By Shamu Ward

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This short story is about my character, Princess Amantdeiylaia, who has a heart-to-heart with her lady-in-waiting and closest (and only) friend, Rhettna.

The sun was shining brightly today, something uncommon given the kingdom’s naturally bitter-cold climate. Its warm rays caused the freshly fallen snow that had fallen the night before to glisten like crystals. Mornings like these were Princess Amantdeiylaia’s favorite; quiet and serene. It provided her with the perfect setting to clear her mind and help prepare her head for the day ahead. These days she found herself particularly distracted by a particular lord that had annoyingly gotten under her skin. His smile, the way the light reflected off his eyes when he knew he’d done something wrong, and especially the way he said her name… all the little things that would usually annoy anybody made her fall harder for him.

“What a beautiful morning…” The princess noted, clutching the fabric that met at her bust. Amantdeiylaia stood nervously in front of her bedroom window, the stained glass casting color on her flushed face.

Upon her door being knocked on, Amantdeiylaia turned to face her visitor, her lady-in-waiting, Rhettna. The princess bowed her head to greet her, something unusual given her social standing. After closing her door, Rhettna walked in and sat on the princess’ bed, watching as Amantdeiylaia looked off into the distance. She knew the princess like the back of her hand and could clearly tell something was amiss.

“Good Morning Your Highness,” Rhettna hummed, lowering her head while she spoke. However, when no response was given, her eyes looked back up to see the princess staring aimlessly into the sky. While she knew there would be no verbal response, Rhettna knew the princess well enough that usually, she would receive some form of acknowledgment in the form of her telepathic abilities. Rhettna’s arms folded, clearing her throat to get her friend’s attention, now curious as to what could’ve possibly left her in such a state.

The princess let out a small squeak and turned around to give her lady-in-waiting her full undivided attention. Rhettna shook her head and sighed playfully, relieved that she had managed to snap her out of the trance that had left her so dazed and distracted. With that out of the way, Rhettna motioned for Amantdeiylaia to sit beside her so that she could get to the bottom of the princess’ strange behavior. To be honest, moments like these were what made their relationship all the more valuable. Amantdeiylaia was appreciative to have someone as loyal and perceptive as Rhettna in her life- especially when the rest of her family lacked the ability to notice whenever something was up with her. After all, the princess had quite a lot on her mind recently and everything seemed so… complicated these days.

“What’s wrong, princess? I can tell you’re not feeling like yourself. Is it a fever? Are you ill?” Rhettna reached her hand out and placed the back of her hand against the princess’ forehead. Her brows knitted tightly as she checked for an increase in temperature, but luckily, Amant showed no signs of illness. The only thing off about her appearance was the rosy color that had risen to her cheeks and her flustered expression.

The princess swatted her hand away and huffed in annoyance as Rhettna backed off, still curious as to what the cause was of this shift in behavior. Amantdeiylaia was capable of keeping a relatively calm expression, a useful skill to have as a future leader, but was learned through years of isolation and neglect.

“Is it something your father said? I know he can be a little… much sometimes,” Rhettna’s voice trailed off, not wishing to upset the princess if that were the case. However, Amantdeiylaia shook her head no, sighing as she realized her friend wouldn’t let the situation rest. The princess took Rhettna’s hand and gave her a worried look, her eyes softening as she prepared herself to share her deeply personal secret.

“It’s… It’s not about my parents… o-or anyone in my family. It’s more so about Lord Voulneir. I think… I think I love him, Rhettna,” Amantdeiylaia conveyed, her mind’s voice echoing in the mind of her lady-in-waiting. 

Rhettna remained silent as she took the information in, not wanting to say anything inappropriate in her friend’s time of need. Perhaps the silence was due to her being left speechless by her friend’s declaration of love. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand it, perhaps it was their social difference. For starters, he was a Downworlder! There was no way in hell the two of them would be able to be together… and yet there she was- admitting to the fact that she had feelings for him!
“You do realize you’re treading very dangerous waters, don’t you princess?” Rhettna tightened the grip on her friend’s hand, hoping to offer comfort during this presumably confusing time.

The princess only nodded, her pearlescent eyes glossing over as tears threatened to fall from them. Her friend wiped away the tears, giving Amant a warm smile to reassure her that she wasn’t alone and could confide in her.

“Your secret is safe with me, forever and always.”

Process

First of all, I’d like to express that this work, while connected to my work-in-progress novel, is still a work-in-progress so certain elements of this piece are subject to change. That’s the beauty of writing!

I’ve had this draft in my docs for quite a bit of time and I really loved the dynamic between the two characters and thought it deserved to be read by other people. After dusting this piece off and polishing it, I passed it around to a few people and let them give me some feedback before submitting it to be published.