The young girl’s eyes went wide with awe as she took in the sight of the large room.
She had never been in the palace before, but her mother had fallen ill and her father had decided that she should come with him today to give her mother some time to rest.

Her father’s job was a boring one. He had to walk around telling other people what to do.
He had given her a chore as well. She was supposed to haul water from the courtyard for the servants to clean the floor. And she had honestly been on her way, but curiosity had  gotten the better of her.
She had placed her bucket on the floor to explore the rooms on the other side of the hallway.

This one was by far the largest.

She walked further inside. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be her, but there was so much to see and no one was here.
A few minutes wouldn’t hurt.

There were tapestries on every wall an a large banner above the stone fireplace. She knew it was the crest of the royal family.

A large stone table was in the center of the room, but she was too small to see what was on top.
She looked around and smiled when she saw a  small stool in the corner.
With a little effort she managed to carry it to the table an she crawled on top.

A  sigh of disappointment escaped her.
There was a large drawing on the table, but she couldn’t make out what it was. It was painted in blue and yellow and oddly shaped.
Little figurines were placed on top. Men on horseback, men on foot, carrying a sword.
She stared at it puzzled and reached out a hand to touch one.

There were voices down the hall and they startled her.

If anyone were to find her here, she would be in trouble.

Quickly she slid off the stool to find somewhere to hide.

***

“… to send reinforcements to the border patrol, sire.”

The king nodded. “That might be a necessity.” He looked at his son that was walking beside him. At age ten, it was about time he learned a thing or two about battle tactics, so he had brought him to the council meeting so he could observe.

Cyrus quietly followed his father and the king’s advisors. He didn’t really want to attend this meeting, but his father had insisted he learn something about the kingdom that would one day be his.

A hand fell on his shoulder and he looked up to met his father’s eyes.

“Listen closely, son. Tonight I want a report on what you’ve learned here today.”

Cyrus nodded. “Yes father.” But it didn’t take him long to be distracted. He wandered around the room while his father was in deep conversation with his council.

He was studying the old tapestries  when his eye fell on something strange, a small hidden form underneath a chair.
Unobtrusively, he edged closer to the intruder.

Vara flinched when a pair of feet stopped in front of her hiding space.
They had found her.

Striking blue eyes found her brown ones and she gulped.

The boy, he could not have more than a few years over her, smiled at her kindly. “You can come out now. I won’t hurt you.”

His voice drew the attention of the other men in the room. They stopped their conversation and turned to the boy.
“Who are you talking to, son?”

“A little girl,” he answered and he turned to her again. “Don’t be afraid.”

Vara crawled from under the chair and stood up straight. She glanced at the men guiltily.

“What are you dong in here, girl?” one of the men asked, “this place is forbidden.”

Vara’s lip trembled.

A hand fell on her shoulder and the boy smiled at her encouragingly. “She is only a child, counselor.”

“Prince Cyrus,” the counselor said, “child or no. This is a matter of state. Even a child can be a spy.”

“I am not a spy!” Vara said. She looked at Cyrus. “What’s a spy?” she whispered.

Cyrus laughed softly.

One of the men walked up to them and kneeled to Vara’s level. “What is your name, child?” he asked kindly.

“Vara,” Vara answered.

“And where are you from, Vara?”

“The village,” Vara told him.

A smile tugged on the man’s lips. “What village might that be?”

“Vara!”

Vara turned her head towards the door where her father was staring at her in shock.

“Your daughter, Yered?”  the man that had kneeled now straightened up.

“My lord king,” Yered bowed.

Vara’s eyes went wide. This man was the king?

“You have a very adventurous daughter.”

“Please forgive me, your majesty. She will not trouble you any further.” He looked at her. “Vara, apologize to the king.”

Vara looked at king Marcos. What exactly was she supposed to apologize for? “I’m very sorry, sir,” she said.

Prince Cyrus laughed again, but managed to conceal it as s a cough.

