How It All Begins

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)

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