The Lion and the Rose

Never had she pegged herself as the right person to be a handmaiden to the Queen herself. Of course, she was capable of doing all the things the job required of her, helping the Queen get dressed, braiding her hair and such things. It was the political parts of it that terrified her. She had often been told to be careful about whom she decided to trust in Archeon. That it was difficult to distinguish friends from enemies and that any wrong word to the wrong person could mean the worst possible scenario. She still wondered why her father would ever made her go to such a place, with such people. He, of all people, should be fully aware of her naïveté and he should’ve kept her from having to go anywhere like this.

And so, she told Tamlin the truth, as she often easily did. She hardly ever kept anything from anyone. Maybe somewhere, she hoped that he could do something about it. But nobody could, especially not a man that she had met just a few minutes ago. Her fate was sealed. Tamlin argued that being handmaiden to the Queen didn’t seem to be so bad. She’d get to live large and get to know the Queen herself. Ophelia nodded, luxury was something she’d gotten used to. Her father was well-off, but it was probably incomparable with the wealth of a Queen. Not that she greatly cared about such things. She would never sacrifice safety and happiness for gold. Getting to know the Queen seemed exciting, as long as she was a pleasant person to be around. “I guess that’s true,” she replied, softly, and averted her gaze. She wasn’t entirely convinced yet. She looked up at him again when he leaned back and started speaking again. Telling her about the responsibility royalty had to handle. Ophelia nodded. That was true. Even though Ophelia had grown up quite wealthy, and she was well-educated in many things, she never carried much responsibility of any kind. The only thing she ever had to do, was to take care of her siblings, which wasn’t all that difficult, especially as they got older. Tamlin let her know he believed the Queen to be a decent woman. “I should hope so,” she then spoke. “I’m going to be spending a lot of time with her.” Then he asked if she knew anything about the Queen. Ophelia shrugged at first. “I’ve heard she’s beautiful. And poised,” she started, a bit unsure. “And that she’s a fair ruler. But you never know, until you see for yourself, do you?” She really hoped the rumours were true, for all that they were worth.

Her entire life she’d been safe. At least, as safe as anyone could be in such a harsh world. Her family had looked out for her and she had always stayed safely inside the city walls. She had managed to avoid harm for the most part, she guessed she could call herself lucky. Which made it all the scarier for her to abandon her family, her hometown and everything else that she knew. She was terrified as much as she was intrigued by the unknown that was waiting for her in Archeon. She wondered what it was like to be him. A member of the King’s guard. She wondered how it would feel like to be able to defend yourself, to be strong. To be secure. A feeling she’d probably never know.

A small smile appeared on her face as he said that he hoped she’d get to become friends with the Queen. She couldn’t imagine such a thing, although it would be the ideal situation for her. She couldn’t even grasp the idea that she was to meet the Queen, nevertheless become her friend. It was so surreal. He agreed that she’d have to find out for herself, to which she nodded. Once he finished his little snack, he said it was time for him to go, to which she nodded again. He was probably a busy person. “Thanks,” she said softly, “it was nice meeting you, too. And no problem.” She greatly enjoyed meeting new people, even if there was a decent chance she'd never see this man again. After all, there was a decent chance she would never see anybody from D'Auvignon again.“Farewell, I suppose,” she then said, before turning towards the direction she meant to walk. Quietly, she left for home. It was almost time to board her ship, anyway.

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