DAYMARA:
I was SO nervous that day ...
Raymi invited me to meet him in the gardens of the east wing of the Royal Palace. What did he want to tell me? At last, that would be THE day?
I don't remember when it happened, but for years my heart has had an owner. I was captivated by how honorable, strong, brave, and loyal he is. What I do remember is that it all started as admiration. "I would love to be like him," I repeated to myself. One thing led to another and I fell in love with Raymi Newen, a member of Her Majesty's Royal Guard.
I was a maiden in the service of the Crown, so it was not well seen that I made advances to men. We, as maidens, expected a man to be the one to approach us. I did not feel the courage to behave as I should in a loving courtship. Just talking to him made me nervous. Many times I kept quiet and Raymi asked me worried: "Is something wrong? Do I bore you?"
«Of course not!»
I wanted to yell at him: "No, you don't bore me. It's just that I'm a fool who becomes speechless for fear of having you by my side." But all I answered was a head shaking.
«Silly, silly, silly me!»
Once I had the courage to express my admiration for him. I thought maybe that way he would realize my feelings and maybe he would do something about it.
When he was walking down one of the corridors, I approached him. The other maidens were with me, but I tried to ignore them.
"Sir Raymi, I wanted to… um… I… I wanted to tell you that… that… you are an admirable man," I stammered like a retard.
The other maidens laughed mockingly.
Why did I think this would be a good idea?
"Um… Thank you, Maid Daymara. Your words flatter me," was the only thing he answered. Then he went on his way.
More mocking giggles. I wished that a hole would open under me and swallow me.
My feelings were not appeased. Quite the opposite. They grew and grew. I wanted SO MUCH that Raymi would invite me to walk and there, he would confess his love to me. And then ... we would get married, we would have children and we would be a beautiful family.
I am an orphan, so having a family is my greatest wish. And what better than to form one with the most loyal and bravest of knights: Sir Raymi Newen.
***
I started my job as a companion maid for Queen Catherine. She was the one who chose me. I remember when I first entered the royal palace, it was the happiest day of my life.
I wanted to keep in my memory the white columns, the corridors decorated with huge paintings, the extensive ballrooms, the beautiful gardens.
Queen Catherine was very kind to all her maidens. Which was a relief, as I thought she would be arrogant, as people say all nobles are.
I thought that she would be the most beloved queen in the history of Alba Terra, and I prayed a lot to the Saint of Life so that Her Majesty would have many years to live.
However, my prayers were not answered.
Queen Catherine passed away suddenly. Without explanation.
After barely two years of reign, she was no longer with us. And she left no heir.
The days of mourning were difficult. Above all, for the King, who was devastated. My companions and I thought that he would never marry again. However, we are wrong.
The King married again. Soon. Strangely soon. With Duke Mercier's daughter: Antonete.
It was rumored that Antonete Mercier had been behind the death of Queen Catherine, as she always expressed her ambitions to have The Crown.
I would have believed those rumors as well if it were not because I was a shadow for the late queen, may her soul rest with all the Saints.
I followed her everywhere. I couldn't see how Antonete could achieve something like that.
The Queen was first thought to have been poisoned. However, the tester, the one tasked with testing the royal food to make sure it wasn't poisoned, had no fatal reaction.
Lord Malek De Fiore, the Master of Spies and Chief of the Order of Ashaasins, set about investigating. The first suspect was the aforementioned tester, but… no evidence was found.
They say that the tester was tortured to death and never confessed.
Lord Malek and his Ashaasins are famous for being ruthless. They don't leave any loose ends. They are like shadows that follow you without you noticing. They move like the wind and can be in and out of a place in the blink of an eye. If there was anyone who could get to the truth, it was Lord Malek, and he found nothing.
So the death of Queen Catherine remained a mystery. Perhaps a punishment of the Saints? Who knows.
The days passed. The King remarried in a more modest wedding and the new Queen restructured the maidens. I thought that I would be fired, because of my closeness to the late Queen Catherine, but, against my expectations and my fear, Antonete Mercier asked that I be part of her maids. Why? According to her, because I couldn't read.
For some reason, Queen Antonete only accepted her servants if they could not read. No one understood why and she was under no obligation to explain herself either.
Only two maidens who could read were accepted: Urma and Talia. Why were they allowed to be a part? Who knows.
Sir Raymi was also devastated by the death of Queen Catherine, may her soul rest with the Saints. Several times I found him crying in the hallways or the gardens in the middle of the night. I wanted to comfort him, hug him and whisper in his ear that everything was going to be okay. But no. I only dared to witness his pain from afar.
My other fellow maidens told me that he blamed himself for not being able to do anything for the Queen. As her royal guard, it was his job to protect her. And he failed.
«Aww ... »
So cute, Raymi! So loyal! So honorable!
I wanted to run up to him and throw myself into his arms, but in those days I was just another maiden to him. No one important.
I thought I would never be seen as anything more than a clumsy, timid, ugly little girl. However, now… FINALLY, FINALLY, he had invited me to walk!
