With every passing day, Roxane felt her mind slowly slipping into madness. Her desperate pleas went unheard by Diana and even though she had tried numerous times to tell her about her dream, it was all in vain as Diana always refused her idea of running away.
"If you aren't going to help with the wedding preparations, I ask that you leave." Diana said coldly one day, cutting off yet another one of Roxane's pleas. Roxane stepped back, hurt by her words. She didn't have the heart to follow Diana as she scurried away from Roxane.
She was hurt and angry, trying to find any viable solution under the sun to end their plight.
There was a reason why Diana was chosen, and the fact that her friend knew but refused to tell her, well, it cut her deep.
They've been together for so long now that she thought she knew everything about Diana. Reality had cruelly laughed in her face for believing that. Just because Roxane had been the person closest to Diana since they were children didn't mean she knew everything about her. There were also some things she had kept locked away inside the deepest reaches of her mind for many years now. She hadn't once tried to reveal them to Diana, but it could also be said that Diana had never bothered to ask.
Roxane frowned. She had only now realized her thoughts were right. Diana had never bothered to ask about her past, and in turn, Roxane had thought it was only fair that she also wouldn't ask Diana about her past. Now she realized she might have missed something important. Oh, if only she had asked Diana about herself when they first met many years ago.
They were both ten-year-old children, far too young to be left all alone in the world but their unique circumstances both left them out in the cold and lonely world without any adult to care for them.
Diana was the first to reach out a hand towards Roxane. She was the one who first shook her out of her hollow state after her mother's death. Roxane could close her eyes and still vividly remember the ten-year-old Diana as she reached out with her small hand to the despondent Roxane. Her pale face was extremely emancipated and dirty but her emerald eyes shined like none other.
Ten-year-old Roxane spat at the girl instantly, hissing at her as she scuttled away on all fours, but because she had gone so long refusing to eat she had almost no energy to get too far away.
"Hello there, I'm Diana. What's your name?" Diana carried on, not caring that Roxane had spat all over her hand.
Roxane turned her face to the side, refusing to acknowledge the young human child.
After a while, young Diana walked over to where Roxane was and plopped down a few feet away from Roxane. Neither of them made a single sound as the sun made its way across the sky.
The people passed by the alleyway, choosing to ignore the two malnourished children as they sat in complete silence.
Roxane chose to ignore Diana as she kept hearing the young girl's stomach rumble every once in a while due to hunger. She couldn't fathom why the girl chose to sit next to Roxane when Roxane had shown such hostility towards her.
Another loud grumble emanated from the young girl's stomach and Diana reached down to place a hand on her unhappy belly.
When she got up and left the alleyway Roxane was glad. Good riddance, she had thought.
After another hour, the young silver haired girl returned, only now she had something stashed underneath her raggedy shirt, that was two sizes too big on her tiny frame.
Roxane eyed the girl suspiciously as she took out a piece of bread from where she had stashed it, holding the piece for Roxane to take.
"I'm not hungry." She finally decided to tell the girl, slapping away her hand as she still had her hand outstretched to her. The bread was flung from Diana's hand and landed on the dirty ground after hitting the side of the building.
Diana ran after the piece of bread, digging into the stale crust directly from the dirty ground.
If you were that hungry, why didn't you eat it in the first place? Roxane thought to herself as she watched Diana's sharp shoulder blades sticking out from underneath her shirt.
The girl started licking her hands, then she froze and began to cry.
Roxane watched awkwardly as big fat tears rolled down the girl's face.
"Why are you crying?" She finally asked her.
"I wanted to give you some, but I ate it all!" Diana sobbed, her hands rubbing the tears on her grimy face as they dropped from her eyes. That didn't stop her tears from flowing though, and she kept sobbing.
"I don't mind so stop crying. You're annoying." She scowled at the girl. Her tears meant nothing to her so why did she feel a sudden sharp pain in her heart?
"But, aren't you hungry too?" The girl stopped her crying to ask. She wiped the bottom of her nose with her dirty sleeve.
"No, I'm not." She tightened further into a ball, a position she had kept for hours now.
