The Maid and Her Princess [On Hiatus]

Madoka's Mistake II (Spring 15)

XV.

Madoka's chest ached and her head throbbed. She grunted in frustration. What was happening to her? A golden light hung above her. Its effulgence was ceaseless and stinging, only matching the throbbing within her chest. She had her eyes closed! Light should not affect her when she had her eyelids squeezed shut!

She sat up and braced herself for the piercing light's brightness as she cracked one eye open. A magical sphere greeted her, evidently surrounding the entire bed. A bed? Madoka looked down and realized she has been placed on a soft bed. By who? She wondered. The throbbing in her head must be caused by this awful light! As the coolness of the night passed through its radiance, she realized it was her own Knotting magic condensed into the sphere that trapped her.

What did she do last night? Madoka groped at the sphere, looking for a way to free herself. Her heart also pounded and she quickly checked herself. Her core was glowing! She has not used this glowing shield since her battle with the AI Servitor Hesonoo. She plunged her hand into her chest with considerable effort, calling upon the magical weapon within and breaking the glass-like dome to pieces of erratic strands.

Someone let out a snore beneath her bed, startling Madoka. She was not alone in this room, nor did it seem to be a dream. She groggily wobbled towards the edge of the bed to see who the culprit was, and recognized the sleeping blonde girl resting at the foot of the frame.

"Audrey?" Her voice cracked at every syllable. The princess snorted in response, but remained unfazed by Madoka's calling. She was glad she did not wake her up, because her voice embarrassed her. She remembered she drank that strange liquid, the alcohol as Audrey called it, and laughing. The same kind of drink Nobles in the Palace had. She instantly covered her mouth. She laughed? Such a dangerous drink! "The floor is no place for Her Highness, Madoka."

"Soft, feather, ball of goose," Audrey murmured as Madoka prepared to get up. "Affable, honking, don't bite me!"

She scolded herself, and carefully placed both her feet on the ground. Her vision was straightening, but her head still felt pangs of an unknown headache. It must have been caused by the alcohol. Madoka has worked in the palace under worse conditions, so she shook her head and forced herself up. She probably succumbed to the alcohol and must have been a burden to Audrey, yet again.

Madoka sighed and scooped the sleeping princess up. Placing her upon the soft bed, she realized that the girl was still in her traveler's garb. She pouted, once again reminded of her failure to attend to her princess, but there was no use fussing over it since she did not have access to the storage portal to change her into better clothes. Her body burned and her head throbbed. She cursed — she needed some fresh air.

"Wo- woman of my dreams," Audrey murmured. The sun was still tucked away, and that was the last thing Madoka wanted to hear from Her Sleepiness. "H-Hope the maid gets paid sick leave..."

"I'll be back," Madoka assured her before stepping out their room, and recieved a snore in response.

Something was amiss. The downstairs of the inn was completely spotless. Madoka grasped her head, but moved to inspect the handiwork of the mysteriously cleaned tables. Did that one maid do this all by herself? How impressive! Perhaps one day, she mused as she traced a finger over the spotless surface she would speak with the bar maid and exchange their routines!

A sudden sharp sting struck her eyes made her recoil. Maybe their conversation can wait until after she recovers from whatever magical side effect was hurting her. She pushed open the door and felt the night's chill brush across her face. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Light mist hazed the twin moons and she was alone, trudging to nowhere in particular.