The Crown, The Elixir, The Sword (on hiatus)

Introductions

"Anne, I know it's your birthday and all, but would you mind sharing your room for the night?" Hop Pop asked, bringing out some food.

"Yeah, sure." Anne said, turning toward Sasha and Marcy. "Come on."

Anne led the way down the trap door into her room, hopping onto the floor, Marcy and scanned the space. In front of them was a small bed with a white and pale blue quilt, under the bed was a fluffy carpet the colour of moss. the wall to their right had a hand crafted dresser of dark oak, with a mirror above it. The place was clearly not meant to be a bedroom.

"Well this is... cozy." Marcy said hesitantly, then she yelped as Sasha elbowed her side.

"I- I mean, you have a whole floor to yourself... lucky." She said,

Sasha stared at Marcy then turned toward Anne.

"Thank you for your hospitality, your high-" she stopped suddenly then corrected herself, "you are very kind."

Sasha's shoulders tensed as an embarrassed hue came across her face. The three girls stood in awkward silence, Marcy fidgeted with the charm hanging from her bag and Sasha shuffled her feet.

"Well you can put your stuff down against the wall and set up your bedrolls there." she said pointing toward the floor in front of them.

She turned and walked over to her bed, sitting down she watched the other two closely. Sasha and Marcy dropped their bags down by the wall and pulled out their bed rolls.

"So," Anne said, breaking the silence, "what kind of quest are you on?"

Marcy looked up from the sleeping bag.

"We are looking for certain artifacts," she said, glancing at Sasha to make sure she wasn't saying too much.

"What kind of artifacts? are they magic or something?" Anne said, leaning forward.

"Umm-"

"What's with all the questions?" Sasha jumped in, "we said it was a special quest from the Queen. that usually means top secret."

"Well first of all, you are not only in my home, but in my room. It's only fair if you answer some of my questions." Anne said, turning toward Sasha.

"What?!" Sasha growled. "we can't just tell you confidential -"

"Sash," Marcy interrupted. "It's alright."

She looked at Anne.

"We can't say certain things, but we can try to answer some questions."

Anne sat in silence for a few moments, thinking. Then she looked back at the two girls.

"What's the city like?"

"That's your question?" Sasha said, "You could literally ask anything and you ask about the city?"

"I've never been. Hop Pop goes once a year, but we aren't allowed to go with him." Anne took a deep breath, then continued. "I'm not even allowed to leave the county, I've just always wondered."

Marcy Scooted forward.

"Well, it's very different from the countryside. All day the streets are filled with the bustling of people, very loud. But then at night, thousands of candles are lit, filling the city full of dazzling light."

"And the city is huge. it's so easy to get lost in there." Sasha added.

"the lights.." Anne said, gazing out the window.

after a moment of silence the hatch above them opened, and Hop Pops head peeked through,

"Before y'all get settled into bed, why don't you have a bite to eat."

Anne jumped back to reality, looking up towards Hop Pop, her expression changed to confusion, maybe even a bit of anger.

"yeah, okay." she said standing up.

Anne walked past Sasha and Marcy, and towards the stairs the other two girls got up to follow. Marcy glanced at Sasha.

"You don't think-"

"that she's suspicious of the fact that she is the lost princess," Sasha interrupted, "of course not." she finished, sarcasm creeping into her voice.

The girls followed Anne up the stairs and into a small dining room, they sat down at the table where some snacks had been set. Anne didn't pay much attention to the food, while Sasha and Marcy ate quickly. After a few long minutes, the two finished eating and relaxed until bed, they talked with their hosts and learned about the town. Eventually the three girls went back downstairs to sleep.