Forever Praying

“It’s not as bad as you think, Princess Candide.” Aaden spoke as she sat on the floor, next to the wooden chair designated for the royalty in the room. Her brown hair fell past her shoulders now and her dress was quite dirty.

Candide was pacing around the circular room, a bit angry. She wanted to take place in the fight, or at least do something to help! Being locked up in a tower with not even a window couldn’t help anyone, no matter what her father said.

Aaden had been trying to soothe her for the past ten minutes but it wasn’t working. Every time the young woman closed her eyes all she saw was blood and the death of everyone she cared about. It wasn’t an image she was very fond of and she could only hope that it wasn’t reality.

“Come on, Miss, sit down, please. You’ll give yourself a headache.” Aaden continued and Candide could tell she was getting worried.

Sighing, the princess went and sat in the chair, trying to please her servant so she would stop fussing. Aaden immediately started to fiddle with Candide’s hair, something that had always seemed to calm her down.

It did its job and before either of them knew it Candide’s heartbeat had finally stopped beating at an alarming rate and the tears had started to flow down her cheeks. She hated how worthless she was and how she couldn’t even help her own kingdom.

Aaden, who had know the princess for so long and who was almost able to read her every thought, immediately rushed in front of her.

“Now, look, Candide.” she said, taking the other girl’s face in between her hands so she had no other choice but to look at her. “It’s not your fault and your father is only trying to protect you so that one day you’ll be able to do what’s best for Saltrick. Everyone is going to be quite alright; you just have to keep on believing that.”

This dried the tears in Candide’s blue eyes and the ghost of a smile touched her lips.

“You didn’t call me Princess or Miss.” she whispered, which caused Aaden to grin because she knew Candide would’ve spotted this and it would make her happy.

“That’s right. Now, I think you should go and sit in the middle of the room because these walls are quite frigid and we don’t want you catching a cold.”

Candide smiled now before moving her chair and sitting back down. Aaden could always improve her mood, it was like a gift. A most wonderful gift.

“Aaden, have you ever been in love?” the princess suddenly asked, looking down at her servant who had once again come and sat beside her.

The girl’s eyes grew wide for a moment and she blushed madly, averting her eyes to the ground. Candide felt an amused smile spread across her lips and she was immediately interested.

“Oh, but you didn’t tell me! Will you tell me now, Aaden? Please?” she begged, hoping from her chair and sitting in front of the servant.

Aaden was as red as an apple and she was shaking her head a bit, but Candide knew she was going to tell her. What were best friends for, anyway?

“Well, his name is Robert…” Aaden began but was shortly interrupted.

“You mean the blacksmith’s son!?”

Aaden blushed again, nodding this time.

“Oh, well he’s quite handsome.” Candide remarked thoughtfully, knowing this would shock the other girl.

“Princess! You can’t speak like that!” Aaden said, her eyes once again wide in the same expression Candide imagined.

“It’s fine, Aaden. Now, continue with your story, please.”

"Well, I met him a few times in the village while I was running errands and we started to talk. He proposed to me the other day." Aaden finished, still as red but with a smile adorning her pretty face.

"That's wonderful!" Candide exclaimed, a wide smile on her face as the worries of the world escaped her because of the joyous news.

"But, I can not accept, Princess. If I did I could no longer be your servant, and that would just break my heart."

Candide was left with her mouth hung open, shocked at what she had just heard. She had completely forgotten that if a maid got married she could no longer work at the castle. She did not know why this was, but she had always thought it was a stupid law. She had never said anything though, because it had never affected her directly.

"You know what, Aaden? I will speak to my father once all of this is over, and believe me when I say, I will try my best to persuade him to make an exception to the law."

At the moment, Candide saw the biggest smile on Aaden's face, the happiest smile she had ever seen.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" she cried, wrapping her arms around Candide. The latter laughed while doing the same, glad that she had been able to produce such joy.

At that moment, when the two of them sat in silence, they could hear the very faint sound of yells seeping in through the rock walls while the scent of smoke only became more acute.

“That’s it.” Candide suddenly said, releasing Aaden and getting up. The servant looked at her with inquisitive eyes, confused. “We’re getting out of here, no matter what it takes.” she continued and Aaden sighed, trying to hide her smile.

She never gave up this princess, she was a stubborn one.