“I’m sure you are,” the king answered seriously, “go with your father now and make sure not to enter restricted areas again.”

Vara nodded, though she didn’t know what ‘restricted’ meant. She smiled at the boy next to her . “Bye.” And she dashed out of the room.

“What were you doing in there?” Yered asked, “you know you shouldn’t be there. I told you to get water.”

“But I did get water,” Vara protested, “see? The bucket was right here.”

“And why didn’t you bring that bucket to the women like I asked you?”

“I was going to, poppa, but then I saw that room. It’s really dirty too.“ She leaned towards her father, “they spilled paint on the table,” she whispered harshly.

Inside the room, prince Cyrus chuckled as he easily overheard her words. He shook his head. That girl sure was a lively one.

***

“You sent for me, your majesty?”

King Marcos looked up from the scroll he had been reading and nodded seriously. He rolled up the scroll and carefully placed it back on the shelf. “You may enter.”

Vara stepped further into the room and a servant closed the door behind her.

“Sit,” the king gestured towards a chair.

Vara calmly moved towards the chair and sat down. She wasn’t fooled. The king may have invited her to his private chambers to make things less formal, but this wasn’t going to be a casual conversation.

“How are you ,Vara? I see little of you these days.”

“I am well, my king,” she answered, “thank you.”

Marcos nodded and he gestured towards the table that held fruit and wine. “Please.”

Obediently, Vara poured herself a goblet, but didn’t drink from it. She wished she could leave. She dreaded this coming conversation.
She took a deep breath. “I hope this evening finds you well.”

“I hope so too,” the king answered her. He sighed. “You know why I called you?” he asked.

“My lord?” Vara answered.
It was safer to be cautious in her answers.

“I know my son has spoken with you.”

Vara kept quiet. She stared at the goblet, but he seemed to wait for her to answer.

“I don’t think it is something you need to discuss with me, your majesty,” she said quietly.

“There is no need,” the king confirmed, “but I choose to do so.” He looked at her intently. “This marriage is important to the realm, Vara.”

“My king…” Vara protested, but he cut her off.

“I have seen the way my son looks at you.”

“How he looks at me is beyond my control,” she commented bravely.

“Yes,” the king mused, “but how you look at him is not.” He rose from his seat and walked towards the fireplace. He folded his hands behind his back.
“I am well aware of your feelings towards each other.”

Vara’s face heated up. Was it truly so obvious? “My king, I assure you…” She took a few breaths as she searched for the right words.

“You have never given me a reason to regret taking you into this household,” king Marcos said calmly.

“I swear I will never break your trust, my lord king,” Vara answered quietly.

“I know,” he said firmly. He turned back to her. “You became my daughter when I gave you my name. And you are well aware of what I expect from you.” He paused until she gave a careful nod. “I have invited several lords from the provinces and the neighboring South Kingdom. We have need of an alliance. This meeting will show us how best to proceed. There will be a banquet. Some young ladies will be in attendance. I expect you to make them feel welcome.”

Vara sighed and nodded. “As you wish, my king.”

“Good,” the king nodded content, “one of these ladies will marry my son. It’s important that they feel comfortable here and welcome. If Cyrus wishes to spend time with them, I’d like for you to accompany them, as would be expected of the prince’s sister.”

“Of course,” Vara responded flatly.

King Marcos sighed. “Vara, you are very dear to me, don’t ever doubt that. If Cyrus had been a younger son, you would have had my blessing. But he is my only son, my sole heir. And a crown prince is not free to choose.”

“I know,” Vara whispered. She stared at the table.

The king’s hand fell on her shoulder. “I will keep my word, child. I will see to your future. I made a promise. “

It was  question she had never voices. She had always lacked the courage. For some reason she believed it would sound ungrateful. Aside from that, the king didn’t need to explain himself to his subjects.

