The Clockwork Princess

The Girl. The Oaf. The Beginning.

"All I'm saying is it's a death wish. Nearly two decades since that damn Princess was cursed now and still, no one has found even a clue about where the heart is," Eugan stated as he gulped down the rest of his drink.

He'd always been like this. A know-it-all washed up adventurer who always gave up far too easily. Sure, no one had found even a hint of a clue about where the Princess's heart was hidden — and no, it wasn't from a lack of trying — but that didn't mean it was a lost cause.

Amara rolled her eyes. "Just because no one has found anything doesn't mean it isn't out there. I mean why else would the king still be sending people after it?"

"Because he's desperate, obviously," Eugan sighed, "I mean, who wouldn't be? His daughter was turned into a mindless automaton. He'll lose his mind before he gives up on breaking that damn curse."

"And why shouldn't we? Everyone says the state of the Kingdom is worse than it has ever been. Eldoria was once a place of peace and prosperity. All I've ever known it as is this rundown town where everyone must fight to survive. So what if we go mad trying to change things? Aren't we mad already if we leave things how they are?" she argued.

She wasn't wrong, you know — not that Eugan would ever admit it — but in the years that had passed since the Princess was cursed all of Eldoria had fallen into disarray. The king was almost mad with grief. First, he had lost his wife and now his only child was a heartless machine. Famine had returned in tenfold. Fields were producing just barely enough crops to feed a few families and what little livestock was left was riddled with disease.

It was all Amara had ever known it to be. She was supposed to be born into a golden age. Instead, she was born on one of the darkest days for all Eldoria — the very day Malgrim cast his sinister curse.

Eugan scoffed and reached for another pitcher of ale. "Well, love, you fancy yourself an adventurer, don't you? Why don't you go and look for it yourself? It would do us all a favour by shutting you up!"

The tavern roared with laughter, as it did whenever Eugan made one of his remarks, but Amara was used to the ridicule. She had come from a lost nobility. A family that had everything ripped out from under them in the days following the Princess's curse — a curse that had torn apart the very foundations holding Eldoria together. It was another reason she had to see this through, to undo what Malgrim the Banished had done. She could not restore all that was lost, but she could at least change things for the better.

"Maybe I will," she answered, full of vigour, "I am not afraid of what's in that forest. Unlike most of you so-called 'adventurers' here."

With the slam of his pitcher splinting wood from the rickety old table, Eugan sprung to his feet. "What did you say?"

Amara stood tall — though not quite as tall as Eugan, who stood at sizeable six-foot two — and jutted out her chin. "You heard me, you cowardly oaf!"

The tavern fell into a sudden hush, the air charged with tension as Eugan's face burnt a shade of red akin to the colour of his unruly beard. Amara met his furious gaze with an unwavering determination. She was going to find that clockwork heart and rescue the Princess — no, all of Eldoria — and she would do it all just to finally prove herself a capable and courageous adventurer. A hero — if such a thing ever existed.

The flickering candlelight cast dancing shadows on the worn wooden walls as the patrons of the vagrant tavern held their breath, knowing Eugan was fit to explode.

His body towered over her, fists clenching and eyes narrowing into slits. Even his teeth ground together, jaw tight and veins protruding as he spoke through his teeth, "You dare insult the very essence of adventuring, girl? There are horrors in that forest that would make your noble blood curdle."