The Trials and Tribulations of Being a Princess

Lisbeth stormed to her room and jumped on the bed to scream in her pillow. She felt soft fur against her arm and looked over at her pet fox, Lynx
“My good madam what in Heaven’s name is bothering you now?”
She smiled at the small animal and his fancy vocabulary. She’d been given him as a present when she was small and her mother was ill. He only spoke to her because he didn’t trust anyone else.
“Hello Lynx. That knight is such a pain.”
“Ah yes, the quest starts today, right? And I’m guessing I can’t talk you out of tagging along?”
“Never. Now the plan is that we’ll meet Jace in the wine cellar since it will be our only way out.”
After she explained the details all that was left was to pack up some things. That took only a few minutes and then she and her companion were on their way to the wine cellar. It was a bit harder than it sounded. They snuck down the stairs, through the kitchen and into the cellar, dodging guards and being completely silent. Once in the cellar she pulled her cloak tighter around her, feeling a draft in the dark stone room. The princess looked around for her friend and then felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and resisted the urge to punch him for sneaking up on her.
“Ready?”
He nodded and they moved deeper into the bowls of the castle. After about fifty feet they took a left and were at a wall. Lisbeth felt around the wall in the dark for a second and then pressed on one of the misshapen stones on the right side. It gave way and the wall pushed back slightly. Jace stepped up and helped her push it back enough so that they could slip in and close it on the other side.
Once out of the castle walls they turned to look at the foreboding forest before them. This will be a long journey, thought Lisbeth as they took their first steps into the forest. Lynx stayed close to his mistress’ side as they entered the forest. Strange animals could be heard throughout the darkness. Fortunately none of the three were afraid of these woods. They had grown up playing in them and Lynx had been born there. It was a home away from home.
Before long they had caught up to the hunting party. They stayed a good 100 feet behind them at all times and when they camped for the night Lisbeth and Jace set up their own sleeping area.
“Okay, the dragon was last seen at the Resker village, a three day journey from here, hence the urgency. Now when we get there, we’ll let them go in first. If they happen to defeat the dragon then we won’t need to step in.” Lisbeth drew out a little map while she spoke.
Lynx yelped. “Wait, step in? I thought we were merely going to see a real dragon.”
Jace chuckled at that. “Silly fox, dragons eat people. That thing can’t stay around and those want wits will only get themselves killed. Lisbeth is the best with a sword in this whole land. If she can’t stop this thing then no one can.”
Lisbeth felt her cheeks heat up at that. “Well thank you, Jace. Well we should get some sleep. We have almost no time to prepare for this.”
The next morning they cleaned up their camp and were off to follow the knight and his men again. Around noon they passed through one of the demolished villages that the dragon had gotten too. The houses had been burned to the ground with bodies piled up in a wall of misery and decay. Lisbeth stopped when she noticed a small children’s toy on the ground. It was a plush bear wearing red armor. She stroked the bear’s face before putting it back with the child it had belonged to. Her resolve set in stone now. She would be the one to kill the beast.
The day passed quickly. Lisbeth stared at their camp fire that night. Jace sat beside her and ruffled her hair.
“Hey there, what are you thinking about?”
“This is going to be dangerous. You and Lynx should head home.”
He scoffed. “No. We’re not leaving you. Come on we’ve done worse together. Remember the time that we proved Old Witch Haggers was trying to eat children? We almost got eaten ourselves when we infiltrated her hideout. And when we figured out who was killing the sheep on Sir Anderson’s farm?”
“Oh yeah! We almost didn’t get away from that one!” she giggled and looked at him.
He hugged her tight and smiled. “We’ll be fine.”
“Oh don’t be so sure about that. Once the King hears about this, his daughter with a lowly servant. Ha.” Came the malice filled voice of the Knight.
His men grabbed them and pulled them apart. Lisbeth glared at him and struggled for freedom until the armor clad man held her too tight for her to move. Jace fought as well but was met by a hard right hook to the head and unconsciousness.
“You’ll be joining us and explaining yourself to your father when we return. Let’s go.”
They were brought to the Knight’s camp for the night.