But the question had been burning inside her for years and in the comfort of the king’s own chambers, she finally found her voice. “Why did you take me in, your majesty? I was only a village girl. Your son may have befriended me, but I am still not of importance to you.”

It as silent for a moment as the king regarded her with a serious expression on his face. “You do not know?”

Vara shook her head. “No, my king.”

The king nodded and turned back to the mantelpiece. “There were several reason, but the core of it was, there is a debt of honor involved.” He shifted a small ornament to the side. “You see,” he said, “your father saved my life.”

***

“Vara was here?” Ethan glanced up at Eunice.

His friend nodded. “Only briefly though.“ She watched Ethan as he splashed water in his face to wash away the sweat from his labor. “Prince Cyrus is getting married.”

Ethan’s eyes showed sympathy. “How is she holding up?”

“She pretends that it doesn’t affect her, but she changed the subject at the first opportunity.”

Ethan sighed and gathered the fire wood he had been chopping. “It was bound to happen. It’s not like she ever had a chance of marrying him herself.”

“I know,” Eunice said quietly, “perhaps it would have been better if they had never met.”

“She will get over it,” Ethan commented, “they’ll find her some rich lordling and wed her off far away from the palace.”

“You really think that?” Eunice didn’t like the thought of her best friend so far away, but what Ethan said made sense.

They won’t have a choice,“ Ethan told her, “not when there’s politics involved.” He followed Eunice into the house she shared with her mother and placed the basket of wood next to the fireplace.

“Thank you Ethan,” Antonia said kindly from her place near the window.

“Evening aunt Antonia,” Ethan greeted politely, “how has your day been?”

“We had a visitor today,” Antonia said casually.

Ethan smiled. “So I’ve heard. I am sorry to have missed her.”

“She was very sorry to have missed you too,” Antonia nodded, “she asked about you.”

“Oh?” Ethan looked at her questioningly, “what did she ask about?”

Antonia grew a smug look. “She asked why you had not yet taken a wife.”

“Mother!” Eunice said horrified. Her face turned a deep red.

Ethan smirked, fully aware of his best friend’s discomfort. “Did she now? Well, next time you see her, kindly tell her I plan on marrying very soon.”

“Is that so?” Antonia said amused. She was the only one that could see the tease in his eyes.

Eunice stared at him, her face pale. “You…plan to marry…” she stated quietly.

Ethan looked at her innocently. He bit the inside of his cheek so he would not laugh. “I do,” he said calmly, “it’s about time  settle down.”

“Oh,” Eunice said, “yes. Of course..” She bit her lip and looked down. “Is she… very pretty?”

“Oh yes,” Ethan nodded, “very.”

Eunice sighed. “Do I know her?”

“Yes, you do.”

“I see,” Eunice turned away and started to clean around the house. She was biting back tears. He did not love her then. Had she misread him? Had she mistaken his kindness for something else? “I hope she’ll make you very happy then.”

“Oh I know she will,” Ethan said with a smile.

Eunice took a deep breath. “Well then. I think you should introduce her to me then. I should meet her.”

“If you like,” Ethan said. He smirked at her obvious jealousy. She was vividly cleaning the table for the third time and had not looked at him once. “I’ll introduce you right now.”

That made her look up and her eyes went wide.

At the window, Antonia was shaking her head. “Shame on you boy, to tease her so.”

Ethan laughed and Eunice looked confused.

“Come,” Ethan said and he took her hand, “I’ll introduce you to the girl I’d like to marry.”

“What? Now?” Eunice said startled, “but I’m not properly dressed and I’m dirty.”

“We don’t need to go far,” Ethan assured her and he pulled her through another door in the house.

“Where are you taking me?”

Ethan grinned and turned her around to face the wall. “Meet my wife to be,” he said.

Eunice blinked at her own reflection in the small mirror that hung on the wall. For a moment she did not understand. Then heat rushed to her face. “Me?” she whispered.

“Of course silly,” Ethan answered, “who else?”