The Maid and Her Princess [On Hiatus]

Spring of Colors

I.

A knock on Madoka's door came urgently, jolting her awake. Someone was waking her up...? The thought pierced through her groggy mind and she jolted upright. Someone beat her to wake up? There was something wrong. She must have slept for too long!

Her little bag had her spare maid uniform – that was all she was ever allowed to own. Her arrival to this estate brought many surprises already, but the most surprising to her was a room next to the princess's. Duties were divided evenly and the maids seemed more relaxed. They spoke in the commoner's tongue. Madoka found it difficult to talk to them after years of only speaking formally. The princess... she wondered what she was like now.

Madoka had mixed emotions and thoughts that swirled about her friend, trying to sort them out was like collecting strewn leaves in a storm. The Princess would act spoiled and childlike in one passing leaf, then her sickness would send her into hysteria. The knock pounded.

Are we under attack? The moons were still suspended in the cold heavens at a little past midnight.

"Coming!" Madoka leapt out of bed and was ready in a dash and straightened out a mirror and her own things in a flash before going to the doorway. A maid's duty was to care for others, not herself anyways. Especially for the Royals. She had no time, because the door swung wide open. Blonde hair swirled before her and a familiar face stood before her. "What are you wearing?"

Princess Fiara was smirking a devilish grin when Madoka remembered her words the day before. She wasn't wearing a dress, no, Madoka gawked in horror at the realization that she was in commoner's clothes. That ominous word, "bootcamp" rang in her mind like a foreign army yet she knew it was something dangerous for the Princess. Oh, kind gods, she worried that the princess has changed drastically over these months here. Still, to be beaten awake by Princess Fiara herself, Madoka was embarrassed. How could she let this happen?

"Good morning!" the princess boomed. "Got a friend for you to meet. He will be kicking both our asses for this whole year, you understand me?"

The Princess leaned dangerously close to Madoka's face.

"Oh, and I have a set of workout gear for you!"

"Very well, Your Highness," Madoka gave up and took the clothing. The Princess did seem healthier and stronger since she last saw her. Perhaps it was the country's soft air here that lifted her spirits and added to that skip in her steps.

Minutes later, Madoka made her way through the large mansion's ornate halls past the looks of her fellow servants. They seemed to take pity on her, as if all were in agreement that dealing with her princess was the short end of the stick. Let them, Madoka silently scoffed to herself as she strode by their judgmental eyes.

"Come on, come on!" The princess said. She was waiting by an exceptionally large man, built as a mountain who looked on silently. "This is the friend I wanted to introduce you to!"

She marched up unafraid and tapped his armor, not even reaching to the middle of his chest. The mountain was the retired First Knight Company's captain, who let out a hearty laughter.

"Captain Zeron, or is it just Lord Zeron now?" Madoka suddenly realized that the Princess was not lying about her intentions.

"I've heard all about you, little lady!" He laughed. "You're in much better form than the Princess started out as."

"Please, Lord Zeron," She protested. "It's just Madoka."

"Very well, then," Lord Zeron laughed. If he laughed harder his breath could blow out the lantern fires, Madoka thought. The sun was nowhere close to rising, wasn't it.

"Here, catch!" the Princess tossed something to her.

"A broom...?" Madoka wondered aloud. This time Princess Fiara joined in with Lord Zeron's laughter.

She looked at the object in her hands. It was a practice sword, made of crude wood. The princess nodded, expectedly. Madoka followed them with a lot more apprehension than before.

I am a servant, Madoka protested in her head. I'm the one they throw to the wolves if they're in danger!

Lord Zeron soon stopped both girls at a large court. Princess Fiara was already doing this before Madoka's arrival.

"First, we stretch," He demonstrated odd movements. Madoka looked on with horror, realizing that Princess Fiara was also copying his movements. He regarded Madoka's confused look and explained as if he was reciting lines from a play. "Helps prevent something bad with muscles... stiffness or something."

"Correct," Princess Fiara sounded too enthusiastic. "Go on, Madoka. Try it!"

Madoka sighed and copied one. The stretching made something pop in her body, but some time later Madoka felt oddly limber. It was then when Lord Zeron drew a wooden sword. "Come, little lady, I will teach you the basics. Give me a swing first, let me test your strength."

Madoka's hands shook as she shrank beneath Lord Zeron. He held his sword in range for her swing, waiting. She has never trained in fighting, but the Princess was looking on at her. Anything she wants, Madoka thought. No, she would rather fend off wolves the best she could should her princess be in danger.

This was the way, she supposed. It was just another way to serve her.

Madoka swung her own wooden sword as hard as she could on his sword. The blow went about as useless as Madoka expected — the vibration of the swords clashing on her flimsy grip hurt her hands. The captain's sword remained a stout tower, unmoving in the wind. Lord Zeron contemplated it, while Madoka stood ragged. She's cleaned the highest peaks, ran down to the lowest cellars of the palace and yet has never exerted herself like swinging a sword does.

"You strike hard!" Lord Zeron laughed, tossing the sword aside.

"D-don't mock me, please," Madoka breathed. Her legs wobbled and she was embarrassed. "I've never had to do something so unladylike!"

"As expected of you, Madoka!" Princess Fiara clapped. "I'm quite useless with a sword, see."

She swung her sword as hard as she could at Zeron's thigh, bouncing off the armor. The strike was left unnoticeable by the man, who laughed.

"With my training," he said seriously. "You will surpass even me!"

"Why me?" Madoka asked.

"Because," the princess turned and smiled. "The woman of my dreams shall not be left helpless!"