"But I've seen you here for a long time now. I've never seen you eat anything." Diana confessed, the tears she had shed left clean streaks on her otherwise dirt-filled face.
"Have you been spying on me?" Roxane glared at the girl. "Mind your own business."
"I can't. I don't want you to die!" The other girl yelled, her face in anguish.
"And? Why should you care what happens to me? You don't know me and I don't know you." Roxane said stubbornly. "You shouldn't care if I were to drop dead right here and now!" She didn't know why she her voice rose in volume to match the other girl's.
"No!" Diana stood up, her emerald eyes staring deep into Roxane as if she could see deep into her soul.
"You do know me remember? I'm Diana!" Roxane frowned at the girl's way of thinking. "So that means that I should care about you!"
"Get lost." She felt her energy drain after hearing Diana's screams. She didn't know who this little girl was and she could already tell she would be a handful.
"No. You need to eat." Diana grabbed Roxane's arm before she could anything and began trying to pull her to her feet.
"Get away from me!" Roxane shook away Diana easily and the girl flew to the ground.
Roxane froze as she waited for the girl to get back up. When she didn't make a move to get up, she ran over to her small body.
"Hey are you still alive?" Roxane asked, poking the girl's side. Her face was etched with worry at the thought of having killed such a tiny little girl who probably wouldn't be able to hurt a single fly.
"I'm fine." The girl rose suddenly, hoisting her upper body up by her hands. "You are very strong."
Roxane sighed and placed a hand over her heart which was still thumping like crazy.
"So, what's your name?" Diana chirped as she shook the dirt from her hands after she had fell to the ground. It seemed like she hadn't minded that Roxane was the one who had pushed her.
"Roxane. Now that you know that, will you leave me alone?"
Diana's smile grew on her face and she responded to Roxane as if she had won a battle against the other girl.
"Never!"
The memory faded away, replaced by the present. Years ago, Diana had made her first steps into Roxane's heart and after a while she had permanently made a spot there, right next to the place her mother used to occupy.
And now, when her friend needed her the most, Roxane was being pushed away as if Diana wanted no help from her.
She wasn't about to let that happen. She was going to be like ten-year-old Diana and force her way next to her.
Roxane wouldn't take no for an answer. She would fight tooth and nail if she had to.
"Saint!" Her string of thoughts was shattered as a voice pierced through the room. The man who had yelled stood at the doors of the kitchen. He seemed out of breath.
"Priestess Diana." He panted. "Saint." He managed to cough out the last part.
The room erupted into chaos, one priestess exclaiming over another. Roxane heard her friend's name and ran out of the door, trampling over some of the other priestesses as some of them had the same idea as her.
Her mind was blank as she ran through the temple. She didn't care who she was pushing in order to make her way outside and out into the courtyard. Once she got there, she couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing.
"Saint! She's the new Saint!" The courtyard was crowded, as many of the priests and priestesses had gathered around the fountain, crying out one over another and trying to get closer to the silver haired figure standing in the middle of it all.
"She cured him! She cured that man's blindness!"
Next to Diana was a hunched over figure of a man. He had tears falling from his eyes as he was on his knees in front of Diana, thanking her over and over again.
"Oh, thank you Goddess Kara for sending us a savior! A Saint!"
Roxane felt her face pale at the scene before her. She saw Diana's face do the same as she was overwhelmed by the crowd of people.
The prince's knights showed up then, and dispersed the crowd, allowing for Diana to be escorted into the temple. Roxane could only watch as her head spun in circles.
Diana was the new Saint? How was it possible? How?
It was apparent that this was the true reason behind Diana's sudden arranged marriage and why the royal family wanted her so badly. They wanted to possess the power and prestige that came from having control of a new Saint.
More than ever her friend needed her.
She tried to visit Diana's room at night but she found that the entire hallway where Diana's room was located had been blocked off on the prince's orders. No one was to visit the Saint.
After a failed attempt to sneak into Diana's room did she catch the others talking about the prince's decision to move the date of the wedding closer.
Tomorrow, Diana was to be wed.