I asked maid Urma to help me prepare for the appointment. She was considered the most beautiful of The Crown's maidens. She always elegant, always classy. I'm not beautiful. In fact, many say I'm… ugly… so… If anyone could help me, was her.
I entered her chambers in the royal palace at the agreed time and day. She was already aware of how excited I was by that time and that I had looked forward to it.
"Day, tell me the truth," she asked me "Do you know how to kiss?"
I shook my head.
"Really? How is that possible?" She asked me with disbelief in her eyes.
"Well ... I think my first kiss should be for the person I marry," I admitted.
Urma burst out laughing.
"HA, HA, HA, HA, I can't believe it, Day! You are SO CUTE!" She exclaimed laughing. "Well look, you have to be prepared in case Sir Raymi wants to kiss you."
I gulped.
"Don't you want to practice with me?" She asked me mischievously.
I opened my eyes like two big plates and I blushed.
"What?"
"You don't want to disappoint him in his first kiss, do you?"
"Are you serious?" I asked with an indignant tone.
She burst out laughing again.
"Don't be silly! HA, HA I'm joking! What do you take me by? By an abomination? "
I shook my head. Embarrassed. Ashamed.
"Look, my first tip, and perhaps the most important, is that you should smile a lot," she told me. "This is very important. Just listen to him and laugh at his jokes and everything will be fine. "
I nodded. She continued.
"He already asked you for a walk. He's already taken the first step, so your only job is not to screw it up. "
"No pressure"
"Now, something has to be done with that face and that hair," she said.
I looked at myself in the mirror in Urma's room.
You're going to have to do a miracle with me, I thought.
Then Urma looked me in the eye as if she already knew what I was thinking.
"Beauty is about attitude. The first one to believe that you are beautiful is yourself. "
I nodded.
And then, after the transformation Urma made on me, I met Sir Raymi at the agreed time. My hands were sweating, so I sneakily wiped them with the skirt of my dress.
"Maid Daymara," he greeted me as he leaned down to kiss my hand.
When his lips touched my skin, I thought I was going to pass out.
«Tell me I look pretty»
"You look beautiful today," he told me.
Sir Raymi! You are so divine! I exclaimed inside.
I gave him a wide smile and we started walking. He told me a little about everything, about the weather, about his adventures as a knight, about when he was a child and practiced with a wooden sword.
Anyway. I just stayed quiet, delighted to be listening to him. I wanted him to tell me more, I wanted to know EVERYTHING about him.
Until the moment ...
"Um ... Maid Daymara ...," he began, "the reason I asked to meet you here ... was because ... um ... I need to confess something to you ..."
Here it comes…
"You see ... I ... I have tried to find the strength for this ... but ... I suppose that in matters of the heart I am a coward ..."
«By the Saints! He likes me!»
"Even ... that time I ran into you in the hallway ... I wanted to, but I couldn't ..."
«Oh, Sir Raymi! I understand!»
"But enough cowardice. It is time to take charge of my destiny "
«Yes, Yes, Yes!»
"Daymara ..."
"Yes?"
"I need you…"
"You do?"
"I need you to deliver this letter to Urma," he told me as he handed me a sealed scroll.
"What?"
"I swear to all the Saints that I have tried to tell her myself, but I have not been able. I tried to do it through a letter, but I can't even get close to her without my hands getting sweaty."
«No, no, no… »
"All this time ... Have you been in love with Urma?" I asked with a certain disappointed tone.
He nodded.
"Yes. I think about her all the time. I must confess that I had only felt an obsession like this when I started training with the sword."
No, no, no, no, no, no, no ...
"What do you say, Daymara? Could you help me?" He asked me, "The Saints will pay you for it."
What was I supposed to answer?
"Mmm ... Sure, Sir Raymi," I replied. "Trust me."
I took the sealed scroll in my hands and said goodbye.
I ran into a lonely hallway and burst into tears.
Silly, silly, silly me!
What was I thinking? Did I really think someone like him was going to notice a creep like me? No one had ever noticed me. Never! Was he going to be the first?
I don't know how long I cried, but it was long enough that my face was red and my eyes were puffy. I had to wait a while before letting someone see me. But I soon realized that I was not alone. There was an ashaasin standing still against the wall at the end of the hall. Silent. It was not clear if he was looking at me, because those black veils that cover their heads do not allow one to know what they are looking at.
How scary.
How long was he there? Did he see me cry?
That is what they do. Hide in silence. Observe without being seen.
That is why they can infiltrate any fortress, assassinate their targets and flee without being seen.
I thought that the Ashaasins could find out my secret if they proposed to.
No...
I was filled with terror just imagining it.
If the Queen were to find out about that secret ... it would be my end.
No, no, no…
I looked at my hand holding the scroll. I wondered if I should deliver the letter. Maybe ... it could "get lost".
But no. It was wrong not to deliver a letter. It was not honorable. Sir Raymi had trusted me. The Saints would punish me if I betrayed his trust.
So I walked to Urma's chambers.