Silver & Gold

Trapped

"Miss Maddie, would you like a cup of tea?" the sickly sweet maid made her way through the many traps from the door like a pro. She ducked from rotating axe, jumped over a black pit and K.O.-ed a mad cactus. 

The little girl, having just taken a seat in the comfy high armchair, acknowledged the effort of the maid and decided to answer: "Yes, I would very much like a cup of tea."

"Fruity to refreshen thyself or spicy to warm you up?" the short maid, realizing that Miss Maddie actually answered, was elated. She took a notepad and a pen from a pocket in her neatly white apron and noted down what Miss Maddie's preferences would be, for future reference. 

Miss Maddie looked at the ceiling. The question was a hard one: did she want to be refreshed or warmed up? Did she need to be refreshed or warmed up? Could actually a cup of tea refresh her tired soul or warm up the hole in her heart? 

The silence was making the maid impatient. Just when she had thought that the little miss was finally opening up to one of the staff at the d'Arvagonia Mansion, she lost it right after a question. 

Meanwhile, the girl was lost in philosophical thought. Why was she aware of all these feelings? She was only ten; a girl her age wasn't supposed to know these feelings, much ado feel these feelings. Even so, here she was, understanding it all completely: she was empty inside, her chest hurt, and her head was dizzy, there was a knot in her stomach; she felt like this when Elanna, the little white cat that's been with her since she was born, had died. It was as if a part of her soul was ripped from the rest of it. Stolen. 

"Miss Maddie?" the maid tried calling once again, hoping she would receive an answer. Maddie was snapped back to reality, and her sight fell once again on the door, where the short maid with impeccably white apron stood with a notepad and a concerned face. 

"Yes."

"Yes what, miss?"

"I want both. Please bring them quickly, and don't put sugar or honey in it. I want them unsweetened."

The maid pondered for a second the order she was given, wrote it down then excused herself, going once again through the traps set by miss Maddie in case there was someone unwanted at the door. Only the worthy ones could enter in her room. 

The light in her chamber gave her an acute headache. She much wanted the tea at that very moment. 

But that was definitely not what she wanted exactly. Her short legs carried her to her canopy bed, fell on the soft mattress, her eyes closing and let out some salty, and bitter tears. She missed her father so much. 

She missed the time when he would come back from his office, staggering in fatigue, but would still carry her to her bed, lie with her and tell her a story of bards and princesses, like her, who went in adventures, fought dragons, met talking horses and mice, helped old ladies who turned out to be fairies and saints, but above else, she loved the stories of the witches. 

Her favorite story was that of the witch who conquered a whole land in the Stars Archipelago and became a queen to the dismay of the people there. The king of Arvagonia did not like the actions of the witch, so he dressed as a commoner and went to her castle, which she built overnight out of jewels and sweets, and asked her hand in marriage. Obviously, the king's plan was to kill her as soon as she would entrust herself to him, but the witch was cleverer. She had the talent of mind reading. The witch cast a spell on the king to show his true colors when he was the happiest and then gave a banquet for him. 

"At the end of this banquet, I'll tell you my answer," she told him, and the king was very pleased. The banquet lasted seven days and seven nights, in which the king ate and drank to his heart's content. He laughed and told stories, with the witch by his side, but the alcohol has gotten to his head. He told the witch he loved her, even though he didn't really mean it. The witch had never heard these words spoken to her, and was moved; even when she found out at that second that the commoner was actually the king of Arvagonia, she was at a loss. The king fell asleep next to her, but she couldn't bring herself to kill him. Therefore, she cast a spell of erasing his memories of the plot he had made, so when he awoke, she was still next to him with the most gracious smile ever. 

"Teeth like Albasta pearls, lips like wilderberry flowers, cheeks like plump peonies, eyes like abyss holes and hair like underclouds trees. All in all, she was the most beautiful woman the king has seen, and he fell in love with her in an instant," her father would say. 

"And they got married?" Maddie would ask, for the thousandth time. 

"And they got married."

"And together they ruled over all Stars Archipelago?"

"Yes. And since then, princes and princesses have magic powers."

Maddie let out tears of nostalgia. She knew that story by heart, but whenever she had heard it from her father it was still anew to her. 

A faint knock on the door was heard. "Miss Maddie, I have brought your tea. Could you please open the door? I can't fight the cactus with the porcelain cups in my hands."

The little girl decided to wipe her tears and go open the door, disarming the traps, taking the tea set from the maid's hands and placing it on her bedstand, gulping both cups and swallowing whole the cranberry cookies. At least, now her body was warm. 

Near her, the pebble was glowing, taking in her emotions and thoughts. Even the gray part that was now forgotten in her pocket.