((Well... if no-one else is gonna start, I can try...
))
Alina sighed, head in hands as she stared out at the gardens. The search to find the missing King was due to set out in a week, and she had volunteered to take one of the five places in it. Not many people were wanted on it for fear that it would make them too conspicuous. However, most people would want to remain in the comfort of the castle anyway, Alina had been the first volunteer.
Part of the reason for her volunteering so quickly was the slightly oppressive mood in the castle. No-one was particularly happy about the King's disappearance, especially because it was so close to the time of his upcoming marriage to Princess Nathariel. And, as well as this, the excursion would be headed past the area where Alina's home, and the spring she looked after was. She hadn't visited it in a while, and it would be nice to see it again. If the reason for the journey hadn't been so worrying, Alina would have been quite excited.
((Is that ok?)