Ever After ✔~ trixya

Chapter 9: A Sunset by A Lake

When it was nearing sundown, Beatrice was in the woods gathering berries and mushrooms. After a while she decided the dirt and grime became too much and so she jumped in the lake to clean herself, enjoying the brief feeling of freedom as she felt the cool water on her overheated skin, only an underdress shielding her body from complete exposure.
What she did not know was that nearby a painter and a princess were conversing, the painter trying to capture the warm glow of the sun setting over the water as he discussed the great mysteries of life with The Grand Duchess.

"Do you really think there is only one perfect match for everyone?" Yekaterina asked as she watched a masterpiece come to life whilst fixing the string of a japanese kite that the painter had brought with him from his travels.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Louis replied.

"Well then, how can you be certain to find them? And what if the person you are meant for never appears, or she does... but you are too distracted to notice?" The princess continued to question, forgetting her task as she got up to walk along the lake edge instead, as if this would help her make sense of it all.

"Then you must learn to pay attention." The painter stated simply, adding more red to his golden sun and more green to the calm waters. 

"Okay then, let us for a moment imagine that God puts two people on earth and they are lucky enough to find and reckognize eachother. But one of them dies unexpectedly. What happens then? Is that it? Was that your one and only chance at happiness?
Or if you perchance meet someone new and marry them, is that then the one you were supposed to be with, or was it really the first? And if so, if the two of them were walking side by side, would they both have been your match, and you just happened to meet the first one first? Or was really the second one supposed to be first? Or is everything just chance, or... are some things truly meant to be?" The Grand Duchess rambled, her mind growing tired by all the questions that plaqued her more and more for each day that went.

"You cannot leave everything to fate, Katya. She's got a lot to do, sometimes you must give her a hand." Louis said as he turned to the girl, talking to her as if no years had passed and she was still the small princess who ran around the castle carelessly.

Just then the masterpiece the painter had been working on was swept up by the wind, flying from it's easel, landing in the lake near a young girl who was swimming on her back, her eyes closed as she floated happily.

"Mademoiselle, the painting, please save it!" Monsieur Caravaque yelled in desperation, the man fearing that all his hard work might be lost. The voice startled the woman as she ducked under completely and coughed out water as she reemerged. Still, she quickly grabbed the canvas, holding onto the edge to not damage it further as she made her way towards the shore were Louis was walking out to meet her halfway.

"Thank you, madam, thank you. As we were lost in our discussions of fate and God, I see an angel was sent to my rescue." The man said as he took the painting from her hands and helped her out of the water.

"Countess." Yekaterina said surprised as she reckognized the girl as the one who had taken over her thoughts through a simple discussion.

"Your Highness." The girl replied as she slipped on a stone.

"Oh careful, here allow me." The Grand Duchess said as she placed her cloak around the girl before taking over the role of escorting the lady up to land. 

While Katya would have liked to say that to lend her cloak to the shivering girl was merely an act of kindness and a result of her noble upbringing, she could not act as if a part of it was not done to protect herself from the ramifications of staring at the nearly undressed and drenched form of the young lady any longer than she already had. Surely this woman was a nymph or siren, for she could not simply be a daughter of Eve while holding such God-like beauty.

"Thank you." Trixie replied in a more humble and shy tone than the princess had ever heard her use. They sat down on the sand across from eachother as they dried under the remnants of the burning sun.

"How come you were swimming alone? Were are your attendants?" Katya enquired.

"I decided to give them the day off." Beatrice lied skillfully, knowing that she had to play her part well if she was to not meet gruesome consequences.

"A day off? From what, life?" The Grand Duchess questioned, once again astounded by the unique and modern ideas that the courtier had. 

"Don't you ever tire of having people wait on you all the time?" The young woman countered.

"Yes, but they are servants, it is what they do." The princess stated as if it was obvious. This response greatly disappointed Trixie, just as The Grand Duchess's thoughts regarding Utopia had previously.

"Well, I wish I could dismiss mine as easily as you do yours." The girl replied, a hint of sorrow and anger shining through as she spoke. Even as a child, when being waited on was all she knew, she had never thought of her servants as less worthy or less deserving. Her father always teaching the girl to lend a helping hand and be kind to others, her servants more like family than staff.

"I must be going." Trixie added as she stood up to leave.

"You are angry with me." Katya said, almost fascinated that someone below her station could be.

"No."

"Admit it." Yekaterina pushed as she too rose from her seat.

"Well, yes if you must know." Beatrice admitted as she turned to face the other woman again.

"Why?"

"Because you are trying to beat me with your snobbery." The girl stated honestly. 

"Well, I am afraid, Countess, that you are a walking contraction, and I find that rather fascinating." The Grand Duchess replied as she stared at the other woman in awe, endlessly intrigued as she could never seem to predict what would leave the girl's mouth, something that had never happened with the other women the princess had met.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You spout the ideals of a utopian society, and yet you live the life of a courtier." The princess explained.

"And you own all the land in the Empire, and yet you seem to take no pride in working it. Is that not also a contradiction?" Beatrice responded, fearless and full of fire as she argued with the royal.

"So first I am arrogant and now I have no pride, however do I manage that?" The Grand Duchess enquired in a slightly teasing tone.

"You have everything, and still the world holds no joy. And yet you insist on making fun of those who would try to see it for it's possibilities." The girl spoke forcefully, leaving the princess in awe once more.

"How do you do it?" Katya questioned innocently.

"What?"

"Live each day with such passion. Do you not find it exhausting?" The princess said, genuinely curious as to how anyone could live their life as the young lady did.

"Only when I am around you. Why do you like to irritate me so?" Trixie said with a slight smile.

"Why do you rise to the occasion?" Katya responded teasingly, making both women laugh. 

"Beatrice?" Trixie heard the voice of Mrs Davis call from a distance, tho she was almost certain no one else would have heard the name that was called. As the young woman viewed the lake, she noticed that the sun had already disappeared on the horizon, the cloak of night upon them.

"Forgive me, Your Highness, I have lost track of the hour." Trixie told the princess as she gave back the cloak.

"But the wind, Mademoiselle, it is perfect!" The painter said, having finally fixed the string on the kite that the Grand Duchess was tasked with handling.

"I am sorry." The young girl replied with a slight bow.

"I am playing tennis tomorrow at the market, will you come?" Yekaterina asked as the girl started running into the forest.

"I must go!" Trixie yelled back, not in the slightest attempting to give the question an answer.

"And again she is gone... why does she keep doing that?" The Grand Duchess asked Louis as they watched the girl disappear into the woods.