Forever Praying

Candide spotted the towers of the castle miles away and excitement bubbled in her chest. She was absolutely impatient to finally get there but no one else seemed as excited as her so she tried to cover it up, knowing she was failing miserably.

“We’ll be there soon, Candide.” Caspian said to her, a grin on his face as the girl blushed bright red. “Oh, and I forgot to mention but there’s a ball at the castle tonight at the castle, we have always have one this time of year. Will you join us?”

Candide bit her lip, considering the proposition carefully. “We can’t stay long.” she replied, “We still have to go and aid my father.”

Caspian nodded; a small smile still on his lips. “Certainly, Miss, but we’re not going to head out at night either. We’ll leave the day after tomorrow so I’ll be able to gather a full army and send out other messages for help.”

Candide smiled brightly, glad that she would be able to stay a bit longer with Caspian and be able to go to the ball. But as soon as she thought that she was filled with guilt. Her kingdom was in danger and here she was going to dances and talking to kings. The young woman knew though that it was better to wait for reinforcements and that everyone in her kingdom would be in safety for the next two days. They had to be.

Finally, they arrived at the castle. It was magnificent and quite huge, probably twice if not three times the size of Saltrick’s castle. The towers rose high up in the sky, towering everything and the sun seemed to be glued to the place, making everything brighter. It was just beautiful and Candide couldn’t help but gap in awe but thankfully nobody noticed. They crossed the bridge that led to the castle after Caspian had nodded to the two guards who had all let them pass. The hooves of the horses made much noise on the stone but it passed unnoticed as the chatter of the men covered it. The princess was quiet, taking it all in and when they arrived at the official gates of the castle she was breath taken.

Everything was just so beautiful, it was surreal. She wanted to stay there and stare at it all day, stare at the people working around and the way the sun shone on the stone and how it glimmered but her horse followed the rest to the stables and reluctantly she let her gaze drop. Thankfully the stables quite enormous so it had no problem fitting all the horses although the three men that worked there seemed completely bewildered and hopeless. Candide gave one of the men a small smile as she got off of Callisto and he took the reigns although she did see some surprise at his face at the fact that there was a woman here. Candide fought the urge to say something but also to offer her help. She didn’t have the time though as Caspian beckoned for her to follow him.

“I’ll show you your room so you can wash up and start getting ready. I bet you’re quite tired, also. I’ll send a chambermaid up for you.” They had entered a hallway that was huge and had now stopped in front of two big wood doors. Candide had turned back to Caspian, a small smile showing her appreciation. “I’ll see you at supper, Princess.” he said finally, bowing and kissing her hand.

Candide blushed madly for the second time that day but luckily she had no time to get further embarrassed because after he had smiled at her once more Caspian had turned around and left her on her own. Not knowing exactly what to do at the moment she only fumbled for the doorknob and sighed relief when she entered the sanctuary of the room.

The room was as big as the rest of the castle and Candide couldn’t help but think that this place was fit for a giant. It was a very simple room containing a four-post bed, a small writing desk, a wardrobe and an empty tub which the young girl guessed was for bathing. She made her way to the bed to sit on it but before she even reached it there was a knock on the door.

“Yes?” she only replied since her feet were aching and she did not want to walk more than necessary. The door opened to reveal a petite girl that must’ve been younger than Candide herself with rich red hair and big almond eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you, Princess Candide.” she said, bowing her head slightly as if she was afraid of what the princess might do.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well. What is your name?” The girl raised her head, smiling.

“It is Francesca, miss.”

“Well, my baggage should be here any moment and it would be an honour if you could help me pick out what to wear for tonight’s ball.” The maid’s smile was quite contagious as Candide caught herself grinning as well. Francesca seemed very nice and would certainly make a wonderful friend.

“I’d love to, Princess. But, before we do that we should bathe you so that you’ll be proper for supper and of course, the ball.” Francesca moved over to throw in the bucket of hot water she was carrying (that Candide had not noticed at all), filling the tub. “Now, Miss, you can go in and get ready. The soap is in the room next door so I’ll go fetch it. I’ll knock before entering again, of course.”

Candide thanked her, liking the girl more every second she spent with her. Once Francesca had closed the door behind her Candide got out of her dress-which was now quite disgusting as it had dirt and had been worn for the last few days- and stepped into the warm tub. A sigh of contempt escaped her lips as she let her whole body be immerged by the beautiful water. Her eyes closed dully as her limbs were finally able to relax. Suddenly, she heard the door creak open and turned in surprise to see who it was as Francesca had promise she would knock, not thinking about covering herself at the moment. Sir Christopher was standing in the doorway, her luggage in his hands and was gaping at her. Embarrassment and fury rushed through her like a hot knife as she put her arms up to hide her body.

