked on the door. There was no response. I knocked again, only to find that the door was already opened. Something felt off, but I figured that the lady who lived here was busy picking flowers or something. Before I could think, Nicholas pushed the door open wide and strode through the main room.

         "This is a perfect place for us to rest our heads. Lady? We would like to stay for the night!" he called out into the house. As Ernest and I stepped in, we found that the outward, tiny cottage was all a lie. The inside was a spacious, open ground with stairs that reached higher levels that seemed impossible from the outside. Nicholas wasted no time in exploring the room and calling what he presumed to be the owner of the place. Ernest refused to touch things.

         "We don't know whose place this is. It could be dangerous," he whispered as Nicholas laughed at a wooden painting. I picked up a small bronze pig. Shaped more like a ball than an animal, it's mindlessly happy smile seemed to scream with good fortune. Before I could took a look at the other pig objects, I felt Ernest gently pull at my sleeves.

         "Thank you for not attacking me like last time," I joked. He avoided my eyes and stared at the wall of pig drawings.

         "I'm not an idiot. I just don't know much," he muttered.

         "Are you apologizing because you know that we'll probably be beheaded when we return?" I laughed, then immediately realized what I just said. Ernest did not laugh.

         "Don't make this hard for me. It's not like I enjoy admitting things like this. But at least I'm trying to improve." Looking at Nicholas, I heard him add, "But at least if we do get beheaded, I'll know that I did the right thing." I slapped his shoulder and tried to laugh, but deep down I knew Ernest and I were thinking the same thing. The chances of succeeding this test were as possible as a regular frog becoming a prince. Ernest was trying to tie ends well before it was the end for all of us all. My stomach churned at the thought.

         "Is there a woman that lives in this house?" Nicholas continued to loudly pace across the cottage. "Surely it must be. After all, a man wouldn't contain so many strange little pig objects around in his own home." Holding up a pink pig figurine, Nicholas's annoying melodious laugh echoed the rooms.

         Suddenly a hand appeared and covered his mouth. Both Nicholas and the hand vanished into thin air before Ernest and I could call for him. Then, almost in an instant, the hand returned with Nicholas tightly gripped. The hand belonged to a face that I had commonly seen in castle hallways.

         It was Sorren.

         "What are you…?" The words wouldn't fully come out of my mouth. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ernest slowly retreat behind me.

         "I have a deal for you." Something in Sorren's eyes looked off, as if he wasn't really himself. "But you can't tell anyone." Without looking away, he took a necklace out of his pockets and dangled it in front of my eyes. Confused, my eyes focused on a golden flicker. Ernest's eyes opened wide. My stomach dropped.

         "The winged pigs...how did you get them?" I was dumbfounded. "Where did you find it?" In relief, I grabbed at the necklace, but he quickly stepped back and snatched it out of reach. In confusion, I looked at him and saw that Sorren was not the same person that I knew. He was no longer smiling. His eyes had grown dark and very cold.

         "When you steal something that's not yours, it's required that you bring it back." His eyes pierced mine as he slowly formed a contorted smile. "Your parents don't seem to understand the concept of fair exchange. They thought they could get away with a couple fake Sapphire crowns when they visited, but I want more." He pointed straight me. "I expected their firstborn daughter."

         I rolled my eyes. "Well, clearly you made a bad deal. Don't you know that traders make the best deal for themselves? You made the decision to sell it to them. And besides, it's a bit to late to have the firstborn. Especially when she's all grown up." I smirked. My knees barely stood up as I held my ground. My parents had stolen the necklace from Sorren.

         Sorren laughed bitterly as he threw Nicholas aside. The prince crashed against the wall and crumpled in the corner. Grabbing his sword, Ernest pointed it towards the warlock, his green eyes flashed with anger.

