Quest of the Bounty Hunter: Kidnapped

Eve

Eve had been raising dragons for as long as she could remember. When she was young, her father had taught her everything she needed to know from how to feed them to how to train them to fly. Eve knew that she shouldn't grow attached to the beasts because they might be bought someday, but her love for dragons grew each day.

Her favorites were Sparkfly, a one-year old female, and Darken, a strong ten-year old male who had been her very first dragon.

Most dragons can fly by the age of 5, but Darken had been flying since he was three and Eve was six. Eve's leisure time was spent on Darken's back swooping through the clouds.

Since they lived on the outskirts of the Dead Lands near Agswal, there weren't many people to complain if Eve flew wherever she wanted.

A week ago, Eve had been out flying Darken and was about to land in the pastures, when a messenger from the castle of Meldest had ridden up to their barnhouse on a horse.

The horse spooked Darken who threw Eve ten feet into the air before she came crashing down in front of the messenger.
He looked at her in shock before she jumped to her feet.

Clearing his throat, he spoke, "A letter from her Highness, Princess Marie of Meldest addressed to the Dragon Tamers of the Dead Lands. Presumably you."

He handed her a scroll wrapped in gold and blue ribbons, the colors of Meldest, before galloping down the road, northward toward the kingdom of Meldest.

Intrigued, Eve hurried inside and bolted up the stairs into her room. Sitting at her desk, she carefully untied the ribbons and unfurled the letter.

Unlike what she had expected from a royal castle, the letter was written on regular parchment and was not embellished in any way. The letter read:

Dragon Tamers of the Dead Lands,
I, the princess, am in need of dragons. I have heard that your business is trustworthy and that you have the best dragons in all the Royal Lands- the five kingdoms. Send me back a letter with how many you have available.
There was a noticeable change in the rest of the writing from here. It was no longer in a flowing cursive, but in a quick jotted hand.
You must tell no one this but my father is not sick. He is trying to take over the all five kingdoms in the Royal Lands with the help of your dragons and a secret army he is building. I am the only other person who knows this and I am trusting you with this information and the hope that you can stop him, for I cannot. This is confidential and I know that you will share it with no one but those you trust most to aid me.
Signed,
Princess Marie of Meldest

Eve gulped after reading the contents of the letter. The king was well? Everyone in all the kingdoms had thought him too sick to leave bed for the past ten years. All this new information made Eve's head spin. A secret army? Her dragons fighting?

Also, Eve knew no one that she trusted besides her father because of where they lived, detached in the Dead Lands. And she couldn't tell her father this. She trusted him, yes, but she had no idea what he would do if he knew what she did.

Would no one be able to save the princess and the Royal Lands from King Ewill?

In her letter back she would have to tell the princess that she knew no one who could help her. She started to write, but couldn't bring herself to tell the princess what a letdown she was. No, she would find someone who could help. Eve would leave that night. She had to. She would fly off on Darken to Agswal and find a person she trusted. Quickly, Eve finished the letter, mentioning nothing about stopping the king, and sealed it with red wax in the shape of a small dragon.

Eve grabbed her knapsack off its hook on her wall and stuck the letter inside. She also grabbed her small pouch of gold and coins, an extra cloak and outfit, a small dragon whip used to train baby dragons but could also be used as a weapon, and her writing supplies wrapped in leather hide.

With these in her bag and bag on her back, Eve had set out to let out Darken and wait for night to fall.
She had run into a Royal Messenger two days into her trip and had him deliver her first letter to Princess Marie.

Now a week into her expedition, she had yet to find someone she trusted.

Eve had explored so many streets, buildings, and town squares that she began to lose hope. No one seemed ready to leap at the chance to do something that might get them killed. Of course, she didn't tell anyone what they would actually be doing but the thought of breaking a law and doing something illegal convinced everyone to turn the job down.

Eve had also yet to send a letter admitting her lack of trusted people to fight the king for Princess Marie. She knew enough of Agswal to know that the letter wouldn't remain closed if she trusted a regular messenger to take the message. Eve also hadn't seen another Royal Messenger since the first one.

Eve hadn't wanted to confront the matter but deep down... she knew that she would have to deliver the news herself.