“What in the world are you doing?! Get out of here!” she shrieked breaking Christopher’s stare as he hurriedly dropped the luggage and slammed the door shut. Mere moments later there was a quick knock on the door before Francesca swung the door open, soap in her hands.

“What happened? Are you alright?” she asked quickly, forgetting to say a ‘miss’ or ‘princess’ at the end but Candide wasn’t bothered in the slightest by that fact.

“I’m fine, but Sir Christopher, the leading knight of my kingdom’s army walked in on me.” Francesca’s eyes widened as she spoke these words and Candide could clearly see that she was angry, even if she did not know the man.

“Don’t you worry, Miss. King Caspian will hear about this. Now, wash up because supper is soon and we still have to put you in a dress and do your hair.”

Candide hurriedly washed the dirt and grime off of her body as Francesca looked through her luggage to find something suitable to wear. Once she was done she took the towel and wrapped it around her before walking over to the bed to see which dress Francesca had chosen for her. Candide smiled at the choice since it was one of her favourites. It was a pale blue and had a lot of beading and details in it as well as quite slimming so her corset didn’t have to be quite as tight.

“This will be perfect for supper. You don’t seem to have anything for the ball though, but no worries there are some dresses in the castle left, some of them must fit you, Princess.” Candide stared in confusion towards the girl but the latter only laughed before grabbing her arm and sitting her down in the chair of the writing desk.

"It’s tradition that the women in the castle wear two different things for supper and for the balls, Miss.” Francesca said distantly as she was twirling Candide’s blonde hair between her fingers and pining some of it to her scalp. The princess decided to stay quiet during the process, still humiliated by being seen naked by Sir Christopher but also thinking of King Caspian as it had apparently become natural for her.

“There, let’s go put that dress on and then you can see yourself in the mirror, Miss.”

Francesca helped her put on the beautiful dress, lacing her corset tightly before she opened the door to the wardrobe and Candide discovered that there was a mirror on the inside of the door. A small smile sprang to her lips as she saw herself, all dressed up like that and she felt cleaner than ever. Her hair was beautiful twisted so that all of it was pined up except for a few strands and the dress still fit her well. She suddenly thought of Aaden, her own maid and friend back at Saltrick and instantly felt ashamed because she did not have a thought for her before. Shrugging the thought away Candide turned once again towards Francesca who was smiling at her work.

“Shall we go?”

Francesca led her through the many halls and Candide tried her best not to gape at everything she saw. Honestly, she thought she was doing a good job. Finally, they arrived at an even bigger room where a long table sat with food on it and servants running around. Many people were already seated, but thankfully Caspian wasn’t there yet. She would’ve felt rude if he would’ve been waiting for her.

“This is where I leave you, Miss. But once you’re done eating all the women are going to excuse themselves so just do as they do and I’ll meet you here once more. In the mean time, I’ll go looking for a dress that would fit you. How does that sound, Princess?”

“That sounds wonderful, Francesca. Thank you very much. I’ll see you in a bit.” The main scampered off to God knows where while Candide took a deep breath and entered the room. Most of the chairs were already full with men and women who Candide supposed were dukes and royalty. She suddenly felt very self-conscious, as if she didn’t belong here with these important people. In the midst of her thoughts someone tapped her on the shoulder and she whirled around to see Caspian looking down at her with a smile.

“Come and sit by me, Princess. I’ll introduce you.” Candide smiled back, taking his extended arm and following him to the end of the table. The people at the table had stopped their chattering to watch them pass and Caspian pulled out a chair to the right of what must’ve been his seat and Candide gratefully sat in it. Caspian then went to his chair and stood up and everyone knew he was going to make a speech.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is Princess Candide from the kingdom of Saltrick. She will be joining us tonight for supper as will the head of the army, Sir Christopher.” Candide’s head instantly snapped towards where Caspian was pointing and she glowered when she saw the man’s face. She wanted to say something, humiliate him as he had her, but she only re-averted her gaze towards Caspian.

“Now, let’s eat.”

At those words everyone started talking again and taking some of the food on the table. Caspian, being the welcoming host that he was, introduced Candide to multiple people but the princess, who had always been awful with names didn’t remember any and just smiled and nodded, making the odd bit of conversation so that she seemed as if she did belong there.

Candide ate plenty, filling her stomach to the brim while making conversation with Caspian and her neighbours. She was having a good time, although some of the guests weren’t all too inviting.

Finally, the women started excusing themselves to their husbands one after the other and Candide turned to Caspian but he already had a small smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.

“Go, Candide. I’ll see you soon.” The princess grinned at him before exiting the table as well and before she even knew it she was whisked away by Francesca.