The king sat, looking out of a large open window. In front of him was the same piece of bread he'd been slowly ripping apart and eating for the last hour or two. The king shook his head as he took another bite; the coldness of the loaf touched his tongue, losing its heat long before. From behind him another man approached. Holding a tray of warm rolls.
"Sire, do you wish to continue eating that crust?? The ovens have been generous this morning." The king only gave a glance to the butler before taking another bite. From beside him, the butler nodded, setting down the tray and approaching the king. "Your," the butler looked down at the king, slowly chewing the gutted roll. "Distress, from the young miss, I presume?" The king nodded, finally swallowing the bite he'd been abusing for so long.
"You know, I just don't know what happened; one day she was happy, joyous, not the most open type, but she was," The king jutted his hand out, as if showing off a new item. "Something, you know?" From beside him, the butler nodded. "But then, I don't know what it could've been, but she just stopped; it could've been 7, maybe even 8 years ago? As if someone reached in, drained out all of what made her her, and poured them down a gutter. And if not to make it all worse," the king slowly teared up as he tore off another slice of bread,
"I can't even send someone to save her, because even I forgot what she looks like, let alone the rest of the kingdom," the king finished off, burying his face in his now soggy wheat abomination. "Who wants to save someone that boring? You get her, and she's like, "Meh, you saved me, meh, uh, let's get married, I guess, meh." The king stated, rocking back and forth in his chair.
"Sire, don't be like that; anyone would be lucky to marry the young miss." The king turned towards his butler, tears welling up and a snot bubble coming from his nose. "Would you save her?" The butler looked down at the sight, almost disgusted. The king was sitting in front of him, a nearly 50-year-old man with puppy dog eyes and a snot bubble. With a cough, the butler took a step back. "Sire, don't you have a few men already on her trail? I assure you they will do well in returning the princess."
The king looked up, bright eyes looking at the butler. "Really?" the king said, clawing onto the butler's pants leg. "Yes, sire, now I beg of you to gain a more indignant posture." The king snapped back into reality, looking around and seeing his proximity to the floor. With swiftness many layers higher than a man his age, the king stood up, wiping his leaking nose with his robe before handing it to his butler. With a cough into his fist, the king spoke, "Take this to the cleaners; this never happened." The butler bowed before taking the cloak, saying, "I'd do well to forget this," before correcting himself, "I don't know what you're talking about, sire." The butler stated before leaving. The king turned back towards the window, his eyes zooming in on the 2 who were supposed to save his daughter.
Speaking of those two
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"Hm, uh, I think it's this way?" Mikey walked forward holding the map. "Is west up or down? No, no, that's east." From beside him, Nickel tugged at his ears, trying to blur out Mikey's rambling. "No, west is my left, or is it your left?" With a groan, Nickel responded. "Zere going ze same direction; ve haz ze same left," Mikey turned towards Nickel before looking up. "You're right, maybe we should've eaten before we left. Oh well, too late now."
"Zno, lookz." Nickel took the map from Mikey's hand before grabbing a stick. From beside him, Mikey looked confused. "Nickel, I don't think there's a secret path in the d—wait, Nickel, stop!" Mikey ran up and grabbed the stick from Nickel's hand. "Woo, that was close." From beside him, Nickel groaned at what he thought Mikey might say next.
"Your poking and prodding almost erased the path in the dirt. I think it leads to the forest of death." Mikey grabbed his chin, nodding up and down. "Mhm, I see it now; it's this way!" Before even grabbing the map back, Mikey started running down the path. From behind him, Nickel picked up the map and the stick before following.
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"Come on, Nickel, just a bit more this way." Mikey said, ushering the goblin forward. The goblin in question gripped its head in annoyance. "Zis iz ze same way!" Mikey turned towards where Nickel was pointing. On the ground was the line Nickel drew earlier. "No, that must be a coincidence." Mikey explained, trying to head forward before being stopped. "Youz haz zaid that Fizty zimes and run throughz ze zame bush forz the past hour!" Nickel spoke, his annoyance reaching an all-time high.
Mikey stopped to look at Nickel before sighing and sitting down. "Then where else do we go? It's like the forest is a maze."
"It is," a voice from behind Mikey spoke. "HUH?" Mikey jumped up, turning around to the voice. Nickel beside him, holding the stick like a makeshift club. Mikey stared wide-eyed; in front of him, a tree was visibly growing back a hole in its trunk. "There's no way that tree spoke, right, Nickel, right?" Mikey turned around, expecting to see his goblin companion, instead seeing an empty spot of air.
Only the faint patter of feet growing more distant as he spoke. "NICKEL WAIT!" Mikey shouted, his hand reaching forward as he ran after him. Had Mikey stayed, he would've seen a green ooze coming from the tree and a glowing green eye from inside the trunk.
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"Hah, hah." Mikey stood hunched over, trying to catch his breath. Beside him, Nickel sat on the ground looking at the map.
"Ze forezt iz no good, allz evilz." Mikey nodded, finally standing up. "But this is kind of good news." Nickel turned towards him, eyebrow raised. "Well, if the forest is evil, we're looking for an evil wizard; it must be the right one!" Nickel looked at Mikey before sitting his head back and laughing. "Youz iz vezy stupid boy. Youz noz zhat?" Mickey turned away. "I would look nice in a hat, but not now. We have a quest to do."
The wind pushed against Mikey's shirt, giving him almost a brave look. The orange rays of sundown landed on his face. From beside him, Nickel looked at him before tilting his head forward. "Zure, letz goez wiz zhat" Nickel paused before speaking again, "ze zunzets zoon, zhen what?"
Mikey looked up from his daydream. "The forest gets dark at night, much more dangerous. Should we wait?" Nickel looked at him confused. "Zes, zes, we zjould." Mikey shook his head. "No, that's what the wizard wants us to do, so he gets more time to keep the princess, but if we go at night." Mikey turned towards Nickel, a smile on his face. "Then they won't see us coming; they expect us to come during the day, not at night!"