*Knock *
*Knock*
Tia was watching the Princess playing ball with the fluffy Gandalf, when a knock interrupted their moment, "My Princess, is Moira."
"Oh, let her in."
Tia opened quickly the window where Moria was waiting ready to jump inside. It seemed that nobody told her that the punishment had already ended, or most surely, she was ignoring it. It seemed that she liked to climb the tower every two days with the help of Callum.
"What's up Moira, did you like my gift?"
The sweet Moira was not carrying a cake this time, but a strange and almost perfect creation that had the precise mix of elegance and agility was on her arms. A meow was all that needed to happen for anyone to betray any sense of rationality, that's how cute the black cat was. His dark fur and his red big eyes were an arrow to any heart.
'Shadow, she ate the cake,' Moira signaled at the cat. 'There is nothing left, not my fault.'
"Oh, she liked it, good, very good, then what do you want to show me Moira?" Anne was not surprised Shadow ate the cake, though most likely, she spoiled it to help an innocent stomach from suffering a mortal affront.
'The message,' Moira brought a strange red paper that had some weird-looking scribbles.
[Steal the light on the Queen's birthday banquet.]
'…'
"I don't know how to explain that."
***
"This is awful! How can he ask me to do that?! There must be several lamps illuminating the Palace that night, how can I steal them all? This is just impossible. Don't you think, Gandalf?"
"…" the fluffy white dog was carrying his ball not minding the words from the little girl in a fluffy pink dress. 'She looks like a marshmallow.'
However, Anne was having a headache at that moment. She didn't expect to receive a mission and not that kind of difficult mission. Of course, the difficulty had to be on stealing the lamps because if the other meaning is implied then easy peace. She is the most outstanding evil Princess of the Kingdom of Lith, her destiny is to steal any light.
However, that was not the only thing giving her powerful mind a ton of troubles. There was something more worrying and troubling, In all her life, she hadn't had that difficult of a choice.
She was pacing around the whole Palace with a little paper and a pen on her little hands, a dog following her closely, and Tia sighing by the side carrying the ink.
"Princess… what are you writing?"
"Mmmm memories, memories of another life, Tia," she looked around suspiciously making sure that no one else was listening, then she muttered in a low voice as if telling a dark secret. "Tia, would you believe me if I tell you another world exist at the same time as this, in another dimension and time? There is no magic there, but people rely on their own heads to construct immense buildings and carriages without horses. There is even a strange cube that lets people communicate with each other even to the other side of the country. Will you believe me?"
Tia thought for a second and nodded, "Princess, I believe in you."
"Woah… I thought you will tell me I am crazy or that my imagination can soar to new heights every day, or that if I am writing a book I have to tell you, or you would not now when a fantasy is fighting my rationality," Anne was surprised but happy. There was someone that was willing to believe in her, she felt as if a silent tear was going down her cheek from the beautiful feeling.
"I will never say that… aloud, My Princess," Tia said with all the innocence of her heart.
"…"
***
Rule of Thumb: a broadly accurate guide or principle, based on experience or practice rather than theory.
Rule no. 1: Add ingredients when the water starts to boil.
"Tia, we should tell this one to Callum and Moira, don't you think?"
"…"
'Is there a need to tell them? Wait, does the princess even know how to bake a cake, that doesn't seem correct.'
Rule no. 2: The customer is always right.
"Does that mean, I am always right? But, only when I want to buy something? What about the other times? Am I not right? Do I need to buy things to be always right?"
"Princess…"
"Heh… I am kidding, this is stupid."
Rule no. 3: Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.
"Why not something to eat? I would be delighted."
"…"
The little girl had tried everything in her mind to think of the perfect gift. Well, she was not the only one but, as the most outstanding and talented evildoer Princess in the Kingdom, she had to arrive with the most outstanding gift of them all.
"My Princess, this… you don't have to worry about this, Her Majesty will be very happy with anything you give her."
Tia was always trying her best to understand the little Princess's mind, she had only given her uncle, the King, a beautiful piece of a chess game on his birthday. Even though it was not the most outstanding gift of them all, he was almost jumping on the clouds from happiness.
However, the truth was that the little girl didn't even spend a thought on her uncle's present. It was too easy to guess that he will make her gift the national treasure.
"You don't understand, Tia. Her Majesty is not that simple."