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(Page 2 of 6) Ivaris - Chapter 7 by Jennifer Raney
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She shut her eyes tight, but the tears came anyway, and she cried herself back to sleep.
When the sunrise poured light into her room hours later she opened her eyes. Her sleep had been fitful, and she felt exhausted. The maid's knock at the door made her grimace, "Yeah," she called.
The maid let herself in, "Good morning, Highness," she said politely. She had been in the princess's service three years now; she was used to her moods.
"Is it?" Malynna asked rhetorically. The maid didn't answer, not knowing what to say, and went about her morning duties lighting the little fire to warm the room, opening the curtains to let in the morning.
The princess lay on her back propped up on luxurious red silk pillows and stared bleakly out the magnificent picture window over the castle's courtyard. "Would you like to dress, Highness?" the girl asked.
Malynna rolled over and transferred the stare to the wall, "In a minute," she said.
"I'll bring you your things." The maid bowed again and disappeared into the dressing room. When she returned she found her princess crying into her pillows. The girl dumped the dresses in a pile and went to her, holding her shoulders, "There, there, my lady, what's wrong?"
Malynna put her face into the maid's shoulder, "Why must I marry the most cold-hearted misogynist in the world? Oh!" she sobbed, "I hate him! I hate him!" her tears were hot and angry.
The maid held her tightly, "My lady, calm down! Shh," she soothed. For several minutes the young princess released her despair into the fabric if her maid's skirts.
Malynna's face glowed red, but she calmed herself, "I'm sorry, Gerianne, I must drive you crazy," she apologized.
Gerianne let go of the princess and drew a kerchief from her apron to dry her eyes and nose, "Not at all, my lady, it must pain you so much to have to face such a miserable future." She patted Malynna gently and decided the time was right, "But you are not powerless, you know, even now."
Malynna looked up, "What do you mean?"
"Now my lady, you must be strong," Gerianne took the princess's hands and squeezed them, "and what I say might seem wrong to you at first, but you have to think about yourself, and your future. You must think of your empire," she said carefully.
"Tell me what you are thinking, Gerianne, but be careful – your tone feels treasonous," Malynna's warning was stern on the surface, but in her heart she burned for a way to take control of her life, treason or not.
The princess was two years old when her mother died. The Empress had been a great sorceress, like the Emperor, and had joined him in battle when Houvet roused an army to try to take their northern mines back. Itriscia repelled the attempt, with much help from the two sorcerers, but the victory was not without casualty - Chrysild, the Empress, was struck in the shoulder with a poisoned arrow. She was rushed to the field hospital, and then back to the capitol where she was treated for three weeks by the best healers in the empire.
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