         "You must be pretty stupid to hurt the prince. But you'll have to get through me before you can get to her." He spaced his feet apart and took in a deep breath, his eyes never leaving the warlock. But he slowly dropped his sword as a shadow began to grow around and above him. In front of my eyes, I saw a great black figure unlike anything I had ever seen. The great dragon who was pillaging neighborhoods wasn't just anyone. Sorren was the great black dragon. Every part of me wanted to scream and run. But part of me also wanted to talk. Fighting with a sword was useless when I was against a warlock dragon. Slowly I pushed Ernest aside. Refusing to back down, he tried to step forward, but I blocked him.

         "You don't need to worry about him getting through you. This isn't because of you. It's because of me." I attempted a casual laugh as I stepped forward. "So I want to be the one fixing the problem." 

         I turned to face the beast.

         The dragon let out a horrifying laugh. Fire spread everywhere as I saw deep into the dragon's mouth. Time almost seemed to slow down as I saw a great ball of fire growing inside. There was nothing I could do. But a small voice inside refused to just die. So I did what I could.

         I threw the bronze pig at his mouth.

         Now, if this was any other story, I would have told you that it was that moment that I realized I could defeat the evil warlock without the help of men, and therefore that I was a woman unlike any other. In all honesty, I wanted to pee in my tunic. Never had I been so scared. But I knew that if there was one thing my parents taught me, it was to use my resources. So with all the energy I had, I cocked my arm back and threw the pig, expecting it to not do much.

         It went straight down his throat.

         Sorren began to choke as he fell back. "Ach...I can’t breath!" he gasped for air. As the dragon thrashed and twirled, the pig figures flew around the air and crashed onto the floor. The house was falling apart. The more he thrashed, the smaller he became. When he was done flailing, he was a young man. I ran towards him and pulled the necklace away from his hands. Holding it closely to my mouth, I said the words, "Silly pigs, pair of wings, cannot fly, but things you fix. Listen closely to my spell, and angry souls can change as well." I crossed my fingers. With Nicholas lying in the corner, and Ernest yelling from behind, I knew that a spell against a warlock might not work. But part of me desperately wanted to at least try. In the short time that I knew him, Sorren was a friend that I could trust, even if he was a dragon with a bizarre pig obsession. If that failed, I could always just grab the two of them and start running again.

         Sorren continued to choke. Tears began to stream out of his eyes. Quickly, I ran over and pushed my fists against his stomach. Doubling over, he hacked out the bronze pig. I checked his eyes for consciousness, but Sorren was out cold.

         Waiting for Nicholas to run in and pretend to save the day, Ernest and I watched the crumpled prince in the corner of the room. Instead, Nicholas looked over towards Sorren. He stayed sitting, and his blue eyes looked muted.

         "I'm done with this whole quest, test business," he sighed. His real voice returned, sounding lower and scratchy. Hearing it once by the mud, I recognized the real voice of Nicholas. "I'm going home and telling my parents that I want to be scholar instead. I never liked sword fighting anyways." He tousled his curly locks, which fell more flat from his nervous sweat. Ernest shook his head and let out a weak laugh. It was lighthearted and bright; completely different from his usually low, quiet voice. I began to slowly laugh as well. Looking at the item in my hands, I felt the familiar feeling of safety returning to my gut. The winged pigs had returned.

                                                                                            ~*~

         We arrived back to the castle within a few days. Thankfully our horses had not run out on us. Plopping both Sorren and the necklace into the King's hands was both immensely satisfying but also worrying. Sorren and I regained our friendship after hours and hours of explanation and apologies. Turns out the necklace had been given to him by his mother, and when he found out my parents had stolen it, he couldn't contain his fury. Sorren let go of his obsessive pig collection and has gone back to the books. His moppy dark locks are now chopped and clean behind his eyes, making him look more like his own age. He's even wearing royal wizard robes and hasn't left the library since. The king hasn't said much about the necklace. The minute I gave it to him, all he did was giggle with glee. Something tells me he isn't going to use it for good.

Early morning. Summer Season.  Throne Room, day 41.