Her Saving Grace

As she curtsied to their guest, once upon a time as they do say, Xandilique fought hard not to visibly cringe at the thought of exposing the back of her neck to Caspian. (Or as we must now call him, Lord Caspian.) His initiation was by then, legally validated. She could feel his eyes burn through her velvet gown in the most inappropriate of places. She stood again, and moved off without another word, as the other Atrian Nobles moved forward to offer the new Lord their congratulations.

Xandilique moved to the balcony that graced the outer wall of the West Tower, where the ceremony had taken place, with all the traditional rituals of course. Caspian knighted, standing, bathed in the light of the setting sun with the blessing of the current King Travillis. As Xandilique stood watching the last rays of light fade behind Hawkwreath Peak, she felt nervous for the weeks to come. She was to be married by the next moon, to the good Lord Caspian, for whom she had no love or respect. Once a Prince of Tierces, the nearest kingdom to the west, he had asked her father, The King, for her hand on the day of her tenth birthday. She was now 14, and lost in the vortex of her own empire.

Under her Father’s orders, she was fitted for a wedding gown by the castle seamstress and instructed by her nurse as to the proper behavior on one’s wedding night. This is what scared her the most. Lord Caspian was 15 years to her senior and not renowned for his gentle nature amongst the local women. Unbeknown to the Nobles, Lord Caspian had quite a reputation amongst the peasants as a ruthless predator and some of the tales of his cruelty toward the peasant girls had reached Xandilique’s ears.

You see, Xandilique had a friend, who neither her Father nor any of her royal acquaintances knew about, should they sentence her friend to death for entering the castle unauthorized. Xandilique still didn’t know how Celina had managed to enter the castle, let alone find her chambers without being caught, but she didn’t really care. Celina was her saving grace, when the though of her future became too hard to bear.

Xandilique thought she might love Celina, but she wasn’t sure how that was possible. Her nurse had told her of the ways of love, between a man and a woman who were destined to rule the Kingdom once her father was dead. They had kissed, once, when Celina had come to visit Xandilique in her room. They had sat together and held hands, just like Xandilique had seen her Father hold her Mothers hand before she had died, and then Celina had kissed her lightly on the lips, before she was forced to hide under the bed at the sound of approaching footsteps. When Xandilique had told her it was safe to come out, she didn’t respond, and when she looked under the bed, Celina was gone.

Celina had not visited for over a week now and Xandilique was worried. There was no-one else in the castle she could tell about Lord Caspian, for fear of incriminating Celina. Xandilique returned to the knighting chambers in the tower where The King and most senior Nobles were noisily enjoying the rice wine that Lord Caspian’s brother had brought as a gift to the King. Quietly, to avoid being noticed by her Father, or her guests, she crept through the chamber and hurried down the staircase, her dainty sandals making little noise on the stone steps. She returned to her room, thinking that the might open the box of boiled sweets that nurse had given her for her birthday the week before. She had been saving them for Celina’s next visit, hoping that they could share them but it seemed that Celina had forgotten about her. It seemed that a lot of people had forgotten about her lately. That statement mustn’t be misunderstood, she was currently receiving the most attention of anyone in the castle with her prestigious wedding approaching, but everyone, except maybe her darling nurse, had forgotten to ask what she might want. She burst through the door to her chambers, tears welling in her eyes and sat down on the bed, sobbing her heart out in her hands. She suddenly heard a noise from the corner of the room and she looked up. Celina was stepping out of her closet, looking concerned. She walked silently over to Xandilique and sat beside her on the bed, placing an arm around her shoulders and kissing her lightly on the lips. Xandilique kissed her back and held her close. Celina reached behind Xandilique and took the butterfly pendant out of the end of her braid, running her hands through Xandilique’s hair, letting the blonde locks fall down her back. “You have such beautiful hair,” whispered Celina as her own mud red hair fell forward over her shoulder. Xandilique smiled and wiped her eyes. “Tell me it’s going to be ok.” the blond girl said quietly. Celina smiled weakly in response, before whispering, “It’s going to be ok.”