Once, in a far away land, where the sky was always blue and the grass was the greenest green, there lived a lovely queen. Her name was Queen Caralin Desiree Miriam Joyce Haroy, but everyone simply called her Queen Cara. She was kind and fair, as well as stern and just. She loved all her people, and all her people loved her. Many people worked in her castle, but they were not slaves. They were happy to serve the queen.
One of the servants in the castle was a very young girl, no older than nine, named Indigo. Queen Cara dearly loved Indigo. The queen didn’t have any children, so Indigo was something like a daughter to her. But the queen was very fair, so she didn’t want to play favorites among her maids. And yet, the royal woman had no children to pass the throne to. She needed a child and she wanted Indigo.
Then came that faithful day. The day the queen solved her problems. The day Indigo stopped washing dishes. The day of the quest. Every year, on the first day of spring, the queen’s kingdom celebrated a very special occasion. It was Questing Day, the day all young men looked forward to. On Questing Day, Queen Cara would assign a quest to one very lucky boy.
Sadly, Questing Day wasn’t like what it used to be. There were no quests to be completed. The year before this particular holiday, a seventeen year old boy was asked to find Queen Cara two large goose eggs. The boy’s family raised geese, so all he had to do was walk to his backyard and then to the royal palace.
The queen was sitting in front of her vanity, brushing her hair and dreaming up a simple task for that afternoon. Suddenly, she realized how Questing Day could help her get her greatest desire. Queen Cara quickly finished her hair and hurried down to the large steps before the castle entrance. All the people in the land were gathered around the bottom step. “Hello, my good civilians!” “Hello, your Majesty!” they called and waved. “Today,” the queen continued. “Is Questing Day, and I have a quest for one very lucky girl in my castle!” The people looked around. Then the whispers began. “A girl? On a quest?” “That’s man’s work!” “And from her castle too!”
Queen Cara held up her hand in silence. “I know what you are all thinking, but do not be too quick to judge. This girl is very loyal, very kind, and has a heart of gold. Her name is Indigo.” All eyes landed on the small girl. One man shouted “She nothing but a servant!” The queen shot him a look. “And what are you? Nothing but a villager. I am nothing but a queen; we are all nothing but people, so I don’t believe Indigo’s status has anything to do with this situation.” Many nodded. A few shouted “Here, here!”
“Now,” The queen continued. “Because it is the first day of spring, Indigo’s task is to find true robin’s egg blue. Not a blue that might be robin’s egg, not a blue that sort of looks like robin's egg, a blue that is so robin’s egg blue, it’s unmistakable.” She turned to face the girl. “Can you do that, dear?” “Y-yes.” Indigo stuttered. “But please miss, why do you choose me and not a strong young man, or an older maid?” The queen smiled kindly. “Child, I choose you because your name is such a beautiful shade of blue, I feel you with find the task to be in your element. Now go fetch a bag of food from the cooks. You journey begins now.”