The Thirteenth Princess

A Stranger, A Friend

Soon enough, the early morning light was filtering through the window, and I opened my eyes to realise that the girl was lying next to me on the floor, her head laying in my lap, my back against the wall. When I saw what I was doing I freaked out just a little bit, and hit my head against the cold stone surface. The girl - whose name was still a mystery - jolted awake. I hastily stopped playing with her pristine hair, as I realised I must have been gently running my fingers through it as I slept. I hoped she hadn't noticed. She twisted around to face me, and her pale blue eyes were cloudy. Perhaps she had been crying in her sleep.

"Why is your face red? Are you alright? Did you have a rough night?" Her radiant hair glowed with the luminescence of the sunrise.

"Oh, is it? I uh, I don't know." I managed to stutter.

I didn't really know why my face had gone red, but I had a few suspicions. Maybe I was sick, had come down with a fever perhaps? Or uh, maybe it was really hot during the night. I know what you might say, that I was going red because I liked her. But that's not possible, right? I couldn't like a girl, could I? No. That can't be it. But then again, she does have gorgeous eyes. No. Stop it. It's, not possible. It can't be. Can it?

"So." She said without warning, snapping me out of my trance.

"Do you want me to do breakfast?"

"Uh, I, er." Thats all I got. Don't look at me

"You okay?"

"I, yeah, I'm good. You just settle in, okay? I'll go make something." I shuffled off towards the circular bench, placed just against the wall. It was almost a perfect fit, though it jutted away from the wall at the edges. Since all the food was pretty much ready the way I wanted it, I just well, it's all very hard to describe, being magic and all that. All you really need to know, is that a few minutes later I had 2 plates of fresh mangoes, a few blueberry muffins, and a jug of crystal clear water ready to serve to my peculiar new house guest.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." She glanced at me gratefully, and wolfed down her muffin like she hadn't eaten in days. Then, the most hilarious thing happened. The girl, who had seemed so quiet and polite, let out a huge belch. Her face went red as fresh blood, and my attempts to stifle my howls of laughter were for nothing, as soon I was rolling around in the floor, clutching my sides before they burst open. I expected the courteous young lady to say something like 'oh! I'm ever so sorry, I do hope you can forgive my rudeness!' Which, looking back, I'm glad that she didn't say because her response was a lot better than that.

"Pardon." She whispered, a slight smile forming on her lips. I erupted into more fits of choking laughter, then without a warning, it felt like my throat was on fire. I stopped laughing, and I clenched my hands around my closing airway. My unsolicited friend noticed, and threw the entire jug of water at my face - which was, by the way, ice cold. - I gasped for air, and to my immense relief, I could breathe again. The girl's eyes were filled with concern, until, she saw that I wasn't dead yet. Then her face lit up with life and joy. I began to laugh, but she put her hand over my mouth.