Once upon a time in the kingdom of Alistair, there lived in a beautiful palace, a king and his three daughters. The oldest, Esmerelda, was beautiful and graceful but not very bright. The second, Eldoris, was not as beautiful and graceful as her oldest sister but she was very smart. Then there was the youngest, Katerina, surpassing the beauty of her two older sisters; she was also the wisest and kindest throughout the entire kingdom. The king loved his three daughters dearly providing them with every luxury available. Then one day an envelope arrived. It was from the largest empire, Chasin and inside it contained a letter.

“To all princesses of kingdoms near and far you are invited to the Golden Palace to compete in three quests that were to last about seven days. The purpose of the quests were to show the qualities the future empress should have. The quests included  traveling to the golden tree and preparing an astounding bouquet to show creation and life, locating a craftsman to paint an exquisite portrait to show her use of the arts, and the final quest was to pull the giant metal jar back to the castle to show her strength and responsibility.  The winner was to marry the crown prince soon to be emperor, Amir, and one of her future kids would inherit the right to succeed the throne of her native kingdom. Good Luck to all the contestants.”

    With this news squeals of princesses echoed from palaces all over the world. Kingdoms near and far quickly started preparations for what was known as the princess quest. The King of Alistair too quickly set up preparations, for he knew that one of his daughters would win the heart of the prince and was to rule the empire, Chasin. Katerina, unlike her sisters and other princesses, did not want to leave home, but she wanted to participate to make her father happy.   A month later it was time. All the princesses, two maids each, and their personal guards boarded their best carriages. Each princess rode to the empire with a bit of worry as well as uncontrollable excitement. Although Katerina was not as excited as the rest. She felt mixed emotions about leaving her home and competing in quests just to marry someone she didn’t know nor love.

    Before her mothers passing the late queen would always tell her daughters the story of how she met the king and how it was love at first sight. She had also told her daughters that one day they too would meet someone that they would love very dearly. Every time she would tell the story Katerina would ask the same question “How will I know who my true love is?”

And her mother would answer with the same response “You just will.”

Thinking back on her mother’s words a single teardrop slid down her rosy cheeks then she muttered to herself “forgive me mother for I might be fated to a loveless marriage.”

After many days of traveling every princess from near and far finally reached the Golden castle. Upon arriving all princesses were given a week to relax, unpack, and socialize. Most princesses lounged by the pool or snuck into the Emerald palace to find the prince, except Katerina. Even her sisters couldn’t take it and decided to leave her to go socialize and make connections with the other princesses. Katerina, unlike the others, decided to stay in her room and read books off the large bookcase near the door. When the week of rest had ended the Emperor came out with his bellman to announce what was to happen for the following week.  (In a stern and loud voice)

    “Per my previous letter, thank you all very much for traveling from your native kingdoms to aid me in finding a princess for my son. It would have brought me joy if you could have met my son, the crown prince, but unfortunately he snuck out the palace last night leaving a note saying he would like to enjoy the last bit of freedom he had left. Though you will meet him on the final day.  It saddened me to know that many of you in weeks time will return to your kingdoms, but it also brought me great pleasure to know that one of you will be joining my family as my daughter-in-law. Allow me to remind you that you are to be alone while going on this quest so no maids or personal guards. I will be providing protection for each princess from the shadows. I would also like to remind you that if you try anything against the rules you will be disqualified from the contest immediately and escorted back to the palace by a shadow knight. The rules include no sabotage of any sort, pairing up with each other, and no dawdling. Eat a hearty meal and prepare for departure first thing tomorrow. Good luck to all contestants and may the best princess win.”

    When the sun struck the next day the princesses saddled their horses, grabbed a  magic pouch filled with gold, and departed. Eventually all the princesses were gone including Katerina even though she sulked as she galloped on her horse. When the big clock struck noon Katerina hopped off her horse and walked into what looked like an inn for lunch. No one there was aware that she was a princess since her outfit was rather plain and she was not going to tell anyone about it either. That's what she thought until she walked inside. What she thought was an inn was actually a pub and aside from the noise, alcoholic smell, and shady people there was no way for them to not think she was royalty based on the way she acted. Katerina had never acted normal in her life and she didn’t find a reason to need to either so when the waiter asked her,

“What can I do for you little lady?”

She answered with the most normal voice she could muster “ I’ll have the grilled cheese sandwich please and thank you.”

After she ate she continued her journey in search of the Golden tree. Rumor had it that in search of the tree many came across talking animals that sent them into waves of great shock causing them to be mentally unstable. Katerina on the other hand paid no mind to the rumors for they were just rumors. Upon looking for a place to stay a young man came to the rescue by offering his home for her to stay one night. Because Katerina was quite close to the tree, it was getting late so there could be weirdos walking around, and he was the  one offering her a place to stay. She gratefully accepted and followed him. On the way there the stranger introduced himself as Mir to which she replied her name was Kat. For some reason Katerina’s heart thumped widely inside her chest whenever she made eye contact with Mir and she was sure he could feel it too even though it looked like he had no emotion.