The Princess's Servant

5. The Talk

Mother and daughter watched as the great oak curtains drew on their little stage and as stagehand servants hurried out to make ready for the next scene. The queen took a few steps down the great stairs and directed her gaze towards her announcer, who even now tried to clean up the prisoner's mess.

"Bartholomew," she called. The servant froze and turned his head to meet his queen. "You are dismissed," she said.

"But, your Majesty..." He looked to the wet carpet at his feet.

"Leave it," she said, and he nodded. The sharp nosed man took a bow and hastened off to the dark doors to their left. The mother sighed as the door bounced once, twice against its frame before settling in silence. She looked to her young daughter, who daily became older than young.

"Sybil," the queen began.

The princess scowled and folded her arms. Her mother noticed speckles of blood on her arms that the princess's handkerchief had missed. "'Stay away from the tavern,'" Sybil mocked. "I know."

"Sybbie, this is serious," her mother said. "Soon you'll be..." married, she thought, but she couldn't say that. "All grown up. It's time you find an outlet for your aggression."

"That's a great idea," the princess remarked. "Maybe I'll have a daughter and lie to her for fifteen years. That should do the trick."

Queen Arabell drew in breath. "Sybil."

"I've been thinking a lot since our discussion and... Why lie?" The princess pivoted and faced the queen. "You could have told me years ago. What was so important about this information that you kept it from me?"

"Don't change the subject," her mother said with that stupid 'gentle yet firm' tone she always used whenever Sybbie got mad. "We're discussing your behavior, not mine."

The princess sucked in air and felt some knot in her come undone. "You want to talk about my behavior?" She asked. "The reason I go down to that tavern and act out like a child is because you treat me like a child!"

The queen bowed her head to the side in annoyance. "Sybbie—"

"And even now you're not listening!" The princess felt her anger go to flame.

"It's not that I'm not listening," the queen replied. "Sybbie, when you act out, I don't think you think about how it makes our family look."

"Oh yeah?" Sybil asked. "And how does it make our family look that the queen hid secrets from her child for years?"

The queen scoffed.

"Why keep it from me, mother?" Sybil asked in earnest.

The queen sighed. "There are some truths in this world that are heavy, and I didn't want you to bear them."

The princess shook her head, her curls springing with the movement. "That isn't an answer," she said. "What truths—?"

"I wanted to protect you from a harsh reality," the queen said.

"What reality?" There was stress in her voice, now. Frustration.

The queen breathed in, cleared her throat, and straightened out her dress. "I've said too much as is," she said. "As much as I've enjoyed our little heart to heart, I have other matters to attend to. You're dismissed."

The princess scoffed. "I'm not done talking--"

"Dismissed!" The queen reiterated.

"You're unbelievable!" The princess called. "I can't wait to be queen so I don't have to deal with your nonsense anymore! God!" The princess turned to leave the room.

"Oh!" The queen called out. "And inform the guards that they can do with that boy as they wish, so long as they don't release him. We don't need some vagabond roaming the streets, inspiring bards to sing about Sybil the Body-part Better."

The princess looked behind her, her eyes wide. "He told you about that?" 

The queen looked back at her daughter with a disapproving glare. 

The princess shook her head violently and grabbed her tulle skirt. Thinking of a dozen retorts, she huffed away from her mother and shoved the great door aside. The queen only relaxed a moment when she heard those two doors shut, and tried not to consider whether she had done the right thing.

A/N: Please vote! :)