Elyesa came back with a small box, and a bowl of warm water with a small towel over her shoulder.
"We were in luck. The Kitchen is preparing lunch, so the water was no hassle."
Then she knelt by the Princess and began taking care of the cut. First she pressed it with warm water, till it lost its pale colour and looked slightly red once again. The Princess flinched once every now and then but that had been it.
When she was done, she rubbed the ointment over it. That would make it heal faster.
While she did that, the Princess noticed the cuts she had on her arm too.
"Did that guard do this to you?" She asked, her voice laced with anger.
"I'm fine, Princess. They are healing. Don't worry about me."
Her hand dropped from Elyesa's arm and she sighed.
"Someone did this for me once, took care of wounds right in this order, except there wasn't any warm water and he had used small warm stones wrapped in a cloth instead," she chuckled at the memory. "Over a decade ago, my father took me along with him for a trade. It was my first time and he had warned me not to leave the carriage."
Elyesa's hands became slower as she listened, but she didn't look up at her.
"I had listened to him until I saw butterflies," she giggled and Elyesa smiled.
"Since my father was busy and no one was really paying me any attention, as I'm normally obedient, I went ahead and tried to catch one. It was stupid, I know. But I was just what? Six, maybe seven. I was really young. I could have gotten lost or even worse..." her voice trailed off and there was silence, not one filled with tension or awkwardness though, it was light-hearted.
Free.
"Fortunately for me, I had just tripped over a rock and that was it. I scratched my elbow and I was bleeding. That was the very first time I saw my own blood. I was terrified, I thought I was going to die. I cried so loudly and so much, in hopes that my Father would hear me, then come and rescue me as he usually would."
Elyesa hummed in response, adding a finishing touch to the treatment before standing up to her feet.
"I cried and cried but my Father didn't come. Fortunately for me, again, there was another child around the corner that had heard my cry. He was a little older, he had a small bag hung across him, and he had helped me with my injury. When I was done crying and I felt better, I looked around and discovered why my Father had not come for me. I was very far from our carriage, lost," she paused for moment.
She extended her hand to Elyesa who was now standing in front of her. When she took it, the Princess patted a side on the bed for her to sit and Elyesa was sitting next to her once again.
"I was so scared," she continued, "scared because it was getting dark and I couldn't even remember the way back. But this older child that had come to rescue me didn't look scared at all."
She laid back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling before she continued again.
"Then he found somewhere for both of us to stay. He had a small knife, he looked like he could use it and because of that, somehow, I felt safe."
Elyesa wondered why the Princess was telling her all these but she didn't ask, instead she kept on listening while she repeated in her mind all the places the Princess would have to see on her first tour of the Palace, making sure that she wouldn't forget one.
She wouldn't want to get too nervous, or top far drawn into her emotions and mix it all up either.
The Queen and the King were already out for her blood, she didn't want to give them any more opportunities to get back at her, no matter how little or irrelevant that would seem.
"He told me stories," the Princess's voice brought her attention back to reality, "most especially about a friend he had back at home. I can't really remember her name but he talked a lot about her. She must have been a relative, family of some sought. Time flew by with him by my side.
Then I saw a group of people coming from two different anggles, that was when I discovered that I wasn't the only one that was lost," she giggled and Elyesa smiled once again.
She must really like her friend very much, for him to be giving her so much joy while recounting her memories with him.
Elyesa's eyes widened a little at a thought.
Could it be that she didn't want this marriage too? That she wanted to be with this her friend instead?
Although, early this morning, she had told the Prince about how she had initially met the Princess but he had told her nothing in return about how the Princess viewed their arranged relationship.
Elyesa's heart leaped with joy at the thought that this marriage was not wanted by the two people that were involved.
In fact, she felt immerse relief.
"Our parents came for us and that was the last time I saw him, but I never forgot him. As I grew, I realized he was an one of my Father rival's son."
Elyesa blinked, her thoughts already shaking in doubt.
'Well, Rikajra had a lot of rivals, Kisha wasn't the only one," she assured herself.
"But that didn't make me hate him, instead it was the other way round. I know about his wars, the battles he had won and the none he had lost. Every single one, I put it in record." Then the Princess sprung from the bed, pacing around the room before rushing back to Elyesa, falling at her knees to look up at her, while she placed her hands which she rested her chin upon over Elyesa's knee. "I fell in love with him, with the Prince."
No.
Elyesa's heart froze over and shattered, her relief replaced with a wreaking ache.
"When I heard that my father wanted to wage a war, I talked him into this marriage and peace. It might seem noble, like a sacrifice," she said silently, the light of happiness dwindling slowly away from her eyes, "but the truth is that I might have been selfish."
"It is noble," Elyesa said, suppressing the immerse heartache she was battling with.
"It does seem noble," she chuckled, standing up to sit once again next to Elyesa on the bed. "I'm afraid though that it would not work."
"Why, Princess?"
"I lied about the cut. I wasn't crying because of my father but the Prince."
"Did he do something to you?" Elyesa's voice raised with panic.
"No, absolutely nothing!" Then her voice dropped. "And that is the problem."
Before Elyesa could say anything to that, the Princess held her hand and looked at her with the most pleading eyes.
"You are the only friend I have in this palace. Please tell me, do you know if the Prince has a lover?"